Pandemic Points

 I've been thinking I should start writing again. This morning while walking the dog I was thinking about the pandemic, and how it's changed the way I see a lot of the people I have in my life. It has been interesting to watch the dynamics of personal interactions. Watching the kindness and compassion has humbled me. Many have reached out to those during times of need finding ways to serve and show love in a world where being together physically felt dangerous. People dropped off groceries, medicine, and meals. There were phone calls, video calls, and text messages. Blessings were given and received in a variety of ways and we remembered how much good there is in the world.

Unfortunately, there are also some who made the opposite choice. Fear, derision, and anger drove their actions rather than kindness and compassion. They took this chance and rather than finding ways to improve chose to point out everything that they thought was wrong - wrong with the response to the pandemic, wrong with people around them, wrong with the way others were acting to protect themselves with the knowledge they could gain about what was going on in the world. They villianized political leaders, doctors, scientists, and their own neighbors. Those who were more conservative than others were made fun of for their caution. Others who chose to exercise less caution were accused of being "Typhoid Mary" in the pandemic. 

I'm sure you've all seen examples of both in your lives. This just goes to show (remind?) me that there is always a choice in the world. When we disagree with those around us, we can make fun, or we can have a conversation and strive if not for understanding at least for civility. Thank you to all those who had such conversations with me.   

Bacon and brussel sprouts

Maybe I'm a little late with the food blogging, but this is as much for me as it is anyone else. I got this recipe from a friend, and did some tweaking. Since the result was delicious, and I want to be able to find it quickly, I thought I'd put it here. 

3 slices of bacon

6-8 brussel sprouts

about 1/2 C broth-I used turkey because I had it, but chicken, veggie, or beef would all likely be delicious

Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper to taste

Slice the brussel sprouts-the original recipe suggests using a food processor, which I did. Next time, i think I'll slice them by hand so they're a little thicker.

Cook then crumble the bacon and reserve the bacon grease.

In the same pan, add the broth and bring to a boil. Add the brussel sprouts and cook until they are tender, but still a little crunchy. Add the salt and pepper at this point. Drain the excess broth, and add the bacon and parmesan cheese. It's a great side dish like this. I might try adding quinoa next time for a little more substance.

Questival

I'm participating in Questival this weekend. My friend Lindsey and I are finding out new things about our cities, trying new things, and using our heads!

So God Made a Farmer

My dad read this to me last night, with some emotion in his voice. As he read, I thought about him; he is unquestionably my hero. I wholeheartedly believe that he could do all of the things mentioned in this beautiful tribute, though he may not have...yet. As a farmers daughter, I grew up thinking I could do all of those things too. Time and persistence have proven this to be true thus far. Thanks to my parents (Mom and Dad) I have had an amazing life. Anything I wanted to do they supported me, complimented my desire to try something new, and were there to listen to me mourn when things didn’t turn out as I’d hoped.

Being raised by people as capable as my parents lead me to believe that everyone could do all of the things enumerated in this poem, if they only tried. Time and experience have proven that belief wrong-there are so many people who are limited by their fear of failure, lack of motivation or lack of capability. I am grateful to come from a special breed who downplay those fears and focus on their capabilities, thus expanding them.

My Dad has served as the president of organizations, taught college, been a dean, participated in 4-H and FFA, volunteered at the junior livestock auction for as long as I can remember, stopped to help people broken down on the side of the road, built a car and a shop, fixed cars and tractors, laughed and mourned with us, taught us to work, cheered at our sporting events, sat through band concerts, and supported us and the community around him in innumerable ways.

This also started me thinking about dating. Likely most of the people I dated never had any chance to live up to the high expectations I’ve set. The bar for us was high, and we excelled. Making excuses was not an option, it just took up time that could have been spent becoming prepared to do instead of talk about doing. There must be others out there who have the same outlook on life, they are simply hard to find because they are outstanding in their fields.

It's been a while

I know...my mom mentioned the fact that I haven't updated my blog in quite some time a while back. Now seems like a good time. There are boxes all over our living room, and many of them are full or half-full of my belongings. Others are empty, waiting for me to finish procrastinating and begin the extremely long game of Tetris that is packing for a cross country move. So here I am, uploading pictures and reminiscing.

I hate to say how long ago, I went to St. Louis to visit Cynthia and the three cutest boys on the planet! The boys (and their parents) were troopers, and took me to stand in this extremely long line for Pappy's BBQ. While I don't know if I can say it was worth the wait (we found out when we got to the front that we could have called in a take-out order), I will most certainly request more food from Pappy's the next time I'm in St. Louis.

And, just so you can see how cute they are, here's a picture of me with the boys at the St. Louis temple.

 For Memorial Day, I convinced my friend Alyssa to take a road trip to Louisiana with me. I've been itching to see a gator in the wild for quite some time. There was a Zydeco and Okra festival, and that was all the excuse we needed. The festival was our first stop-we had our faces painted, worried that the Ferris wheel was going to detach from its base and roll away, ate some sort of okra pie, and listened to live Zyedco.

I thought it was quite fantastic-there were people dancing in the street, and it wasn't long before I joined them!

When we'd had enough of the festival, we drove out to Lake Fausse to look for wild life. While we didn't see a gator there, we saw lots of dragon flies,

 

several snakes,

and ARMADILLOS!!

I've been looking to see a live armadillo just about since I moved to Texas-I've seen lots of them as roadkill, and had seen two prior to this trip, but these guys were out in the daylight, digging for grubs and being awfully cute. I thought about trying to catch one, but then thought of what my mother's reaction would be when I had to tell her I caught leprosy, and decided against it. 

 

We ate that night at Randol's, per my friend Nick's suggestion. I loved my boudin and gumbo, and loved even more that there was a live Zydeco band and more dancing at the eatery!

Sunday morning we went to church. Several people suggested we look for gators at the UL campus, so we headed there. I snapped what is one of my favorite pictures there.

  

Then we drove to Baton Rouge to see the temple, and a sister missionary from Australia :)

Monday morning we had a swamp boat tour scheduled. On our way to the dock, we spotted some birds and stopped for a look because we were early. I waited patiently to snap this picture of the spoonbill...there were several chicks in the nest.

Our tour started with lots of waterlilies.

We saw a couple of small gators before eventually finding this 10 foot giant! While learning about the swamp ecosystem and wildlife, we found a giant water moccasin.

 It was a really great trip, and now that I'm leaving Texas, I'm glad that I took the opportunity when it was around.

Camping

Camping, with hammocks. Stayed dry and warm, and were rocked to sleep by a Texas breeze!

Too bad all the mountain cedar in the area made me pay for the time I spent outside. It's like a cruel joke. Most of the time, Texas is so hot and humid that one doesn't want to spend much time out doors, unless there is water near by. When the cooler weather comes, it brings allergy season, and even a heavily medicated individual gets sick just by enjoying weather perfect for things like this!

Regrets

I don't have many. But losing a friend unexpectedly has caused me to do some examining, because I have regrets regarding my relationship with her. Thankfully, they are not the "I wish I hadn't said that" type of regrets. Rather, they are the "I wish we had done that" regrets. We'd planned for her to give me guitar lessons. This was something we were both excited about. It would give us some time to hang out, we'd get to know each other better, I was excited to learn a new skill, and I'm sure she was excited to share what she knew.

Who knows why, but I tend to be the type of person who does not do a lot of inviting (at least, that's how I see myself). Spending a night at home alone is no big deal, though I enjoy going out with friends. Most of my plans happen eventually, but losing Michele makes me think that eventually should turn in to something sooner. The chance to get to know someone may pass more quickly than anticipated. Thankfully, I'm not really burdened with regret due to this happening, but I want to use this as an opportunity to learn, and act on what I have learned.

The next time you see me, ask me if I've done any inviting recently, and cherish the time you have to spend with the good people in your life!