No Time At All

     Recently I DVDd a movie of the stage play "Pippen", a musical based loosely on Charlemagne's son.  It was a typical 1970s style play and I remember seeing it here in Peoria many years ago with Barry Williams (Greg Brady) in the lead role and his grandmother was played by Irene Ryan who originated the part on Broadway.  Grandma sings one song and it has now become my new philosophy.

When you are as old as I, my dear
And I hope that you never are
You will woefully wonder why, my dear
Through your cataracts and catarrh
You could squander away or sequester
A drop of a precious year
For when your best days are yester
The rest'er twice as dear...

What good is a field on a fine summer night
When you sit all alone with the weeds?
Or a succulent pear if with each juicy bite
You spit out your teeth with the seeds?
Before it's too late stop trying to wait
For fortune and fame you're secure of
For there's one thing to be sure of, mate:
There's nothing to be sure of!

Chorus:  Oh, it's time to start livin'
Time to take a little from this world we're giving
Time to take time, cause spring will turn to fall
In just no time at all....

I've never wondered if I was afraid
When there was a challenge to take
I never thought about how much I weighed
When there was still one piece of cake
Maybe it's meant the hours I've spent
Feeling broken and bent and unwell
But there's still no cure more heaven-sent
As the chance to raise some hell

Chorus:

Now when the drearies do attack
And a siege of the sads begins
I just throw these noble shoulders back
And lift these noble chins

Sages tweet that age is sweet
Good deeds and good work earns you laurels
But what could make you feel more obsolete
Than being noted for your morals?

Here is a secret I never have told
Maybe you'll understand why
I believe if I refuse to grow old
I can stay young till I die
Now, I've known the fears of seventy-six years
I've had troubles and tears by the score
But the only thing I'd trade them for
Is seventy-seven more...

Chorus:  Oh, it's time to keep livin'
Time to keep takin' from the world we're given
Time to take time, cause spring will turn to fall
In just no time at all...

Gallimaufry

     Back in the 1950s, making Biblical movie epics seemed to be the formula for a theatrical hit.  I saw several - "The Robe", "Quo Vadis" - are a couple that come to mind, one reason being is that as I attended a Parochial High School, we got out of class to walk to a downtown theater to see the movie.  And as I remember, Vern and I went to see "The Greatest Story Ever Told" about a week before Leah was born.  I don't remember much about the movie, only that I had to leave several times for bathroom breaks.
    All this is leading up to the fact that all these years later, I DVDd "Ben Hur" and watched the entire movie for the first time.  All anyone has talked about over the years is the chariot race scenes.   Pretty exciting, but what is more interesting to me is how young and beautiful Charlton Heston was in the movie and the odyssey of his life and the end when his family is restored to him.  I liked that they never showed the face of the Man from Nazereth.  It is just a beautiful movie.  A good movie for this Lenten season.
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      Today is the Gospel reading about the temptations of Christ, some versions of which, He quotes:  "Satan get thee behind Me"  And this reminds me of one of my favorite jokes:
    The wife of a Evangelical Pastor loved pretty clothes and she spent a lot of money on them.  The Pastor asked her to please stop several times because his salary was small and she promised she would but always went back to buying more clothes.  Finally, he really got mad and told her if she bought any more dresses, he would divorce her.  She was so shocked and loved her husband so much and promised to stop purchasing new things  and she went several weeks not buying a thing.   
      A new dress shop opened in town and she walked by it several times and then  finally just 'had to go in' and she sheepishly came home with a new item for her wardrobe.     Her husband said:  "You promised you wouldn't buy anything."  "I know," she said, "I really wasn't going to but the dress was so cute and I tried it on and it looked so good and I just had to buy it."  "You were tempted", her husband responded, "You should have said, 'Satan, get thee behind me."  "I did," she answered, "And Satan said it looked good from there too!"
                                                                       
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      I may get drummed out of the Church for this but I have to give my opinion -  My belief is that everyone is entitled to my opinion.  This morning we were read a letter from our Bishop.  There will be a rally on February 20 in Springfield supporting the sanctity of Marriage.    I believe that Marriage is a Sacrament and should be just that a Sacrament to be celebrated between a man and a woman.  But I also believe that two people of the same sex who love each other and maintain the same values, if they choose, should be free to be joined in a civil service and have the same rights  - insurance, hospital visits, etc. as sacramentally married folks.
      I also feel that a couple of the same sex should be allowed to adopt children if they have gone through the same fitness testing that heterosexual or single parents go through.  I live in a neighborhood where there are same sex parents and I watch the care they show at our neighborhood parades, when they walk their children - I haven't seen them talk on cell phones while doing same and a lot of heterosexual parents do and also what other neighbors say about the kind of parents they are.   I heard someone on EWTN give an explanation why same sex adoptions shouldn't be allowed and, sorry, but their reasons didn't hold water. 
      I really hope the Catholic Church will get out of bedroom issues and get back to preaching the Gospel, helping the poor - which we have lead the world in doing, and teaching what Jesus taught: "Love thy neighbor as thyself."


   

 

Where Did The Baskets Come From

      Matthew 14:16-21      But Jesus said, "They need not go away; you give them something to eat."  They said to him, "We have only five loaves here and two fish."  And he said, "Bring them to me."  Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing.  Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.  And they all ate and were satisfied.  And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over.  And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and  children.

     Today was the funeral of our longtime friend, Bernice Knapp.  Bernice and I cooked dinners for the Church and the Washington Day Dinner, worked on dance recitals together, and both raised six kids.  She had five in four years (twins), all boys and Susan.  I had six daughters in eight years.  We had South side Peoria in common.  She was a McIntyre from St. Boniface, I a Scovil from St. Patricks.  Both of us strong women, Bernice was a bit more abrupt than me and there were times I had to explain she was really a good hearted person that just came across that way - tough.  I always thought it was a device to keep those five boys in line and she just forgot sometimes who she was talking to.  She was an amazing cook and baker.  Her Christmas cookies were works of art and she could make the most beautiful  - and tasty -  wedding cakes.  We had many good times together.  The above Gospel was read at her service.

    Father Gary Caster, who teaches out East now, was an assistant pastor in St. Patricks Parish, Washington several years ago, but today he was back at St. Pats to say her funeral Mass because they were good friends.  He told that when he was working in the parish, he conducted a Bible Study class and one time these verses from Matthew were on the study list.  He gave his interpretation of the reading and asked: "Are there any questions?"  Bernice raised her hand:  "Okay, I get the loaves and fishes and Jesus blessing them and there being more than enough to go around, but where did the twelve baskets come from?"  He said, that he went into a long discussion that it wasn't about the baskets but about the origins of our Church's belief that this was the first time that Jesus fed us, the beginnings of our Eucharist.  He said it was lengthy and philosophical and he thought quite brilliant and when he looked at Bernice again with a questioning look, she said:  "You still didn't tell us where the baskets came from."  And over the years, this  became a joke plus a bonding statement between them. 
      At the end of his homily today, he looked at her husband, children and grandchildren and the congregation and said:  "  I've had some time to think about the baskets lately in this Gospel passage and I believe that they were a metaphor that there was more than enough to feed the multitude just as through the Eucharist He fills us with not only His Body and Blood but with His love.  And all of you, Bob, Susan and the boys, the grandchildren and all of her friends, you are her baskets, because you are filled with the good times and memories that she gave to you."
 
     Rest in peace, Bernice.  
 

Gallimaufry

      I have had such a taste for chicken salad lately.  I bought some from Alwan Brothers market, it just wasn't to my taste and neither was Lindys.  So I called my friend, Marge, she has always made the best chicken salad. 
      She usually bakes or boils a chicken, picks and pulses it in the food processor, adds onion and celery - chopped,  and miracle whip.  Very simple but excellent.
      I had three chicken breasts in the freezer that had been there for awhile.  I boiled them with a garlic clove,  a half a medium  onion and  about two stalks celery and four medium size carrots.
      I chopped up the other half onion and about a three quarters cup chopped celery.  When the chicken breasts were cooked and cooled, I finely diced them as well.  I divided it into three parts, freezing two containers of the mixture - about a cup each -  and added Miracle Whip to the third.  Outstanding!  Plain, but so darn good.  I served it on lettuce for supper one night this week.
      Today, I thawed out one of the frozen containers, added  a quart of chicken stock, a medium size carrot - sliced - and a handful  of tortellini and just had a really good soup for lunch.   Thanks, Marge!
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      The CBS Morning show has been broadcasting from New Orleans since Thursday.  I've only been there a couple of times but love the ambience of the city and the history.  It is just a magical place.  The last time I was there was in the 80's.  I was there for a meeting and stayed at the Hyatt Hotel attached to the Superdome.  Each morning, when I awoke, I walked across the ramp from the hotel to the dome and encircled it.  One day it was open and I walked inside.  Pretty cool!  When Hurricane Katrina happened and all of the bad press about what was going on, it made me sad.  But seeing it on TV the last few days has given me hope in the human spirit that says:  "We can make this good again!"  It looks better than I remember it.  Congratulations to NOLA!!

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    This morning we woke up to snow on the ground.  First time this year.  Bill - the mowing, shoveling guy - was here about eight and cleaned a path to both doors.  Its good to have people who take care of things like this.  I am blessed.

Burma Shave

 Cattle Crossing
Please Go slow
 That Old Bull
Is Some Cow's Beau

       About the only place we traveled when I was growing up, was to Dad's sister Olie's house outside Dunlap and to my mother's family in Oakland, Il or Terre Houte, In.  Aunt Olie's was a destination of Sunday afternoons and Uncle Jess's or Uncle Russ's was during Caterpillar shut down in July.
       As we traveled south and east down Route 136, a favorite pastime for the family - like the rest of the country -  was reading the iconic advertising of a shaving soap, Burma Shave - five rectangle red  signs with white lettering, one line each of a poem and the fifth sign, the words Burma Shave.
       Before there were interstates and everyone drove on two lane roads, the signs were all along the road at the fence line of a farmer's field.    Most were clever, and fun to read.  Following are some of the actual signs:

Don't Stick Your Elbow
Out So Far
It May Go Home
In Another Car.
Burma Shave

She Kissed The Hairbrush
By Mistake
She Thought It Was
Her Husband Jake
Burma Shave

The Midnight Ride
Of Paul For Beer
Led To A Warmer
Hemisphere
Burma Shave

Around The Curve
Lickety-Split
Beautiful Car
Wasn't It?
Burma Shave

No Matter ThePrice
No Matter How New
The Best Safety Device
In The Car Is You
Burma Shave

Passing School Zone
Take It Slow
Let Our Little
Shavers Grow
Burma Shave

A Man, A Miss
A Kiss, A Curve
He Kissed the Miss
And Missed The Curve
Burma Shave

       The only signs close to that idea that I've seen in the last few years, is along the Interstates, the NRA has some signs about owning guns,  Protest signs around Metamora - for a few years they seemed to be protesting a lot,  and South of Springfield, on I55, a farm had a statue of the Blessed Mother pretty close to the road and then on similar sized white signs in blue lettering on down the highway, the prayer "Hail Mary".  It's been awhile  since I've been that way, so I'm not sure it's still there.
       Burma Shave signs, part of our history.

Marla's Italian Beef

     Some years back I was the chairman for St. Patrick's Women's Guild annual Christmas Bazaar.  We did a little bit of reorganizing.  Neighbor women got together and made things for the Bazaar ( I was in a group with my closest St. Pats neighbors that included Ann Faubel, Louise Kelly and Mary Underwood.  There were about six in the group, I don't remember every one else or what we made, but it was fun getting together) 
     And we also decided to change the menu for the kitchen.  Biscuits and gravy for the morning - a group of guys from the Knights of Columbus helped us with that. Early shoppers really liked them.  I think Bernice Knapp was in charge of the kitchen for that part of the event.  Bernice and I worked in the kitchen together on many parish events including the Washington Day Dinner....but that's another story.  I took over for the lunch portion and made Italian Beef.  I used Marla Jarboe's recipe.  One of the best I've ever had.  It follows:

A five and a half to six pound sirloin tip or rump roast

1 quart water
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 clove garlic
1 bay leaf
1 tsp dried red pepper flakes
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp salt.

Mix together, bring to a boil and add meat.  Cook in a 350 oven until done (150 degrees on a meat thermometer).  Cool and slice.  Reheat in juice and serve.

I used Kaiser Rolls or Brat rolls buttered with garlic butter and served with pepperoncini.

     This was a favorite at home as well and I served it often when we had guests.  Just had to add a pasta dish and salad.

Enjoy!

Fifth Anniversary

          This picture was taken of Vern when we were dating.  I call it the "Sexy Vern" pose.  The daughters call it the "Fonzie" pose.   When I think of him at this time in our life together, I think of Old Spice and Dentyne gum.  He used both.  Today is the fifth anniversary of the day he died.  I miss him but don't mourn him because I know he's in a better place.


Those we love don't go away.  
They walk beside us every day.
Unseen, unheard, but always near.
Still loved, still missed and very dear.