dailyprompt

eat dessert first

~ MaryG ~ 23 Comments

What is your favorite quote?

I’m not sure who said this originally: Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first

But I will always attribute it to my dear friend’s late father. Last summer, at her daughter’s wedding, when I arrived at my seat for the reception, this was my place setting.

And in that spirit, here’s a photo of an amazing dessert I had last night. (I actually had it after dinner, but I was not too full and enjoyed every bite.)

The flavor is “vanilla blueberry crumble” and it is delicious. It’s vanilla with fresh blueberries and graham crackers from the locally famous Kimball Farm.

That’s a small! (I finished it, obvi)

I don’t know if other parts of the country have local ice cream stands that were originally dairy farms operated by hearty, entrepreneurial types who decided to expand into ice cream in the early part of the 20th century, but eastern Massachusetts has many great options. Many have been in continuous operation since before WW2 and the ice cream is amazing.

Here are my top four:

Kimball Farm

Bedford Farms

Great Brook State Park

Crescent Ridge Dairy Bar

Do-Re-Mi

~ MaryG ~ 24 Comments

What’s a skill you consider basic, that most people don’t actually know how to do?

So many people say they “can’t sing” and it bugs me. Everyone CAN sing, but not everyone can sing in tune. My mother is a non-singer. She said she’s so bad at it that she was told to “mouth the words” to her sorority song, so as not to be heard by whatever audience listened to sorority girls sing songs in the 1950s. I’ve literally never heard her sing.

My husband can’t read music or play an instrument but he can sing — in tune. He will do karaoke in a pinch, if required. I think it’s because he listens to a lot of music and sings or hums along.

That is honestly the best way to learn to sing: Sing or hum along with music you like.

If you can’t find a song you like, then sing this one. It’s the classic.

Julie Andrews taught me

Imagine a world where nobody ever says “I can’t sing,” but instead just joins in with everyone else, I think it might actually fix all our problems.

Obama sings Amazing Grace

Don’t be an Eeyore

~ MaryG ~ 14 Comments

Who is the fictional character you relate to the most?

My husband has a cousin who’s an Eeyore. He just is and, apparently, always was.

I really don’t want be an Eeyore, but it’s hard not to be, if you read any news at all.

Today I hope to snap out of Eeyore.

I think (and hope) I’m more of a Kanga, in need of a quick visit from Tigger to perk up.

Happy Friday.

God questions

~ MaryG ~ 32 Comments
Daily writing prompt
Do you think everything happens for a reason?
View all responses

I feel like this is low-key one of the “God questions.” It’s not directly asking if you believe in God, but who else is providing the “reasons,” if not God?

It’s hard to imagine there could be any conceivable “reason” for the awful things that happen in this world. Here in Massachusetts, we are dealing with daily gruesome reporting on the Lindsay Clancy trial—the labor & delivery nurse who strangled all 3 of her young children and then attempted suicide by jumping out a window in a state of post-partum psychosis, while her husband was out picking up dinner. He came home to find his wife paralyzed on the front lawn and all three of his children in the basement with exercise bands wrapped around their necks. What possible reason?

When my own three cousins were tiny (under 5), their mother (my aunt) found a lump in her breast and then died of breast cancer at age 30. I had prayed so hard to Catholic God for her to live. But Catholic God decided she should die. And, at her funeral, Catholic priest implied God had a good reason for “calling her home” to Him early. I’m pretty sure that was the exact moment I quit believing in the Catholic Church and its God.

So no, I don’t think “everything happens for a reason.” Some things are just horrible misfortunes that nobody deserves.

My aunt Betsy (far left) holding one of her children. She died a year or so later.

Impossible dream

~ MaryG ~ 27 Comments

What’s your biggest dream?

We saw The Odyssey yesterday—the latest blockbuster film from Christopher Nolan. Honestly, I was not a huge fan of Oppenheimer, but it’s not like we were going to skip the biggest film of the summer. (As you may have heard, it’s three hours long and cost 250 million dollars to make.)

I did a bit a “research” beforehand (I watched one video and read one article in the NYT), so I knew some basics about: Zeus‘s Law; Helen of Troy; Ithaca; and the Greek gods Zeus, Athena, Poseidon and Hades. I recommend doing that before seeing it or you will be confused.

My husband, who read way more Greek mythology than me as a kid, but didn’t brush up before the movie, was pretty confused. He gave the film a resounding “Meh.” In addition to being confused, he felt that none of the characters were particularly well developed.

My take home message was this: war is hell and (most) men are pigs.

The best scene in the film is when the witch Circe (brilliantly played by Samantha Morton) turns Odysseus’ men into actual pigs. It’s not a subtle message.

And as if to make the point more clear, I read these two bits of news upon my return from the theater:

Pig Trump

Pig Hegseth

As I watched 3,000 year old Troy burn, I couldn’t help but think of Tehran, Gaza, Kyiv, Manhattan and scores of other cities and countries that have seen bombings and other manmade violence in my lifetime alone. Some places are getting drone-bombed right now for God’s sake.

War just never seems to go away permanently. Where there are men, there are wars.

A world without war seems an impossible dream.

Local food

~ MaryG ~ 15 Comments

What’s a promise you made to yourself that you’ve actually kept?

When this latest poorly-managed public health crisis started, I promised myself I’d patronize our local farmstands more.

Yesterday, we went to two of them and bought lettuce, cucumber, broccoli, and berries.

There’s a slice of pound cake under that pile of berries. And yes, I added whipped cream before eating. 😋

My best purchase

~ MaryG ~ 18 Comments
Daily writing prompt
What is the best purchase you have ever made?
View all responses

The best purchase I ever made was free.

Having fun isn’t hard when you’ve got a library card.

Things I got from my library:

An education

My closest friend

Sex education

Foreign language instruction

Books

E-books

Audiobooks

Books for my kids

Storytime and other entertainment for my kids

Books to discuss with my book group

Flu shots

Travel resources

Magazines

A quiet place to read

A place for my son to meet with his math tutor

A place to hold a community meeting

A place to buy used books for almost nothing

A place to donate old books

A way to download and read or listen to books on my phone or Kindle without ever leaving my house (aka the Libby app)

All for free

The Lacuna

~ MaryG ~ 17 Comments

What’s a movie or book that inspired you to travel?

I remember reading The Lacuna (copyright 2009) by Barbara Kingsolver and deciding I really needed to visit Mexico. I was in my mid-forties and I’d never been.

I don’t remember much about the book, but I know that at least part of it was set in Mexico and that Kingsolver is an incredible writer. So we went! I brought the whole family. Even though my son got a stomach bug, my kids still remember it as one of our best vacations.

We stayed in a resort, but it was one with a town nearby that we could walk to.
We took a boat over to Cozumel for a day trip.
My kids with other kids from all over the world at our hotel beach in Mexico (2011)

Atmosphere

~ MaryG ~ 28 Comments

Which outdated technology do you miss the most, and why?

I’ve been enjoying reading a good old analog book by the pool this week. The book I’m reading is Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid.

It reminds me of summers of yore, when that’s what we did—we laid around and read books.

Our phones did not distract us from our books, because our phones were home in the kitchen—attached to the wall.

My pool is in a condo community for older people, so there are always several other people sitting around reading real books. When I walk around the pool, I check out the titles of other people’s books. Sometimes people stop and ask each other about the book they’re reading. (This doesn’t happen when everyone is reading on their phone or Kindle.)

So yeah, hardcover and paperback books. They’re not actually gone, but I’ve missed them.

So far, it’s good. Please don’t tell me how it ends.😉

Yes, but

~ MaryG ~ 21 Comments

Are you a lifelong learner?

Yes, but I “study” what I want. I got my BA in History and never went back for a graduate degree because they all sounded so boring and cost too much money. MBA? (snooze fest) Law School? (are you joking?) A Master’s in History? (not interested)

And when I was working, I was never big on “professional development.” I only took the required stuff on topics like cybersecurity. All those LinkedIn courses and certifications on business-y topics were available to me, but I hardly ever opted in. I felt like the best way to get better at my job was to do it, and since I was a fundraiser, the proof was in the pudding. I raised millions of dollars for my employers and clients. Nobody cared that I didn’t have an MBA.

Courses I took outside of work included Italian, photography and music (singing lessons). Now that I’m retired, it’s been studio art classes that interest me most, particularly watercolors.

In fact, just yesterday I participated in a 2.5 hour class called “Yoga, Meditation and Abstract Art.” It was my first time using acrylic paint in decades. My abstract piece really wanted to become some sailboats on a green sea, so that’s what happened.

This started as an abstract, but then a couple of sails emerged. “The FDT” is part of the Resistance 😜