It's Not Easy Being Green

A small firestorm erupted recently at work. Now if you spend any time at all in places with more than, say--three unrelated people you realize such firestorms occasionally flare up and normally extinguish themselves when no more fuel is available to feed it. This one, ironically enough, started with the pending annual fire inspection. We were asked to remove all personal electronic appliances such as refigerators, space heaters etc not only to assist with the inspection but also as an economic measure. Less draw on the energy = saving the district $$. Of course, this announcement also coincided with the Governor's threat and warning that school districts should prepare to lose state budget funds.

The firestorm spread because some staff members took this request to unplug as a request to make an unreasonable personal sacrifice to help save jobs. A leap, I know, but that's how it was interpreted by some. I'm just sitting there thinking that my personal little refrigerator is probably almost 20 years old and not too energy efficient. OK, I will remove it and use the window ledges about 6 months out of the year as my lunch and drink coolant. We'll be safer and it does make sense. It's much more environmentally friendly. Green. Like the green $25 the district will save to put toward a new teacher (?). Economically sensible.

I think we are all highly aware of the financial climate and making efforts to scale back, cut down and tuck money away. Judy's recent Christmas greeting is a prime example. She's probably a little ahead of the curve (in many ways) in conserving resources by email! Saves the expense of cards, stamps, gas, and photo printing for her. Saves the recipients the tape used to hang up the cards as well as the sort of tsk-tsk-tsk "what a waste" regret you feel as you recycyle your cards sometime in January. Not to mention all the time saved at both ends! Very efficient. Green and economical.

BUT this is going to take some getting used to. As much as I enjoy email, I admit I enjoy retrieving those extra envelopes from the mailbox, opening them and displaying them. I suspect there will be alot less of that this year. And, I of all people, could probably transfer that enjoyment to the "Check mail" button on my desktop.

Judy will probably get some reaction similar to those I've endured over my refusal to accept plastic bags. Maybe 12-15 years ago or so, I realized that pile of unruly plastic bags in my pantry was causing more aggravation than assistance. So I started refusing them. In the ensuing years this has caused more than a fair share of stunned looks from clerks ("Are you sure?"); rolled eyes from my family ("There she goes again") and ribbing from friends (an entire birthday celebration designed around plastic bags--yes, really).

BUT, there are no bags piled up in my pantry. No waste. It's all about the waste as various cities are taxing plastic bags as a means to discourage their use. And waste. I still get the occasional odd look from a clerk as I choose to lug out to the car the bottle of aspirin I just bought (whew). But not as often and most of my family members have adjusted. Their eyes roll at other quirks now. Maybe I'm just ahead of my time, the way I was with the plastic bag issue.

We may have learned some of this from Dad, who's carbon footprint must have been the size of his appetite. Did that man ever buy anything or throw anything away??? Ever?? So, of course, this brings me to the very symbol of the Green Reduce Reuse Recycle movement: those blasted swim trunks. And look what happened there.

So, Judy, it may take til Matthew graduates--from college--before such green efforts you make become part of a national movement, but hang in there. I'm here for you. It isn't easy being green.

Embracing the Quirkiness

First of all, another Happy Birthday shoutout to Chris. This has nothing to do with the "quirkiness" theme today!

My lunch group likes to try and fit a dozen or so of us around a table meant for maybe 6 or 8. This drives me crazy. There are two tables in the room adjacent to each other with adequate chairs at each table. I do not feel it necessary to be squeezed in around a table for the sake of having everyone eat at the same table. I am usually one of the first ones to arrive and find myself shifting and rearranging 2 or 3 times to accommodate everyone at the same table.

I think the others feel that everyone should feel welcome to sit together and all should be included in each conversation. Not a bad theory ... until I am not comfortable at my seat for my lunch with 3 different conversations running across a 6 foot diagonal. We've tried pushing tables together. Two circle tables do not fit all that well together and it still means moving and shuffling. It's not the break from the day that I look forward to.

On days when I arrive late and set myself up at the other table, I cannot make them understand that I'm OK with that. I will sit with my own little group holding our own discussions to save the world. It's OK, really. But not for them.

Which brings me to yesterday when I arrived late at a meeting and tried to sit at a separate table and not squeezed in at the table with the rest of the group. I want to shout: "It's OK! I feel no discomfort sitting over here. In fact, I prefer some space." More fuss was created by them trying to get me to change my mind interrupting the meeting.

I had been thinking that people feel they need to group together to fulfill some kind of need to belong. Kind of like those people that feel they need to seat themselves in the movie theater right in front of you when the theater is all but empty and you are no where near front and center. Or park next to your car in an empty parking lot. Well you get the idea.

But, it occured to me yesterday when the whole lunchtime scene replayed at this other meeting with completely different people that it must be ME that's the problem here. I know, hard to believe. Upon some reflection I think this is just one of my little quirks. I would rather sacrifice some sociability for physical comfort. Most people apparently would rather be social than comfortable. It might surprise you to learn I have just a few other little low level quirks as well.

Which got me remembering (see how my mind works?) how Dad would just stand in the kitchen eating instead of sitting at the table. I hated that. I felt like he just wanted to draw attention to himself and be different for no purpose. I wonder if that's how my behavior appears to others? I am sure Dad had his own reasons just as I do. Now you have the benefit of my sharing it with you all when he never did.

It's a quirk. I have others! I don't really like sand on the beach. I love the sun and sound but not the sand. Hate the sand. I don't like large cups for drinks. Almost can't drink from a large cup. All that liquid --too overwhelming. Quirkiness. Hate the skin on pudding. Don't really like getting my feet wet in the grass going outside with sandals on.

But somehow I could put myself in one of those harnesses and hook myself to the back of a speedboat for parasailing. Walking across the high bridge along the beams underneath. The other side of negative quirks are quirks like these. Or do they call these something else--like reckless? No, reckless is trying to sit at the other table in lunch.

Care to share your quirks or thoughts? C'mon--I've put myself out there. Your turn!

Moore Food for thought

Catchy title don't you think? I am done being creative. Check out the recipie Mom wrote in the "Ryan Family" cookbook that I got for my wedding shower.

Just so that you are aware, if you put multiple pictures on a post, attach them in reverse order.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday this week to Chris! Isn't it kind of nice to know you are over that hill and now you and I can help push Kathy over it next? I guess I kind of still think of us all as kids so it's hard to put that image together with us getting to be 50+.

Mom was the age I am now when I got married. And I'll tell you I'm not ready for that!! Especially when I look at wedding pictures and see her dressed in what I now consider to be "old lady" style clothes (I didn't think so then). I do agree that it seems the conception of age has changed somewhat, probably because of all us baby boomers coming through. On the other hand, Nanny was 50 when Paula was born and when I see pictures, it is hard to imagine. Enough perspective for one blog, right?

Speaking of such, the blog is now a year old! Thank you for contributing, reading and reacting. Let's all keep it up.

Food for thought

It's November, so naturally my thoughts turn to FOOD! I was planning to share the homemade lemon sherbet recipe. I remember that being such a treat--it was so good! I recall the metal loaf pan that Mom would put the sherbet into and the little bits of lemon rind giving the sherbet a slight bitter taste to offset some of the sweet. I am pretty sure it was the same metal loaf pan Mom used for meatloaf. How could that wonderful sherbet come from the same pan as that meatloaf??

So, I went looking for the recipe. I have Mom's 1950 Betty Crocker Cookbook, her handwritten cookbook and her recipe box. Talk about misplaced heirlooms. These should be with someone who cooks and might use a recipe the way I use phone numbers to make dinner.

But I discovered tonight that these do have significant family historical value. Here you see a scan I made of a cookie recipe from Mom's handwritten cookbook that notes it was from Nanny Ryan in 1963. I don't ever remember these particular cookies but I find it fascinating that it comes from Nanny Ryan, whom I know was a good cook.

There are recipes in Mom's handwriting, Nanny's, Kathy's, mine, Dad's and a couple others I am not certain of. Most are handwritten or typed. Very few are clipped from magazines or newspapers (most of mine are). The lemon sherbet is typed out on an index card and has obviously been pulled out many many times. It is too badly stained to scan and place up on this blog for you.

There are a couple of things I remember in particular: lemon sauce for gingerbread and the famous chicken barbeque sauce/marinade. The original recipes are here and my versions of these lack several of the ingredients from the original!! I guess it's evidence of recipe evolution.

It occurs to me that it would be fun to have everyone grab a couple of these and try them out. Then we could have some kind of buffet. Maybe we could do something with them for the Ryan Christmas celebration. What do you think?