MaryAlice Musings and More

The day has felt like I was inside  a big, warm snow globe!  At times it was just swirling every which way and it was so very fluffy and light.  A good amount of snow has fallen maybe 8" or more, maybe a little less.  I have made several passes clearing the back porch and stairs and making a pathway to the garage door.  I could almost wipe it away with my hand, it made for an easier job clearing my way.   I have spent another day cooking, preparing, thinking about opening up my house on New Year's Day.   "Love People, cook them tasty food" is one of my favorite bumper stickers from Penzey's , my most favorite spice store with fabulous political leanings - and they don't mind letting you know!   So today as I was cooking I was remembering the people here and gone who I have cooked for and with, the simple act of carrying out the food together, the laughter and good stories shared along with a meal.  Little memories slipped in and out as I whipped, chopped

It's Monday, not that anyone knows what day it is right now!  By next week at this time it  will be a new year and no more middle of the week holidays until next December (4th of July is on a Saturday this year).   Winter storm warning is in effect, but the snow has not started and the forecast varies wildly!  Maybe 4", maybe 10" it will start snowing after midnight here and if forecast to snow all day and into the night tomorrow - Happy New Year's - good thing I am having New Year's Eve right here in my little house!   I had a baking disaster this afternoon.   I was making a pineapple upside down cake for New Year's Day --- and was singing and enjoying myself in the kitchen -- brought out all the ingredients and got the cast iron skillet ready, made the batter and popped it in the oven.  Then as I was putting ingredients away I looked at the baking powder tin, only it wasn't baking powder, it was cornstarch....the cornstarch cake was already in the ov

Today was making ravioli day.  I have been cooking chicken stock on the stove for two days, it is getting better and better and tasting richer with each step in the process.  This morning I brought the beautiful cooper pot in from the porch and put in on the stove to simmer again.  Then I got everything cleaned up for and ready to make the ravioli.   My Gramma made ravioli (my Mom did too) and my Gramma was able to have the time and space to let me help and be at her side.  It was magical cooking.  Making the dough, kneading it and then rolling out so very thin.  The fun part was making each ravioli - they really were more like tortellini than a ravioli - and to me they looked just like belly buttons.  We laughed and made up stories as we transformed that square into just the right "belly button".  I still conjure up that joy and love today.  I made three big trays and they are now tightly wrapped up on the auxiliary frig aka the side porch.    I did my shopping and

Remembering Philly at Christmas Time Past   I started today as I do most days with a cup of tea and working the suduko puzzle in the paper.  I get the Bangor Daily News (BDN) delivered on Thursday, Friday and Saturday - there is no Sunday paper.  It is a little action that I can take to support the free press.  I also have digital access to the New York Times (NYT).  The BDN and the NYT are pretty different in what and how they cover the news both local and national.  The local paper is long on obituaries (and I must confess I have started reading them - especially those older than 90) and sports (they do list all the college women basketball games in their daily listings and that makes me very happy!).  The puzzle is in the section that lists "camps for sale" and I like folding up the section and using my favorite pencil to fill in the boxes.    While still in my robe, I put on my boots and went out and shoveled the ice off the back porch and stairs.  I had put o

My "not yet my house" 1 year ago. There was lots and lots of snow at this time last year.  My house closing was about a week away and I was trying to figure out how to make sure that they snow was cleared out before closing!  I was imagining the worst as I thought about all the workers that were lined up the next day after closing.  The snow was cleared, the worker came, the work was done, and the move went off without a hitch! Today the snow all has a crust of ice/sleet/frozen stuff.  I tried to shovel off my back porch and resorted to putting down salt and sand.  I am not leaving the house for the rest of the day and maybe not tomorrow either.  I have three different pairs of ice cleats,  click on the link and find the best pair if you are in the northern climes.  I never had ice cleats in Minnesota (probably would have been a good idea) but here I have them at the back door, I have a pair in the car, and I have several types depending on where I am walking and the

I spent today journeying through cookbooks,  making hotel reservations and catching up with a few good friends.   Yesterday's plan and the reality were not quite the same!  The plan changed but the outcome a wonderful Christmas adventure happened even though I ate Indian rather then Chinese for lunch.  I did get to visit with my friends Susan and Jeanne and enjoyed sweet visit with lots of laughter.  I did not get to see "Little Women"  but today I did a little mini-binge of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel   not quite Jo but very fun and just right for my somewhat scattered attention span.   I have a little post holiday hangover and I didn't get enough outdoor time these last few days.  I didn't get outside much today either - a quick trip to the post office and the hardware store and then I quickly headed back in the house.   I spent the days doing little tasks associated with plans - I spent a little more time thinking about the menu for my New Year's Day Open

I started this day, Christmas Day with Dory Previn, last night as I was getting ready to sleep I began singing, " Did Jesus Have a Baby Sister " and this morning the song was still with me so I decided I would listen and I hope you have a listen take a moment and listen.  It is not the typical choice either the song or the songwriter for this holiday moment, Dory Previn did not sing sweet feel good songs, she was dark, and she gave those things that we don't want to think about a song and a voice.  I reread her obituary in the New York Times after listening to this and it brought me back around to what promise was birthed on this mythical day.  The promise to feed to hungry, to wash the feet of poor, to live without judgement, to enfold those who are pushed away and kept out and to stand for justice.   All this from a rather, what I thought, of a lighthearted feminist moment of wanting to think about the feminine the baby sister.  I am sure that when holding a new baby on

What a lovely day.  I woke up a little later than usual (the reality is I am not really certain what usual is anymore - it used to be early but wow I can wake anywhere from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. and that seems improbable and certainly not my old you can set a clock by the time I get up) and came downstairs,  it was slow going. The sun was shining, the sky a beautiful blue and just a little bit of snow.   I have been listening to Christmas music all day long some chorale, then jazz, and now a mix of traditional carols and old standbys.   My grandparents, Mary and Ray, were married on Christmas Eve so as a little girl there was this mix of the holiday and a little bit of extra love that happened as my Grandparents shared their special day with children and grandchildren.  I remember my Gramma is a very special dress with a holiday apron - they would have music playing some of the same songs that I listened to today.  My Grampa loved oyster stew and Gramma made it every Christmas Eve. 

It has been a very mundane kind of day.  I have been on such good feelings, ones that have felt almost larger than life - today I have just moved along doing what I need to get done:  finishing up notes and materials for our planning board meeting tonight; making several stops at the grocery; I forgot my car wash appointment - but Steve had to go to Houlton so it was all for the good.  I got several cards in my post office box and a lovely present that I have put under my tree and  a dear friend in Wisconsin gave me a commemorative ornament honoring 100 years of Women's Right to Vote in Wisconsin.   The dishes are in the sink and will get done in the morning.  I have taken the remains from tree trimming down to the basement.  I have gotten a number of rows completed on the baby sweater that is in progress.  I made a great cranberry gimlet.  The candles were lit for the second day of Hanukkah.  It is the day before Christmas Eve - my grandparents wedding anniversary.    It i

The candles are lit as the darkness came tonight.  I took this photo looking from the back of the menorah so I could also get my pagan tree in the picture.  This afternoon my little tree was dropped off and later tonight the lights and ornaments will be put on this sweet little just freshly cut tree.  I have another one planted in the snow in the front yard and i will bring in onto the porch tomorrow and decorate it with lights and more.    We now have a new little blanket of snow it is looking quite wintry out there, and quite cozy inside my house.   A neighbor stopped by for a cup of tea as I was trying to find the box of lights,  I did manage to sit down and enjoy a little visit but I was flummoxed.   I can absolutely envision the lights but they were no where to be found.  After several attempts to locate them and an inability to just let go - finally I went to the little store in town and bought a few sets of lights.  Tomorrow I will probably find the other strands.  I have

Today was such a lovely day.  The sun was shining, the temperature a little warmer.  I did a few things that had to be done then read and listened to chorale music all morning and into the afternoon.   Mid-afternoon I picked up my friend David and off we went to Houlton to check out the new bar that opened up and to go to the Solstice Celebration at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Houlton.    The Bastions Tavern recently opened and we wanted to check them out and to support this new business right in the historic section of the downtown.  There were quite a lot of people there and of course there was a "Patriots" football game on so people were having quite the time cheering on the hometown team!  People love their "pats" here.   Then off we went to Military Street where the Church and the "Cup Cafe" are located.  There was a drumming circle before the Solstice ceremony, and people gathered bringing in their drums and food to share.  It is quite

The lights are bright and the music is loud and ringing out joy!  Santa is riding down each and every street in Patten -- and I love it!  Such brightness as we move into the longest night.  This was the third night that Santa's firetruck came zipping down my street.  The first night it was such a delight,  then last night it happened again - with my tight little house I could not hear the music until the lights were shining in my front windows.  So today I went to the town office to ask about Santa and his sled.  I found out that there was one more night and  I was ready.  I walked to Main Street and watched the "sleigh" leave the firehouse, it goes down each and every street and a half-hour later Santa turned onto my street.  I had been listening to the fading and growing songs and  appreciating how many stars were out in this dark dark solstice sky.  The big dipper just pointing down on us, a little moment of child like innocence and delight as I waited to wave to

The sun was shining and the thermometer read 8 degrees when I got in the car at 8 a.m. this morning to head to Millinocket for a shift at the library.   On the way out of town I got to see a number of Amish buggies going towards a job they are completing on State Hwy. 11 - they are building a storefront -- and it the cold they were out horses hauling and up on beams pounding and putting up walls and finishing the roof.    I really like having this truly other culture right in my midst and not too long after I passed all the big work going on there - I had to slow down once again to let an entire village of turkey cross the highway - I lost count at 17,  they all looked very big and seemed very happy as they all made it safely across the row and headed into a little stand of trees on the other side.  Not quite like my morning Leo wearing rainbow in the "nook"  at the Library.  commute on Interstate 94 from Minneapolis to St. Paul in years gone by!   I left early enough to

December 18th 2019 I have not turned on the telecast of the proceedings to vote on the impeachment of Trump,  It is up in the corner of my screen and it is weighing heavily on my mind.  I have listened to a few commentators on NPR and I am sure that I will tune in a little more later today.  For right now I am just overwhelmed by it all.   This morning while I was doing errands I was asked to sign nomination papers for the Selectman's board by someone I know.   I signed and another person said they didn't do that and then said they had never voted in their life.  I took a deep breath and did not say a thing.  I don't think that I have ever missed a vote (maybe an obscure special election or runaway primary but even then, I went out an voted).  I can't imagine what it means to not have found a moment when you felt like you were a part of democracy that every vote does matter.   Granted right now it all feels very fragile,  somewhat shattered and very susceptible t

  I have been postponing putting on my coat and boots and walking to the post office all day long!  It is gray outside and it feels both cold and damp.  I keep getting notifications that the snow will be starting soon, but so far no snow.   I have spent time doing the daily Sudoku.  I had a good breakfast and then heated up some of the Manhattan clam chowder that I made over the weekend.   My emotions feel very close to the surface.  There is the turmoil of the coming impeachment, the continued acceptance and capitulation of such tragic and dangerous behaviors and then there are my feelings of gratitude for my family, for my friends and for this community that I have become a part.  The year is coming to a close and I often find myself thinking about what has happened in this year, wondering what I will bring into this new year.   Taking time and space to just sit with a feeling, to let a tear fall and a smile grow.  What a gift.  Looking back and going forward.   I have found

Returning From A Planetary Trip - Saturn Rising    I have heard many comments, requests and a few pushes to return to my blogging --- 2019 was a big year for me and instead of sharing through my blog, I found myself often in a very internal process --- I have been feeling the tug to blog again for a number of weeks.  Then it became, how do I begin to blog again? The, what picture should I post?   So without a plan and with no selected photo I decided today is the day.  Blogging again... Patten in now my home  and today there is a blue blue sky, bright sunshine, cold winds and a little snow on the ground.  It is Monday, we have had the last full moon of the month and of the decade.  Winter Solstice is Saturday and next month I will have been living on Willow Street for one year.   I am happy,  I am content,  and I feel engaged in my new home and town.  I now live in the "north end"  I like saying "north end"  it reminds me of London, it feels Bostonian it fee