by MarianBeaman | Jun 6, 2015 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Lists, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Tips, Travel, Uncategorized
The postcard says Metzie and Molly if you look closely, but Joann and I were unofficially known as Mighty Metz and Sister Styx, the dashing duo that rode in the back seat of a Chevy Impala on a road trip with Joann’s parents, John and Mary Metzler....
by MarianBeaman | Jun 3, 2015 | blog, Coming of Age, Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Mennonite Lore, Quotations, Travel, Uncategorized
Yes, imagine two Mennonite girls tripping across the country . . . In a blue-gray 1958 Chevy Impala sedan With a chauffeur and navigator Through 47 states + Mexico Five weeks in 1964: July 18 – August 24 My Travel Partners: The Metzlers, whom I call Aunt and Uncle,...
by MarianBeaman | May 30, 2015 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Gratitude, Recipes, Tips, Uncategorized
Grand-daughter Jenna and I decided to make a rainbow cake on Memorial Day weekend. We were hoping for a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but the cake-making process wasn’t that easy! Here’s our step-by-step process with a few glitches noted: First,...
by MarianBeaman | May 27, 2015 | blog, book review, Conflict, Education, Literature, Quilt, Quotations, Reflection, Travel, Uncategorized
“Heidi, would you mind stopping by 329 East Bay Street before we leave town?” We were on our way out of Charleston during our recent road trip, and my niece Heidi graciously agreed to stop her SUV long enough for me to catch a snapshot of the Grimké House...
by MarianBeaman | May 23, 2015 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, meditation, Memory, Mennonite History, popular culture, Reflection, Uncategorized
Catchy caption needed. Your suggestions please! Just as every issue of The New Yorker features a cartoon in need of a caption, today’s post offers a photo calling for your input. There’s one below to get your wheels turning, but I think there are other...
by MarianBeaman | May 20, 2015 | blog, Coming of Age, Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Mennonite Lore, Uncategorized
Nose-to-the-Grindstone, that’s my dad. But I have proof in pictures that he once took a fling to Florida with his Lancaster County Mennonite buddies. Judging from the photos that remain and Mother’s comments, I can pretty much guarantee that there were no...
by MarianBeaman | May 16, 2015 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Reflection, Travel, Uncategorized
We pile into Heidi’s shiny black Toyota 4Runner in Jacksonville and off we go, zooming across state lines, first Florida, then Georgia, and finally South Carolina, our voices twanging to Doo Wop tunes of the 50s and 60s: All Good Vibrations as miles melt away....
by MarianBeaman | May 12, 2015 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Nostalgia, Reflection, Travel, Uncategorized
Girls’ road trips are part of the landscape of American pop culture. Who can forget Thelma and Louise? Wanting to take a short vacation from their dreary lives, Thelma (Geena Davis) and Louise (Susan Sarandon) head out from Arkansas to the Grand Canyon in a 1966 Ford...
by MarianBeaman | May 9, 2015 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, meditation, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Quotations, Uncategorized
This is my first Mother’s Day without my mother, Ruth Metzler Longenecker. To say I miss her is an understatement of the highest order. Technically, I could be considered an orphan with both my mother and father gone. However, with my own extended family and...
by MarianBeaman | May 6, 2015 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Kiev Ukraine, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Recipes, Uncategorized
Yummy Recipe Last week I was in the kitchen with my nearly vintage Mennonite Community Cookbook (1978) creased open to page 155 where I checked out the recipe for sautéed (Okay, I’ll admit, it’s fried!) egg-plant. Hours later when my new and improved Mennonite...
