by MarianBeaman | Aug 20, 2014 | Coming of Age, Conflict, Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Quotations, Travel, Uncategorized
Daddy was an avid hunter (pheasants and deer mostly) and an eager fisherman. The outdoors took him away from the stresses of his business, Longenecker Farm Supply, and helped him literally recharge his batteries. I never went hunting with him, but he invited me once...
by MarianBeaman | Aug 15, 2014 | Family / Nostalgia, meditation, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Quotations
We’re having lunch at Mother’s house today: home-grown tomato sandwiches, Silver Queen corn on the cob, and fresh tossed salad with a wrapped-up cucumber found left in her refrigerator. There is also a boiled egg she cooked recently, but Mom is not here. She is gone,...
by MarianBeaman | Aug 2, 2014 | Family / Nostalgia, Gratitude, Literature, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Romance, Uncategorized
During the first week of August Cliff and I celebrate three wedding anniversaries, our son and daughter and their spouses along with our own. Our children are beginners at marriage (sort of), but for us it’s # 47, three years away from golden. Our romance was of the...
by MarianBeaman | Jul 29, 2014 | Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Mennonite Lore
One of our beloved cast of characters on this blog has gone home to be with the Lord this week. Following the publication of Saturday’s edition, postings on this blog will be suspended for a time.
by MarianBeaman | Jul 26, 2014 | book review, Coming of Age, Family / Nostalgia, Gratitude, Memory, Mennonite Lore, Quotations, Uncategorized
A grande dame of British theatre, Judi Dench, spoke with Anderson Cooper just before the release of the movie The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel in 2012 making crystal clear she has no plans to rest on her laurels and retire. In another interview she remarks about...
by MarianBeaman | Jul 24, 2014 | Family / Nostalgia, Nostalgia, Recipes, Southern lady friends, Uncategorized
You may remember when I visited Pennsylvania last month we made butter the old-fashioned way, my mother, sister and I shaking cream in a 2-quart jar. This week my Southern friend Carolyn threw a birthday bash that included friends making butter together. We did...
by MarianBeaman | Jul 23, 2014 | Coming of Age, Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Quotations, Uncategorized
My policy on cake is pro having it and pro eating it. – Boris Johnson * * * July is the birthday month for four our immediate family. If you count our extended family, there are three or four more birthdays this month. This month I celebrate the...
by MarianBeaman | Jul 19, 2014 | Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Mennonite Lore, Recipes, Uncategorized
In June, my sister Jan and I visited our Longenecker kin in Elizabethtown and the village of Rheems close by. One morning we took a stroll around the square in E-Town and found that though the town clock was still planted in place, the merchants we knew had...
by MarianBeaman | Jul 16, 2014 | Literature, Memory, Purple Passage, Quotations, Reflection, Uncategorized
Birthdays The great thing about getting older is that you don’t lose all the other ages you’ve been. – Madeleine l’Engle The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child into old age, which means never losing your enthusiasm. – Aldous Huxley...
by MarianBeaman | Jul 12, 2014 | Coming of Age, Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Mennonite Lore, Reflection, Uncategorized
We have to try it again. Here’s another shirt,” Jane said as she plucked one of Dad’s blue work shirts out of a plastic bag full of shirts—clean, sprinkled and rolled—all ready to iron. “Start with the yoke,” she directed. I grabbed the damp shirt out of her hand...
