by MarianBeaman | Dec 25, 2013 | Family / Nostalgia, meditation, Nostalgia, Uncategorized
by MarianBeaman | Dec 24, 2013 | Family / Nostalgia, meditation, Nostalgia, Uncategorized
A matryoshka doll also known as Russian nesting doll refers to a set of wooden dolls of decreasing size placed one inside the other. The first Russian nesting doll set was carved in 1890 by Vasily Zvyozdochkin from a design by Sergey Malyutin, a folk crafts...
by MarianBeaman | Dec 21, 2013 | Conflict, Memory, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Uncategorized
The Longenecker Christmas Tree. Well, there was none. Not one. Not ever. Despite the fact that the Christmas song, “O Tannenbaum” is of German origin, most Pennsylvania Dutch Mennonite homes of the 1950s and 60s did not light Christmas trees. Decorated...
by MarianBeaman | Dec 18, 2013 | Family / Nostalgia, Neighborhood / Environment, Uncategorized
Traditional luminaria of the Christmas season have their origins in the culture of Spain. Impressed with the paper lanterns from the Chinese culture, Spanish merchants decided to make their own version when they returned home. Killarney Shores, our community, has kept...
by MarianBeaman | Dec 14, 2013 | Family / Nostalgia, Lists, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Uncategorized
You won’t find the definitions for rumspringa or bundling, (often referring to the Amish) in this mini-dictionary of Pennsylvania Dutch words, but here are some expressions the Longeneckers and other Mennonite families in Lancaster County often used growing up...
by MarianBeaman | Dec 11, 2013 | Education, Southern lady friends, Uncategorized
Watching episodes of Downton Abbey is like scarfing down balls of caramel corn while swilling champagne. The New Yorker I encountered Julian Fellowes, writer and creator of the Downton Abbey series, when he played Kilwillie, a distillery-owning...
by MarianBeaman | Dec 7, 2013 | Family / Nostalgia, Gratitude, meditation, Memory, Nostalgia, Purple Passage, Reflection, Uncategorized
HOPE Hope is a thing with feathers that perches in the soul. Emily Dickinson Hope is like a road in the country. There never was a road, but when many people traveled it, it came into existence. Lyn Yutang Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there...
by MarianBeaman | Dec 6, 2013 | Education, meditation, Quotations, Uncategorized
Diane Ackerman published years ago a “lusciously written” book entitled A Natural History of the Senses. My students enjoyed reading passages from the book for their summary assignments. Both poet and scientist in her approach, Ackerman has since written...
by MarianBeaman | Dec 4, 2013 | Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Nostalgia, Reflection, Uncategorized
My Marriage in Vacuum Cleaners My mom still has the same vacuum cleaner she’s had for decades, a blue, bullet-shaped machine with a snorkel hose at one end. Think of a mechanical Dachshund, a hot dog with a waist-line problem. “It still does the...
by MarianBeaman | Nov 30, 2013 | Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Mennonite Lore, Recipes, Uncategorized
When our children were little and our family visited Mother and Daddy in Lancaster County, PA , we could always count on an enamel-coated refrigerator drawer full of soup–either chicken corn or vegetable–to get us revived after a long car trip from...
