by MarianBeaman | Feb 5, 2014 | Coming of Age, Literature, meditation, Uncategorized
Now you are probably thinking . . . age 72 is a long way off, or it’s just around the corner. Either way, it’s a question worth pondering. In 1700 the average life expectancy was 37. In fact, 40 would be pushing it. Yet, in that very year Mary Granville...
by MarianBeaman | Feb 1, 2014 | Coming of Age, Conflict, Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Uncategorized
If I swallow a water-melon seed, my stomach might swell up. If I touch freckle-faced Ricky with the dirty fingernails, I might grow a baby. Oh no! Those were my childhood fears. With a limited sex education, I tried never to swallow watermelon seeds or touch grimy...
by MarianBeaman | Jan 29, 2014 | Coming of Age, Conflict, Education, Family / Nostalgia, Uncategorized
Last Sunday afternoon, we took our red-haired grand-kids, the Daltons, to the Jacksonville Symphony Family Series, featuring The Sneetches. There was a pre-concert Orchestra Zoo with dozens of kids standing in lines to bang on, blow into, or saw the strings of...
by MarianBeaman | Jan 25, 2014 | Coming of Age, Conflict, Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Nostalgia, Uncategorized
Delight in Disorder A sweet disorder in the dress Kindles in clothes a wantonness. A lawn about the shoulders thrown Into a fine distraction; An erring lace, which here and there Enthralls the crimson stomacher; A cuff neglectful, and...
by MarianBeaman | Jan 22, 2014 | Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite Lore, Recipes, Reflection, Uncategorized
I have just finished reading The Dirty Life, On Farming, Food, and Love by Kristin Kimball. And today my blogger friend, Susan Nicholls, has posted a piece entitled “Canned” complete with appetizing photos of the canned goods, stored on shelves for savory eating on...
by MarianBeaman | Jan 21, 2014 | Conflict, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Reflection, Uncategorized
On the eve of the Gulf War exactly 23 years ago today, I took a walk in the brisk evening air. As I rounded the curve of Emerald Isle Circle West in our neighborhood, I noticed the scarlet blush in the sky at sunset. With that striking image in mind and an imminent...
by MarianBeaman | Jan 18, 2014 | Coming of Age, Conflict, Education, Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite Lore, Reflection, Uncategorized
This week we celebrate Martin Luther King Day, a tribute to the man with a vision for racial equality in the twentieth century and beyond. Just so, this post pays tribute to his dream and his legacy through a Mennonite lens. “Jesus Loves the Little Children, All...
by MarianBeaman | Jan 15, 2014 | Literature, meditation, Memory, Nostalgia, Purple Passage, Quotations, Reflection, Uncategorized
VISIONS and DREAMS for 2014 A man must have dreams–memory dreams of the past and eager dreams of the future. I never want to stop reaching for new goals. – Maurice Chevalier Then the Lord answered me and said: “Write the vision And make it plain on...
by MarianBeaman | Jan 11, 2014 | Family / Nostalgia, meditation, Memory, Nostalgia, Uncategorized
Today I have reached a milestone, 100 blog posts and counting. Thank you, thank you for all your clicks, views, and commentary so far. I am commemorating this event in pictures. Blogging is like life, up and down, sad and happy, rain and shine, day in and day out....
by MarianBeaman | Jan 8, 2014 | Coming of Age, Education, Family / Nostalgia, Literature, Mennonite Lore, Uncategorized
Books, books, books! I had found the secret of a garret-room Piled high with cases in my father’s name, Piled high, packed large,—where, creeping in and out Among the giant fossils of my past, Like some small nimble mouse between the ribs Of a mastodon, I...
