by MarianBeaman | Jan 2, 2014 | Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Recipes, Uncategorized
New year, new opportunity: Vote for My Gutsy Story @ http://soniamarsh.com/2013/12/vote-for-your-favorite-december-2013-my-gutsy-story.html Haven’t read it yet? There’s still time!...
by MarianBeaman | Jan 1, 2014 | Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Uncategorized
Here is a postcard from precisely 100 years ago: Grandma Fannie Martin Longenecker’s New Year’s greeting passed down to me and then to our daughter Crista who now displays it in a frame with her holiday decorations: They were called penny postcards for a...
by MarianBeaman | Dec 28, 2013 | Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Nostalgia, Reflection, Uncategorized
It was twilight. And twilight was turning to dusk as Cliff and I sat down to eat supper. He said, “Let’s light a candle.” She said, “Well, that’s a good idea. It’ll look pretty.” One of us said, “Let’s put the candle into the curio cabinet. The mirrors behind will...
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...
