CREATIVITY WITH LEFTOVERS

The weather has been very springlike here in Southwestern Wisconsin, it was over 60 degrees yesterday.  I have wandered up to the garden several times, literally holding myself back from putting seeds into the ground.  

This 'false' spring has made me aware of all of the vegetables still in the freezer waiting to be eaten.  Among the many packages of frozen foods are several bags of kale, and in the larder are potatoes beginning to sprout.  This led me to make a Colcannon the other night.  If you do not know what a colcannon is, it is mashed potatoes, onions and kale (among a few other items) mixed together and baked in the oven.  I served it along with Italian Sausage, a salad and fresh bread.  This was a great meal, however there was quite a bit of the colcannon left over.

The next night I decided to try my hand at one of the new dishes I have heard so much about...a noodle bowl.  Rice noodles and pretty much anything else you want, along with broth.  It, too was delicious, but lots of plain noodles left over.

So in my fridge remains some colcannon and some noodles...what to do with this.

I took the colcannon, added eggs, breadcrumbs, and crisp crumbled bacon, mixed it together, made patties which I pressed with more Italian style bread crumbs, and fried them.

I took the noodles and added some poached chicken, carrots, onions, soy sauce, fish sauce, brown sugar, etc. and made a cold salad...and as my freezer is brimming with green beans, sauteed some of them as well.

As I had also prepared some naan for baking I decide that would be the 'bread' of choice for this meal.

This came together as a truly healthy, absolutely delicious meal.  And as an aside, it was so much fun thinking about it, putting it together in my mind.

HAPPY EATING!

ONE BILLION RISING

On April 18, 2016 I checked out of the local library the newest issue of Time Magazine, dated as such.  One of the articles in that issue,

moved me to tears, copious tears.  Not only was I moved to tears, I was moved to do something.  I decided to undertake a 100 Day Project in which I would keep these victims close to my heart, think about them daily, and write a poem, as well.

My daughter Jonel had made a lovely book for me for my birthday, so lovely I was reluctant to write in it.  I thought this a good project for this book.

Each day I wrote something in this book, starting with the opening page above...

and this, page one.  I divided each page into quarters in order to get the 100 I needed.  

The first poem I wrote:

(Day 1)

For Mary

It is a warm, lovely, sun-filled day,

     I hear the birds singing

as I sit here on the deck

     clean and quiet after a bath.

Yet I am deep inside somewhere

     so black and ugly and dirty

I am the weight of the universe.

Here in my unsullied world,

     pencil moving across this page,

I am safe and privileged,

      protected from the ravages of war,

while Mary, far across the seas   

     in South Sudan,

has watched soldiers kill her husband and sons,

     watched as they took her ten year old daughter

and repeatedly raped her…

and Mary watched,

and then Mary watched her die.

Another news item, excellent reporting to be sure,

     yet we read it distantly,

surely with anguish, but momentary

     and soon we get on with our lives,

and Mary is forgotten,

     or lost in our busyness.

Inured, we are inured to such news,

     so common it only pricks us

instead of stabs and bludgeons us

     with its brutality.

We are a people,

     we are a world,

what is done to one

     is done to all.

4/19/16

 ...following is a small selection of poems from throughout the project...

(Day 9)

For the Unnamed Women

I have written eight poems,

     for eight women named,

but what of the masses

     of unnamed women,

women who live in shame

     and sorrow,

women who are shunned

     and still misused?

What of all those women

     in all those countries,

mere objects to be demeaned,

     defiled in ways only

a man could do?

What of those hordes of women

     I have not read about,

the hordes of little girls

     raped and ruined?

What of them,

     I ask myself,

what of them?

4/27/16

    

(Day 53)

Unmentioned Women

All the unmentioned women and girls,

     the unnamed raped,

spirits hovering the newspaper article,

     the article that clearly said,

‘seventeen men, one a ten year old boy,

     executed by pro-government forces,

raped and misused women lumped under

     ‘mistreatment’ and ‘torture’’,

they call out to be named.

We need to make clear

     blatantly public,

the sex crimes perpetrated

     in these war torn countries.

We need to bellow and holler

     these atrocities,

name them clearly,

     take responsibility,

make them our own…

and not add to the crimes

     by omission.

6/10/16

These are from days 65 to 68...

...and the last two poems I wrote.

(Day 99)

A Tiny Stirring

You do not know of this,

     my Hundred Day Journey,

how each and every morning

     I brought you close,

embraced you in my heart,

     held you high in my mind

and wished these acts

     had power, real power

and could have truly reached

    out to you with comfort.

Perhaps somewhere in your misery

     a tiny stirring happened,

perhaps a ripple of my love

     and care and concern

reached out to you with a touch

     that softened,

if only for a moment

     your dire world.

7/26/16

(Day 100)

Carrying You Close

How to pen this last,

     this 100^th poem,

how to end this vigil

     I have kept,

how to do tomorrow

     without sitting down

with you?

This seems difficult,

     perhaps impossible,

surely poignant and sad,

     yet, I know you all

have come to dwell in me

     and altered me in ways

both grave and permanent.

I will not abandon you,

     and pray that carrying you close

has somehow become known to you.

7/27/16

and this is the back cover with a photo of Aryn Baker, the author of the article.

Tomorrow, February 14, 2017 is the day that people all around the world will be coming together in support of violence and rape against women...it is called One Billion Rising....see link below.

The 2017 Campaign - One Billion Rising Revolution

www.onebillionrising.org/about/campaign/

1 in 3 women across the planet will be beaten or raped during her lifetime. That's ONE BILLION WOMEN AND GIRLS. Every February, we rise – in hundreds of ...

Last Saturday this event occurred in La Crosse, WI, as the venue was not available on the 14th.  A large group of women and men and children attended.  

I was asked to read selections from my 100 Day Project, and I was proud to be among the women and men who publicly came together to rally against such violence.

If we all come together, if only in thought and heart, we will make a difference.