Writers of the Round Table

Image courtesy of Authority.pub

I was recently invited by Rachel Gray, Director of the Van Horn Public Library in Pine Island, to participate in a panel of local authors as part of the One Town, One Title program through the library.  

On February 5, four other authors and myself spoke to a small audience in the high school forum room.  For Pine Island old-timers such as Captain, this has previously been referred to as The Box, The Square Gym, or The Small Gym.  Currently, it's a very nice, intimate auditorium arrangement with comfortable tables and chairs.  

One of the questions we were asked, as authors, was what our writing process was.  It was interesting to listen to all of the different approaches each author took. 

Image courtesy of katelaack.com

Kate Laack, a young English teacher at Pine Island High School, who has a novel, In The Shade of Olive Trees, that has been published through the traditional method of getting an agent and then a publisher and on down the line to being on the shelves at Barnes & Noble.  While not truly a structure process, there was a method to how she approached it.

Image courtesy of ginnygraham.com

Ginny Graham, a retired widow, wrote her novel, Wisteria, to help other women deal with grief and the loss of a partner or spouse.  Ginny and her husband owned and operated the Wanamingo Meats and Catering business for decades, and she brought the experiences she'd had running that business to her main character, who runs a flower shop.  Again, not completely structured but not loosey-goosey either. 

Image courtesy of rochesterfranciscan.org

Catherine Eayrs, a retired PIHS English teacher, told how she spent years meticulously researching her non-fiction book The Berne Church:  Rooted and Grounded In Love is an in-depth look at the impact of Swiss immigrants to the the rural farming community west of Pine Island and the rich heritage that they brought with them and continue to honor.  Because she had so many historical facts that needed to be arranged chronologically, she followed an outline for her writing in order to keep it organized and logical.  

Image courtesy of Jude Brogan

Cheryl Finnegan's book, Everyday Heroes:  Stories of Pine Island, is a collection of interviews she conducted during her many years as a reporter for the News-Record.  The interviews themselves had been researched and fact-checked, obviously, and putting them together in the book required reaching out to the newspaper for permission to print them, as the copyrights of the original articles belonged to the publication instead of Cheryl.  

Then there is me.  I have no writing process.  Mostly, I just wait until Captain or I have something blog-worthy happen and then put it out there.  Whatever is in my head comes out my fingers with very little conscious thought about it.  It's like throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping it sticks.  However, that was my intent when I started this blog.  I very much wanted it to feel like two friends having a nice conversation over coffee, wine, or the beverage of choice.  Every so often, I pull 40 of the blog posts together, toss them into one big document, slap a family picture on the front and call it good.  Since I'm not in it for the money, this process works well for me.  

I know how much I have appreciate the support that I have gotten from friends, neighbors, and coworkers.  I would like to ask you to kindly show these fellow authors some love and support too.  I purchased a copy of Cheryl Finnegan's book at the event Monday night, and I have orders in for the other three books and am looking forward to some very enjoyable reading in the weeks ahead!

Just A Closer Walk With Thee

 

Image courtesy of www.ThinkingOnScripture.com

One of the things I want to do better starting this year is daily prayer.  Don't get me wrong, I've always tried to chat with God at the end of the day, but lately it seemed like it was so...routine.  Same thing everyday and very rote.

I have never been able to pray out loud very well.  I just think I sound stupid.  Which is, well, stupid.  God doesn't care how I sound, He just wants to hear from me and know that I am in a relationship with Him. 

I've tried those prayer-a-day calendar things or the daily meditation book or whatever.  I either end up 10 days behind or I lose the book or something.  

Then the other day at mass, the priest was talking about reading the bible and how hard that is for people.  True statement.  He mentioned a bible study podcast that he found particularly helpful and gave the name of that for our reference. 

This got me to thinking that there must be a daily meditation podcast out there somewhere that I could listen to.  Turns out, there there is a plethora of them to choose from!  

The one I finally settled on is called Your Daily Prayer and is hosted by a group of women who have a daily devotional and prayer to "help you start your day in conversation with God."  I found this on the Podcast App in the Google Play Store, but I'm guessing it's available on other podcast providers as well, or you can go to their website at www.ibelieve.com and check it out there.  

This morning's devotional hit me right between the eyes.  It's about loving the unlovable people in your life.  I struggle with this frequently.  As much as I try to be nonjudgmental and inclusive, I have a hard time interacting with people who annoy me.  To compound this problem, even if I don't say the very nasty words that are in my head, they show up on my face anyway.  Hence, conflict.

The devotional today cited I John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

This theme of loving those we don't want to appears in other chapters of the New Testament as well such as Matthew 5:43-48 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous."

I know this and I still struggle because...hey...I am human.  So the words of today's devotional really hit me.

Lord, thank you for loving us when we were unlovable.  While we were sinners, you died for us.  We have offended you deeply yet you love us still.  So much so that you gave your life in our place and defeated death so that we could live with you forever in eternity.  Lord, I admit that type of love doesn't come easily to me.  The last thing I want to do when someone offends me or upsets me is to love them much less invite them to join my family forever.  But that's exactly what you did.  Lord, forgive me for not loving others the way you showed us to love.  God, would you help us to love you and grow in the knowledge of you in your word?  Would you help us relate to others in a way that shows them that we belong to you?  Lord, would you make your people grow in love for you and others so that onlookers would know that you exist and that you love them too?  God, would you forgive us when we allow petty annoyances to distract us and make us forget the good news of the gospels and our role as your ambassadors.  Holy Spirit, would you convict us when we overreact to the shortcomings of others.  Would you strengthen and equip us to love others well.  Thank you that this is possible because you loved us and love comes from you.  In Jesus' name, Amen.  

I hope that sharing my struggle with this duty of loving others as God loves us might help anyone else who struggles with it as well.  Let's all prayer for each other, my friends!

Image Courtesy of Silent Warrior

Where Everybody Knows Your Name

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We spent a pleasant evening last night hanging out at the local watering hole with Bigger and his friend, our camping friends, and childhood friends who were providing live music.

This brought back memories from when I was a kid and Dad had to run errands in Elgin or Plainview.  If one of us kids got to go along, we knew there was going to be a stop at the local watering hole which meant a glass of pop for us...a very rare treat back then.  

The live music also brought back so many memories of our dating years when that what we did every weekend.  There was always at least one venue nearby that had live music and generally all or most of our social circle would end up in the same place at the same time.  Ahh, the good old days!

Because we were at the local watering hole, we also ran into some acquaintances that we haven't seen in months or years.  One of them was the young man and his who just built a new house down the road from us.  They'd left their toddler with grandma and came out for some adult conversation.  I remember those days too!

This particular establishment used to be a prime destination.  I remember my parents talking about going there for shenanigans back in their day.  Unfortunately, about the time I migrated to the neighborhood, it took a dive and became...well...a dive.  For 30 years, I wouldn't set foot in the place unless I had an entourage of my guys with me for protection.

I don't say that to be snide; just to provide the background for how the next generation running it have made significant efforts to turn its reputation around...such as bringing back live music on Saturday nights. 

 

I'm really glad that we had a chance to see the new and improved approach to public relations for several reasons.  First, we always love to see a local, independent business doing well.  It's just plain good for the entire community.  Second, it's nice to know there is a clean, well-run, local watering hole where we could just stop in for a pint on the spur of a moment and likely spend an hour or more chatting with people with know who were doing the same thing. 

So here's to the Douglas Saloon and Social and Social Club and the band Warrior Revival who helped us have a very enjoyable evening out!

Be Careful What You Wish For

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In this season of wishing for things, I am reminded that it pays to be careful what you wish for. My Christmas this year will be overshadowed by a surgical procedure to replace my breast implants because of scar tissue that caused one to flip backwards. No snickers from the peanut gallery please!

The reason I opened with being careful what you wish for is that for most of my adult life, I wished I had a bigger bra size.  In fact, I remember when I first started working at Mayo Clinic as a surgical recorder in Dermatology Surgery, I jokingly asked one of the surgeons why I could have the fat sucked out of my belly and injected into my boobs, effectively solving two problems at one time.  He answered me seriously that it wasn't possible because belly fat and boob fat were not compatible and would not work.  That was 1995.

Fast forward to 2017 when I was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a bilateral mastectomy with reconstruction.  Lo and behold, one of the reconstructions options was--get this--fat grafting; basically the same thing I had asked about back in 1995!  I declined this option in 2017 because it sounded a little too involved and complicated for me.  

Fast forward again to 2023.  I had my preoperative appointment with my surgeon yesterday, and he said that exchanging my defective implants with newer, better ones that (1) are more resistant to scar tissue formation and (2) significantly less likely to flip was the plan.  I said I was fine with that.  

He went on to say that he could augment the effects of the implants with some minor fat grafting.  I think it was a nice way of saying he could make my middle-aged figure look a little bit...perkier.  Sure, I am game for that this time around.  

So it occurred to me that I was getting what I had wanted for so long.  I just had to get breast cancer to do it.  Let me interject here that my breast cancer journey was infinitely less traumatic than most women.  I didn't have to have chemotherapy or radiation or hormone therapy, so I praise God for that.  

The other eventful thing happening in Brogan world in the near future is a kitchen remodel project.  I have been dreaming of this for seven years now and am so excited that I'm finally getting my wish.

I only had to lose my mom and receive an inheritance to get it.  Again, be careful what you wish for.  I know Mom would be happy that this is happening; I remember how happy she was when she remodeled her kitchen.  I just wish...maybe I shouldn't do that, but I wish she was here to see it.  

Then I remember that those who have passed are never really gone as long as we remember them.  I remembered my mom and channeled my inner Max to help Captain solve a fix-it issue.  The auger on his whole corn bulk bin got a hole in it so that corn dribbles out on the ground when Captain runs the auger.  

This brought back memories of my childhood and filling the feed chutes for the milking parlor.  Mom was in charge of filling these hoppers during each milking.  The "feed room" was in the loft above the parlor.  There was a small Harvestor silo with high moisture corn that got augered up to the feed room, run through a roller mill to crush it, and then it was augered across the feed room to three hoppers above each of the three feed chutes for the stalls in the parlor.  This cross auger had three holes cut in it above each of the hoppers.    

Let me say here that my mom was our very own MacGyver in a skirt.  Give her bubble gum, baling wire, duck tape, and/or WD40, and she could fix just about anything.  Remind me to tell you sometime about how she fixed the baler timing mechanism when Dad couldn't figure it out.  

Image courtesy of WD40.co.uk

But I digress.

So Mom needed a way to block the corn to any given hopper so that the corn would travel to the next available hopper.  It didn't take her long to come up with a solution.  She raided her coffee can collection for two coffee cans.  She cut out the bottoms of the cans and then used the tin snips to cut the can so that it could be snugged around the auger.  She tightened the coffee can to the auger with some good old baling wire (didn't I tell you!!).  This was, she could simply slide the coffee can over the hole in the auger without endanger her fingers.  So smart!

I won't say that I wish I could see Mom again because that would require my death and I'm not ready for that yet.  I will just say that I will be glad to see her again when the time comes.  

Don't wish your lives away, my friends.  Be present in your present and be grateful for everything that is good and right in your world.

Merry Christmas and God bless you!

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Scared Silly

Courtesy of Know Your Meme

I have never quibbled about the fact that I have a fear of the dark.  I have also been transparent in my fascination with all things true crime.  Those seem mutually exclusive, don't they?  And one might think that the true crime obsession would fuel the phobia about the dark.  

However, I often have a true crime podcast playing as I'm going to sleep with no ill effects or scary dreams.  It just doesn't bother me.  

Or, more accurately, it didn't until last night.

So, on the true crime front, anybody who knows anything about true crime drama knows that Keith Morrison is the gold standard for narration of same.  That man could make reading the phone book dramatic and suspenseful!  

So imagine my utter delight when I discovered that on Audible, Keith Morrison has started narrating scary classic stories, beginning with The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.  

I don't know about you, but my knowledge of the story all comes from the 1949 Disney animated movie.  I've never actually read the original story.  But since Mr. Morrison was narrating it, I downloaded it and started listening.  

Courtesy of IMDb

I was not disappointed in the narration.  It was a good mix of the actual story plus pithy personal insights by Keith at the end of each installment which, of course, ended on a cliff-hanger part.  I haven't actually gotten to any of the really scary part of it, though. 

Or, more accurately, I didn't until last night. 

On a side note, and to make you fully appreciate the rest of this story, our farm is on the northern edge of a quaint little curvy valley called Devil's Kitchen.  

Why is it called Devil's Kitchen, you might ask?  Well, let me tell you the version I know.  If you know a different version--and some of you might--I'd love to hear it.  

Back when Minnesota was still a new state or perhaps before that even, there was a family that settled into a wooded valley northwest of Rochester.  It was a generational household with grandparents, parents, and children all living in a cabin.  

Here's where things get vague.  The version I heard was that when the civil war broke out, the men all went to fight.  This left the two adult women and an unknown number of children but for sure one infant. Only the father returned from the war, and when he did, it was to a pile of ashes where the cabin had stood and no surviving family.  This triggered a psychotic break, and he apparently haunts to valley now. 

When Captain and I got married and started working at Mayo Clinic, I would drive into Pine Island to catch the commuter bus to work.  I often ended up sitting with the man whose family currently lived on the property where that cabin had supposedly burned down.  He told me during one ride that there had been an incident when his family was all seated at the table for supper, and he felt a hand on his shoulder. 

Courtesy of cheezburger.com

Even though anyone with hands was currently seated at the table with hands accounted for.  

Not only that, he told me that his family members saw the indentation on his shirt where it appeared a hand rested.  Again, all corporeal hands were presented and accounted for, and none of them were anywhere near his shoulder.  

He didn't seem particularly scared by the incident; more puzzled and fascinated.  I was just glad I wasn't the one living in that house!

So, resuming where I left off.  I had to stop at a neighbor's last night to drop off some paperwork and pick up a check.  They live on the other side of Devil's Kitchen.  When I drove over there, it was bright daylight, but when I left it was full dark.  

I got in my van, connected the blue tooth feature on my phone, turned Keith Morrison's narration of Sleepy Hollow on, and headed home. 

Through Devil's Kitchen.  

And wouldn't you know it....wouldn't you JUST know it...that's when the the scary bit about the Headless Horseman chasing Ichabod Crane through the dark and spooky woods of Sleepy Hollow came through the speakers.  

If there were any fireballs or specters or other apparitions out and about in Devil's Kitchen last night, I did not see them because I was driving like a bat out of hell and there were black spots dancing in front of my eyes due to the fight or flight mode I was in.  Thank God I didn't meet anyone driving in the opposite direction!

I haven't decided if I'm going to listen to any more of Morrison's Mysteries.  It may not be worth it!

Why Yes, Yes I Should!

 

Image courtesy of mememaker.net

This post is a spin-off or continuation or sequel to this post about planning for big-ticket expenses like home remodeling or vacations.

So, since that post in February of 2016, I have been able to save enough money to get the go from Captain on the kitchen remodel, and I am happy (okay, ecstatic is probably a better word) to say that later this month I will be ordering the cabinets for that project.  

We are getting all new cabinets and counters in the kitchen/dining room with that center island I talked about before.  In addition, we are getting a new dining room window and new vinyl plank flooring throughout the entire main floor except for the master bath and our two offices.  

When I met with the kitchen designer, I told him that I did not want upper cabinets on one of the walls because I am fun-size and cannot reach those cabinets.  I got a raised eyebrow about that but it's my dang kitchen and that's what works for me.  The cabinet space that is lost there will be made up by the center island and my new walk-in pantry.  

We are not changing the footprint or buying any new appliances other than a microwave range hood, so that helped keep the costs down.  The other cost saving part of the this kitchen remodel is our own elbow grease.  We--and I use the term loosely because it will mostly be Captain--will do the demo of the current cabinets and countertops, we will do the painting, and we will lay the new flooring. 

If you did the math to calculate the time from that first post to now, you will realize that I spent 7 years planning this.  I had to-scale drawings.  I had bookmarked photos in Houzz.  I spent hours scoping out kitchen displays at the big box stores in Rochester.  For all of my impulse shopping tendencies, I put a lot of thought and deliberation into this particular project.  Go me!

Photo courtesy of thediscoveriesof.com/travel-memes

The other planning project that is taking a lot of my time and attention right now and for the next three years is a trip to Aix les Bains, France, with my dragon boat team in August of 2026.  This will be my first international travel and since I do not do well with the unknown, I have been immersing myself in all thing European travel.

When Captain gently kidded me that I was wasting my excitement right now given that the trip is three years away, I reminded him that this tendency toward hyperfocus is part of my ADD struggles and he could just quit being a buzzkill.  

My absolutely favorite travel guide to watch on PBS is Rick Steves.  I just love his quirky views on off-beat places to visit and the practical budget advice he provides.  When I visited his website, I found a treasure trove of information including guidebooks for purchase which--of course--I immediately put in my shopping cart.  

There was also a travel forum where members could ask questions about European travel.  Since I have never been afraid of asking questions anywhere, any time.  Ask Molly about the shrubs I admired so much that I pulled into a complete stranger's driveway to ask what they were.

But I digress.

I promptly posted a question in the France thread explaining that I'd be there for a dragon boat festival and then I asked about day trip ideas from Aix les Bains.  I got some good answers that I can ponder over.  

The next day I was messaging a friend who will be traveling with me, and she told me about this tour guide she watched on YouTube named Rick Steves and on his website's travel forum, someone had just posted about going to a dragon boat festival in 2026 and I should check that out.  

This time I was the buzzkill when I told her that was my question.  We had a good laugh.  

In anticipation of international travel, I gathered up my drivers license, my passport card, my birth certificate, and my marriage license and went to our local county courthouse to apply for a passport book.  Turns out, because I already have a passport card, my request would be considered a renewal instead of a new request, and I could just fill out a form and mail it to the processing center along with my current passport card and a check for the fee.  

Hold it.  I have to send off my actual passport card?  Through the mail?  To some government center and hope to get it back?  Hmmmm....but, okay; if you say so.  I did take the precaution of sending it with a tracking number so I can make sure it got where it was supposed to go.  

Photo courtesy of deertravelssite.wordpress.com

Maybe the worry about that will dull the excitement of the travel, but I doubt it.  I usually lean a lot heard toward excitement than dread!

So, even though the trip is three years away yet, get ready to hear a lot more about the plans for it until it's wheels up to France!

Au revoir, mes amis!

Your Mama's Kitchen

 

Photo courtesy of Time Detective Gallery

I recently started listening to a podcast on Audible called "Your Mama's Kitchen."  It is a brand new podcast and only has two episodes available so far, and I have listened to both of them.  

The concept is that the host invite people of some celebrity or fame to visit with her about memories of their childhood kitchens, traditions their family had, what life experiences were had at the kitchen table, etc.  Then the guest shares at least one recipe from their mama's kitchen.  

It's quite interesting to listen to, and it brought back memories of my own childhood kitchen.  The first 10 years of my life we had a tiny, tiny kitchen for the five of us, and if the dishwasher door was open, there was no room to walk between it and the table.  

I know, I know.  We were blessed to even have a dishwasher.  I get it; right now it's beside the point I'm trying to make.  My mom made a lot of meals, holiday dinners, and birthday cakes in that kitchen.  

There was a built-in china hutch that served as the wall between the kitchen and the living room where all of the tableware was stored.  The refrigerator was at the narrow end of the kitchen, tucked right in next to the stove.  I can't imagine that was very energy efficient but it was the only layout that worked in that tiny space.  The work space was the counter area, maybe 8 or 10 feet long, with the sink at the very end of the counter right inside the front door.  

My strongest memory of that kitchen was when Baby Brother had a snit fit one morning.  Maybe it was because Big Brother and I were heading off to school and he had to stay home; I'm not sure.  Whatever set him off led him to chuck his wooden train toy across that kitchen where it connected with the bottom left corner of Dad's 55-gallon fish tank.  

Let's all take a collective gasp.  Fifty-five gallons of water came pouring out across the nicked and worn linoleum kitchen floor.  Big Brother and I hot-footed it out the door and left poor Mom to deal with (1) a cranky toddler, (2) a flooded kitchen floor, and (3) a dozen homeless fish.

It wasn't too many years after that when there was massive construction at Chez Brehmer.  Not only did Mom and Dad add onto the kitchen 8 feet in two directions, they had an attached garage built and resided the big old four-square farmhouse.  It was an all-summer project.  

Chet Briggs was the contractor; I don't know why I remember his name because I don't remember the name of the guy who worked with him every day.  

Every construction project has fits and starts.  I remember the first one that came up in this project was when the big picture window and the front door were framed in and Dad didn't like the layout.  After much discussion and scribbling numbers on a piece of paper, they approved having Chet switch them around.  It was a delay and an extra cost, but I remember how much Dad enjoyed being able to look out that picture window in the evenings after chores and see all of his cows content and peaceful in the pasture.  

They also had an extra cost to replace one of the garage windows because their favorite daughter was playing floor hockey with a broom and a superball that ended badly.  Broken window, bad words, and a butt-swatting.  

The garage was the summer kitchen.  All of the appliances, the table and chairs, and all the tableware were moved to the garage, and that's where we dined for the summer.  It was cooler for Mom to do her canning that summer because she could open up the overhead garage door and let the breeze in.  And the bugs, but she preferred the breeze and put up with the bugs.  

I've talked before about the conflict of favorite colors in our house.  Mom like red/orange/yellow and dad liked blue.  Ask anyone who visited our house after the kitchen remodel, and they will all say, "It was orange."  No lie.  The soffit was panted Allis Chalmers orange, the countertops were more of a flame orange with a crackled effect, and the front door was blaze orange with white accent squares...easily seen from the end of our half-mile long driveway!

I have to give Dad credit because it had to be hard for him to sit in that orange kitchen when he would have preferred it to be blue.  But come to think of it, the bathroom was blue, so I guess they found a compromise.  

That kitchen remodel project has been on my mind a lot lately because we are going to be doing our own kitchen remodel this winter.  The plans are being drawn up as I write this, and we have had more than our share of...ahem...discussions about layout, materials, color choices, and cost.  

I have to take Captain's opinion into consideration because he does all of the cooking.  I do some baking and all of the canning, but little to no actual meal preparation.  However, I am not my dad, and I drew the line at a red kitchen.  Red is not in my color wheel and I would never be comfortable with that color scheme.  

My other two lines in the sand were that I wanted a double-basin, double-drainboard reinforced cast acrylic sink and no upper cabinetry except over the stove.  Before you raise your eyebrows at that, remember that I am fun-sized and have a hard time reaching the top shelf of the fridge much less the top shelf of an upper cabinet.  

Oh wait, there is one other line in the sand, and this one has been a major bone of contention.  I want the new flooring to be the same for the entire main floor (excluding our offices and my bathroom).  Captain thinks each room should have its own flooring.  Can we say "so 1980s"?

The other major upgrade we'll do is convert a bedroom closet into a pantry by closing it off in my office and opening it up in the kitchen.  That's not a hard line in the sand yet, but it could come to that.  

We'll see how it goes.  I had them start with all the bells and whistles in the plans and we'll cut back from there.  This is why I work part-time at Fareway, so I can have some of my bells and whistles!

This kitchen has served us well for 20 years, but it's getting tired, and I'm getting tired of it.  So we will give it a "freshen up" as my grandma used to call it.