Final Post

Ninety plus one, that's how many posts I will have written by concluding with this one.  It seems like a strange number to end on, but today's photo will be the only one I haven't yet shown on my blog.  The purpose of this entire project was to share my photographs of a variety of sea glass and beach rocks with people who find joy in such things.  Along the way, I hope you have found something relatable, funny, encouraging, or helpful in the text of these posts.  Even if while reading them you said to yourself, "She's a little weird", I appreciate that!  Writing should evoke some kind of response, and I'll take what I can get.  To those of you who left comments, you kept me going when I thought I'd never make it to 91 posts.  You gave my blog purpose.  I was writing for you.  Thank you.  May you also find the help you need to reach your goals, and when that happens, keep going.  Make new goals.  Never stop.  There's so much to do on this big ball of earth, and not a whole lot of time to do it in, so enjoy it, and help others to do the same.

"Lake Michigan Hearts" represents the love I've had for sharing my thoughts and feelings with you.  Hopefully, I'll find some time to create more photos for more posts in the future.  As for now, may all the joy that God wants you to have, be yours.

Second Story Snow

From the second story of our one hundred eleven year-old house, the falling snow looks especially beautiful.  It's just as I imagined it would be.  For some reason, I was excited to see this year's first snowflakes from a different vantage point than usual.  Most times, it seems, the first snow occurs either overnight while I'm sleeping, or in the car driving home from somewhere.  Now and then, it happens right before my eyes as I'm looking out of a window from the kitchen or living room, but it's been decades since I've lived in a two story house, so I have no recollection of winter's first flurries being seen from upstairs.  Up here, the few remaining leaves, on their snow-soaked branches, add a second rhythm to the dance of wind blown snow.  Instead of being grounded with each flake's final destination, from this upstairs bedroom, I'm part of the journey.  No two snowflakes are the same, neither is their fall.  Swirling, blowing, dropping heavily or barely at all, the silent song of snow from my new view fills me with peace.  Downstairs from my front door, rather than appreciating the beauty, annoyance creeps into my thoughts.  I do not like driving on snow-covered roads.  The constant need to shovel the driveway and sidewalks also makes the white stuff less appealing.  For the next four months, getting ready to leave the house will be a routine of drudgery; does anyone enjoy having to don the boots, coat, scarf, and gloves?  Maybe, but I don't.  So, before the negative side of the "s" word overtakes the blessings of living in a state where we can experience the beauty of freshly fallen snow, I'm going back to my upstairs window to remember how this post started. 

There's no match up for this photo with my post today.  It's called, "Sea Glass Fish", and it's the second-to-last one I have.  Tomorrow will be my last picture and post until I can start photographing again.

Stuffing Stuff

Up the stairs, down the stairs.  Up the stairs, down the stairs.  Up to my "office", down to the toaster.  Not being the best manager of time and multitasking, I've paired making homemade stuffing with writing today's post.  Yes, I'm aware of the availability of bread cubes in bags, ready to dump into a pan, but I've always thought my mom's recipe, with stale toast torn into pieces, tasted so much better.  Sure, it takes a long time to toast enough bread for 10 guests-worth of dressing, especially with a two-piece toaster, but I'm making it a day ahead.  As I looked online to see if my end product would be just as good made early, as it would if made the same day, I noticed something.  My mom's recipe is different from everything else I saw.  I know it was her mother's recipe, and it makes me curious as to the origin of it all.  Instead of using broth, Mom's recipe calls for milk.  So there's no broth, and also, no eggs.  It's just butter, onion, celery, sage, salt, pepper, torn toast, and milk.  I've been making it for years and didn't even know it was unique.  At this stage in my life, that matters to me.  It's comforting to think how, with a passed down recipe, my family's families will be enjoying the same flavors upon their taste buds as our ancestors did.

Named, "September Jewels", I chose this photo because, to me, an old family recipe is, indeed, a jewel.

Phoenix Street Cafe---More Than Meets the Eye

If you've ever traveled to South Haven, Michigan, I hope you had the chance to dine at Phoenix Street Cafe.  If you haven't, I hope you will.  You may be thinking I'm offering free advertising because of the delicious food and friendly service, but you're wrong.  While those are true critiques, my motive for writing about this lovely restaurant rests in my knowledge of its owners, the Marcoux family.  You see, beginning in November, and throughout the winter, these special people provide dinner, with dessert, for the less fortunate citizens of our town, every Thursday night.  They actually go through all the steps of preparing the food, packing it up, and taking it to the First Congregational Church, for free.  It's called the "Phoenix Street Supper".  Various community members do the greeting, serving, and clean-up, and are also allowed to partake in the evening's fare, because the amount of food donated is so generous.  There is a lot of food, and the menu is never the same.  Tonight we served baked chicken, mashed garlic potatoes, green beans, salad, dinner rolls, and brownies.  The church provides the beverages and decorated tables, so kudos to those fine people, as well.

The townspeople of South Haven are blessed to have the Marcoux family.  They set the bar pretty high for other business owners here, and I can honestly say that there are some who follow suit.  Isn't it nice to see mankind in such a light?  May they be blessed.

The title of this photo is, "Mixed Sea Glass".   Pairing a picture to my post is getting more and more difficult, as I am down to just four compositions left that I haven't used, so this one is a bit of a stretch.  I chose it because we served mixed greens in the salad tonight.  (Oh, brother.)