SEPTEMBER’S FRESH START
“The world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful.”
e.e. cummings
Such fun splashing in the rain, especially when it’s in the best season to relish it! Celebrate fall’s arrival with these Mini Mud Puddle Pies: Take frozen whole wheat pie crust, roll it out, and cut 3″ diameter circles with a tartlet cutter and place pie shells in a mini-muffin pan. Prick them with a fork and bake at 325 degrees for about 14 minutes. Make the Fudgy Filling: In a double boiler, melt 1 bag (12 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips, 1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk, and 1 teaspoon vanilla until smooth. When the pie shells have cooled, fill each mini crust with 2 spoonfuls of the chocolatey mud mixture!
“NO MUD, NO LOTUS”
“I have a love for the Lotus, while growing in mud it still remains unstained” (Confucius) … The lotus flower takes root in muddy, murky river beds, yet is untouched by the mud’s impurity. And the deeper and thicker the mud the more beautiful the lotus blooms. This sacred Buddhist symbol embodies the purity of heart and mind; and represents long life, health, honor, and good luck. It is said that Siddhartha Gautama, whose teaching Buddhism is founded upon, left a trail of lotus flowers in his wake with every step that he took. How incredible to think that something so beautiful begins life in such a dirty and dark place. Maybe the lotus is there to remind us that we can create happiness in our lives, no matter our roots.
JOHN LENNON STAMP
The brand new Forever® John Lennon Stamp is here. The photo by the great Bob Gruen was taken in August 1974 on the roof of the Dakota while recording his Walls and Bridges album. In 1976 his long sought application was approved for permanent residency in the US. There’s a sense of satisfaction at his being thusly honored by this venerable American institution. It’s the latest addition to the USPS Music Icons stamp series … I thought this was a very cool and timely comment made by his son, Sean, at the first-day-of-issue ceremony in Central Park: “My father and mother came to New York as immigrants. My father fought very hard to get his green card, famously. He wanted to live in America and loved this beautiful country and beautiful city.”
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HARRY
An epic fantasy with a sense of magic. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was published on Sept. 1, 1998, which means celebrating his 20th anniversary. To commemorate the occasion, illustrator Brian Selznick designed new covers for the series’ birthday. He reimagined all the book covers in the spirit of J.K. Rowling’s original creation. In black and white, all seven covers line up to form a single image that tells Harry Potter’s entire story. His first sketches looked like the snake Nagini, so he utilized that image to convey the battle between good and evil.
IT’S FANTASTICAL!
Fan·tas·ti·cal adj., late 15c., from fantastic + -al
Definitions: 1) Conceived or appearing as if conceived by an unrestrained imagination; odd and remarkable; bizarre. 2) Fanciful or capricious, as persons or their ideas or actions: We never know what that fantastic creature will say next. 3) imaginary or groundless in not being based on reality; foolish or irrational: fantastic fears. A trivial sense of “wonderful, marvelous” recorded by 1938.
Origin and history: Fantastic adj., late 14c. (1350-1400), “existing only in imagination,” from Middle French fantastique (14c.), from Medieval Latin fantasticus, from Late Latin phantasticus “imaginary,” from Greek phantastikos “able to imagine,” from phantazein “make visible”; see phantasm.
DOG NEWS
“I’ll hang the pictures, you hang the stars, You pick the paint, I’ll pick a guitar, Sing you a song out there with the crickets and the frogs, You name the babies and I’ll name the dogs. Yeah, I’ll name the dogs.”
Blake Shelton’s I’ll Name the Dogs gives dogs equal billing with kids in the lyrics of this love song. But it’s the dogs who beat out the kids for the song’s title! To keep peace in a marriage, the lyrics suggest a practical approach. A division of labor in everything including naming the couple’s dogs and their babies. A metaphor for thriving as a team. A sweet sentiment that each has their own talents and together they are stronger.
ENDNOTE: TONI MORRISON
In 1993, Morrison was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, becoming the first black woman of any nationality to win the prize. Those are the words she wrote in her acceptance speech. Given to honor her 1987 novel Beloved, inspired by the true story of a woman’s escape from slavery and what she paid for that freedom. Also in that speech:
“Language alone protects us from the scariness of things with no names. Language alone is meditation.” … “Its force, its felicity is in its reach toward the ineffable.”
WE CAN HELP
Did you know that one of the ways to help animals in need is by donating your old car, van, boat, or truck? The ASPCA’s Vehicle Donation Program can take it off your hands at no cost to you and in any condition. They’ll pick it up anywhere in the US. Summer’s over, your car may have seen its last road trip but it can still help animals across the country! Donate your vehicle today. It will go towards rescuing, protecting, and finding loving homes for animals in need nationwide.
Soundtrack to this Issue
Linda Ronstadt
If I Should Fall Behind
Linda’s version of Bruce Springsteen’s love song. His pure lyrics. Her pure voice. A perfect pairing. Take a listen, it’ll catch you in its warm sublime glow. It’s on Linda’s album, We Ran (Elektra Records 1998). But wait a minute. Bruce sings it with Dion DiMucci, you know, the King of New York. And it’s beautiful.
C’mon, sing along, you know the words:
We said we’d walk together baby come what may
That come the twilight should we lose our way
If as we’re walking a hand should slip free
I’ll wait for you
Should I fall behind
Wait for me
We swore we’d travel darlin’ side by side
And we’d help each other stay in stride
But each lover’s steps fall so differently
So I’ll wait for you
Should I fall behind
Wait for me
Now everyone dreams of love lasting and true
But you and I know what this world can do
Let’s make our steps clear that the other may see
And I’ll wait for you
Should I fall behind
Wait for me
Now there’s a beautiful river in the valley ahead
There ‘neath the oak’s bough soon we’ll be wed
Should we lose each other in the shadow of the evening trees
I’ll wait for you
Should I fall behind
Wait for me
Darlin’ I’ll wait for you
Should I fall behind
Wait for me
Who rescued whom?
So grateful for Barkley coming into my life.
Thanks to Westie Rescue of New England.
Buddha, stay. Good dog. z”l
“…live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.”
(Buddha)
Sources:
Mud-Luscious pic and recipe: ©2015 Jama Rattigan of Jama’s Alphabet Soup
No Mud, No Lotus quote: Thich Nhat Hanh
Harry Potter pic: Brian Selznick ©2018 Scholastic
Fantastical pic: Fantastical: The Art of Matt Gaser, Cameron Books (January 27, 2015)
Fantastical definition/origin: Online Etymology Dictionary ©2010 Douglas Harper
Dog News pic: Blake and Betty, Twitter @blakeshelton, September 5, 2017
I’ll Name the Dogs lyrics: Ben Hayslip/Josh Thompson/Matthew Peters Dragstrem ©Warner/Chappell Music, Inc, Round Hill Music Big Loud Songs
Soundtrack If I Should Fall Behind lyrics: Bruce Springsteen ©Downtown Music Publishing
September 28, 2018
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