Birthdays and Fun

   Times have changed. (As if you didn’t know.) Yesterday’s birthday for a 4 year old meant a  special cake with candles. Recently I was happy to participate in my great grandson, Fletcher’s, 4th birthday celebration and it was a WOW. 
   Pizzas from Papa John’s, fruit and veggie snacks, bottled water, and cupcakes designed to make a birthday cake. 

 The designation was the school where momma teaches.  The school was a learning experience for me.  The big attraction was the gymnasium where the children attending the birthday party were able to entertain themselves by jumping on trampolines, tumbling and for the young ones, little slides I had never seen the like of. Of course, there were balloons, but no games.  The walls of the gym were lined with trophies; trophies for cheerleading.  My exposure to the school was limited to the gym and the cafeteria.  However art work  and posters on the walls indicated there is some serious stuff going on. 

   A few weeks later they came to see me.  E bundled them up and with the help of J, drove  across the state for a night-over.  They brought more food, toys and stuff than you can imagine.  E thought of everything, well just about everything.  Meals without catsup?  I was not prepared.  It was a dilemma. J came to the rescue with a Styrofoam box from a fast food place with left-over plastic silverware, napkins and, and catsup packets!  At last food was edible. 

   Times may change, but some things remain the same.  Loving families who want the best for their children

Trip to Indy-Family, Fun an Food

   For me, a trip to Indy is like a trip to another world.  A world of city life, theater, movies and someone else’s food.  It is a different lifestyle,  young people off to class, boyfriends and crazy work schedules.  I loved it.

   My outings to Indy in the winter  seem to bring on ice.  Ice so bad one must drive the pick-up to get to the mailbox.  But not bad enough to close schools.  Off this senior went; driving the best car in the garage to get to class.  I took an anxiety pill, but it was just a normal day for her parents.
   Since the subdivision was icy, thankfully B drove us downtown to the Murat Theater for the performance of Shen Yun.

   Years ago Bob White of the Oxford Press reviewed theater productions, I wish he  could have seen and written about this one.  It was very special.  The music, the costumes, the dance and the technology combined to provide a look into Chinese culture and history.
   Five Shen Yun companies travel the world simultaneously performing and telling their stories.  From the Shen Yun program book I quote the following.
         A Lost Treasure
   Nowhere else can you see the authentic Chinese culture that Shen Yun presents.  Sadly, this culture has been almost completely destroyed in China under communist rule.
   China’s ancient civilization was, in fact, deeply spiritual.  Traditional Chinese culture is based on the idea of harmony among Heaven, Earth and humankind.  But the Chinese Communist Party’s doctrine teaches just the opposite; officially atheist, it sees this culture as a threat to its power.  For decades it has tried to destroy this ancient heritage.  It nearly succeeded.
   Yet in 2006 a group of artists in New York formed Shen Yun and have brought this culture back from the brink of extinction.  Even today, Shen Yun is not allowed to perform in China-but the company is now sharing this heritage with millions; people fly from China especially to see Shen Yun.
    They will be performing in Cincinnati in May.
   Indy was not all Chinese dance.  Young people like food.  E and I made the familiar Texas Sheet Cake.  Our take on it was with different pans.  A round cake to sit on the glass cake stand.  This old stand-by is so easy and can be adjusted if you exchange the ¼ cup cocoa for ¼ peanut butter. The chocolate icing would be great on the peanut butter cake or peanut butter icing might be good on the chocolate cake.  We went with the standard chocolate on chocolate. 

                                                                   Texas Sheet Cake

2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1 stick butter
½ cup Crisco
¼ cup cocoa
1 cup water
½ cup buttermilk
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 lightly beaten eggs
   Combine flour and sugar and set aside.  In heavy pan bring butter, Crisco, water and cocoa to a boil.  Remove from heat, add flour mixture.  Combine remaining ingredients except nuts and add to flour mixture.  Stir well. Pour into a greased rimmed cookie sheet.  Bake 20 minutes at 350. Prepare icing while cake is baking.
1 stick butter
   
6 Tbsp. milk
¼ cup cocoa
1 pound P. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
Chopped nuts if desired
  Remove cake from oven, wait only 5 minutes then pour icing on cake. Add
Nuts on top.  Everyone loves this and it is easy.
 
  There is more to Indy than theater and food; there is the Indianapolis Public Library.   The original structure was built on ground donated by James Whitcomb Riley.  The latest addition combined with the original, covers a city block, opened in 2007 at a cost of $150 million.  It showcases a 6 story atrium of curved glass and steel. 
   Let us appreciate our libraries.  Sidney Sheldon, author and poet had this to say: Libraries store the energy that fuels the imagination.  They open up windows to the world and inspire us to explore and contribute to improve our quality of life. Works by Indiana authors, James Whitcomb Riley, Kurt Vonnegut, May Wright Sewall, the Wooten Family and Booth Tarkington are on exhibit. 

Happy Valentine's Day

                           Valentine’s Day

   This one’s for you.  Valentine, that is.  Forget the roses and the candy, all we need are kind and loving words.   Such as:
“Consider not the gift of the lover, but the love of the giver”
                           Ellye Howell Glover(1907) taken from With Love and Affection by Pat Ross
   It is always best to give of your own production or discovery.  For instance these treasures saved from other Valentine’s Day.

     From an old book of poetry entitled “The New Home Book of Best Loved Poems” edited by Richard Charlton MacKenzie comes this jewel.
   If You’re Ever Going To Love Me
If you’re ever going to love me love me now, while I can know
All the sweet and tender feelings  which from real affection flow.
Love me now, while I am living; do not wait till I am gone
And then chisel it in marble-warm love words on ice-cold stone.
If you’ve dear sweet thoughts about me, why not whisper them to me?
Don’t you know ‘twould make me happy and as glad as glad could be?
   This is just a part of this piece written anonymously.

   Another gem from this same volume is  “Will You Love Me When I’m Old”
I would ask of you, my darling,
      A question soft and low,
That gives me many a heartache
  As the moments come and go.

Your love I know is truthful,
  But the truest love grows cold;
It is this that I would ask you:
  Will you love me when I’m old?

Life’s morn will soon be waning,
  And its evening bells be tolled,
But my heart shall know no sadness,
 If you’ll love me when I’m old.

From Pat Ross' book, With Love And Affection

Down the stream of life together
  We are sailing side by side,
Hoping some bright day to anchor
  Safe beyond the surging tide.
Today our sky is cloudless,
  But the night may clouds unfold;
But, though storms may gather round us,
  Will you love me when I’m old?

When my hair shall shade the snowdrift,
  And mine eyes shall dimmer grow,
I would lean upon some loved one,
Through the valley as I go.
I would claim of you a promise,
  Worth to me a world of gold;
It is only this, my darling,
  That you’ll love me when I’m old.
                            Anonymous


 Oh, go ahead and enjoy your chocolate