November 2025 Veterans, Too

Yesterday, one of my Two Writing Teacher blogging friends challenged me (and others) to write a 6-7 inspired poem.  So, here is a new poetry format, alternating lines of 6 and 7 syllables, inspired by Kim Johnson and fueled by kids who advocate for 6-7. Yesterday was also Veteran's Day and so I was thinking about my aunt who we now think was an Army Code Breaker in WWII. Her story is a reminder of all the support staff and family members who serve America alongside those on the front lines. 

Recruited from small schools,

Strong in math and languages ,

Promised uniforms, pay,

Solving code to find peace, hope,

They served, yet never shared,

No war stories at all,

Only evidence of

Secrets taken to the grave.

Silent veterans, lost.

One of many sad stories

Women, securing  peace

Thank you all for your service. 

A book about the Code Girls

https://www.amazon.com/Code-Girls-Untold-American-Breakers/dp/0316439894

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  www.britannica.comBombe | Code Breaking, History, Design, &…
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  www.wpr.orgWomen's Codebreaking Contributions To…
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SOL 2025: Standing Out and Fitting In

• If you are around kids for ANY length of time, you hear it randomly used as an interjection, an honor, and even a complaint. Teachers find it annoying and try to ban it, discourage it, or beg for meaning. (It has no meaning)
• I thought it was just local phenomena until I read that Dictionary.com made it their word of the year! Now I realize it has spread faster than Covid.
• I really do not think we should be surprised about the propagation of 6-7 and its cousin number-phrase, 41, or the sing-song way they are said!  These young folks are the grandchildren of those who crashed at someone's pad and listened to hip music.  These are the children of those who added phat and bling into their lexicon with as smile.
• The ONLY thing different about the 5-6 and 41 trend is that there is no real meaning! 
• Yet, there is something universal and timeless in the desire of people to both stand out from the old folks and fit in with their peers. This is at cheaper than Stanley cups and Ugg boots and without the hunt of Cabbage Patch Kids! Plus, it too will pass!
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November 8 2025 10 Years

It's been ten years which is long enough to have forgotten the sound of her voice and also the way she challenged most every thing I said. 

It's been long enough that I miss her confidence way more than the frustration when she took to her bed or slashed out at others.

These days I try to maintain a few of her traditions, like her Pilgrim candles, rather than focus on her perspectives.

After a decade, I focus on the good she did and the love she gave rather than on the anger when I forgot to acknowledge a for-her-important-date.

These days, I am glad I learned about the strength in a family, the grace of giving to others, and the power of forgiveness.  

November 2025 A Quiet, Deluxe Typewriter

 

"It's the very best day ever," the little one screamed as the new-to-them find came into view.  "Listen to this," they added banging ever so confidently on the aged keys with a gusto that I remembered even if my own typing memories are seared into the case of my baby blue electric version that wrote many a paper and earned degrees after valiantly preserving a few theses for posterity.

I found myself quickly doing a search this Royal could not have imagined, and found is a community savoring these dinosaurs. You can even get new ink ribbons in one day from Amazon!  There are also old manuals entirely online as well as You Tube videos detailing repairs of these relics. I found the Royal Quiet Deluxe was made from 1930 to 1959 and it was the first with a "magic margin!" Its cost of $80 seventy-five years ago (nearly $1000 today). Earnest Hemingway and Ian Fleming used these typewriters to do their magic.

There was a familiar ding at the end of each and every row from this thrift-store-find even after many decades of sitting in a basement!  I know Ken (whose name is emblazoned on the case) would be thrilled to know that his once very special typewriter has found a retirement job on the desk of someone weaned on laptops.

November 2025 The Last Farmer's Almanac

The news was almost lost, to me, amidst so many enormous problems aggravated by ongoing funding decisions that impact food, housing, flights, health and international peace. 

The reality is that most Americans are no longer managing farms even as the need for fresh, safe and healthy choices is more clear than ever before. 

The news hit me hard and made me think of those yellowed booklets that were always hanging around the bathroom or on the end table.

The reality is that I have never bought one, nor have I ever worried about the best day to plant my peas or prepare for the first frost! 

The news that after more than two centuries, the Farmer's Almanac, with its long range weather forecasts as well as wit and wisdom will disappear after the 2026 edition. 

The reality is that science and the internet will help most of us stay in touch with the weather, but I might just order one from the mega internet shopping site to 1) honor my grandfather who was a farmer or 2) acknowledge my loved ones who ARE farmers bringing fresh fruits and vegetables and the real magic of growing life to a suburban community,

November 2025 Light Amidst Darkness

The first week in November is shaped by Halloween hangovers and abbreviated days exacerbated by election stress. 

The leaves start falling faster and faster while the birds are migrating as if their lives depended on it. 

Winter coats come out of hiding while toes reluctantly go into hiding.

You can no longer deny that Thanksgiving is 21 days away, Hanukkah is 30 days away, and Christmas is 49 days away. 

Government as well as private employer shut downs have intensified financial, nutritional, and health care insecurities, while food costs are rising faster than the moon.  

I guess this is why tonight's light show as the sun was setting before it was even 5 pm was breathtakingly magnificent. Our eyes were directed to the heavens for light and hope.

October 2025: Scary Sights

Amidst

Leaves, gray

Skies, orange

Clad surgeons work

To secure branches 

Dangling over garages

While wind advisory lurks.

I hope this is the scariest 

Sight any of us sees this day.

It's "just" a quick tree trimming job, they assured me, and we need to get it done (after 5 reschedules due to weather). They started early this morning even before the day was fully awake and seriously, no goblin roaming on this day will be scarier then two men in orange coats hanging on for dear life over my garage! 

 

October 2025 Buy For $7.00

I went into ShopRite to replenish my Bigelow Green Tea With Mango because this lingering cold seems to be quelled by its antioxidant properties. I have made a lot of tea this week. I could rant about how few tea leaves are found in a tea bag these days (not as much as there used to be), but there is no way a single bag can make two cups of tea.  

Across from tea is the massively expensive cereal section where I notice, but rarely purchase. Yet, a sale tag caught my attention.  "Buy four for $7.00" it said proudly; however, "you must buy 4." 

I walked off thinking about how four, family sized boxes of Rice Chex would not only fill up my pantry, but would also last years past the expiration date.  I did acknowledge that for big families with large pantries, this was a bargain in an era when shopping is scary expensive. 

It was somewhere between the chicken thighs and melons where I had an epiphany and did the 180 turn back to the cereal aisle where I grabbed 12 boxes of sale cereal. I wasn't sure all would scan up at the mega sale price, but they did. I tucked them proudly in my trunk and brought them proudly to the local food bank.  

Perhaps, ShopRite raised all the other prices and is using this one bargain to make people like me feel they are getting a bargain? Perhaps, this is what Shop Rite wants those of us who no longer have a gaggle of hungry kids to feed to do? Perhaps, this is the start of a kinder and gentler era where Shop Rite and others stores are thinking about others?  

PS I went back for more today.  There were no more :(

Check out your store?

https://www.shoprite.com/sm/pickup/rsid/3000/circulars?srsltid=AfmBOopUgwg30-fkEV2xJRyHDP1TJWOGl7EqMq3-3ENid5nOtO1Tsz8v

SOL25 Life Is A Marathon

 

This weekend, he'll be heading again, to Staten Island where he'll line up, again, with over 50,000 others for another opportunity to wear out another pair of sneakers. I think its his 23rd time running through the boroughs in NYC in the hot, cold, rain; but, it really doesn't matter if I'm one or two off, its a lot of miles. He's done at least as many in Boston and more half marathons than I suspect he can even remember.

I always read the results to make sure he makes it across the finish line, even though I am pretty sure the real challenge is in the months and months of training and the many detours and challenges on the way to the starting line. 

I'll never know the glow of crossing that finish line after pushing my body to the limit; yet, I do know the feeling of getting up early to get in a swim or heading into the sunset to get a mile in after dinner. Those are good feelings that provide me with a weird sort of energy that might be called self-esteem even if there are no cheering crowds.

I wonder if the real challenge for Ultra Athletes as well as us trying to stay alive is something that happens on a day to day basis when someone laces up their shoes for a really long/short run walk/after a really long/hard day or when someone gives up a glass of wine/piece of cake for a glass of water or a protein shake?  I wonder if the real challenge is walking gingerly on a sprain/after surgery while waiting for healing or waiting to run until after the dishes are done or the 12ths inning of your son's game or after that last meeting of the day?

I'll be watching to make sure he crosses the finish line and I will remember that the real challenge is getting out of bed and to the starting line. I'll celebrate his accomplishment(s) as I reflect on the massive undertaking. The NYC Marathon is really a metaphor for life, which is all about showing up and pushing through the hard parts in order to find that glow.

I'll remember that for all of us, Life is a Marathon.

October 2025 Everyone Needs Food

"The free food gravy train is coming to an end," she offered just loud enough for us all to hear and without remorse after the customer at the front of the line's SNAP benefit card did not work. "Get a job, work harder."

My heart broke for the physically challenged customer who took out $10.00 and paid for a quart of milk and a box of Cheerios, clearly embarrassed at the comment and at miscalculating her remaining benefit. I was glad she had some cash. There was a part of me that wanted to scream at the audacity of anyone to criticize someone's misfortune. 

But, I really was not up for a fight, today, so I drove home thinking about the impact of the government shut down on this woman and so many others.

I thought about my mother-law's stories of "Uncle Frank" who long ago went into the Foundling system after their father died. There were no social protecting programs in those days, and clearly his future was determined by the need to care for children with a minimum wage job. Can you imagine how hard it would be to give up your child just so they could have food? 

I thought about children and elderly, frail and disabled who rely on such benefits. I thought about those recovering from addiction, those suddenly on their own, or struggling to find better jobs in a world where bad news comes regularly and food prices climb daily. 

I am sure there is fraud and waste in the system and absolutely support efforts to make sure those benefits are not squandered. Fix the waste, please. Yet, with an ongoing government shutdown putting such benefits on the line, we, as the most prosperous nation in the world, had better think about a system that has supported many struggling Americans since its inception after the Great Depression. 

To quote Ms. Rachel, "Nobody needs a billion dollars, but everyone needs food."