I'm back

And I'd hoped to resume blogging with some wonderfully-thought-out, incredibly informative post... but that's just too much pressure for the moment.  (Or possibly ever!)

I feel exhausted.  We all have colds, and I'm worried about the deep cough (similar to my own) that I'm hearing from the baby.

For a day we were without heat, which was challenging: indoor temps dropped to 52 degrees, and at bedtime we pre-warmed the toddler's room with a spaceheater and took the baby into bed with us.  I was so relieved when the technician was able to fix the furnace quickly and easily!

Going further back, there was a death in the family... an abortive Thanksgiving trip (we drove for three hours, concluded that this was a HORRIBLE mistake, and turned around!)... a large and unexpected payment to make...

I haven't felt like writing.  Please view this post as an extended excuse, and indulge my self-centered whining out of consideration for my feelings of guilt (because I didn't write)!

Hopefully I'll soon have something more substantial to contribute.  (Nap, children.  NAP!)

Blogging hiatus

My parents are visiting, and I'm taking the opportunity (grandparent childcare!) to tackle projects in the house and yard-- and over the weekend, to have a mini-reunion with my college friends.  I'll let you know when I'm back...

In the meantime, best wishes for a smooth week!  Thanks for visiting my blog.

Sunday Snippets-- October 14

RAnn of This, That, and the Other Thing hosts "Sunday Snippets-- A Catholic Carnival," wherein Catholic bloggers each share a brief digest of their posts from the preceding week.

It's supposed to represent our best work, but, since I've only two posts (which is about my average), I'm begging everyone's indulgence...!  Last week I only produced some Quick Takes and a short post entitled "Everyday Sacramentality," which was inspired by my Hungarian cookbook, of all things.  (I'm on an ethnic kick.)

Thanks, RAnn, for hosting!

Ok... some really quick "quick takes"

And what have I been up to this week? (You're just dying to know, right?)

1. Storytime at the library.  Unfortunately, today's Halloween craft project-- a spider mobile made of construction paper "legs" taped to a paper plate-- seemed to upset my toddler...  But then, so did the sight of her baby sister wearing a hand-me-down sweater.  ("Mine!")  We're just at that stage.

If only this could be the motto of our membership drive!

2. Helping my husband to set up a not-for-profit organization supporting scholarship in U.S. military history.  The legal part's done, but-- what with web pages, blogs, Facebook, and anticipating the administration thereof-- this project already feels overwhelming!  And we haven't even officially "announced" it yet.

3. Avoiding all work, conversation, and thought that touches on my book manuscript.

4. Fall cleaning.... because I haven't deep cleaned since before my almost-two-year-old was born!  Now, hand her a (dry) dust cloth and she'll "polish" furniture right along side me, at least for a few minutes...  By the way, this is a great procrastination technique!  One of my go-to's.

5. Trying to remember to pray together as a family!  My husband and I would like to make this a part of the evening routine (realizing, of course, that we can't expect the toddler and baby to actually pay attention), but we're just not in the habit...  For the past few nights it's slipped my mind until the children were long in bed.

6. Before bedtime, reading Jane Eyre yet again.

7. Experimenting with slow-cooker oatmeal.  It's wonderful to wake up to a ready-made breakfast, but the oatmeal's been forming an annoying (and wasteful) crust on the inside of the crock.  Tonight I may try this method, which I hope will help.

Enjoy the weekend!

Everyday Sacramentality

"Bread is revered in Hungary... and country folks still call it 'life.' As a child, if I dropped a slice of bread, I had to kiss it before eating it."

                ~George Lang, The Cuisine of Hungary (1971) p. 345

How simple and natural an extension from this, to love of the Blessed Sacrament-- and vice versa!   (Yet Lang himself was Jewish.)   Faith seems so intertwined with a grateful awareness of basic needs; of dependence; of survival...

Does a society lose its faith when its loses its concept of a "staff of life"?  (Here I'm probably trailing into the ideology of the Back-to-the-Land Movement...!) Of course, it isn't as simple as this: if it were, then we'd be done with the matter in one exhaustive historical study.

Still, today in the kitchen I'm taking a fresh look at my pantry staples. Potatoes.  Bread.  Barley.  Rice.  Building blocks of Life in more than one way?

Milk soup: a grand tradition...?!

"Milk soup"-- have you heard of this?  Tasted it?  While flipping through my Hungarian cookbook (George Lang's classic, recommended by a Facebook friend), I was astonished to find a recipe for it; and still more astonished to find other versions online...

The personal significance:  My Polish grandfather, may he rest in peace, ate a bowl of this every day for more than 50 years-- but I'd always assumed that the mixture was his own quirky invention, because who else would eat what was essentially a white sauce with noodles, and nothing more?  My mother told me that this "milk soup" regimen began after his wartime imprisonment, when a doctor (either in the DP camp, or upon the family's arrival in the US) told him that he was malnourished and needed to "build himself up," so to speak.  This soup was his solution.  And he made the entire family eat it, every day...

My mom detested milk soup, or came to detest it.  While I often saw my grandfather eating it, I don't remember trying it myself; and he never pressured me.

Here's a whole online conversation about it.  And another.  Again, I'd never realized that milk soup was not just my Dziadzio's quirk, but a well-known recipe with many variations!

Adoption Tax Credit to sunset Dec. 31

Sorry to trouble you with yet another political cause (in this election year, we're all approaching burnout!), but... our family was formed through adoption, so this issue hits home for me.  Literally.  Both of our babies-- two in two years' time, born right here in the USA-- came to us by means of adoption, for which my husband and I are more grateful than we can possibly express!!  And the process was expensive...  The Adoption Tax Credit, now set to expire, has been a welcome relief to us and other new adoptive parents.

In 2010 and 2011, the federal government offered an adoption tax credit that was fully refundable, meaning that the government would help adoptive parents with their adoption-related expenses regardless of tax liability. In 2012, however, the "refundability" expired; and the tax credit itself will sunset on Dec. 31.  Unless another law is passed, by 2013 only special-needs adoptions will qualify for a (greatly reduced!) measure of tax assistance.

"There are now bills in both the House (HR 4373) and the Senate (S 3616) that would accomplish the goal of an adoption tax credit that is inclusive, flat for special needs adoptions, refundable and permanent. We encourage you to ask your Representative to co-sponsor HR 4373 and both your Senators to co-sponsor S 3616."

If you have a few minutes, please help to Save the Adoption Tax Credit.  (Missouri residents:  Representatives Clay and Emerson are co-sponsoring HR 4373; and Senator Blunt introduced S 3616.  I'm not sure of where the others stand.)  Thank you, thank you, thank you!




A final, admittedly bitter thought:  We as a society will soon finance abortion and contraception-- while the adoption credit goes away?

Rakott krumpli

As we sometimes joke to each other, my husband and I are both very much "ethnic wannabes."  We each have one immigrant Polish parent-- in his case, born in a Siberian gulag during the war; and in mine, born in a DP camp in Germany, where my grandparents had been deported for forced labor.  My husband's mother is half Polish and half German; and my father is half Polish and half Hungarian.  On either side, no ancestor arrived in this country before the twentieth century... Although my husband and I don't speak Polish, have never been to Poland (or Hungary, or Germany), and are decidedly "American" in our attitudes (as we always discover when speaking with actual Europeans!), still we cling to the idea of ethnic identity-- and admit that the attempt is, well, half pathetic.

Now, inevitably, our immigrant parents are aging; and our immigrant grandparents are dying.  Someday that direct link to the past will be severed...

While we've always been eager to claim our heritage in small ways (i.e. the framed Polish eagles on our walls), lately I've grown a little desperate!  Along with a great uncle on my father's side, I've been dabbling in Hungarian genealogy.*   I've also been reprinting family photos, displaying deceased family members' cherished personal effects, and-- the true topic of this post-- experimenting with Eastern European recipes.

For dinner last night I made a version of Hungarian rakott krumpli, which is an extremely simple-- but incredibly rich!-- potato casserole.  Basically, it consists of sliced boiled potatoes layered with lots of melted butter; sliced hardboiled eggs; meat (ham and/or bacon and/or sausage); and finally, sour cream, or a sour cream sauce, topped with a sprinkle of paprika.  Then, bake in a medium oven for about 30 minutes... The dish can be varied in many ways, including omitting the meat for a Lenten dish.  I used diced ham and added a layer of chopped cabbage for extra nutrition.

Here's one recipe; and here's another; and another.

The hardboiled egg and sour cream give rakott krumpli a very distinctive, old-world flavor (and I never would have considered using hardboiled egg in a baked casserole!  But try it-- it's delicious.).  I found that sliced cucumber and a glass of wine provided a fresh, pleasant contrast to the casserole's richness.

As I continue to mine my Hungarian and Polish cookbooks, I'll post about the results.  In the meantime, my husband agrees-- we're definitely making rakott krumpli again!


*Ironic, considering that my children are not genetically related to me!  But I'll save that reflection for another day.

"Life" still in the University of Notre Dame

Notre Dame is 4-0 ---  but there's been a much more important comeback!  Life Site News reported last year that ND's culture of life has expanded since 2009; and other conservative organizations continue to thrive.  Some cases in point:

Office for University Life Initiatives  Established in direct response to the furor surrounding Obama's visit, this office aims to "strengthen the Notre Dame community's witness to Catholic teaching on life."  Basically, it's a PR resource that collects info on Notre Dame's pro-life policies and events-- which are substantial. (Check out the sidebar.)

The Notre Dame Fund to Protect Human Life   A Master's program in pro-life studies is in the works (see Project Guadalupe). Meanwhile, the Vita Institute trains pro-life advocates-- and a recent program graduate now leads the March for Life in Washington, D.C.!  Real work with real impact.

University Faculty for Life at Notre Dame  ND's chapter of the national organization

Notre Dame Right to Life  The student group, more active (and better-funded) than ever!  Check out their newsletter.

The Irish Rover  ("It behooves a watchdog to bark.  Good Rover")  An alternative to The Observer, this independent student publication seeks to preserve and foster a conservative Catholic culture at Notre Dame.  Click on this link, if on nothing else: Aren't they doing a fantastic job?

The Sycamore Trust  This vocal alumni group opposes Notre Dame's ongoing secularization.  Please consider donating!

Children of Mary  Notre Dame's Traditional Catholic community, celebrating the Tridentine Mass every Sunday at 9AM in Alumni Hall chapel


Notre Dame is not yet lost.  Instead of bewailing its failures, why not make an effort to reinforce Catholic identity at this, our nation's most prominent and influential Catholic university?  If you'd like to see change at Notre Dame, please promote change!  Support the above efforts.  Write to Fr. Jenkins.  Otherwise (sorry), your complaints are only mean-spirited.

I close this post to comments, lest it become just another unproductive battleground between Notre Dame's love/hate camps.  Facebook has emotionally exhausted me...

(Full disclosure:  I'm a Notre Dame alumna, and it was my overwhelmingly positive experience there-- the people, the liturgy, the atmosphere, the people-- that set the course of my spiritual life.  Really.)

Cruising the Danube, virtually

My toddler and I love this video!  It's a lesson in music (Strauss' waltz, interpreted by a famous conductor who's fun to watch); and geography, too, as it follows the course of the Danube River from Black Forest to Black Sea... Not that my toddler is ready to grab an atlas, but-- someday.  In the meantime, she enjoys the music and scenery, as well as the conductor's enthusiasm!

Since I'm not geographically savvy, I had to look up the significance of many places and images.  Here are a few that were unfamiliar to me:

Donaueschingen:  Traditionally, the Danube's source is a spring at Donaueschingen castle in the Black Forest-- but more accurately, it's the "Danube confluence," where the rivers Breg and Brigach flow together to form the great river.  The video first shows the castle spring (so picturesque!), and then the two streams joining in the forest.

Schlögener Schlinge:  The "Danube Loop," in Austria

Wachau Valley: A truly beautiful part of Austria, known for its wine and architecture, including monasteries... Among other things, Dürnstein was the site of King Richard's captivity (remember the Robin Hood legend?).

Golubac: A 14th-century fortress, now Serbian (it changed hands repeatedly), that controlled river traffic through the Iron Gates 

Eisernes Tor  (Iron Gates):  A series of narrow river gorges dividing the Balkan and Carpathian Mountains, as well as the states of Romania and Serbia

Danube Delta, a reedy wetland area, mostly in Romania... The river ultimately discharges into the Black Sea.

Using a map to follow along with this video might be a terrific activity for children, don't you agree?   Certainly I've learned something!

Of course, one can also simply enjoy the beauty...  This journey never grows old, and it mellows me every time.

Thrilling and overwhelming

Two weeks ago an academic publisher-- one well respected in the field of Catholic history-- contacted me to inquire about my dissertation manuscript. Would I consider rewriting it as a book?

(Oh, wouldn't I!)

After a few emails back and forth, we settled on a tentative schedule:  I have until the end of next Spring to put my text in order, at which point it will be submitted for peer review and-- assuming it passes-- then to the board of editors for approval.

Thrilling, no??  I was all aglow for days, and my ego still hasn't recovered (as my husband can confirm)!

But now (reality check) there's a scheduling challenge ahead:  Where to find the time, without shortchanging our little girls or driving my husband insane? Luckily, I know of a teenager down the street who might be willing to babysit for a few hours each week, but... in the end I know that I'll be forced to take an extreme measure:

Getting up early.

(PS:  I'll let you know how that goes.)

How I served my in-laws

My husband's parents drove in on Friday and-- after stuffing our freezer with delicious pierogi from one of Chicago's Polish supermarkets!--drove off again this morning, leaving us in a sort of post-visit malaise.  Today is for winding down, washing sheets, folding laundry, making applesauce... and yes, for blogging all about it!

Since these days we host family more than ever, I'm always interested in easy, economical meal plans that minimize time in the kitchen.  Just to throw some ideas out there-- here's what I served for dinner this weekend to a no-fuss, meat-and-potatoes type of couple.


Friday:  Minestrone  (Saute fresh garlic in oil, then add four cans of diced tomatoes; two cans of white beans; two "cans" [using the empty cans as a unit of measure!] water; two beef bouillon cubes; chopped celery; about 1/2 bag of frozen chopped spinach; and a cup of red wine. Bring to a boil, and then add 1/2 box of small shell pasta and cook for 10 minutes.)  ... with French bread, plus the rest of the wine


Saturday:  Taco pizza   (I whipped up the dough in my bread maker; pre-baked the crust at 425 degrees for five minutes; and then topped it with hot taco sauce, hot sausage, and mozzarella.   After baking at 425 for 10-15 additional minutes, I first sliced the pizza and then added crushed Doritos and grated cheddar.)   ... with a green salad


Sunday:  Slow-cooker pot roast  (4 lbs beef shoulder cooked on low for 8 hours, with mushrooms, peppers, and-- per Mrs. Thetimman's French dip recipe-- onion soup mix and one cup water.)   ... with a green salad and oven-roasted potatoes



What is your mealtime strategy for family weekends?  Any tips? 
 

Scattered thoughts from a busy week

Are "quick takes" for Fridays?  If not, I'll still use the concept as an excuse for scattered thoughts...


1.  Our family tried St. Louis Catholic's recipe for French dip sandwiches (see the comments section of this post), and yes-- it's THE recipe!  Incredible flavor. My husband loved it; I loved it; and it was unbelievably simple to make in my slow cooker...  Thank you, Mrs. Timman!!  This meal is going on our regular schedule.

2.  Lately naps have scarcely overlapped at all, so I've had very little free time during the day-- although I'll admit that I've been carving out an early-morning coffee hour by letting the girls hang out in their cribs a bit longer before breakfast.  (So long as they're not crying...!?)

3.  With my toddler, I've fallen into an unfortunate habit of using videos as a distraction during diaper changes and her baby sister's pre-nap feeding/rocking session.  True, she watches (what I consider to be) good stuff: excerpts from The Nutcracker ballet, orchestras playing classical music, scenes from Disney's Cinderella, a half-hour alphabet video from Sesame Street...  But I can see that video is becoming an addiction for her, as she's constantly requesting it outside of the normal times.

4. With regard to the above, I'm beginning to create my own short videos of the toddler's books-- sort of a virtual storytime.  With the camera zoomed in close to the page, I read, point out fun bits of illustration ("Do you see the puppydog?" etc.)...  While of course this can't possibly replace actual storytime, I figure that this sort of video has to be a cut above Cinderella!  Especially if our toddler has the books, too, in her hands, so that she could potentially follow along... Again, not ideal-- but perhaps a slight improvement.

5. One final thought:  Our seven-month-old does better push-ups than I do.

Have a great weekend!

Your Neighborhood, 100 Years Ago

Have you ever wished that you could step back in time-- just for a moment-- to experience your neighborhood as it was long ago?

Photographs offer a glimpse, of course; but while photographs convey the look and feel of a place, they usually don't reveal the area's layout.  For example, if you lived in this spot 100 years ago, where would you shop?  What might you do in your spare time?  What sources of light and heat were available? Sanborn maps-- detailed city and town records maintained by the Sanborn Fire Insurance Company-- can help you to visualize a neighborhood at this level, as they show and label individual shops, residences, churches, and other community resources.

And now, these addictive maps are online!!  (When I first encountered Sanborn maps in grad school, one had to go to the city library and page through them, physically.  It was fun, but also a lot of trouble.)

For example, I'll link you to the following images at the University of Missouri:

... Old St. Patrick Oratory (Kansas City, MO) in 1896

Zoom in, and find surrounding hotels, offices, dwellings (coded "D"), shops ("S"), the public library, the YMCA, a laundry, a drugstore...

... St. Francis De Sales Oratory (St. Louis, MO) in 1909
You'll see nearby tenements, flats ("F"), movie theaters ("moving pictures"), pool rooms, saloons (abbreviated "sal"), a laundry, etc.


Kansas residents can find many of their maps here, at the University of Kansas Libraries.

Whatever your city/state, be sure-- if you're interested--to check the online resources of your public library!  Many county libraries have begun to offer digital access to their local maps... Keep in mind, too, that the Sanborn Company began these records in 1867 and updated them throughout the 20th century, so many different editions may be available to you.  If your local library offers only maps dating from 1920- 1930, for example, look at the holdings of your area academic library-- there could very well be more!

Wouldn't this research make an interesting homeschool project in History?!

PS:  Here's a helpful key to common Sanborn map abbreviations (University of Michigan).

Snood sighting!

Chances are you're already well acquainted with Regina Coeli Creations, Delena's online shop specializing in pretty, Mass-appropriate headcoverings. However, if not-- or if you haven't been there recently-- check out the cuteness (and feminine dignity, of course!):

In case you missed it, Delena's also offering 15% off your next purchase.

Jacob's Toy Box

Christine, a local Catholic homeschooling mother of six, has opened an online store for her beautiful handmade dolls and other toys.   I find the dolls especially enchanting:  they have that old-fashioned, Laura-Ingalls-Wilder appeal that makes a mom feel so good about her daughter's delight in them!

The store's name-- Jacob's Toy Box-- has bittersweet significance.  On the accompanying blog, Christine writes:

This spring I was anxiously awaiting the birth of our 7th child, Jacob.  For each of my children I have made a special blanket or quilt before s/he was born.  While at the fabric store getting material for Jacob's blanket, I saw a pattern for a stuffed animal and decided to make one for my soon to be born son, Jacob.  The stuffed animal turned out adorable.
      
Tragedy struck June 2, 2012.  Jacob died at 32 weeks gestation.  The doctors don't know what happened.
      
While grieving for our son, I needed a way to honor and remember him.  I thought of the joy I had sewing the stuffed animal for him and decided to start the business Jacob's Toy Box...   [source]

Please pay her a visit.  Her creations are simply beautiful!!

Slow-Cooker Sunday: A New Family Tradition

Until recently, the slow cooker had always struck me as a rather pointless gadget:  after all, unless you worked outside the home, why would you invest in a device that took eight hours to accomplish what a Dutch oven could do in three or four?  Moreover, it couldn't reduce a liquid down to the silky, rich sauce that I expected in a pot roast or stew; and its throw-everything-in-and-walk-away method seemed to leave no room for creativity... So for years I skipped all of those slow-cooker recipes, confident that there was really nothing in them to miss.

Until recently.  To my shock, that once-despised slow cooker has actually proved itself...!

You see, on Sundays our family assists at Tridentine Mass (Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite) in the city 35 miles from our home, and-- depending on traffic-- it can take us anywhere from 35 to 50 minutes to reach the church. Once Mass ends, we're hungry; the babies are both tired and (despite take-along snacks) hungry; and we still must face the long commute home.  It's a problem.

In pre-parenthood days, my husband and I loved to follow Mass with a leisurely brunch at one of the downtown restaurants; and even when our eldest first came along, we still could usually sneak in 40 minutes or so at a family-friendly establishment.  When our second child arrived in January, however, that option was shot.  There was no enjoying a sit-down meal with two frazzled little ones to manage!  ...And so, we began pulling into Sonic for a quick meal of burgers, hot dogs, chicken fingers, and tater tots.  I'd squeeze between carseats in the back of our sedan, where I could give the infant her bottle (if necessary) while handing the toddler bits of chicken and greasy fried potato.

Needless to say, this arrangement was less than ideal.

On a whim, I picked up a seven-quart Crock Pot (with visiting family in mind?) at Walmart on a Saturday, along with 3lbs of pork shoulder and some barbeque sauce.  At eight the next morning I loaded meat, vegetables, and sauce into the thing, turned it on "high," and ran upstairs to go back to bed prepare for Mass...  "I hope it doesn't burn the house down," my husband said as we drove away-- late, as usual.  (Mea culpa.)

But when we returned home, the smell was amazing-- and the pork was tender and savory.  We could sit down to our meal almost immediately, no fuss, with naps to follow... Leisure restored!  I was sold.

Since then, we've experimented with beef sirloin on two successive Sundays (not as tasty, since it really needs more cooking time); and this past Sunday, we tried this worthwhile Food Network recipe for pork carnitas.  In the interest of time, I initially skipped the final "crisping" step, but tried it on the next day's leftovers-- and we both found that it elevated the ok to the sublime!  (Please don't forget the "crisping" step!  It creates those flavorful brown bits...)

Humbled, I now ask-- do you have a favorite slow-cooker recipe? 

Attitude Adjustment--

-- in that I really need one, ASAP.

All weekend my thoughts have centered on me, on a sort of struggle for my time and my space against all other members of this household, dogs included. When will the baby let me drink my coffee in peace? Why is the toddler always in the kitchen? When will I finally be allowed to watch that TV show? While I did my job (with lots of help from my husband), I wasn't "doing small things with great love"; rather, I was busy "getting small things out of the way to make room for me."  And when that room didn't magically appear, I chose to become resentful and sullen.

As a result, I've begun the week on the wrong foot and the wrong side of the bed.  As this morning wore on I heard That Tone creeping into my voice; and upon smelling That Smell just before naptime-- right when I thought I was home free-- I actually exclaimed to my toddler, "What?!  You pooped again?! How is that even possible??"  (She laughed, thankfully... But in the future she may take to heart this sort of accusation.)

Hopefully I can still manage to turn the day/week around...  Although nearly two years ago I'd allowed the arrival of our first daughter to completely derail my daily prayer, last week this post at The Happy, Resourceful Home motivated me to begin again, just in a small way: a decade or two of the Rosary said here and there, most often as I rock the baby to sleep.  Maybe it will help to pull me through today; and maybe a nap will, too... However it's achieved, though, my focus does need to shift away from "getting what I want" and toward the process, the day's rhythm as a source of grace.  (Yes, yes, I've been reading Holly Pierlot!)   Otherwise, I'll only keep clawing at members of my family, as I did all weekend-- and how pleasant was that?

Love Literature? Win Free Books from Civium Press!

Civium Press, purveyer of little-known classics, is giving away four books by "father of modern fantasy" William Morris (1834-1896), whose work influenced C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien.  All four books go to one lucky winner!  Please click here for details. The drawing will take place on Monday, July 23.

Disclosure: I'd love to be that lucky winner!  This blog post constitutes an additional entry in the drawing... Yes, I'd go to some effort for a book.  Or four.  Wouldn't you?

YA Nostalgia

Lately I've found myself revisiting many books that I'd loved as a child, most of which I still love.  Little Women...  the Anne of Green Gables series... the Little House books... Charlotte Sometimes, A Girl of the Limberlost, An Old-Fashioned Girl, The Lamplighter, Summer of My German Soldier, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Jacob Have I Loved, Bridge to Terebithia, Harriet the Spy.  I could go on and on, as I suspect that you could, too...  Reading them now, I appreciate anew their charm and warmth and wit; and I imagine the day that my little daughters will encounter them for the first time.  How wonderful, to discover these stories-- to read them without prior knowledge of how they develop and end!  Will my girls be enthralled?  I hope so.  (If not, they're sure to laugh at how excited I'll be!)

Over the weekend I was lucky enough to pick up a number of classic YA novels from the local thrift shop, among them a newer one I'd never read:  Lyddie, by Katherine Paterson (one of my favorite authors in this genre).  And so of course, I couldn't rest until I'd finished it, right?  ...Well worth the late hours!  Set in the 1840s, Lyddie is the story of a farm girl, her family broken by poverty and mental illness, who labors in the textile factories of Lowell, MA in hope of earning enough to reunite her brothers and sisters.  I think that Patterson does an excellent job of conveying a central tension of that time and place:  While arduous working conditions provoke Lowell women to organize against company management, at the same time the factory offered girls like Lyddie economic and cultural advantages that they could never have experienced at home on the farm.  From one perspective, it was "wage slavery"; but from another, it was unprecedented independence and (yes, yes) empowerment.   As the story progresses, Lyddie must negotiate these tensions to decide what she really wants to do with her life-- and claiming that ability to choose is, for her (as it would be for most women of her day), an astonishing step.  I couldn't put it down!

One caveat:  I wouldn't give this novel to my daughters until they were at least 12, and even then I would plan to discuss with them some of the situations encountered therein. I think particularly of a manager's attempts to take sexual advantage of his female employees (two instances, both assertively thwarted by the women, no indelicate or gratuitous detail); and the extramarital pregnancy of one of Lyddie's co-workers, which the book seems to interpret as a matter of personal freedom v. stifling paternalistic morality. ...  Moms, definitely vet this one beforehand!



...If you have a moment, please suggest to me your favorites!  What books did you love as a young girl?

To Henry Rago, poet and De Paul alumnus

"Laughter and books and wine are holy things; and living is good; and death is a breathlessness with the whole adventure of finding everywhere the traces of one great beauty..."

                ~Henry Rago, "Plea for Uncommon Sense," De Paulia (February 4, 1937) 2.


Dear Henry Rago,

I met you in 1936.  (You never met me.)  It was when you began that column for the De Paul University newspaper, and-- well, your words leapt out of that blurry microfilm image and gleamed. Just gleamed! I began to look forward to finding your column, again and again; I even fancied that I could discern your cadence in unsigned editorials. Later, in the files of Chicago Inter-Student Catholic Action, I found a short play that you'd written in 1940-- a clever anti-war skit that made me laugh out loud--as well as a few poems, all of which strengthened an impression I'd already received: that, if I'd been at De Paul in 1936-37, I'd have been, well, intrigued. 

But from a distance.  While you described yourself as "timid," you seemed popular and involved in everything-- from CISCA to newspaper to drama to Homecoming and intramural sports-- so no, I would never have braved the writerly crowd surrounding your booth at Pixley's or the Roma! And if I had, could I have joined your banter on the Mystical Body implications of a cheeseburger. . . ?

Researching a (21st-century) dissertation on collegiate Catholic Action, however, I took the liberty of citing your poems and newspaper columns as illustrations of a developing liturgical/social justice culture among Depression-era Catholic youth.  (I hope that you don't mind.)

Looking further, I'm thrilled to find that--no shock!-- you'd indeed become a renowned poet, theology professor, and editor of the well-known literary journal Poetry. Today you have your own web tribute, one much more fitting than any I could construct... since, after all, I only watched you from afar in your student days, at De Paul in 1936.

PS:  While I'd love to share a poem or two that I found in the files of CISCA, I'm concerned about copyright issues-- so instead I'll link to your wonderful "Sonnet for God," which Poetry published in 1934.

Sorry, sorry-- but yes, I'm going to share this!

You know that it's about to be a challenging day when... the dog regurgitates a dead bunny on the living room floor, right in front of your inquisitive toddler and grabby infant.

(Hey, at least it didn't happen on the couch, right...?)

Tethered to the Coffeepot

To put it briefly:  Rough night.  Again.  (Also, note to self: Never bring the toddler to bed with us after a night waking!  The result will be a baby bouncing on the mattress as we're trying to sleep and, ultimately, tortured screams when she's replaced in the crib.)

So early this morning I crept down to the kitchen and, armed with a cup of coffee and both baby monitors, tried to recover some shadow of interest in the world.  As usual, I went to the NPR website and listened to the Hourly News-- that five-minute audio rundown of headlines, available on demand, which is so convenient for a tired mom who has little time/motivation to click through Drudge Report or the New York Times.  (Conservative stations, Catholic stations, won't you develop something similar?)

This video, too, I find to be a helpful mood-brightener, both because of the upbeat music (who can resist the Pastoral Symphony?), and because of the obvious joy that these musicians take in its performance.  They're living in the moment, reveling in what they do-- and yes, it's just a little bit contagious!

Time for that fourth cup of coffee.  Happy Monday to all!

Hello! Thanks for dropping in

... on my brand-new, wide-open, clean slate of a blog!  Years ago, while working on my dissertation, I ran a blog called Quo Vadis, which-- sadly for me-- I terminated when academic obligations became (or felt) overwhelming.  Life is different now:  I've graduated, and, after years of struggling with infertility, my husband and I have adopted two wonderful baby girls, now the center of our lives!  They're full biological sisters, and we took each one into our care within days of her birth.... So now I'm trying to concentrate on becoming the best mom, wife, and homemaker that I can be, although 95% 99% of the time I find myself just praying for "adequacy."


Still, a professional networks, right?  I've decided that now is the moment to stop lurking and start participating in the online conversation!   In this (as in so much else!) I'm lucky to have the example of a friend from college and a friend from church, both talented writers and outstanding moms.

Again, thank you for visiting!  I'll see you when naptimes overlap.