Sunshine in Winter

Sunday, as we emerged from the porch, our daughter discovered that the daffodils had bloomed.  She let us know by yelling: "FLOWERS!!"  I snapped this photo with my handy Wednesday afternoon, to share with you: Sunshine in Winter.

Dinner Culture

A part of world culture seems to be diminishing in parts of the world.  Once upon a time everyone sat down at a table to enjoy the company of family and friends, and shared a smorgasbord of food.  It did not matter how long you sat there.  There was talking, laughing, crying, yelling, arguing, but everyone was together.  We took the time to savor the flavors, and chew the food, and enjoyed a friendly face.  It seems that today we may only have time for a sit down dinner on a special holiday...IF, we are not having to rush from one home to another. 

henri-matisse.net

In Germany, dinner may last 3 or 4 hours.  And who needs a living room?  A large kitchen with a table and chairs, candlelight, linens, stoneware, silverware, stemware, and serving bowls, dishes, and trays fits the bill.  Ambiance.  Meat, noodles, gravy, salad and bread.  Cusine.  Not an empty seat, no phone calls, who cares about the time?  A joke, a crunch, a wink, a smack, a laugh, a tear, a toast, the smell....

 Welcome to the drive through dinner culture.  You bark into a micro-phoned box, drive up to a window and just like magic, someone is shoving food out the window.  Do you drive home and put it on a plate and sit down at the table and talk about what you did today?  Or, do you still cook, something homemade, prepared in your kitchen, for your family?  Do you serve it at a table for everyone to sit down and enjoy?  Or ,do you fix a plate for everyone, make the cattle call, and watch as everyone goes in a different direction?

Sit down dinner culture...the place where children learn to say please and thank you.

This might not be easy...

I signed up to follow a friend's blog today. See myrtle + lloyd (http://myrtleandlloyd.blogspot.com/)  I had already been unofficially following, and decided to make it official.  Then I thought, that looks simple and interesting, and not very time consuming; I think I'll create a blog.  Maybe this is the place where I can say what I want without feeling the guilt of posting every move I make on Facebook (which I have all but stopped).  Why do I now feel so un-interesting, and naked?  This might not be easy...but I'll make the best of it.