Tag: homelife

Clearing Space

Post author By Paul Deaton
Post date August 14, 2015

The lower level of our home is not finished.

In August 1993, as we trucked our belongings inside, I set up a wooden desk bought for a buck after returning to Iowa from Germany. It’s in about the same place today, with an accumulation of junk piled on it.

It is time to clear the old desk and get to work making something from the artifacts of a life.

I have been a reluctant downsizer, but it’s time. The process will involve writing — autobiographical writing. It will also involve shedding the detritus of hopeful projects that lost their luster.

Few people care about a single, ordinary life unless some broader lesson can be learned from it. Even I don’t care about much of what happened in my life. The main focus is always on what’s here and now, and to some extent, what’s next.

A few projects seem particularly important.

In 2013 I wrote “Autobiography in 1,000 Words.” I’ll expand that post to 10,000 or maybe 25,000 words. Brief enough to read in a single sitting, but more details.

Prioritizing my reading list will be part of the process. Last year I read a short list of books. If that is the future, choosing carefully from many options ranks high on the to-do list.

Since re-purposing in July 2009, my writing has been short form. Letters to the editor gave way to blog posts, and freelance work for the Iowa City Press Citizen provides an outlet. My topics have been catholic and need focus. I expect to continue freelancing as I have been, but funnel down blog writing as I go through the accumulation of artifacts. At my age some things are more important than others and there is not time for them all.

Since the digital photography era began—roughly in 2007 for me—thousands of images have been stored on computers and external drives in our house. I worry about the future of such images, so some photo printing is in the works.

The project end-game is a productive studio space. A place to go for creative endeavor that would include music, writing, reading and other outputs. If the space produces an income, that would be great, but I don’t have high hopes for that.

It’s time to be hopeful again, beginning not far from where I’m writing this post. I cleared a space on the oak desk last night, so the work has begun.

Tags homelife, Sustainability, Writing

Home Life

Weekend Miscellany

Post author By Paul Deaton
Post date August 11, 2015

Bits and pieces of a life surface in the early morning of high summer.

A plastic bag holding brown rice disintegrated in the cupboard, leading to discussions with my spouse about what to do with old food.

The plastic bag was biodegradable, although the expectation was it would last a while longer. Removing the cupboard contents to clean up and reorganize turned up food with expiration dates going back to 2003. The hoarder in me wanted to keep or cook some of it, but best to compost and recycle as we can.

What project did I have with tapioca? Why weren’t there more celebrations for which to bake a box cake, and inadequate festivities to use up two bottles of grenadine syrup? What the hell with the marshmallow fluff? There are answers, but the memories conjured by this project we not so memorable.

Today begins my weekend, which of course, is not free of work. My editor sent me three story ideas and the three-day hiatus from the warehouse is filled with activities already. Not the least of these activities is picking apples, which are getting ripe fast. The first wave will be a big one, with lots of juice and maybe some sauce and apple butter in the works.

Tags homelife

Kitchen Garden

Middle of the Gardening Year

Post author By Paul Deaton
Post date July 25, 2015

July 25 has been the traditional day to plant second crops in the garden. Turnips, radishes, green beans, broccoli and more stand at the ready. If I can break away from paid work for a while they’ll go in Tuesday or Wednesday.

I planted lettuce in pots, but it germinated poorly—likely due to too hot temperatures. The broccoli seedlings are ready to be planted, but there is a fatalistic cloud hanging over them as some critter got under the fence and ate up the cruciferous vegetable in the spring. My tolerance policy may enable it to return and bring its friends once the tender crops are in the ground again.

A neighbor has been out of town for a couple of weeks and offered their garden produce while gone. Their squash, tomatoes and cucumbers filled a gap in our garden, and I made notes for next season. Two zucchini plants is more than enough for a family, plant cucumbers earlier, grow a couple of early yielding tomato plants to supplement the later big crop.

Mostly though this time of year is about wild flowers. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has some prairie restoration projects going and each patch is redolent with the scent of summer.

It’s time to stop and take it in before midsummer turns to fall and winter.

Tags homelife, Kitchen Garden, local food, Sustainability

Home Life

The Meaning of Crickets

Is the sound of a cricket in the house good luck or bad?

Early morning found me interrupted by chirping—loud and pronounced. I turned on the light of my mobile phone and shined it behind a bookcase, trying to locate the insect. He’s here for the second day.

It’s a long cricket walk from any point of entry to the lower level of the house and my writing desk. It seems doubtful the distinct rhythmic sound will attract a mate. It is distracting to me, but the range is very short.

“It is a sign of extreme good luck,” according to the Internet. “All the things that you have been working toward and dreaming about are now possible. Stay open to guidance and cosmic messages and you will know exactly what you have to do.”

Whatever Internet. If I catch the bug, he’ll be transported outside—unharmed if possible.

Yesterday my editor wrote that my last filing would finish the week. There has been a lot of news lately, so my features get pushed back. New assignments won’t happen until next week, and that’s okay with me.

At the warehouse the other shift supervisor turned in her notice, so it means more work for me in coming weeks until the corporate staff figures out what to do about leadership. Our regional manager seems in no hurry.

After an analysis of the retained value of our net worth during the six years since my “retirement,” it turns out we reached a floor in 2013 and have begun to grow net worth again. I don’t know how that happened since we seldom have extra money. It reinforces a couple of things about low income families. We make do with what we have. We have more than enough to occupy our time. Every income source, no matter how small, is important.

For the moment, I’m going to try to locate the cricket and move him outside. I hope it’s not bad luck.

Tags homelife

Kitchen Garden

Make Real Food

If a task or event is on the white board, it is likely to get some attention. Yesterday I wrote “make real food” on it.

I knew I would draw from the garden, ice box and pantry for the meal, but what I would make—had no clue.

It became is a sort of enchilada, but not really Mexican. The intent was to use Swiss chard and other summer vegetables. Here’s what I did:

Cook 6 raw tortillas in a dry pan. Set aside.
Make tomato sauce by draining a quart of diced tomatoes and processing them in the blender. (In retrospect, I should have seasoned the sauce, but left it just tomato puree).
Prepare 6-8 Swiss chard leaves by removing the veins. Chop the veins and stems into bits and the leaves into one inch ribbons.
Using olive oil, sautee one third onion, chard stalks and veins, quarter cup chopped celery seedlings, one third of a zucchini cut into quarter inch cubes, and season with sea salt.
When the veg is softened, add one 15 ounce can prepared black beans.
Add the Swiss chard leaves, a generous tablespoon of lemon juice, and stir gently until the leaves start to wilt. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Into a rectangular baking dish pour enough tomato sauce to cover the bottom.
Take a cooked tortilla and spoon the vegetable mixture on the middle. Sprinkle on a tablespoon of feta cheese, tightly roll the tortilla and place it in the baking dish on top of the sauce. Repeat until the dish is full.
Pour the remainder of the tomato sauce on top, cover with aluminum foil and bake for about an hour in a 360 degree oven.
Remove the casserole and place on a rack. Remove the foil and sprinkle more feta cheese on top. Let sit on the counter for 10-15 minutes to cool.
Serve with a favorite accompaniment, such as hot sauce, sour cream or chutney.

The result made four generous servings.

Tags cooking, homelife, Kitchen Garden, local food

Kitchen Garden

Friday in the Bean Patch

Post author By Paul Deaton
Post date July 10, 2015

The first harvest of green beans is finished as humans enter a race with nature to get the best of what’s in the garden patch.

Rodents, slugs and insects all want a piece of the action. Today I’ll pull up the plants, harvest what remains that is edible and prep the soil for replanting.

Green beans are one of our favorites. We have about ten pounds in the ice box ready for cooking—not enough to preserve.

Yesterday I harvested Swiss Chard. While the preparation is a bit boring—slice leaves into ribbons, saute with onions and garlic—it is a tasty, seasonal side dish. With the kale and lettuce we have an abundance of leafy green vegetables.

The broccoli seedlings are coming along, and if there is time, I hope to prepare a plot for the planting today.

There is one other garden patch ready for second cropping, and it will likely be turnips and radishes. The weather has been very cool, and there may be a window to get them in before the traditional July 25. With the crazy weather, we press against preconceived notions about seasonality and try new things.

And we weed the garden, never catching up with the work as nature works incessantly to take over the plots again.

Tags homelife, Kitchen Garden, local food, Sustainability

Home Life

The Eyes Have It

Post author By Paul Deaton
Post date June 29, 2015

My distance vision is improving, whereas my near vision is deteriorating, said my eye doctor during a recent examination.

I had broken three pair of glasses with the two most recent prescription lenses, and it was time to get a new pair. I don’t like it, but accept the inevitable progress of aging.

“Forget about those reading glasses they sell off the shelf,” he said. “Just take off your glasses and hold the book closer.”

So, I will.

This week will be spent close to home. Because of temporary changes in my warehouse schedule, I have six days off work in a row. It will be a time for catching up on household chores and setting an agenda for the rest of summer and beyond.

For the most part, this week’s writing will be on paper. I’ll begin cross posting content I write for Blog for Iowa Thursday.

Once I get my new glasses, I’m hoping for a totally new perspective, and from that, better writing.

Tags homelife, Writing

Home Life

Keeping It Here

Post author By Paul Deaton
Post date June 24, 2015

Why We Don't Use Lawn Chemicals — Why We Don’t Use Lawn Chemicals

There’s a reason we don’t use fertilizer, weed killer and other chemicals on our lawn and garden. This picture of the ditch in front of our house tells the story. Whatever runoff we may generate will go directly into the lake.

Over the years, I’ve applied strategies to keep the rainwater on-site to keep things green and prevent soil runoff. It took a while, and the effort produced results. Ours isn’t the most beautiful yard, but the ditches on either side of the house don’t fill with runoff very often, and haven’t for years. Because of my approach, the garden requires minimal watering, and the lawn is left to live or die on its own.

It’s raining now with a 75 percent chance of rain in a couple of hours. It’s going to be a day of waiting. Waiting to work my to-do list, which was mostly planned for outside. Waiting for my interview subjects to get back to me for a story. Waiting to get to work inside.

One thing to do is get the garage ready to return my car inside. When the gardening season begins, I use the space to work on seedlings. The only thing remaining to plant inside is another round of broccoli. All of the tomato, pepper and cucumber seedlings will be composted now that those transplanted into the plots have taken.

I’ll also spend a few hours in the kitchen—organizing, cooking and making sure perishables are moving along the right path. Did I mention we have a lot of kale?

Then there is ramping up for my stint as editor of Blog for Iowa beginning July 1 through Sept. 7. The 49 days of coverage amounts to at least 25,000 words and planning makes the work easier. The first three story lines are identified, and I could begin outlining their content. Or maybe I’ll wait, depending on how the day goes.

In any case, this is a rare day off all the jobs I hold, so I plan to make the most of it. No plans to leave the property today. I’ll be keeping my activity close to home—and liking it.

Tags cooking, homelife, Kitchen Garden, Sustainability

Home Life

Eight Positive Changes from Logging In

Post author By Paul Deaton
Post date June 19, 2015

On April 21, 1996 our family gathered in the kitchen around a brand new Acer computer and logged in to the Internet for the first time. We didn’t understand what that meant, then or now.

It was important to our daughter’s education to have home access to information via the World Wide Web. Important enough to spend about three week’s take-home pay on a computer, and pay $25 per month for dial-up service. I had used email at the oil company in 1990, and understood the web’s ability to connect people in far away places. I wanted our daughter to have that.

I had no idea how much Internet access would change our lives, and 20 years later still don’t.

There are obvious effects: communicating with people from past lives; reducing television viewing to almost zero; providing the ability to work from home; and importantly, creating a venue for self expression and creative work.

On most days, I don’t like a lot of what I see and hear when logging in. However, I now rely on the Internet in ways I didn’t before. Particularly important is the ability to connect with different groups of people on multiple platforms like Facebook and Twitter, but also WordPress, Blogger, Feedly, Flipboard, YouTube, Skype and mail groups. I got started on email, and it has been the bread and butter of my Internet presence.

Here are some ways logging in changed my life.

Access to certain kinds of news and information is more immediate. By following corporate media, governmental bodies and key public figures, access to their formal news is available as soon as we log in. There is an inherent bias, but I can’t imagine waiting until radio, television or newspapers report the news any more now that it is on line.
I’ve become more open to sharing things about myself. Albeit I don’t tell secrets and personal stuff, I haven’t minded posting my ideas in a multitude of places on the Internet. By doing so, my personality has changed for the better, at least I think so.
Working with people on a project is easier. While longing for in-person relationships, the Internet has enabled keeping many conversation threads going at the same time. My life has been richer for that, and more productive.
It became possible to earn income using the Internet. Consulting and writing have both been facilitated. I’ve also made a bit of money by selling on eBay.
Family relationships took on a new dimension. While the touch and presence of family members can’t be replaced, the Internet bridges the distance when we are apart. Simple things like sharing calendars and social media have helped me get by when visiting in person is not possible.
Shopping changed forever. Amazon.com changed how I shop for books in a way that still has a wake. The selection grew exponentially and the price doesn’t seem too high. The same holds true with retailers like J.C. Penney where I buy the same types of socks, shirts and slacks over and over. No need to be subject to local store manager peccadilloes.
No idle time, less isolation. Access to the Internet can engage us in positive ways, especially if we keep a constructive attitude. As long as there is an Internet connection, there is little reason to feel isolated, even if one lives in the rural part of the state as we do.
Access to Weather Information. This almost goes without saying, but access to current weather conditions has made life better. The quality of hourly forecasts has improved, and one can plan the day around them.

Tags homelife

Home Life

Memorial Day 2015

Post author By Paul Deaton
Post date May 25, 2015

Memorial Day is mostly about the Civil War. These shirt tail relatives and at least one direct ancestor pictured here (Thomas Jefferson Addington) made it back, but many did not. Men from this Virginia county fought both for the Union and the Confederacy. The photo was taken Memorial Day, 1912. I favored the Confederacy when I was young, but once understanding came, switched sides.

It’s a mixed bag as to whether people understand the meaning of Memorial Day. It’s not Veterans Day. We have another holiday for that. Many politicians get it wrong and talk about taking care of veterans. Today is about remembering soldiers who gave their life in the line of duty.

This is also the first of four days mostly off work and I was at it early. Reading in bed at 3 a.m., up around 5 a.m. to work in the kitchen, and then outside to mow at 2 p.m.

When I finished the mowing, I took a rake to the turned soil, working it for tomorrow’s planting if the dry holds. The vegetation in our yard is growing out of control. Four days may not be enough to get the yard in shape.

During the peasant’s revolt of 1381, 14 year-old King Richard II capitulated completely to the rebel demands at Mile End. He ended up reversing his decisions, but for a brief moment the peasants rose up, believed they had ended their servitude and changed the course of history in ways we can’t even fathom today. The pessimist in me says it was inevitable Richard’s promises would not be kept. The optimist in me looks to the possibility of common people joining together in a cause to overturn, even if only for a while, the status quo and embark on a new and more just path in society.

Have to hope the latter is possible and that it has some local application.

Tags homelife