a really old memory about the days of black and white tv

 There is something about driving along the back roads that reminds me of many of my best memories.  takes me back to when as a family we went on "Sunday drives" , us kids sitting in the back seat, this was long before seatbelts, looking out the windows for house we thought were where from the Civil War era.  See we did learn something in school, however we chose to  translate it into our much more modern lives.  We considered ourselves very modern because we had a TV.   Not that there was always programming in those days, watching the  test pattern, and drinking  KoolAide out of colorful tin tumblers, the KoolAide really didn't taste all that good either, much better from a glass.  and there we would sit with out tiny  TV, the only one in the neighborhood!  Drinking metallic tasting Kool Aid and may-be some Lorna Dunes { a type of mass produce shortbread cookie}  watching the RCA Indian Head  test screen. As engrossed it the tiny  screen 

 Until Buffalo Bob and Clarabell the clown opened  the  Howdy Doody  Show....and i digress, and confess i never really .liked it.  but i watched it with my siblings anyway.

,

  The local news was on afterwards and it was dull and exciting at the same  time.   There was  a big world out there and i wanted to see it all, well sorta i was scared by the news also.   Then the screen would usually go gray, for awhile then perhaps Arthur Murry's dance Studio or a western would be on later on that night.   One very neat thing i recall was that every night.  Not that we should have been awake at 12PM. the TV said good night and signed off until morning.

"This concludes our broadcast day. Channel [Station Number] now leaves the air until [Morning Time] tomorrow morning. We operate on a frequency of [Frequency] megacycles, by authority of the Federal Communications Commission. On behalf of the management and staff, we wish you a very pleasant tomorrow. And so, from all of us, a very sincere good night, folks."

i recall  that the screen then became grey and made a sound like frying chicken.   

   

 

mayo , tomatoes , bread....YUM

 It frosted...actually froze, that was supposed to happen, it was supposed to rain.  But the skys cleared and so  the days of picking my own tomatoes and cucumbers are just about over for this year. There are alot of  nearly red and not so read tomatoes on my window sills now. 

Days and days and days of  tomato and cucumber and  tomato sandwiches, at first it just the cukes and tomatoes  on fresh baked bread, then it seasoned cukes and tomatos on fresh or not so fresh bread, and a bit later on it marinated cukes and tomatoes on white wheat bread, and finally its marinated cukes and tomatoes on whatever bread is handy with lots of Mayo.

Honestly right now i think i will not want a cucumberor tomato sandwich at least until sometime in January. Even though i am enjoying one as i type.

Not that this was a great gardening year, too much rain, too much heat and humidity. the only thing that liked this years weather was the pumpkins and the weeds, and I'm just not so sure the weeds really liked it as much as they pretend , Those large raggedy what ever they were might have just flourished because it was difficult to find a day when one could weed much of any row before the lightening flashed and the thunder roared, and one got soaking wet. 

 

 As a child i dearly loved to play in mud!  Mud soupy gloppy, really fun to play in mud, in fact i had dug a whole in the back yard that i would fill with water and make mud to play in.  Have probably said this numerous times "Gardening is how adults play in mud.  Because only technically do i wish to be identified as an "ADULT".   It is my goal to live life as a responsible  and now grey haired child.  Enough of this, on to whatever i was trying to say when my inner child so deftly interrupted my grey haired inner child"s train of thought.  Where was i going with all of this???

 

 ??  Yup! now i remember it had something to do with eating ones fill of tomato and cucumber sandwiches.

November memorys

A few days ago my son brought me a poem carefully copied down for me many years ago.

Written on the sort of tablet paper used in those days, it was crumbling, but still legible. I read it over and over, "Yes!!!!! this is truly how feel about November."  With a half hidden grin on his face he said "I know that is why i wrote it down in the first place."

“November comes
And November goes,
With the last red berries
And the first white snows.

With night coming early,
And dawn coming late,
And ice in the bucket
And frost by the gate.

The fires burn
And the kettles sing,
And earth sinks to rest
Until next spring.”

― Elizabeth Coatsworth

 

i

 On this fine day we chose to leave the chores and home behind, and go for a long. long ride through the woods. for the earliest signs of winter are fast approaching. the sun was warm but the air temp was 48F.  The beautifully colored leaves are either falling or turning brown.  A  gentle blue sky, with a few wispy clouds. And we  were out to  for  a drive, there were a few errands and stops made fo.r our winter "might need that shelf", but mostly it was just to enjoy the day

Hunter's stew...from grandmas kitchen

 

 "Oh wind, if winter comes can Spring be far behind?"~~~~Percy Bysshe Shelly.

 This years sunny  LATE fall days and brisk nights are so welcome, we often have snow on the ground by now. Winter will be here too soon for me 

 

The last few days were comfortable  enough  for cut off jeans and a tee.  Unusual, Yes, but welcome.

 I do have a point to make here somewhere, about soup and stews.  Seems like soups and stews are a big topic of conversation this time of year.   My own style is  to make  something based on the leftovers. 
 I have made the following stew several times, and get asked to make it again.  Over the time added a few of our favorite things, and added some others.   It's a great recipe as is, but still you might add some of the gardens last tomatoes, or some garlic, a dash of soy sauce.... even an Italian herb blend.  Great recipes started out that way, i am told.  And i would agree.

 The name of the creator of this soup, sadly was not included.  But thanks!  for the recipe!

Ingredients

• 3 pounds beef stew meat
• 2 - 14 ounce cans beef stock
• 2 1/2 cups celery diced
• 1 medium onion chopped
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup corn starch dissolved in 1/4 water
• 2 - 12 ounce packages of Reames Frozen Home style Egg Noodles

Instructions

• To a pan over medium heat add beef, beef stock, celery, and onion. Generously salt and pepper.
• Cover and simmer for about an hour, until meat and veggies are tender. Stirring occasionally.
• While meat cooks, prepare your egg noodles per the package instructions. Or make your own homemade egg noodles.
• When the meat is tender, add corn starch/water mixture and stir, the sauce will thicken in just a few minutes.
• Drain and add the noodles, combine with meat mixture.
• I love mine just like it is, but my hubby tops it with sour cream!

 

 

Notes

**Note If you are wanting to make this in your crock pot, simply cook the meat, broth, onions celery on low all day. Finish it up with your noodles when you're ready to eat. Thicken as necessary.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 | Calories: 643kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 83g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 310mg | Sodium: 702mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 3g

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The first day of November

 

This first day of November dawned  to a thick fog.  Beautiful, but not what i wanted to see,  By lunch time i was outside,  making trenches fo my compostables , while i still can, before the ground freezes solid. 

Under a bright blue sky with wispy clouds.  The breeze was  almost warm...."oh, stay please stay"  for a few more days, for once i would like to go into the winter a few steps ahead of  everything, anything  that needs doing.  One foot in front of the other, i keep saying to myself, and i keep hoping for a long stretch of  good days. 

Last night was the first time we fired up the stoker..... dancing flames, like the flames of the sun, the suns warmth weakens every day, the nights get longer  and darker, more silent, except for the wind and the coyotes.   


The sun will be setting soon, disappearing behind the pines and spruces on the hilltop, winking goodnight to us.   And here it begins,  in stillness November isn't just the start of a new year   it's a time to  think .   Though you do not see  of feel the changes taking place, they are still thereso be open to them.

A new year is a time of preparation, change and discovery, remembrance, and gratitude and  appreciation and most of all thinking.  

Thank you to my dear friend Anne E Mosse, for her input.

"TIME" gracious to a fault on the changing times

 

 

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Politeness Has Changed. Our Language Shows How

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by

Valerie Fridland

Valerie Fridland is a linguistics professor and the author of Like, Literally, Dude: Arguing for the Good in Bad English and Why We Talk Funny: The Real Story Behind Our Accents.

Oct 26, 2026 6:00 AM ET

Carol Yepes—Getty Images

The next time someone does you a favor, take a minute to note how they respond to “thank you.” You’ll likely find that the traditional “you’re welcome” is fast fading and being replaced by “no problem” or “no worries.”

We often treat politeness as a set of rules that people either follow or ignore. But the rules themselves are changing.

In the time of Old English (5^th to 11^th centuries), acting according to one’s rank and station was simply expected. Linguistic analysis shows very direct request forms, for example, “Thou shalt do X,” rather than the more modern, “Would you mind doing X?” And routine thanking, or saying “you’re welcome,” would have seemed odd in a time when people simply did what was required.

When Norman French started to enter English around 1066, the idea of courteous behavior also entered the language. An example would be the move toward switching between “you” and “thou” to appropriately show respect or intimacy, modeled on the French tu/vous distinction.

This concept of courtesy was central to how one expressed gratitude and, by the time we arrived in the early modern era (the time of Shakespeare), thanking was firmly established. However, routinely responding to those thanks was not common. If uttered at all, we’d more often hear something like a deferential, “I am but your humble servant.”

In the 18^th century, elaborate complimenting routines became popular, and by the late 19th and early 20th century, English-speaking society had a greater focus on treating all people as equals. As a result, being aware of how one’s actions might impose upon others became increasingly important.

Requests that were once directly stated as imperatives were now couched with indirectness as merely suggestions or questions: “Shut the window,” became “Could you please shut the window?” And, in addition to saying “thanks,” responding with an acknowledgment of that thanks, such as “you’re welcome,” became routine.

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This brings us to modern times. Today, “you’re welcome” is becoming less common. Instead, when someone says “thank you,” we reply with “not at all,” “no problem,” or “no worries.” This assures the person who expresses gratitude that no imposition was involved. In this way, we attempt to offset any social imbalance.  

As a result, Americans who say “no problem” and those who always respond with “you’re welcome” can tend to believe the other camp sounds rude. 

Those who prefer “no problem” often feel that “you’re welcome” has a condescending tone, while “you’re welcome” traditionalists feel like “no problem” suggests the favor could have been a problem. For instance, the sense that “you’re welcome” can have a bit of a smug, haughty tone has been played up by comedians like Will Ferrell in his 2009 Broadway show, You’re Welcome America, satirizing George W. Bush’s presidency.

Research confirms this shift toward expressions like “no problem” or “no worries” over “you’re welcome” is a generational one. In the norms of how we respond to thank you across generations, linguist Aaron Dinkin found that young Americans increasingly preferred “no problem” as the go-to polite response to “thank you.” Older speakers still felt “you’re welcome” was more appropriate, particularly when a favor required more than perfunctory gratitude.

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So, the way someone responds to “thank you” is much more than a simple return on someone’s gratitude. These small words help us understand how politeness—and our expectations of one another—have changed over time.

TIME Ideas hosts the world's leading voices, providing commentary on events in news, society, and culture. We welcome outside contributions. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of TIME editors.

 

 

a wish for this and all seasons

 

 

 

 

 

 

As this year passes into the next, sending you,  Joy, Hope, and a Peaceful heart.

  

 

 

 

 

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