Sunday, May 31 — 4:45 a.m. — Blue Moon, just me rambling on

 
"Once in a blue moon."   replied my Aunt .  
" The moon isn't blue it's white." i stated, wondering if there was ever one colored blue.  Aunt Mil, roared with laughter, and i felt very confused.
She wiped her eyes with the tea towel and put her glasses back on. " Oh, no the moon doesn't turn blue, it is just a saying for when there are 2 full moons in the same month."   She was making cookies or something like that. In fact she was always  doing something.  she talked a bit more about the full moon, but little of what she said sunk in.  Wish i could remember more of what she told me , still from that time on looking for the moon became  more and more a part of my evenings.  The moon was no longer just a bright light in the  night, not to me.  

 

 Nope, not to me, not anymore.  Waving at the man in the moon, was fun way back then.  But i knew also there really was no one to wave back.  I could never really believe that the man in the moon was the moon itself, or that there was a man on the moon.  It never looked like a face to me, and where were his arms and legs???   And never truly believed that there was a man in/on the moon until Neill Armstrong stepped into history on July 20, 1969 . Before you wonder, i was parked in front of our old black and white TV, watching every second.   

 

until 

Times passed, and the moon became science project, no longer the folklore and stories i loved to hear.   Oh! i still love those stories, and the names that people  had given to each full moon.  Watching the full moon glide across the sky, be it day or night still is magical. However these random Blue Moons don't have names like other full moons do.  

Tempted as i am, to choose a name for this moon.  For the past few nights i have looked up at the waxing gibbous moon, surrounded as we are by tall evergreen forest, the glimpses of a near full moon rising thru the trees are ever so beautiful to me.   Standing by the window, with my bare feet on a floor that is icy cold year round,  watching the the ascending almost full moon rise, listening to the owls and the rustling of the new green leaves, my inner kid raised her gnarled  hand and waved!  "Hi, Neil".

 

 

haiku, ponder

 ~~~Micki Autumn

 

 weeds, thorns, and rubble

they guard the secrets of time

ponder and wonder 

 

"Terry Bowen worked the night shift."

Once up a time!
Once upon a time there were dragons were "real" creativity was  admired, even rewarded.   Once upon a time, should say once up this time making something made  from nothing was celebrated!!!

 

 

 

 

Just Dragons

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Terry Bowen worked the night shift.

For two years, between trains, he built a dragon.

Terry is 61 and has worked at the rail yard in Harrisburg for 22 years. The decommissioned parts were going to scrap — boiler sections, wheel flanges, coupling hooks, signal gantry arms. Terry started pulling pieces aside and assembling them in a quiet corner of the yard.

"Nobody asked what I was doing," he said. "Night shift, you keep to yourself."

When management found out, the dragon was already 40 feet long and structurally welded to a concrete pad.

They sent Terry a letter. He prepared for the worst.

The letter said the dragon was being designated an official yard landmark and that Terry was receiving a commendation for creative use of materials.

"I read it three times," Terry said. "I thought it was a joke."

It wasn't. The dragon now has a name plate. New staff get a photo with it on their first day. Terry welded the name plate himself.

He's still on nights. He's started on a hatch..

 

A drive thru the late spring woods.

 

The woods, dirt roads, the sweet fragrance of fresh earth, the late spring suns' warming rays thru the canopy of green, sounds too good to be true.   that is something I look forward to each year.  A tradition started by my Father, 60 or more years ago.   About the the time of the decline of the family farm.  Why did I say that?  Pretty simple really, he was first and foremost a farmer.  

 

This years trip was a bit late,    Nope, not looking for  that postcard shot, looking for the  "times past but not forgotten" shot... 

 

Uh...double WOW for prehistoric scorpion tracks, fossilized of course

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Wow! 

i do like fossils, 

Really, really want to see this. 
Roadtrip!  

 

 

 

GIANT SCORPION OF HALLTON

By Bob Imhof

In 1948, scientists discovered a strange series of tracks embedded in rock along Spring Creek near Hallton. The rock was removed by paleontologists and taken to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh for study. Through the years it has been determined that the tracks had been made by a 7 foot-long relative of the modern scorpion 350 million years ago. A cast of the track resides at the Elk County Historical Society in Ridgway and the original is still displayed occasionally at the Carnegie Museum. The photo shows the scientists examining the tracks that were filled with plaster to make them more visible prior to their removal from the hill side.

 

 

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/visitPAGO 

haiku

 

 

 

 

 

 leaves dusted with snow

the blanket for the flowers

secretly growing 

The last Soup day of the Season

So last night was the last "soup day" of the season.  sop Season is of course my way of saying soup is for cold weather only. As a child we hardly ever had home made soup, at that time it was mostly Campbell's or the store brand with may-be some leftovers added in,  poor man's food.

UH, well that was then and this is now!!!  Years later soup is a work of culinary art, or at least as close to it as i can get. For soup is not to be rushed, either in the making or in the enjoying.  However it is still very closely related to clearing out the refrigerator.  

Being influenced by Beverly Nye i try to use leftovers when possible , i have some large peanut butter jars   in the freezer which contain leftovers that are usable in certain soups.  One contains left over bits of cooked meat, please separate the red meat from the chicken, turkey etc...why?, may-be it's just me but i don't like they way they taste when they get blended.  And one jar that contains homemade bread crumbs, no the bread was from the store, but i toasted it in the oven and ground it down with my mortar and pestle.  But i do digress, often. And  now  have lost my train of thought.  Oh yes, if you have leftover cookies at your house, they can be ground up to use in crusts, or in toppings.  But really does anyone ever have left over cookies???? And don't forget the de-greased drippings and broth, uh i don't mix these either, but remember that bouillon comes in many flavors when you don't have enough broth saved up.

This years choice for the last "soup day" of the season was last night.

 tortellini soup!

 Since i "wing it" with most recipes, here goes!!
-brown some finely chopped onion{1 medium} in some light olive oil and butter
-add some finely chopped celery and carrots if you like, about 1/2  to 3/4 cup, more or less as you like it,
also add a bout 1 1/4 pound of meat, we like beef cubes cut small, and dusted with Italian seasoning,pepper and garlic powder but you could use anything from burger to Canadian bacon after all it's your soup!!!! stirring until meat is nearly cooked,please don't precook the beef but stir until the meat is nicely browned

-add a couple o potatoes, trimmed and cut to bite sized cubes/pieces

-add any beef broth or sock you might have, or prepare some using your favorite bullion cubes or powders, you will need at least 1-2 quarts as it cooks down also add roughly half a cup or small can of tomato sauce, or diced tomatoes in tomato sauce.even a couple of chopped up tomatoes would work it you don't mind the seeds and skins

continue cooking until potatoes a nearly cooked

-turn down the heat add seasonings, Italian seasoning, more garlic if you want,  pepper, dehydrated sweet pepper flakes, some beef flavoring {the powdered kind with NO SALT}, 

- once it reaches a nice simmer and sir in fresh or packaged tortellini, and simmer until they are done 

 

Yup, i said "wing it" and but remember to watch for too much salt, don't add any, if it even needs any until shortly before serving. As the liquid cooks down it will strengthen/concentrate the flavoring of the seasoning.