Mid-Shore Life

by Cyndi Paxton Johnson

I’m tracking Hurricane Earl while I listen to B.B. King sing the blues (which should tell you a bit about MY week!) I haven’t prepared for a hurricane since Isabelle, teaching my small child about the weather as we collected oil lamps, batteries and water.  The little girl is 12 now – but the old “hurricane gene” kicks into automatic function. 

Firefighters in Baltimore are already preparing – because by the time they KNEW Isabelle was going to slam them – it was too late to get into gear.  So…while I cautiously watch the news – and it still doesn’t sound too bad for us inland shorebirds – I’m also making my list.  For those of you on the Atlantic Ocean or Delaware Bay – you not only have to prepare your home for damaging rain and winds – you also have to be ready to evacuate, if necessary.  Makes me glad our small beach is a ½ mile away!

So tomorrow I’ll gas up the car, gather some food that doesn’t require cooking (since it’s too hot for the woodstove – which I cooked on during the blizzard!), refill the oil lamps, stock batteries for the radio, and put away the lawn furniture & decorations.  I’ll also make sure everyone’s prescriptions are stocked! Thursday morning I’ll fill all kinds of containers with water –  six people go through a LOT of water!

Most days I dream of a house on the ocean – today I’m feeling sorry for those homeowners – having to batten down the hatches and hope for the best!  

Happy Hurricane (and Happy Labor Day, too!)

Oliver!

By Michelle Danelle Sebly

Sylvia S. Maloney, Director/Producer of Oliver! , and Becca Van Aken, Children’s Co-Director of same, gifted a packed house last Saturday night with an awe-inspiring musical performance, fun for children and adults alike. Lionel Bart’s Oliver! is the third production in Church Hill Theatre’s 2010 season, New Directions.

This musical tells the story of Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist almost entirely in song and dance, with just the right balance of action, drama, humor  and intrigue. Primarily for family audiences, Oliver! Also contains just enough tongue in cheek adult humor to entertain accompanying adults.

The cast, considering how large a cast it is, perform flawlessly together, adults, young adults, and children alike. Out of a cast of thirty-one, younger and older were equally represented, with fourteen kids and only three more than that number in adults. For Caroline Hazuda and Joshuah Tyer, street urchins in Fagan’s gang, it is an exciting debut performance. Caroline is a third grader at Kennard Elementary School, and enjoyed her experience so much she may just audition for another musical! Joshua, also in the third grade, attends Church Hill Elementary School. He performs in Oliver! side by side with his grandfather, Owen McCoy, who portrays both the Knife Grinder and a Bow Street Runner.

by Cyndi Paxton Johnson

I stumbled upon a fantastic book last week – a single thread by Marie Boswick.  The novel gets my Quick Read Recommendation based on the following points:

1. It doesn’t make me work.  I read a LOT of non-fiction for work. For pleasure, I prefer to quickly lose myself in the pages.

2. I identify with the characters.  No gun-toting, psychotic  gals living to ride on the back of some guy’s Harley and get revenge on the cheerleader that dissed her a million years ago.

3. The main character is a woman at a cross-road who decides to risk all and follow her dream.

4. Emphasizes the complexity and beauty of female friendship.

5. Talks about real issues, such as breast cancer.

6. Has a touch of romance – without bodice ripping or millionaires who save the day.

7. Teaches me something new – in this book I learn about quilt making!

8. The book inspires me to try something new, to follow my dreams and to value the people in my life!

By Cyndi Paxton Johnson

Ok, I admit it – I’m a kitchen critic. I dislike cutesy, new-fangled or gimmicky when it comes to my culinary tools. I’d rather have several solid items that serve me well than drawers full of single use items.  Seriously – an egg slicer? Chicken-shaped measuring cups?  A special plate for holding deviled eggs? 

Unfortunately, my dislike for tools with poor or single function does NOTHING to dissuade me from trying new gadgets in my Holy Grail search for the ULTIMATE KITCHEN TOOLS & APPLIANCES.   Here’s a few that have NOT lived up to criteria:

Champion Juicer – expensive and considered one of the best in the world, especially beneficial for Cancer patients (I’m told) – I find it annoying to clean and dislike BAGS of pulp byproduct – seems wasteful. 

Large Cuisinart Food Processor – also expensive – and works very well.  Was great for making scone dough, in addition to chopping. But – annoying to clean. (especially now that we have no dishwasher)

Kitchenaid Mixer – the next to highest model – but not powerful enough to handle double & triple batches of dough – which is what I make. 

So, now that I’ve dissed some of the largest names in the world of food preparation – what DO I like?

Appliances

Well, my new favorite kitchen tool (and the reason I’m selling the juicer and food processor) is the Vita-Mix.  I’d vaguely heard of it when I was intrigued by a Jack LaLanne Power Juicer commercial, and started searching online. Turns out THAT juicer/blender didn’t do too well in the reviews – everyone swore by the Vita-Mix, instead.   A couple of months later I was fortunate enough to attend a Vita-Mix demonstration – and I was sold.

I’m now the Smoothie Queen of the neighborhood – and we’re all enjoying a LOT more fruits and vegetables! Even when I make fruit smoothies I add some cabbage to the mix – it’s instantly emulsified and adds only sweetness and nutrients to the overall taste!  On slow, the Vita-Mix is also a food processor, chopping whole onions into manageable bits!

Best of all – it’s SO easy to clean – just add some warm water & dish detergent and turn it ON for 10 seconds. (don’t add more than the 2 cups of water directed – or you’ll have a sudsy Mount Vesuvius on your countertop – NOT that I’d ever DO that, of course! {Grin!})

There are many different ways to approach spelling. It's possible I've tried them all. The most popular are grade-appropriate spelling lists; unrelated words the child spells, defines, and memorizes. Except one of my children doesn't. She cannot memorize spelling words - even with games, physical movement, rewards, and so on. She gets very, very upset that her younger sibling can easily memorize and repeat the words.

I abandoned spelling lists a year ago - just because it seemed like I was setting her up for constant failure. I still BOUGHT spelling curricula, mind you - I just didn't use it. I kept hoping that by spelling out the words she asked for - she would eventually learn to spell. Except it didn't work. She can't spell. 

Last week, in desperation, I pulled out my brand new copy of "Sequential Spelling 1". I had ordered it last year, but after discovering the book primarily consisted of pages of word lists - and nothing else except a few "what to say" pages at the beginning - I put it away in disgust. But desperation does strange things to a homeschooling mother.

by Erin Mawn

One of the first books that I remember loving- not just liking, but loving- is Wait Till Helen Comes. This book was so wonderfully frightening that it fueled my young imagination to create and write my own ghost stories. They were, of course, very crudely written because I was only eight years old at the time. I was just beginning to learn how libraries work, and so I went to the same shelf to see if I could find any more scary stories by the author. There was another book, which I read an enjoyed but it was not a ghost story, so I went to the librarian and promptly asked for her help. Being an elementary school librarian, she probably expected me to describe the story or the cover art on the book, but when she asked if I remembered the author’s name so she could look it up in the card catalog, I promptly answered “Mary Downing Hahn.”

(She was impressed that I remembered the author’s entire name.)

Ever since then, that name has stood out to me as I browse books. In bookstores, library book sales, tag sales, and even online, I could never resist scooping up a book by Hahn because I knew it was guaranteed to be a good read. Even now, twenty years later, I continue to read and collect these books.

By Dwayne Eutsey

With all the snow we’ve had to dig out from lately, it’s easy to forget that February is Black History Month. http://www.history.com/content/blackhistory

This observance originally began as Negro History Week in 1926 when historian Carter G. Woodson, the largely self-educated son of former slaves who went on to receive a PhD from Harvard, wanted to establish a time for remembering and celebrating the significant contributions African Americans have made to our national history.

Woodson initially set this observance during the second week in February because two major figures in African American history were born during that week: Frederick Douglass, the former slave and outspoken abolitionist who escaped from Talbot County, was born on February 14; Abraham Lincoln, the president who signed the Emancipation Proclamation ending chattel slavery in the United States, was born February 12.

The week became a month-long observance in 1976 and is also known as African American Heritage Month. In addition to Frederick Douglass, the Eastern Shore has made a few other noteworthy contributions to that heritage.

There is Harriet Tubman, of course. Growing up in Dorchester County back in the ‘70s, I remember learning a lot about how she bravely helped hundreds of slaves escape from the Shore through the Underground Railroad. http://www.midshorelife.com/content/harriet-tubman%E2%80%99s-legacy-lives

However, one piece of history I didn’t learn much about when I was school kid on the Shore was the important role Cambridge played in the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Maybe that history was too recent and too raw for teachers to make sense of and to teach at the time, but I don’t remember learning anything about it in school. I did overhear, occasionally, vague references adults made about that time, and I even remember when I was almost 4 years old that my grandfather made me scrunch down in the backseat of his car as he drove me and my mom through a riot-torn section of Cambridge.

by Cyndi Paxton Johnson

I am ALWAYS striving to be more organized and efficient. (and yes, I hear Yoda's voice: Do or do not... there is no try !) And, as a self-proclaimed bibliophile (aka: book slut) I read a lot about ways to organize - starting with decluttering. The books say pretty much the same thing: pare down, find a home for everything, put everything away. (and yes - it IS the same thing my mother always told me)

This week I'm reading The Life Organizer: A Woman's Guide to a Mindful Year by Jennifer Louden. This one's different, folks. There's no files and plastic boxes and printed labels. Rather, it's about getting in tune with your heart, your dreams, your passion - and listening to yourself and your body about what the next step should be. Since it's meant to be experienced over a year - I have no idea if it actually works (though the reviews were fantastic!). Still, I do feel more centered - and even more patient about interruptions. I feel like something's changing - hopefully for the better.

Unfortunately, I haven't been as compulsive about making my "to-do" lists. I wonder if Allstate will understand I was listening to my heart and not sweating the small stuff???

I think there's a middle road here somewhere.....lost in the fog.  I'm open to advice - and will let you know what I eventually figure out!

In the meantime...where's that Allstate bill?

By Dwayne Eutsey

Someone I admired very much, activist historian Howard Zinn, died recently at age 87.

You may know Zinn from a book he wrote in 1980 called A People’s History of the United States. With over 1 million copies sold since its publication, this landmark (and controversial) volume retells American history from the point of view of “common people” often not included in our official historical narrative—Native Americans, slaves, workers, the poor, women, pacifists, anarchists, unionizers.

Last month, the History Channel broadcast “The People Speak”, a documentary co-produced, incidentally, by Easton native Chris Moore and his friend, actor Matt Damon. With Zinn narrating, the film featured the likes of Morgan Freeman, Marisa Tormei, and Bruce Springsteen reading and singing words from the original letters, songs, diaries, and speeches that Zinn used to write A People’s History and other works. (http://www.history.com/content/people-speak)

Coming from a working-class background myself, I am forever in debt to Zinn for showing me how this often marginalized group is actually an integral strand among many other strands that together make up our national history. His inclusive view of American identity is true to our country’s unofficial motto, E pluribus unum: “Out of many, one.”