The Mystery Of The Missing Marjoram + Reader Comments About Manufactured Victories

November 14, 2023November 15, 2023 / Ally Bean / 237 Comments

TALKING ABOUT MARJORAM

“I have always relied on the kindness of strangers.”

We needed some marjoram. NEED I tell ‘ya! Zen-Den was making gyros for dinner.

He’d made the tzatziki sauce, bought the feta and black olives and pitas and peppers, but alas and alack when he went to put together the dry blend for flavoring the meat we didn’t have any marjoram.

Thus I went to the grocery to buy some.

Being familiar with our Kroger I knew where the spice aisle was in the store, but when I stood there looking at the shelves with about 3 gazillion jars and containers and bottles of spices and herbs and extracts, I didn’t see marjoram.

BERJAYA

In fact, I couldn’t even find a little tag that showed it had ever been on a shelf.

As if, I muttered, knowing it had to be there, right?

So in what for an introvert might be considered stepping outside your comfort zone, I asked two friendly chatty women standing beside me if they saw any marjoram. Turned out they were a mother [70-ish] and her daughter [40-ish] who were enthusiastic about joining my impromptu scavenger hunt in the spice aisle.

Hence we three stood there, positioning our bifocals just so, and looked for the elusive marjoram plus what they were looking for [thyme and poultry seasoning]. We found what they needed, many times over, but the marjoram just wasn’t there.

I shrugged, thanked them for their help and went on my way, walking a few aisles away from the spice aisle to where I knew I needed to pick up something else.

From my favorite webcomic called Underpants and Overbites

But as I was standing in the middle of that aisle, I heard the younger woman yelling “I found it!” as she ran up to me with a jar of marjoram. She handed me the herb and explained that she’d found it with the label turned around backwards, in the wrong spot, hidden behind some oregano.

And then because she was a compassionate foodie person, she’d come looking for me by going up and down the aisles, wanting to make sure I got what I came to the store for.

Bashfully, almost apologetically, she explained that once she started doing something she had to finish it, she was compulsive like that, and this sort of search was her thing.

I had to find it, she told me.

I thanked her over and over, then waved good-bye while thinking, there really are some nice people in this world who don’t want to do anything more than just help other people.

And fortunately for the fate of our Greek dinner, I’d just met one.

QUESTIONS OF THE DAY

Have you ever asked a stranger for help finding something in a store? How’d that go for you?

Do you wonder sometimes how we have evolved into a society in which an act of kindness like this one is so rare that it is almost shocking?

Do you use marjoram in cooking? We have a lot of it now, so any recipe suggestions are welcome.

AND FINALLY FOUR READER COMMENTS…

About the Value of Manufactured Victories:

“Manufactured victories are part of my time management process. Like painting a wall. I get out the paint, then celebrate. Check for the brushes (which I find), dropcloths and tools. Then I celebrate. Now I notice I forgot something and need a store run. The good news-bad news is that I get to celebrate when I come home. All this celebrating and I haven’t yet painted the dang wall!”

~ Kate Crimmins

“… every blog post is its own victory–over apathy, inertia, and sometimes technology…. I feel like failure gets a bad rap in our winner-centric country. I’d like to normalize failure, especially for our kids. You might not have won, but you learned a ton!”

~ AutumnAshbough

“I think manufactured victories are very similar to moral victories, where the object was not to win but to actually try real hard. (Of course, a win is nice, too.)”

~ John Holton

“I don’t agree with the Vulcans that the DS9 crew had manufactured their victory. They were victorious in their sportsmanship. They didn’t begrudge the Vulcans their win, but the DS9 team had fun and experienced healthy camaraderie by showing up and playing together.”

~ Marie A Bailey

Out For A Walk: Honestly Just A Nice Stroll To See Where A Bridge Used To Be

November 7, 2023 / Ally Bean / 199 Comments

PLEASE NOTE: Yesterday Elisabeth at The Optimistic Musings Of A Pessimist interviewed me for her ongoing series featuring bloggers. I was happy to participate. Go HERE to read the interview.

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I like November.

In my part of the midwest it’s the calm before the storm, the pause before the whirlwind of the holidays. It’s a delightful time to just BE.

Grateful for cool nights and sunny days.

Peaceful and introspective, even.

Consequently while many bloggers worldwide are participating in NaBloPoMo [National Blog Post Month] or NaNoWriMo [National Novel Writing Month], I’m feeling pleasantly detached from writing, inclined to relax into each moment without wordiness.

To wit, as a few of you may recall I used to do posts on this blog in which I shared photos of where I/we went for a walk. Recently I realized that I got away from doing that during the pandemic, shifting into writing more, photographing less.

However today in light of my mellow mood and my lack of verboseness, I’ll post the following photos I took last Friday afternoon when the sun was shining brightly.

We decided to see what was going on with a state project to replace a pedestrian bridge, on a former railroad bridge, that is part of a popular bike path. We wanted to see where the bridge used to be.

And who doesn’t like a post that includes a photo of what isn’t there anymore? 🤔

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This photo was taken while walking through Loveland OH on a beautiful autumn afternoon.

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Locally referred to as the Loveland Bike Trail, the official name of this path is the Little Miami State Park.

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On the bike trail, which is used by runners and walkers as often as cyclists, you can find this building, the Little Miami Conservancy.

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As you get closer to the closed portion of the path you now see this sign.

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And this sign, a free parking sign, that has been tossed casually onto the ground until it is needed again.

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The pedestrian bridge that you do not see here is being replaced by The Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

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This is a photo of the Little Miami River, part of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. It is the river over which the bridge that used to be was, and the river that will again have a pedestrian bridge over it once the new one is built.

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Hokey Smokes: 7 Things To Tell You On The Last Thursday In October

October 26, 2023 / Ally Bean / 274 Comments

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1 – I am encouraged. The health advice in this article is fun and puts aging into perspective without making a person, such as myself, feel angsty. Just so you know, apropos of the article, I do eat beans and I can scratch my own back. So there.

2 – I am disheartened. This region of the USA is currently experiencing Boxwood Armageddon. To put this in pragmatic terms, we have 25 boxwood bushes on this property: 11 are dead, 4 are ailing, and 10 are hanging in there. It’s going to be expensive to remove the dead/ailing ones then replace them with something, probably not boxwoods.

3 – I am delighted. I’ve started watching a new TV mystery series about a full-time caterer/part-time sleuth. The show, that is on Acorn, is called Mrs Sidhu Investigates. I want Suki Sidhu to be my bff, she is smart and captivating with a good sense of humor.

4 – I am unclear. In regard to a conversation with a friend irl I’m wondering if how I define the word “overshare” is how anyone else does. To wit, does it mean: 1) talk about topics that you deem to be improper; 2) talk in depth about a topic; OR 3) talk too frequently about whatever interests you in the moment?

5 – I am thrilled!!! This article [HERE] explains that: “Around 700 years ago, in the small town of Urbisaglia in central Italy, the scholar and poet Alpoleio felt moved to introduce a punctuation mark that flagged up emotion rather than simply syntax.” I don’t use exclamation points often, but when I do I mean it what I’m saying.

6 – I am beguiled. While I like Jell-O, which I know can be a controversial admission, I’ve never made a mold of it… then made the mold wiggle/wobble… for snorts and giggles. Go HERE & HERE & HERE to see what I’m talking about.

7 – I am supportive. DISC is a way to explain your personality based on self-assessment. In the DISC paradigm there are four quadrants: Drive, Influence, Clarity, Support. I took a short free online quiz [HERE] the results of which told me I am “helpful and shows care for others.” Okie dokie, then.

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QUESTIONS OF THE DAY

If you are trying to live a healthier lifestyle, yet find yourself slip sliding away, do articles like the one I linked to help you get back in the groove?

When thinking about how you define “overshare” do you lean into the idea that it means: inappropriate, pedantic, or chatty?

Tell me [us] how you really feel about Jell-O. Everyone has an opinion!!!

If you take the online quiz to determine your DISC personality, who are you? Does it ring true with who you think you are?

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A Potpourri Of Pipsqueaks & Problems & Poems, Oh My

October 17, 2023 / Ally Bean / 225 Comments

The Pipsqueak Part – So Much Energy, I Had To Laugh

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In the mornings after I wake up my ritual is to brew a pot of coffee, pour myself a mug of the stuff, and [when possible] go outside to drink it whilst gazing upon nature, absorbing the stillness of morning.

Being at one with the universe, dagnabbit.

However the other morning at about 7:20 am, as I’m communing with nature sitting on the deck at the back of our house, I hear noise. It’s a loud unfamiliar sound coming from the front of the house.

What am I hearing?

It’s the kids, the little twerps, kindergartners mostly, in front of our house waiting for the school bus to pick them up. And they are all howling like wolf pups, loudly, with gusto.

Which has prompted neighborhood dogs in backyards, like Irene [Great Dane], and Cookie [Dalmatian], and Rocco [Beagle-ish pound puppy] to join in with the little human wolf puppies, howling louder than the kids.

Creating a glorious cacophony, that while unexpected, got me laughing so hard I almost spilled the coffee in my mug.

And that would never do.

The Problem Part – In Which We Mourn A Loss

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After 12 years of service our furnace died. We knew the end was coming but buying a new one isn’t exactly the most exciting use of money. Nonetheless with a loud *sigh* we got a new one.

The new furnace, like its predecessor, is in our unfinished basement. The installation took most of a day and went smoothly under the auspices of a guy I shall call Jake. He was quiet, knowledge, and seemed to have endless energy.

Welp, once the furnace was hooked up Jake had us follow him into the basement so he could explain the new furnace, as in parts and filters, and to show us the new sticker with his name on it saying that he’d installed the furnace.

Every time a maintenance tech comes to service the furnace they leave their initials on the official permanent sticker that starts with the name of the guy who installed it.

Very organized.

But here’s the thing, the unexpected turn in what we assumed would be a standard conversation with Jake, he got choked up when talking about putting his sticker on our furnace.

Come to find out 12 years ago Jake’s beloved mentor, Tom, had installed our old furnace placing his sticker on it. And, as Jake explained, seeing Tom’s writing on the old sticker reminded Jake that Tom had recently died.

Jake was visibly bereft about Tom’s passing, on the verge of tears. Thus while Zen-Den and I politely said things like “my condolences” and “I’m sorry for your loss” Jake stopped talking entirely. Then we three stood in front of our new furnace having an impromptu minute of silence in honor of Tom.

May he rest in peace.

The Poem Part – I Gave It A Try And Here Is What I Wrote

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A couple of weeks ago Kari at a grace full life wrote a poem based on an “I Am From” template [HERE]. Then after sharing her poem she politely challenged us to write our own poems.

Challenge accepted!

Below is my poem, titled in the way that Kari did hers, created by following the prompts on the template, but written using my own punctuation because, really, the punctuation on the template makes no sense.

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