She's Got a Point

Pippi: Whoever named the speech disorder where a person can't pronounce the letter 's' a 'lisp' was just plain mean.

Feb 6, 1909

One hundred years ago.

That's the day my grandfather, Leo Tanghe, was born. I wish he had lived to see his hundredth birthday - but he did not, so we'll just have to honor the day on our own.

When asked to tell about his youth he started with "I was born, as most people are..."

He was a scientist to the core, making note of the minutia of life and recording it. His daily diaries are more accounts of what he ate and who he saw and what temperature it was than how he felt about any particular thing. But that didn't mean that he didn't also have the soul of a poet hiding behind that doctorate in chemistry.

When on a train trip away from his soon-to-be wife (in 1934) he detailed some of the experience in a letter home.

The Pullmans are fixed up quite nice compared with the day coaches. Only the middle half of the car is taken up by sleeping quarters. At one end there is the men's washroom and smoking lounge. Hot water, mirrors and towels are available. At the other end there is a similar compartment for the women (I presume, without making a thorough investigation of the matter.)
...
The berth had a great deal more room than I had expected. Two could lie side by side provided they did not worry too much about getting their clothes mussed up, or about lying real close to each other.
...
It seemed as though we were going along leisurely at about the same rate that Alan might be pulling a cart down the sidewalk with no particular destination in mind. Yet the train must have been going about 60 miles an hour in order to get there in eight hours.

He kept a diary during their honeymoon trip. The first entry is from June 30, 1935, the morning after the wedding.

Fine day to start out our honeymoon. Warm and sunny all day long. Our destination is the Adirondacks - no special place in particular - except to be able to give vent to desire to see the massive wooded hills again. There is something attractive about the mountains. Even after having been here several times before, I return again in preference to going to a place where I have never been before.

Such an unpardonable error, for now we are two - Ruth and Leo. The word "I" must be cast into oblivion.

Such joy I never again expect to experience, as when I looked on her pretty head resting deep in the pillow. On that pillow too, I could rest my head right next to hers.

There is the word "I" again, but I am sure that word speaks for the both of us. Whatever joy was mine, was also hers. Our joys bound right back from one to the other, just as light does from two mirrors facing each other.

They raised six children together, my grandmother home taking care of the children, my grandfather working as a chemist for Kodak.

He loved photography and nature and especially mushrooms. He was a noted mushroom expert in the Rochester area and would be called upon to identify possibly poisonous mushrooms or even to discuss mushroom poisoning incidents on television as he did in 1995 - and recorded the event for several journals (second section).

When my daughter was born he sent a letter telling us what he was doing as they awaited news of her birth

We got this message [that I was at the hospital] just before we left for the 9:30 Mass at St. Charles. This is quite a struggle for us during the winter. I have to get out of our house through the back door on my butt and then get into the wheelchair and let Ruth push me to the car in the garage. Luckily I do not have any trouble driving [yeah, that raised my eyebrows too]

He loved to make jams and jellies and would invite all of his local great-grandchildren over in the spring and they would make raspberry jam from the raspberries growing in the backyard.



He had a recipe for Hot Pepper Jam that showed his scientific side:

4 lb sweet peppers
4 lb hot peppers
1 lemon
6 c vinegar
5 lb sugar
2 pkg (1 3/4 oz each) Sure Jel

I prefer red over green pepers - better flavor and more appealing color. These are available in late Sept and early Oct. at the Publbic market.

Quarter the sweet peppers and remove stem and seeds. Cut tops off red peppers and leave sees in. Quarter the lemon and use it all. Put peppers and lemon through coarse food chopper. Some juice may run out; catch it and add it to the ground mix. Place in a large pan or kettle with a heavy bottom.

Add vinegar and bring to a boil.

Add sugar and bring to a boil

Add Sure-jel and bring to boil (about 102 degrees C or 217 degrees F) and continue to boil until the thermometer reaches 104 degrees C or 220 degrees F while stirring. It is important to stir occasionally at the beginning and more often near the end. If you don't it might stick to the bottom or boil over and make a mess you will never forget. This will take about an hour, depending on the heat setting.

At this point put a test portion in a small container (bottle cap or milk carton cap) and cool it in the refrigerator. If it is too runny when chilled, boil it a little longer. With practice you can tell by the consistency when it has been boiled down enough.

Pour into sterilized jelly jars and cover with melted paraffin wax. If the jars have screw caps and take dome lids, wax is not necessary.

You will love it or hate it. You can adjust the "hotness" by varying the amounts of sweet and green peppers. You might want to use half or quarter of the above amounts for a first trial, but if you like it make a big batch and give some to your friends.

He was always ready to share his knowledge with anyone who was interested. Here he shows my cousin Jodie how to use a sliderule. Ten-month-old Pippi looks on, figuring this may be important someday.

For more great pictures go to my mom's blog Morning Glory Alley.

Happy Birthday, Grandpa.

Tuesday's Proverb

Wise men store up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool is imminent ruin. (Proverbs 10:14)

Winning isn't Everything

...but it sure would be nice now and then.

Sure we all saw the Cardinals almost pull a victory out of last night's Superbowl and the Steelers rallied back. An awesome few minutes of sports. We cheered for the Steelers, we felt bad for the Cardinals. But hey, even though the Cardinals didn't win the Superbowl - they got there. That means they won a lot.

Now - to this year's township basketball season. There are four teams in the minor boys division. There are about a dozen games. We're more than half way through the season and Harry's team hasn't won a game yet.

Oh, we've come close. There have been times when we were ahead by a few points. But the other team always ends up ahead at the final buzzer. Usually by about three points. Sometimes only by one.

It's hard to watch your kid's team lose all the time. You want them to win. At least once in awhile. Everyone likes to win.

And there's still more games. Maybe Saturday will be our lucky day!

Musical Interlude

Harry's downstairs doing something on the computer and singing (repeatedly) at the top of his lungs in good old opera style:

Life is like a love song
If you know what I mean

His sister is upstairs saying "I don't know what you mean."

Tuesday's Proverb

On the lips of the intelligent is found wisdom, (but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence). (Proverbs 10:13)

Dream Planning

And I don't mean like your goals and aspirations. I mean dreams. You know those crazy picture shows in your head at night.

Ever since I was little I've determined that if you think of something while falling asleep you will dream about it.

I've used this time to plan the perfect bedroom for myself as a teen (I remember lots of blue, steps, a loft, a private bathroom and a balcony), to imagine TV shows with me as an added character (I had lots of great Charlie's Angels plots where I could play the role of Sabrina's [made up] younger sister Jamie) and of course to figure out story ideas.

Story ideas are the things I've stuck with the most. After awhile it gets boring to plan a room you'll never actually have - and I grew out of the idea of wanting to be on Charlie's Angels, but I still need to plan out stories.

Before I fall asleep I'll let a troublesome scene run itself over in my mind. I can get great dialogue this way - the key is to remember it in the morning.

Now - the big question: does thinking about something before you fall asleep make you dream it. It hasn't worked for me yet.

And last night I dreamt that a Revolutionary War battle was going to be fought outside our house and we were watching through the windows waiting for people to arrive. When the soldiers in their red and blue coats showed up we went into town to get out of the way. The whole time I was very concerned about backing up my computer. And when we got back, and the soldiers were gone, I was mighty upset they had put holes in our new screen door.

Yeah - I didn't think about any of that before falling asleep.

Okay then...

I told my son to get in the shower.

He told me he wanted to finish reading the Declaration of Independence first.

Who am I to say no to that?

Tuesday's Proverb

Hatred stirs up disputes, but love covers all offenses. (Proverbs 10:12)

Poetry Friday

I've decided to post the poem for Poetry Friday over at my writing blog, Simply Put. Go check it out for a wonderful new poem by Pippi.

Shopping Lists...

...are apparently just suggestions to me.

I put five things on a shopping list today.

Five.

While at the store I took the list out of my pocket to make sure I didn't forget anything. I got a few things that were on the list and a few things that weren't.

I double checked the list and made note of the things I hadn't picked up yet.

I finished my shopping, came home, put the things away.

And then a few hours later I opened the bathroom cupboard and remembered I needed Dixie cups. And they were on my list. And I didn't buy them.

Sigh.

Tuesday's Proverb

A fountain of life is the mouth of the just, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence. (Proverbs 10:11)

Finished

Now I can get on with the rest of my life.

*and it doesn't usually take me this long to finish a puzzle, but I wasn't able to work on it last week.

She Has a New Book Boyfriend

It took less than one chapter for Pippi to fall in love with Edward Cullen in Twilight.

Her friends have been bugging her to read Twilight for over a year now. She resisted, saying that vampire love stories weren't really her thing.

Then she made a deal with one of her friends. If N would read the Percy Jackson series, then Pippi would read Twilight.

She came home from school on Thursday and said she was going to read Twilight, because N had gotten the first Percy Jackson book out of the library.

So the next day, while doing some birthday shopping for Pippi, I picked up Twilight (our first stop would normally be the library, but with renewed interest from the movie, the books were all out with waiting lists. I gave her the book on Friday (early for her birthday, but figured she could read it over the weekend.)

And by the time she had finished the first chapter she told me she had a new book boyfriend.

She plans to finish the book today (she would have finished it already if we hadn't had a baby shower to go yesterday, and a school dance Friday night.)

I guess I better finally read this book and see who exactly it is my daughter has fallen in love with.

Tuesday's Proverb

He who winks at a fault causes trouble, but he who frankly reproves promotes peace. (Proverbs 10:10)

Puzzle Progress

Blogging has been light - as well as everything else I probably should be doing - because what I've been working on is the puzzle that Pippi gave me for Christmas. Making progress. But I still have a way to go. Sorry the picture is a bit blurry. If you want to see what it is supposed to look like when it's done- go here.

Brew Masters

While Pippi and I were out attending a baby shower, my guys were home with their brewing kits. Mr. Beer and Mr. Root Beer. Looks like we have some good drinking ahead of us - for everyone!

New Year's Traditions

Or - of radishes and bananas

Once upon a time our family moved away from some dear friends. Several months later, one of the friends invited us back for dinner on New Year's Day. The other family was there as well.

Every year since the three families have gotten together for dinner on New Year's Day (or reasonably close to it).

That first year was 1976.

Not everyone can be there every year. But every year each family is represented by at least one member.

And we give gifts. This started naturally enough, because we were good friends getting together shortly after Christmas. The gifts are simple things - but there s always something else.

It's hard to explain exactly how it all started (and it's been tried: each time someone marries into one of the families and wonders why everyone is so excited about radishes and bananas)

I believe my father complained there weren't enough radishes in the salad that first year and every year since he has been presented with radishes as a gift. Sometimes they are artfully arranged, as in the time they were made into "Radish Man", other times, it's simply a bag of radishes.

Rocky gets hot peppers every year - and I'm honestly not sure why - I'm sure someone knows.

My mother always gives the two other families something to do with bananas. And this stems from a trip to Long Beach Island many years ago - when we were all together and my mother spent the time trying to get someone to eat bananas - since she had them and didn't want them to go bad. We started calling her a banana pusher. She took the calling seriously and every year bananas are part of the gift.

Salt is also a traditional gift. Since Dad and Ray love their boats - they're just a couple of 'old salts'.

So every year the New Year is celebrated with good friends and radishes, bananas, peppers and salt. Could you ask for anything more?

Oh yes - this year the boys sang some karaoke as well!

Happy New Year

Here's wishing a wonderful 2009 to one and all.

Last night we had a fun-filled New Year's Eve at home. For dinner we used the fondue pot and got to cook our own dinners - chicken, hot dogs, broccoli, carrots and cheese, dipped in a tempura batter and deep-fried.

Then we had a rousing game of Apples to Apples (best family game ever).

Followed by watching Heidi on DVD.

The movie wasn't quite over yet at midnight, so we switched to regular TV for a couple of minutes to watch the ball drop in Times Square, wished each other a happy new year, watched the rest of the movie and off to bed.

Today we're off to our traditional New Year's Gathering with family and friends.

More about that later (and if you're good I'll explain the odd tradition we have involving radishes, bananas, hot peppers and salt - I know you're dying to know)

Happy New Year everyone!

Tuesday's Proverb

He who walks honestly walks securely, but he whose ways are crooked will fare badly. (Proverbs 10:9)