Two weeks ago at Bible study, Joan the hostess had some cheese and crackers out. I usually have a few bites because dinner doesn’t happen until 6:45 or 7:00. I’m used to eating around 5:15, so I’m pretty hungry by 6:15.
Last time I was there, she had a new kind of cheese. It was a crumbly white cheese with chunks of something in it. She had Triscuits out as well. I put some of that cheese on a Triscuit and put it in my mouth. It… was… AWESOME! I couldn’t believe how good it tasted. I pretended to carry on polite conversation while I feverishly wondered how many Triscuits and cheese I could shovel in my mouth and not be rude. Going to dinner left me sad and empty. I told Joan how much I liked the cheese and she gave me the label. It was mango and ginger cheese. The Triscuits were Rosmary and Olive Oil flavor. I memorized it instantly.
I found both ingredients at my local grocery store! And I ate it for dinner. Mmmm… There are leftovers, so I can have this magical combination again. But not tonight. Tonight I eat at Joan’s.
Last night we had some of our lowest temperatures so far this season. We were down in the mid-twenties. I brought in all my potted plants so they wouldn’t freeze to death. Now they must make the slow, hard grind through the winter. With insufficient sunlight, they slowly die until I put them outside in spring again. Good luck, plants.
The good news about the low temperatures is that it’s cold enough to switch from a jacket to a coat. I can wear my new coat! I got it this weekend. It’s like a pea coat, but it has some extra stuff on it… extra stitching, a little different styling, and grommets. I like it because it looks regular from far away, but from close up you can see the little differences here and there. Plus, the coat is warm. And I guess that’s what coats are really for, right?
Yesterday after school was the first practice for Middle School Wrestling. I’m coaching for the first time. Ever. Thankfully, Kim’s husband Dave is bringing his coaching experience and wrestling knowledge to the practices.
Yesterday’s practice went pretty well. I’m not very confident right now, but I do have teacher skilz and I do understand Middle School boys, so I think things should be okay. My biggest worry is that I won’t be able to help the boys use good form. Learning proper form is what this age level is all about. I got a book to help me. It was the only one at the bookstore, but I think it’s actually the one that my brother-in-law Harold recommended. He’s a Master Coach of wrestling, so he knows what he’s talking about.
I also am a little worried about the Early Dark. Because I won’t be going home until after 5pm every day, I won’t see the sun until after wrestling is over in March. I don’t think a book will help me there…
I stopped at the grocery store yesterday and upon entering the store was greeted by a Romantics song from 1983 called Talking in Your Sleep. I noticed it because it was the second time I’ve heard it in a couple of days.
Talking in Your Sleep is the first song I ever recorded off the radio. I didn’t realize that the tape didn’t care what volume the radio was on, and I wanted a loud recording, so I put the boombox speakers into the carpet, turned the volume all the way up, and recorded. I was hoping not to disturb anyone (or be embarrassed if they thought it was silly to record a song off the radio), so I also kneeled on top of the boombox. The result was a static-filled version of the song that I listened to for many months.
Here is where I was in the grocery store as I sang along:
And here is how you can sing along (or belly laugh like I did):
Yesterday I took a field trip to the National Arboretum. It’s about a forty-five minute drive from my house. I have been there a couple of times before, both times in the early spring before anything was blooming. On this trip, I went late in fall, after everything was done blooming. Driving through the arboretum property was fun. It was HUGE! There were many places to park and walk on foot paths. One of these days I’ll go at a more appropriate time.
There is a huge bonsai display. It’s really very interesting to walk through. They have the trees sorted by bonsai-keeping style: Japanese, Chinese, and American. Some of the deciduous trees had already lost their leaves. Others had brightly colored fall leaves. The evergreens looked… well… green.
The most exciting tree to view was an old Japanese White Pine. It was actually quite large, at four feet by four feet. But it was quite old, too. The plaque said “In training since 1625″. The tree is 383 years old. It isn’t the oldest living organism I’ve met, but it IS the oldest one whose exact age I’ve known. Another cool fact: this tree survived being 3 kilometers away from ground zero of the Hiroshima bomb.
This morning I’ve tried to find some notable 1625 events. There seemed to be a lot going on with the Dutch in the 1600′s. Why aren’t they a world power? Something must have happened. Do you think it had to do with squished toilet paper rolls?
