Planting the flag

We took the flag down from the shopping center and we planted it in the Victory Garden
~ Barbara Kingsolver

I was catching up on podcasts of The Splendid Table today. One of the topics was the end of their year long locavore project. After listening to the inspiring snippets from the participants, there was an interview with Barbara Kingsolver. She was discussing the hard times our country has come through before when she made the comment above.

While we are still in the depths of winter here, the spring planting season is truly just around the corner. Let us all plant that flag in the Victory Garden this year.

Local and sustainable over cheap. Consume fewer goods with a willingness to pay a fair price for the goods that are consumed. Buy direct; buy local. Get back to basics.

Television as a right?

Why should the US government fund the purchase of television converter boxes?

This has been bothering me since I first heard about the coupon program.

There are people who cannot financially afford the converter box, who do not have cable or digital televisions and who rely on the television for news and public information. This is the angle from which the vouchers were first explained to me, and I can kind of understand it from this perspective.

However, it seems like the vast majority of the people who are getting these vouchers are not in this category.

These coupons were not intended to covert every single analog television in this country to digital.

The bigger issue to me is why is television considered a right and public safety issue (for the reasons mentioned above) when health insurance is not?

Our priorities as a nation are screwed up.

Things we never grow out of

When we were kids, my siblings and I drove our mother nuts with one of our habits. She would go grocery shopping, and we three would spend the next two days eating all of the good cereals for breakfasts and every snack. You know, the ones that were expensive and chock full of sugar. Peanut Butter Crunch and Super Sugar Crisp (or should I say Super Golden Crisp nowadays?) were huge favorites.

Since mom went grocery shopping every other week, devouring all the good cereal quickly meant our breakfast choices mostly consisted of Cheerios* or cornflakes until she went grocery shopping again. Being kids, we even had the nerve to complain about the lack of good cereal, even though if we had not gorged ourselves on it, it could have lasted a week.

I realized last night, that I still do this. I rarely eat cereal. I prefer a bagel, scrambled eggs with spinach or yougurt with granola for breakfast. However, if I buy good cereal, I always eat a bowl or two within the next day. Now, my definition of good cereal has changed a little. These days, good cereal means Raisin Nut Bran or Honey Bunches of Oats with Almonds. I picked up a big of box of the former yesterday at a great price, so come late evening, guess what I was snacking on?

Yum.

*Mom had a weakness for Honey Nut Cheerios. This would explain my lifelong love of that cereal. Honey Nut Cheerios are second only to eating Frosted Cheerios with fresh blueberries, and it is a close second.

What if?

What if every adult and teen in the United States gave just four hours a month to volunteering in 2009?

What if we gave our time to any service organization on a consistent basis? Any type of volunteering - community service groups, eduction, health care, elderly services, youth programs, environmental programs, social services programs, anything.

Four hours a month. That is one hour a week playing cards with lonely elders at the nursing home. One Saturday morning a month spent gathering donated food for the food pantry. One afternoon a month volunteering in the reading program at the local school or pulling invasive plants along the bike trail. One meeting and action item for a community development committee.

Can you imagine the impact on your nation, your state, your community?

Could you donate just four hours a month to helping our society? Four hours on a bi-weekly basis? Four hours a week?

I am up for the challenge. How about you?

Sounds of Snow

I find it interesting that one can guage warm it is in winter just by the sound of the snow

Warm days mean snow that squelches wetly underfoot. It squishes and compacts as we walk along.

Snow gets squeakier as the mercury drops. When the temperature is in the teens, our boots squeak merrily as we walk downtown to do our errands.

Today, it was eighteen below zero as I walked to work. The snow was crisp and reminded me of styrofoam as I walked quickly through the frigid elements.

I do hope the squelchy, slushy sounds come back quickly.

In the bleak midwinter Frosty wind made moan, Earth stood hard as iron, Water like a stone; Snow had fallen, snow on snow, Snow on snow, In the bleak midwinter, Long ago.
~ Christina Rossetti

Foods I can live without

Reading the Homesick Texan's blog today got me thinking about foods that I wish I liked. She was writing about grapefruit, and how she only likes it sweeten.

Grapefruit is one of those foods I wish I liked. Growing up, I was often the one who would prepare a grapefruit for my father. I'd cut it in half, use the special knife to section it and run around the sides. I enjoyed the ritual of it, and I loved the smell. The taste though? Bleh. Not for me. I still do not like grapefruit, though the smell is still wonderful.

Ham is another of those foods. It is served at most of my family holiday celebrations, and I really do not like it. A little on a sandwich or in a risotto is good, but just a slab of ham on my plate will leave me nibbling the protein and reaching for another helping of cheesy potatoes.

I do not like ginger. Yes, I know it is more of a flavoring, not really a food you just eat, but I do not like dishes made with more than a touch of ginger. Gingersnaps, great. Gingered stir fry or curry? No.

Canned pears disgust me. I cannot stand the graininess of them. I grew up thinking I hated pears, but as a grown up I discovered that I just hate canned ones. Perfectly ripe fresh pears are satiny and wonderful though. Now that I think about it, this applies to canned fruit in general. Home canned peaches are an exception, along with pineapple.

Plums. Just do not care for them. Every year I buy them thinking I will like them this year, and every year I foist them off on the unsuspecting children.

Beer. Dis-gust-ing. Betrays my German heritage, I know. Hate the stuff. Every single one I have ever tried.

Green olives. Liverwurst. Canned peas. Grocery store cakes. Green grapes. Smoked cheeses.

I guess if anyone is thinking of treating me to a food gift, you now have a heads up to avoid these.

Sing it with me "Summer Lovin' happens so fast"

Luis popped the movie Grease in recently, which was rather ironic since it was the topic of discussion for a few minutes last week with a group of women I know.

I love the movie. I do not even know how many times I have watched it. I love to sing along with the songs, even the cheesy ones. It is such a fun movie.

When women discuss Grease, there tend to be two things that come up. Most of us love it. Many of us also comment on the fact that Sandy had to change to get her man, and was that really the right message to give women? This came up last week with the group of women again.

I was thinking about that today. Sandy was portrayed as a goody-goody, and Danny was obviously the bad boy. But really, what happened in the summer that we know nothing about? How goody-goody can Sandy be and still date a bad boy all summer? How bad can Danny be if he fell for Sandy? I think that during that summer, away from the restraining influence of friends, both let their real selves out to play.

It seems to me that Sandy has a wild streak in her that she was afraid to let out. Many young women have a hard time casting aside the "daddy's little girl" sweetness and light image to become who they are. It is only as we as women grow and mature that we gain the confidence to let the world see us as we really are.

I think Danny has the heart of gold and desire to do the right thing that he hid behind teenage bravado. Many young men want to be cool and tough, even though deep down they are earnest, good guys. Men have even more societal encouragement to hide their soft sides.

Danny made an effort to let his other side show. He tries to take Sandy out to the soda shop, takes her to the dance, earns the letterman sweater and does the good guy thing in doses, even though his teenage immaturity and desires win out often.

Throughout the entire movie, Sandy stands on her pedestal and lets him come to her. He makes the efforts and does all of the changing. Finally, at the end, she throws away society's restraints and makes an effort to meet him in the middle. She grows up and takes control of who she is. It is her choice to perm her hair, slash on the red lipstick and don the hot pants.

Like many young people, Danny and Sandy have many facets. I bet Sandy does not reject the sweater sets entirely and still enjoys going out on a sweet date to the malt shop. I bet Danny likes to drive fast, but still wants to carefully cherish the woman he loves.

Is the message in Grease that we as women should change to make our men happy or is it that young men and women should embrace who they really are?

I obviously have spent far too much time today analyzing the movie, eh?

The Long Road Home

We went to visit my father yesterday. He lives way too far away. It is a 1 hour 45 minute drive from his home to ours. It is doable to go back and forth in one day, but not necessarily fun with kids.

Coming home, Luis pulled out the GPS unit and decided to see how it sent us home. He does this sometimes, even when we know how to get where we are going. He likes to see the different route. It seems like the Garmin will send us a different way every time even though we usually keep it programmed for shortest driving time.

We ended up coming a convoluted back way, through Highland and who knows where. We did see some lovely sights. There was a huge rock outcropping jutting out of the earth at an angle that looked like it would fall right on the road if a tree had not been holding it up. There were oxbow creeks meandering and a couple of springs bubbling. There was even hillbilly heaven, a bright pink creation of what looked like two single wide mobile homes put together surrounded by bright pink lawn accents, a bright pink garage and bright pink storage shed. Did I mention it was bright pink? Think Pepto even brighter.

However, for all the sights, it was not the best route to take with people prone to car sickness. The loveliest roads in this area are the curviest and hilliest. Thankfully, the contents of everyone's stomachs stayed in place, but Isabella and I were feeling ill by the time we pulled into Monroe.

It also took fifteen minutes longer than our normal route. When chosing shortest driving time routes, Garmin seems to forget that cars cannot take those corners at 55 miles an hour. We have noticed this before. I had to tease Luis that his short way got us all sick and still took longer.

Nice drive, but I think I will stick to the straight highway until the kids are older.

Randomness

New Year's Randomness for my sister who is complaining that she needs something new to read while she eats her Wheaties:

~ I have not actually had Wheaties in years. Do they still make them? I am pretty sure I have typed this exact same sentence before, and yet I still have not checked.

~ We joined the modern age last month with a programmable thermostat. I am curious to see if it has any impact on our astronomical heating bills. We may keep our house at 62, but it is old and costs a mint to heat. We lowered the temperature to 58 between 11 pm and 7 am, which had Luis complaining at first, but he seems okay with it now. No one has complained or even mentioned the mid day drop to 60. We are almost always home, but with the sun coming in most days and our activity level, I thought dropping it to 60 from about 11 am until 3 pm would work.

~ I have been thinking about my bread post recently, and it was really snobby of me. I was feeling inundated with people who were making the no knead breads; it seemed like it was everywhere right then. I have eaten it, and it tastes fine. However, I enjoy making the artisan sourdoughs and other breads. I like to work with the dough a bit. That is my choice though. If someone does not enjoy making the breads, but likes good bread, the no knead and 5 minutes a day methods are great alternatives. I retract that post, and my apologies to anyone who makes them.

~ I have been wondering lately why I do not eat pickles more. Not kosher dills and that kind, but pickles as a vegetable on the plate. They taste good, the crunch is nice this time of year, but I never think to put them out with dinner. Pickles were something we pretty much only put on hamburgers as a kid.* That and the occasional pickled beets at my grandmothers. I should pickle more things and serve them more often.

~ I just used the words I have in the beginning of two thirds of my first entries. Must use other words.

~ We took down the holiday tree today, and it is so nice to have the open space again. I think that every year. The tree is pretty, but I like to be able to see out the window and have the room back.

~ Vincent has learned how to dial my cell phone number from the home cell phone. When I was at work for four hours the other day, he called me 12 times during the first three hours. He also called Luis at least once that I know of. Yes, I discussed appropriate telephone use with him, and hopefully it has been nipped in the bud. It is cute the way he ends every conversation with a *mwah* kiss though. He forgot with one call, and he immediately called back to kiss me and hang up.

~ I get the very fun job of taking a sensory child clothes shopping soon. Isabella received many, many clothes for the holidays. She has grown, so only two pair of pants and one shirt fit and did not feel "funny". We get exchange a pile that is two feet high. I think I will leave the other three at my in laws to a) make it easier for me, and b) give her some special one on one time.

~ I went grocery shopping on New Years Eve day, just to pick up a few things.** I never knew the store was such a madhouse that day. Many of the checkout lines were open, and the lines were still four carts deep. I was thankful that I was taking advantage of the kids being home with the neighbor girl who was babysitting while I was at work. It cost me an extra $2 for the extra time the shopping took, but it was the best $2 I have ever spent. I am starting to wonder if I should hire her every time I go grocery shopping. It would make the process much more fun.

~ I still think of The Daily Digress every time I do a footnote. Annie, you and footnotes are permanently linked in my head. If you have not read The Daily Digress, you should do so. She writes much more often than I do, and she is a hoot.

Okay, little sister, I hope you had an enjoyable read. I will try to get back on the ball and blog more often.


*Well, except for my freak of a brother who would put them on his bizarre ketchup and mayo sandwiches, but that was just weird.

**I am the only one who will go in for one five dollar item and spend $75? Never fails.

Taste the Capers

As a teen, I used to love to watch Jeff Smith's Frugal Gourmet on public television. I learned so much from him. Yes, I was the teen who thought nothing of spending part of her Saturday afternoon watching a cooking show twenty years before the Food Network made cooking shows cool. Luis would say I was a nerd, but I prefer to think of it as a food lover in training.

When I was growing up, our household was very meat and potatoes. Rice was so foreign to me that I felt like a gourmand whenever I made it as a side dish for a meal. So, you can imagine that the mere thought of the some of the foods that the Frugal Gourmet made were the ultimate in cuisine in my mind.

I remember one show in which he cooked a dish with capers. I had never even heard of capers before. I had to look them up to find out what they were, and I could not image how they tasted. It was probably another ten years before I had the courage to buy a small bottle of capers. I was scared to try to cook with something I had never had before. For months, that little bottle sat in my refrigerator, chiding me for my lack of culinary adventure every time I opened up the refrigerator door.

When I finally had the courage to open the bottle and cook something with those capers, I was testing my culinary wings. It was a pasta dish. I could not tell you what the recipe was exactly, but I can still taste that first bite of a caper, all briney and vinegary. It was a huge step in my culinary development.

I do not pretend to be a fancy chef. I like food and I love to prepare it, but I have yet to cook with truffles or many of the haute cuisine recipes I find in my monthly issue of Gourmet. However, no tuna sandwich is complete to me without capers anymore, and for that I say thank you to the Frugal Gourmet.

I still feel a little exotic every time I open those small bottles, though.

Now I am thinking of making Pasta Puttanesca for dinner.

Artisan Bread in .......

Artisan bread in 5 minutes a day. No knead bread. So many shortcuts.

How long does it take to make a good loaf of bread? Even Luis seems to be under the misconception that it takes gobs and gobs of time every day. It really does not if one is willing to embrace modern technology. Yes, I resisted for years. No, I do not mean a bread machine. Bleh. Throw those things out. Inferior crusts, poor crumb. Used one for a while, and while it was better than store bought, the amount of real effort that good bread takes is so little that using a bread machine makes no sense.

I mean let technology handling the kneading for you. I mixed and kneaded by hand because that was the traditional thing to do. Then I got the Kitchen-aid mixer a number of years ago and tradition flew out the window when I saw how easy and effective that machine was at mixing bread dough.

Straight French baguettes? About 5 minutes of actually working with the dough.

Honey oat bread takes even less because I only have to shape one loaf, not three.

Sourdoughs are easy. They maybe take 10 minutes of actual work putting the ingredients in, maintaining the starter and shaping the loaves. The ten minutes is spread out over a couple of hours.

The Kitchen-aid handles the mixing, and I load the dishwasher, make lunch or do other housework while it kneads the dough. Rising happens without any effort on my part. Pop the dough into a lightly oiled container, cover and let it do its thing.

Bread is easy! Try it! It does not take a herculean effort to make breads. The hardest part is learning to shape, but boules are so easy and a great place to start. Skip the peel and shape onto a little parchment paper. You can slide that into the oven with the bread and not have to worry about deflating your loaf as you put it into the oven.

You can always expand into trickier breads if it appeals to you, but basic breads are just that. Basic. Anyone can do them. Try it. Do not let these shortcut bread books and bread article trick you into thinking that regular artisan breads are difficult. They are not.

Just Say No

I was reading through the headlines on iGoogle (woohoo, love iGoogle), when I encountered this article. It left me shaking my head at our society.

Parents want toy companies to stop marketing products at children. Not because of any of the myriad reasons sociologists and psychologist have suggested marketing for children should not happen. No. These parents want toy companies to stop marketing to children because it makes the children want things the families cannot afford to buy them this year.

Ooooookay.

It is time the parents in the US pony up to their responsibilities. It is okay to say No to our children. It is okay to teach them to budget and prioritize. It is okay for our kids to have different things or fewer things or handmade things. Voluntary simplicity is okay. Even better, turn off the bloody TV and prevent the kids from seeing the ads in the first place. Spend the time playing card games or putting together tomorrow's dinner together (since too many families claim to be too busy to cook). Stop the recreational shopping so that the kids are not faced with all the "I wants" in the stores. Spend the weekends playing at the park or getting together with friends or gardening or doing the housework and the homework.

Toy companies market the way that they do because it works. Well, if we as parents in this country start to say No, the toy company marketing strategies will no longer work.

That will get the toy companies to change their marketing much more quickly than any letter writing campaign asking.

Food so Fast...

So Jimmy Johns opened in town recently. Luis ordered lunch from there a while back and he said it was so fast, he freaked. Really.

Then on Wednesday he ordered again while I was in the office. Being the snot that I am, I set a stopwatch on the computer to time it. I started the timer as soon as he finished the telephone conversation, stopped it when they walked in the door. 7 minutes, 56 second. Pretty darn good, but not freak worthy considering it was after 1 pm.

Then today I was in the office for a little bit right about noon, and two others were ordering Jimmy Johns. Luis walked in a few minutes after they ordered, and decided he wanted something too. The receptionist mentioned that my friends over at our local independent place, Garden Deli, had stopped in to remind everyone that they have always delivered to the Downtown area even though everyone seems to forget about that.

You know me. I told Luis he should order from Garden Deli. He spent a minute checking out the menu. He called over the order. By this point, it had been about 10 minutes since the Jimmy Johns order was phoned in.

Guess which order arrived first?

Yep, the Garden Deli one. It was so fast, Luis freaked again, and to be honest so did I. He paid, started eating, said bye to me and the kids. We left to go home for our lunch.

Still no sign of Jimmy Johns. Score one for the little guy.

Luis always enjoys going over to Garden Deli to pick up lunch, but had been calling Jimmy Johns because that delivery was mighty convenient. I am thinking Garden Deli has him back as a customer for good.

Our mini mes.

Those apples do not fall far from the trees.

When we entertain, I handle the making of the food. I love to cook and bake. That is probably no shock to anyone who reads this on a regular basis. Luis, on the other hand, is about presentation. He is the one fanning the crackers on the plate and putting the shrimp just so.

The girls, they are me. They start planning food gifts weeks in advance, and they both know already what they want to contribute to our Thanksgiving table.

I just realized that Vincent is Luis. How I missed this before, I am not sure. I realized it today when he decided to get himself cheese for a snack. He cut it all into tiny squares, arranged the squares in a circle on a plate and stuck a toothpick in each square. Then he put a circle of plantain chips in the middle of the cheese circle. In the very center of it all, he placed one gingersnap. That was his snack.

Oh that boy is his father's son.

Sleep, my baby

I have noticed over the years that how old my child looks is directly related to the angle I am facing him/her from and whether said child is awake or asleep.

They all look so small, so fragile when sleeping. The curve of the eyelashes on the cheek is so precious, and each has a different sleeping personality that never leaves as they grow from baby to child. Abigail is still likely to be flailed across the bed with a leg sticking over the side. Isabella is still usually curled up on her side. Vincent sleeps at an angle like I do, slashed across the bed. Simon likes to be on his back with his shoulders out of the blankets.

As I was snuggling with Simon the other morning, he appeared so tiny he compared to how I normally see him. At that angle, glancing down on his face from behind, I did not see the round cheeks and the big forehead. I saw the elfin chin, the hint of his cheekbones, the bitty nose. It made him appear so much smaller than the toddler who runs gleefully around. For a few minutes, I had my little baby in my arms again.

Then he woke up, rolled over, tackled me, and the toddler was back.

Join Hands and Sing Kumbaya

As much as I love the internet, I despise it sometimes too. It is such an imperfect medium. Face to face or telephone conversations have a degree of personal intimacy and immediacy that the online world lacks. For all that we feel close to each other online, the online world and the online conversations lack tone, expression. People have made do with emoticons and acronyms to help bridge this gap, but it cannot ever be fully spanned in my opinion.

Being in person or on the telephone allows for a focus and an immediacy in our interactions that online does not. Message boards and emails let us zap off quick thoughts when our time allows, but it also allows for conversations to drag for hours and for misunderstanding to blossom. Even chat does not have the same feeling of a real conversation. It is an egotistical medium. As I chat, I focus on my screen and my words. I focus more on my words than on the words of my friend.

The internet has allowed me to become friends with people I never would have met. It has allowed me to stay connected to or reconnect with old friends. I have learned much and grown towards becoming the parent and the person I want to be because of the online world.

And yet...

All I want is peace. I want some way to bridge the two worlds, the real and the virtual. I know that I try to present an honest picture of who and what I am in my online communications, and I take everyone at face value. I do this in real life too; it drives Luis nuts, but I digress. I wish that small hurts did not need to be magnified by the failings of online communication. I wish that people did not feel so cocooned by the failings of internet communication to say hurtful things they would never say in real life.

This post probably makes no sense to some reading it and perfect sense to others. That is okay. I just needed to write tonight about this.

All I want is peace. Join hands with me and sing Kumbaya, dear friends. Then we'll make s'mores.

Just be careful because those homemade marshmallows are wicked hot when you roast them, and I know from experience that they can burn the beejeebees out of you. Let us bring peace and harmony to the real world and the online world. Hey, while we are at it, let us try to heal the divide that politics has wrought in our nation too.

We interrupt this blog

We interrupt this blog for the following special program



Watch it. Please.

I'll return to our regularly scheduled programing of food, photos and family after next week's election. I promise.

Help me understand this

I was reading some political stuff tonight when I was hit by a question that I really have never seen anyone ask or answer before.

Why, in the US, it is considered an employer's responsibility to provide health insurance?

Can anyone explain this for me? So many are questioning in our society whether or not universal health care is socialist, but I would really like to know why health insurance falls into the benefits employers are supposed to provide. Disability insurance I could understand, but health insurance? Does it stem from the fact that a healthy employee is a more productive one? I wonder why it got started because it seems to be a rather silly way to doing things given job turnover and changing economic landscapes.

If Anton and Bethany Gibson (John and Jane Doe is just too boring) get laid off from a company that has HIJ health insurance and hired somewhere with QRS insurance, one insurance company has to do the administrative work to remove them from the rolls, send out letters of prior insurance and whatnot and the other company has to do the work to add them to the insured roster, send out cards and whatnot. Care providers have to spend extra time and money updating insurance information. It seems to be an added layer of duplicated administration that is just wasting money and resources.

Who came up with this system? Do we as Americans really think this is the best we can do? I do not understand why it is considered such a good system of insurance or such a good idea given the changing nature of the workforce in the US. We do not spend our entire careers with one or two companies any more. The average US worker changes jobs rather frequently, meaning we change health insurance rather frequently too, if the new employer even offers it.

Tradition

It is almost time to turn the calendar page to November, and the weather took a dramatic turn today from brisk autumnal splendor to the chill and damp of pre-winter. That got my mind looking ahead to Thanksgiving.

I host a gathering every Thanksgiving of family and friends. It is not that large, about 20 people give or take every year, but it nice. We have hosted at our house for a number of years now, and already traditions have started to become set in stone. My mother-in-law bring morros y christianos. My mother makes grandma's stuffing recipe. Luis' brother brings baklava. I serve apple and pumpkin pies with fresh vanilla whipped cream.

As I have been browsing the latest issue of Gourmet this week, I keep looking at their four Thanksgiving dinner menus. Wouldn't the Roasted Potatoes and Shallots taste good? Look at the Carrot Fennel soup. The Sage and Leek Stuffing sounds really good. Mmmm, a poached pear tart.

What would happen if I took mashed potatoes off the menu and substituted the roasted potatoes or a parsnip puree? Could I experiment with the Pumpkin Tart with Anise Crust without a mutiny on my hands? How offended would my mother be if I suggested trying a different stuffing just one year?

I realized tonight that in these few short years, the menu has become stuck in a tradition that I cannot bend too much without upsetting the others. Even the mere suggestion that I might not make the sacred red Jello with whipped topping was enough to get Luis grumbling. Mess with his mashed potatoes? Yeah, right.

I guess I am just stuck reading about these feasts of foods I will never get to serve at my Thanksgiving table.

I wonder if Grandma ever felt this way?

I am going to ask my aunt to bring her broccoli salad instead of yam dish because I found a recipe for Parmesan Roasted Squash that I will try instead. I think that the yams are something I can mess with without people complaining too much, and I love the crunch of her salad to balance all the soft textured foods. Maybe I can change the green beans from the the creamy dish to a sauteed version with bacon and chestnuts without too much fuss? I love the creamy version, but I need a little bit of change this year.

Look out tradition; I am going give your pedestal a tiny shake this fall.

{{{ insert name here }}}

In the online world, we dole out virtual hugs with liberality. What is different about real life? Many shy away from physical contact in the real world today. Hugs and embraces are reserved, somehow, for children and lovers.

Yet a greeting from a friend or even an acquaintance that includes a generous hug or quick embrace brightness the day for me. Just today, the hug hello of a friend's mother walking by was a spot of sunshine on a cloudy day. There is the squeeze of a hand of an older person greeting or farewell or just while sitting and talking. Put an arm around the shoulder, even for a moment, of a friend who looks down.

All of these things are the creation of emotion and memory for me. I can still remember sitting and just holding my grandmother's hand or the endearing way she would embrace my hand between both of hers as we parted after my weekly visits to her. I can tell you who I hugged hello at the last event we attended at the Piazza, but I cannot tell you what I ate there, and I go there as much for the wonderful food as anything else.

As strange as it feels for me to say this - me, someone who easily gets touched out after a decade of small children climbing on her and tugging at her - there is not enough touch in our society today.

We all know babies need skin to skin contact, need touch. So do adults.