Looking back...

 My spouse's brother-in-law is visiting with us for a week, and, as seems inevitable when three 80+ age family members get together, the conversation today focused mainly on things past.  

We have compared cars we have driven, places around the world where we have been, either to live or visit, friends and family still with us or long since gone to their reward.  Talking about what our children and grandchildren are doing has been a happy topic of discussion.  Our personal ailments, fading eyesight, creaky knees, etc. took up some time as we compared notes.

Because his brother-in-law also grew up in Fort Wayne, my wonder spouse took us on a long drive around the city this evening, past old homes, old schools and other remembered haunts, like favorite restaurants, the dentist's office, and the best slopes for racing bikes.

We went to Clara's Pizza King for supper and the pizza was just as delicious as we all remembered.  The sweet tea was so good.  It was fun using the table telephone to place our order.

After supper my wonder spouse drove us past the huge new soccer stadium so our guest, who now lives in Florida, could see that some things do change in good old Fort Wayne. All in all it has been a delightful visit so far, but now I'm wondering what we will talk about for the next eight days. 

the perfect spice

 My west coast brother has informed me that today is "Cinnamon Roll Day."  Since I wrote about cider yesterday, and since cider and cinnamon so often go together in our household, I thought it would behoove me to write about cinnamon today. (Don't you love that word 'behoove'? I don't get to use it very often.)

Cinnamon is the inner bark of evergreen trees found in Ceylon and other similar places with a hot climate, plently of rain and good drainage.  If you want to grow your own cinnamon you can Google it and get the complete instructions. 

Personally, I am happy to buy it in little tin boxes at the grocery store. It comes in 'ground' and 'stick' form. We always have a supply of each on hand.  I am pretty sure it's one of the basic food groups, right up there with chocolate. for me, and honey for my wonder spouse. 

I will now share with you my two favorite cinnamon based recipes.

1. My favorite breakfast is a thick slice of toasted cinammon swirl bread slathered with butter and coated with cinnamon sugar.  I have a cinnamon sugar mixture handy at all times.

2. One of my favorite drinks is hot cider (the real stuff, as described yesterday) with a cinnamon stick floating in it to add an extra special taste. 

Well, I'm ready to go drink some cider, with a cinnamon stick.  I hope you are too.

Real cider...

 Real apple cider has a taste all its own.  Apple juice, which we get with kid's meals from Culver's (we're not proud, they're very good little suppers) is tasty but it doesn't compare to cider.  

Last fall my spouse and I were astonished to learn that the Amish market where we bought fresh pressed cider, usually on Wednesday afternoons because they pressed it on Wednesday mornings, would no longer be able to sell cider because what they were selling wasn't "pasturized." 

It was bad enough the one Wednesday we drove over only to learn that they were sold out.  A gentleman had come in just before us and bought their last 20 gallons.  They suspected that he was going to sell it by the glass in his restaurant, but maybe he was just going to have a really big party? That really wasn't the seller's concern. 

But not being able to sell it because it's not pasturized surprised us.  You pasturize milk and other dairy products.  It's a mild heat treatment process that kills harmful pathogens and spoilage microbes in foods and beverages to make them safe and extend their shelf life.  

In our household extended shelf life has never been a problem when it comes to cider.  We like it heated with a cinnamon stick added or cold, it's all so good.  I don't know if the owners of our favorite Amish market are now pasturizing their cider, or if that requirement was changed, but my spouse was delighted to find it for sale when he went to the market today, and I'm happy to report that it tastes just as delicious as ever.  Pasturized or not, we will definitely keep buying it until the season is over. Cheers!

In case you're wondering, yes it does taste different and better than the cider that you can buy at Krogers.  Nothing against Krogers, we buy most of our groceries there, but I'm sure their cider is pasturized. 

special days

 Well, here we are in October and the days will pass quickly as we get closer to October's grand finale - Halloween!!  One of our neighbors, obviously ready to skip right to Halloween, has lavishly decorated their yard with skeletons and pumpkins and lots and lots of cobwebs strewn from tree to bush to tree and all across the front of the house.  Not really my decorating style but certainly in keeping with the theme. 

And this is all fine, but I think it's unfortunate to skip over so many other October holidays on the way to Halloween.  

Take today for instance.  October 2 is, among other things, "National Body Language Day," "National Name Your Car Day." and "World Smile Day."  Each of these days is important to me personally.  

I have been accused of using too much body language.  It's true that I tend to wave my arms around when I talk, and everyone knows that I love a good hug.  I can't think of any body language better than that, especially if it includes a kiss. 

As for naming my car, I had some help with that.  My faithful Fiat is blue, so when one of my granddaughters asked me (12 years ago when I bought it) what I was going to name my car, I said that I would just call it Blue.  The same granddaughter then gifted me with a decorative plate for the front of my car.  There was a space since Indiana only requires a license plate on the back of a car. The plate says "Nana's Blue." It's a little faded now but still quite legible.

As far as smiles are concerned, what a great way to brighten someone's day.  I love it when people smile at me, sometimes they smile first, sometime they are responding to my smile, but it always cheers me, and hopefully them too.  There's a reason why 'Smile Day' is a world wide celebration.  Smiling is truly a universal language. And easy to learn.  My seven month old great grandson has a wonderful smile. 

How old is old?

 My ever loving west coast brother, who is ten years younger than me, so obviously not old, has informed me that today is "International Day of Older Persons." 

He also said that their slogan is "The older I get, the older 'old' gets." But, while I certainly agree with this sentiment, I think he might have made that up. 

On December 14, 1990, the United Nations General Assembly voted to establish October 1 as the "International Day of the Elderly." Personally, I prefer the term 'older persons' over 'elderly.'  Evidently so do others of my age, since the name of the day was changed.  

An older person, or an old person if you prefer to be blunt, can be getting along just fine, thank you very much, but the term 'elderly' sounds rickety and in need of lots of assistance.  On a recent newscast, I heard a man involved in something news worthy referred to as 'elderly.'  Later in the same show it was revealed that he was 65.  I'm sorry, 65 does not sound elderly to me.  

The theme for this year's "Day of Older Persons" is "The Age of Longevity - Rethinking Systems for Longer Lives."

I can suggest one thing that will make a life feel longer. Decide, with your spouse, or another relative or friend, to put together a 1000 piece jig saw puzzle.  If and when we finish the one we are working on right now, my wonder spouse and I will gladly pass it on to the next puzzle addicts. We guarantee that all the pieces will be there.  Send me you address and I will mail it to you. Anywhere at all!

about those jails...

 There has been some news over the last few years about the building of our new Allen County Jail.  They were talking about it when I still lived in my downtown apartment a few years ago, and I paid attention because I could see the 'old' jail, built in 1981, from my 10th floor balcony.  I never felt any concerns for my safety, but it was interesting to see police cars pulling in and out at all times of the day and night. 

   I found out, by doing a little research today, that the construction of the new jail at 2911 Meyer Road is actually underway and the targeted completion date is late 2027.  It is a 400,000 square foot project being built on 44 acres of land and will, hopefully, correct the overcrowded conditions in the current facility.  The new jail is being built because a judge ordered it to be built, to alleviated the severe overcrowding in our current facility.  By the way, Fort Wayne is not a 'hot bed' of crime, but prisoners are brought to our jail from all over the northern part of the state. 

In case you're wondering why I'm thinking about jails at all, it's because, while flipping through "Moments In Fort Wayne History" I came upon a page titled "Debtor's Prison."  This was interesting enough that I have forgiven the author for his lack of information about libraries.  Here is Mr. Bashore's entry written about 1960:

Regional correction centers are the modern form of correction and while they stir much discussion there's one thing of which you can be certain - they include no "debtor's prison," as did the first Allen County jail built in 1825.  Although the Grand Jury contended only a year later that it was "unsatisfactory as a place of safety for persons committed thereto," it was still operating 23 years later in 1847.  The newspaper persistently editorialized for a "more respectable" jail and with good reason.  Escapes were frequent.  One "Houdini" in particular mystified his jailors.  Whenever he was incarcerated, which was frequent, he was back on the streets within minutes.  His secret was finally discovered, though.  It was a loose log he could lift out and replace undetected. A new jail was built and it performed more adequately until 1872 when the present jail was built, and like its predecssors, it, too, is a target for criticism and concern.  

That jail, built in 1872, was evidently replaced by the current one built in 1981 which will be replaced in 2027 if all goes as planned. 

Regarding prisoners, at one time in his working career, my wonder spouse ran a factory in a small town near Fort Wayne.  Many of their employees were in a "work release" program.  They came from jail to work, then back to work again.  While they were in the system they were very good reliable workers.  Sadly, once they were released from jail, many of them lost their jobs for frequent lateness and absences.  

I have a good friend, now retired, who worked for years teaching prison inmates in a different part of Indiana to read and write and other basics of education.  I have always admired her for that work.   I thank her, my wonder spouse, and many others like them, for their committment to trying to make things better and give people a second chance. 

A day to celebrate...

 My west coast brother informed me that today is "National Coffee Day."  My wonder spouse and I celebrated by having several refills of coffee while we ate brunch at the Breakfast Clubb, a cheerful little restaurant on St. Joe Center Road.  I had biscuits and gravy, he had French toast.  We both ordered off the seniors' menu, and the meals, including coffee were $8.00 each, quite reasonable we thought. We were just a little disappointed that we were not 'carded.'  Evidently they could tell by looking that we are both over 65.  

As it turned out, that was our last economizing of the day.  While we were savoring our coffee refills, I told my spouse about a Viking cruise that friends of ours are planning to take in May of 2027, starting in Barcelona and ending in Iceland, with several stops along the way.  We both agreed that this sounded like a really good cruise.  So good in fact, that we came home and (with our friends' very positive respose to the idea) signed up for the same cruise and made a deposit.  

Now you may remember, if you are a faithful reader of this blog, that after our cruise from Tokyo to Alaska last spring, I wrote that that would be our last big cruise.  In fact we are planning a driving trip around the US in October, originally intended to replace a cruise.  Which means that, in addition to a bountiful breakfast, I am now eating my words.  A very tasty treat indeed.