A Star-Spangled HodgePodge

I liked the theme of today's "hodgepodge" questions and am waiting for laundry to be done, so thought I'd participate again.   Head over to this blog to jump in! 

1. What does freedom mean to you? 

Freedom, to me, means I'm not enslaved to any one or any thing. My true freedom is in Christ and has been since I gave my life over to the One who set me free in July 1975 when I was fifteen years old. I'm a Christ follower and my soul is free!  When I do sin (and we all do!!) I can go right to God and ask forgiveness and He accepts me, forgives me, loves me. True freedom in my soul. 

and because we live in the USA, you don't have to agree with me about Christ and His freedom, but you are free to follow your religion! 

On our family room wall, we have the Four Freedoms by Norman Rockwell.  

Freedom from Fear, Freedom from Want, Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Speech.  Let's pray these freedoms continue!!

2. How will you celebrate Independence Day this year? If you live outside the USA answer this question as it relates to your own country's patriotic holiday, wherever that may land on the calendar.

Gone are the days of camping, being at the beach house, or renting a cottage in the ADK.  This year, because we traveled so much this Spring, we are staying home on the 4th and preparing for a big beach bash at this place on the 5th.  Our oldest daughter and her boyfriend will join us, along with her good friend Nathaniel from college.  My sister might pop up to visit and I'm hoping my other sister or her daughters will pop up as well.  We're bringing the kayaks, lots of good picnic food, swim stuff, and a couple of board games. We may or may not stay until dinner time and eat out at one of the restaurants up there. Sadly, our youngest daughter has to work on the 4th and the 5th!!  (Who gets their eyes examined on Independence Day weekend???!!) 

3. This or that...red, white, or blue? Stars or stripes? Watermelon, home made ice cream, or blueberry pie? How do you feel about fireworks?  

Hm....what does the creator of this question mean by "red, white, or blue?"  Will I wear those colors on the 4th?  I'll probably ar a pair of denim shorts, a white tee and my red/white/blue earrings.  For the beach bash, I'm wearing denim shorts and a navy blue tee with "USA" and an American flag in the corner on top of one of my swimsuits. Those colors are all throughout my home for my July decor.  We also have the flag hanging from the front porch. I have little garden flags for Independence Day as well. 

Watermelon, Homemade ice cream, blueberry pie??  Again does the questioner mean which of these will we eat, or which is our fave??  I love all 3 although we no longer make homemade ice cream.......we did it often when the girls were little. For the beach bash, Courtney's bf volunteered to bring watermelon. I don't eat pie really, so rarely make it. 

fireworks??  yes...we enjoy fireworks.  the neighbor on the corner, gets them (they're illegal in NYS unless a professional with a permit is doing them) and starts shooting them off around 9:30 pm.  We can see a good display from our deck. 

4. What have you purchased recently that made you excited? 

Something that made me excited??  Some items for my oldest daughter's birthday which is next week.  I'm doing a "milkshake "  theme and found some adorable tea towels to go with the theme. I was most excited that they were 2 of $5!!  Gotta love Target!  

The other exciting purchase I've made are two amphitheatre tickets to this place to see the story ballet Coppelia next week when the NYCBallet is in town. My youngest daughter and I are going!!  It's our yearly tradition since she was 8. 

5. I'm thankful to live in America (or fill in whatever country you call home) because_____________

because despite the whackos currently leading the nation, we are still a democratic (somewhat) nation with the right to vote, and so many other rights. Although we have some of the most crime of any nation in the world, and some of the most unhappiness people (as compared to the Netherlands that have the happiest people on the planet and a much better social system) we have diversity of people/cultures/religions/languages.  We have the beautiful Northeast and all the mountains, the praires of the Mid-West, the beaches on the south, the deserts of the west. We have small villages, National Parks, large cities, and suburban towns. We have beautiful monuments. museums and music halls. We have Broadway musicals and the Boston Red Sox. We have so many colleges and universities for our young people to choose from. I'm thankful I live in America and I pray this nation endures the next few years. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Soon I'll be able to make my fave Summer sandwich"
fresh basil, tomato, thin cheddar or lemon beet hummus
between slices of Naan spread with vegan Hellmann's. 
YUMMY!!!

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY WEEK!!

2025 Book Review #33: Quiet in her Bones

 

This book is a  thriller/mystery by an author I wasn't familiar with. It was a good book!

STORY SUMMARY

Aarav Rai is young adult, age 26,  whose mother, Nina, disappeared when he was 16 years old. It has been ten long years of wondering why she left and never returned.  He is back at his childhood home with his difficult father Ishaan Rai, a very wealthy company CEO and his father's 2nd wife, Shanti and their 7 year old daughter Pari.   Aarav is recovering from an accident where he broke his foot and suffered a concussion. Aarav is also extremely wealthy as he has written one major best-seller (a thriller) which was then made into a movie and he is currently working on his second novel. 

When his mother, Nina, disappeared, a quarter million dollars from his father's safe, also disappeared. Many towns people called her a thief, a bitch, a criminal.  But...now she's back! Her bones are back and they are clothed in remnants of red silk.  

A hiker discovered her car in the green forest on the edge of the very wealthy, gated community where the Rai's live. She was in the passenger seat which is a mystery to Aarav who remembers seeing his mother storm out of the house, after hearing her scream, and racing away in her Jaguar. 

Someone in this very exclusive, wealthy and privileged  community is keeping a huge secret.  And it's not just the very rich who live here, but the people who work for them too......personal trainers, maids, housekeepers...all come and go. 

Sombody knows what happened to Nina Rai that stormy, rainy night ten years ago.  And Aarav is determined to figure out who his mother's murderer is. He is ready to face the ugly truth that lives beneath the moneyed elegance.  But no one in the neighborhood is ready for the murderous secrets that are about to crawl out of the dark....because even the dead are not allowed to break the rules in this Cul-de-Sac. 

MY THOUGHTS

This was a medium paced book with a lot of characters introduced in the first chapter. I had to jot down the names of the various families living on the Cul-de-Sac and their professions to keep it straight until they were more developed.

Once all of the characters were introduced and the plot gets moving, it is easy to follow. The character development is very well done as is the setting.  (New Zealand). 

I loved the family relationship of  Aarav and his little half sister Pari and also of Shanti.  

And like a good thriller...just when you think you know who the murderer is, along comes a twist. 

I did figure out early on what was happening to Aarav and his "memory loss and migraines".  I don't want to ruin it for you so I won't reveal what it is but it was well written and kept things moving. Just when he thinks he's on the path to solving his mother's murder, something else happens to make him question his sanity. 

Themes in this book are: infidelity, abandonment, memory loss, childhood trauma, alcoholism, toxic relationships, emotional abuse, physical abuse, secrets, betrayal. 

The book is a bit slower paced than the typical "thriller".  There's a lot of realism in this story which I appreciated especially the intertwining of Hindu words and cultural practices. I enjoyed learning more about the cultural mores and thoughts regarding marriage and the role of a wife to her husband in that culture. My heart went out to Shanti. Again, I won't reveal why. 

This was a good book!  There were a few "F" words but no explicit s*x scenes or super vulgar language. 

In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 17 and older (due to some mature content). 

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this an 8. 

When the Heat is On

 

Blue Ledges on the Hudson 
(photo by Joan B )

Tuesday. 24 June. I had had 8 people signed up for the first Adirondack hike of the Summer.  Now that black fly season is over, I was excited to get up to the central region of my beloved mountains, and get a good 6 mile hike in. The temps have soared since Sunday.  Tuesday got up to 97 in my town with a very high humidity and in the town where the hike was scheduled to take place, it was supposed to be (as of Sunday) a high of 88 predicted with 54% humidity. Not bad.  But. Then.....

Tuesday morning came and now the high was predicted to be 90. I had three people drop out.  That left 5 of us (4 women and one man).  We are all in our 60s except one who is in her mid-50s and one who is 70.  We are all in fairly good shape with BMI's of less than 25.  We are all experienced hikers. Only my self had hiked this trail before. I don't typically hike when temps are above 85 and humidity levels are above 60%.  When it's humid in the northeast, it is STICKY.  There is rarely a breeze.  If there is, it's typically a hot one. The stifling kind, not the refreshing kind.   We decided to go for it. Everyone  was looking forward to it. I prayed a LOT. 

We did great!  Man, was the heat on!  As soon as we got to the river, our destination, after 3.7 miles of schelping through mud, going an extra mile total due to having to navigate around blowdown, we kicked off our boots and socks and plunged into the water. 

Ping, Dave D (in water), Meg
SoulSteps hikers
photo used with permission

After an hour lingering in the water, swimming, eating our lunch and drinking yet more water, it was time to head back to the cars.   For some reason it was only 2.8 miles back so I think we just went over the blowdown rather than around it. Anyways, we had to climb up from the river onto the main part of trail and by now it was about 2:30 pm and HOT!  We had to go slow. We were dripping in sweat and the deer flies were super obnoxious. 

At one point, Meg and I felt like we just couldn't do this. I felt faint at one point which is indicative that I needed some more protein, water, and shade. I had to sit for a minute.  I had to stretch my neck which was screaming at me causing my head to pound. I told Meg and Joan (Dave D and Ping were further ahead and just steadily hiking) that I honestly needed to pray. Meg and I prayed.

And then it dawned on me: here's a spiritual lesson! 

"When the heat is on" is often our most difficult trials or challenges. 

I thought back to when my cervical spine issues began. I know everyone on this hike has had trials of one kind or another whether physical, financial, relational, or emotional/mental. 

And I thought "What do Christ followers do when we face the heat of the battle"

We pray!  We gird ourselves with Scripture. 

These 2 Scriptures are ones I read a lot! They are highlighted in probably every Bible I own, including the digital Bible app one! There are so many other ones I turn to as well but these were the ones going through my head. 

We prayed and trusted "We can do this".  By God's strength, we would make it back to the car. 

And guess what?

The wind picked up a bit,  and I was praising Him for that refreshing breeze! We made it back to the cars and Ping and Dave D had the cars' air conditioning going AND we made it back to more iced water we had saved. 

God is good.  When the heat is on in your life, turn to Scripture.  Trust Him to get you to where you need to go.  It might take baby steps. At one point on the trail, I was going so slow, I felt like a toddler.  I was so slow that my heart rate was able to come down and my anxiety about making it back  went away. 

When the heat is on, remember that God sees you, He loves you, and He is there to guide you.  And when the rushing wind of the Holy Spirit blows through your life, you will be refreshed. 

What Scripture  do you turn to when the heat is on in your life? 

Saturday Nine

I absolutely love Reba (although I don't have any of her music...that's what Spotify is for) and even though she show was dorky/sappy, we loved it here at our house.  Our oldest  daughter has every single season on DVD. I watched the entire show on Netflix. so when I saw the Saturday Nine questions for today, I just had to pause my morning chores and play along. Head here to join in! 

Saturday 9: Consider Me Gone (2009)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here. 

 

1) In this song, poor Reba McEntire confronts a lover who makes her feel like she's not good enough. Let's go in a more positive direction: Who in your life makes you feel happy and secure?

Well, first of all my Redeemer/Creator but after God, my husband.  He is my rock. Life hasn't always been easy and happiness is fleeting so I'm changing that word to "joy".  He brings me inner joy, even when we are arguing or something silly like that. And of course, one simply cannot understand the peace and joy that comes when trials arrive..and they do ... unless you have that  firm foundation in Christ. Jesus really is the center for my inner joy.  Yes...even when life sucks. 

 

2) Reba hopes her lover will look back on her as someone who used to make him laugh. Who did you most recently laugh with?

last night with Dave. We were watching The Intern on Netflix with DeNiro and Anne Hathaway.  Full of laughs! 

 

3) She was director James Cameron's first choice to play Molly Brown in the 1997  blockbuster Titanic, but she had to turn down the role because she was committed to a concert tour. Think of the last invitation you received. Did you say yes or no?

I had to say No to an invite for an extended family BBQ as I have other plans for that very same day. 

4) Reba comes from a rodeo family: both her father and grandfather were champion steer ropers and her mother was a barrel racer. Have you ever been to a rodeo?

No. 

5) She loves game nights with family and friends because she says she's "a competitive person." When you play friendly board or card games, do you always play to win?

We are a competitive family, so yes.  But more importantly, we mainly love the food, fun and fellowship around the table!

 

6) Reba wears tall boots all the time, even in summer, and has more than 100 pairs. Do you often wear boots?

yes: I have boots for spring that come just above my ankles; I have summer boots that are super low (right at ankles) to wear with certain jeans, skirts, dresses and shorts; in the Autumn months (usually October through Feb) I wear riding boots. I have some in a dark brown, and black. I love my riding boots with skinny jeans tucked in or with one of my knee length dresses. and of course I have rubber boots for hiking in wet conditions, winter snow boots for walking in snow and 2 pairs of hiking boots. 

 

7) In 2009, when this song was popular, Mark Zuckerberg tried unsuccessfully to buy Twitter. Elon Musk acquired it in 2022 and renamed it X. Do you often post to Twitter/X?

absolutely not. I don't have an account and never will. ew. 

 

8) Back in 2009, DuPont announced that silver and black were the most popular vehicle colors, accounting for half the cars the world over. What color is your ride?  

My cars: senior year of college: Red Dodge Dart that caught on fire 2 years later;  Light Blue Pontiac LeMans that was totaled by an ambulance running a red light during grad school; a Dark Blue Ford Taurus (a crap car that didn't last long); then a Black Chrysler LeBaron that I loved and drove until my oldest was 6. Then a white Nissan Sentra that I drove for about 10 years; then a Silver brand new Nissan Sentra I drove for another 10 years and gave to our youngest for college who drove it for 5 more years; and now a Royal Blue Honda Civic  Coupe with silver glints in it. My next car is going to be either a hybrid or a Kia Soul....color unsure but I'm leaning towards a shade of green or silver. 

 

9) Random question: Have you ever had a job that required you to wear a hairnet?

yes...when I was a waitress in the Rochester NY area for Ponderosa and when I worked at Burger King out in western NY. 

HAPPY SATURDAY!!

 

First Full Week of Summer Faves

 

WOWZA!  What a first week of Summer it has been here in New York State.  We came back from Maine at the end of last week to hot, humid, blistering temps.  Felt like July, yet Summer had just begun! My prayers  go out to the people in central NYS who had a horrific storm and the lives of twin little girls were lost, among others.  Now they face a clean up.  Here in the Capital Region, we are back to the more cooler temps which I love (I love anywhere between 65-85 with ZERO humidity!  I can even take a little humidity if the temps are lower than 85).  But enough about the weather...let's find FIVE of our FAVE blessings from this first full week of Summer and share them with others by linking up at Susanne's. 

It is good to give thanks to God who is the Source of our blessings, big and small. 

• Central Air Conditioning:  I'm super thankful that after living here for 4 summers (house was built in 1994) we decided on central air the summer I was pregnant with daughter #2. (1998). I knew it was my last pregnancy and at age 38, it was tough, because that summer was HOT. So thankful that with the press of a button on the thermostat, we program how cool/high we want it at different times.  Evenings are  set for 70 and daytimes for 74 but there was one evening, I brought it down to 68 because our bedroom was sweltering.  So thankful for this luxury. (since Thursday morning, we have had all windows open as those high temps broke as well as the high humidity!) 

Avocado Peanut Handroll

Vegetarian Udon dish 

We loved these napkins!

• BELATED FATHER'S DAY CELEBRATION:  Last Sunday, our first weekend home after our New England trip, the girls treated Dave (I paid for mine) to the amazing Sushi-Sashimi restaurant Wasabi.  I didn't realize our area had two (one in Albany, one in Saratoga).  I thought it was just in Saratoga so I was surprised when Claire, our youngest, said that Albany had one only about 10 minutes south of us.  We met there after church on Sunday and wow!  Amazing food.  All authentic  and so very good from the service to the re-fills.  If you aren't familiar with Wasabi and how they do things, click here.  Basically, you pay one price (lower during the week) and can order as many items as many times as you want! It was phenomenal!!  I had a Sweet Potato hand roll, and then the above foods that are pictured. Dave had several seafood dishes and Claire had 3 different vegan ones. Courtney had 3 different items as well but I can't remember what hers were. SO good. I'm thankful we were all together for a meal and some fellowship afterwards and I was so busy getting caught up with our girls that I neglected to take pics of them with their father. 😞

• SAFE TRAVELS:  I was super thankful that Claire, our youngest, who took last Friday off to go visit her grandmother (Dave's 90 yr old mom) had safe travels to and from the south shore Boston area. She did the drive in one day which is a lot of  driving...about 6 hours! Traffic was heavier going east mid morning due to people heading for the Cape of course.....she said she was so thankful  coming west on Friday evening the traffic was lighter.  She was home just a little after 10 pm so made great time and spent about 3 hours with her grandmother which included Claire helping her grammy take a walk outdoors and down the street which B can't do alone anymore, even with the walker. I'm so thankful our girls take time to go visit their grandmother and that God keeps them safe on the interstates. 

July decor

Petunias and gerberas are thriving again

baby bunny comes pretty  close to me
when I'm on the swing in the evenings

early morning coffee

basil is growing well!

• CHORES DONE:  Due to the high heat on Monday, I ran one errand and spent the rest of the time inside doing household chores,putting out some summer decor (didn't bother taking pics of most) tending to my flowers, and laundry. I had walked in the very early morning and then enjoyed a cup of coffee on the deck before it got even more humid. I love changing up the decor for the different seasons and getting my house ready for a new month. I also did some weeding in the front garden and noticed my two rose bushes are springing back to life, and that my day lilies are just beginning to open. I have several tea roses in bloom now too. I'm thankful for checking things off the to do list and seeing the results of things I planted in early May. 

me (in front) and Meg hiking down the trail
to Blue Ledges pictured below
photos courtesy of Joan B

Blue Ledges on the Hudson
Hudson Gorge Wilderness area
central Adirondacks

The Hudson River looking east at Blue Ledges

River was deep enough here to swim in, which we did!
I had swim shorts on here which I wore under my hiking shorts
the cold mountain water felt so refreshing on our very hot, sticky skin

• HOT, HUMID HIKE!!  Tuesday was 97 here in town. A neighbor told me no, it actually got up to 100 degrees F mid-day here.  Where I was hiking, it was 90 although 88 was the predicted high. The humidity was just a tad bit lower in the central ADK mountains than down here in the Capital Region (82%). It was HOT. It was HUMID. We had to spray on sunscreen, bug spray and wet bandanas in the brook at the beginning of the trail to keep our upper bodies warm. I had told everyone to bring something to wrap around their neck and to wear wick away clothing. Everyone complied. It was my 5th time visiting this lovely trail and the other 4 people in the group (Joan, Meg, Ping, and Dave D) were loving this first-for-them wilderness hike. We are all experienced hikers which is why I didn't cancel the hike. I did have 3 other people who had signed up but they dropped out due to the heat. Some people with certain health conditions shouldn't be hiking in these conditions. We were fine. And once we got to the river, off came our hiking boots and socks and in we plunged! I'm so thankful everyone kept safe and that we enjoyed an hour in and out of the water and that we had plenty of water. But at age 65, I am starting to get "too old" for this kind of hike in these conditions. We were 7 miles in from the main road and over 12 miles from the nearest village and over 20 miles from cell phone service.  We hiked 6.6 miles and took 2.5 hours longer than it has taken me in the past.  Add to that, all the deer flies,  mosquitoes, blowdown from the winter which means climbing over logs and sometimes whole trees that are downed, plus schlepping through ankle deep mud (due to the very rainy Spring including last Saturday!) and let's just say we were completely exhausted but exhilarated upon getting back to the cars by 5 pm. I slept well that night and put in 22, 268 steps that day! (for those of you with hiking experience: I would not have done this hike if it was a mountain climb....this was mostly flat minus two sections that were steep but not vertical). 

  

  SoulSteps Hikers at Blue Ledges on the Hudson
  l-r: Ping, Meg, Joan, and in the river: Dave D, Faith
  Photo with permission and compliments of Ping

Well, I've had a pretty good ....although very humid and hot....start to Summer. 

But there's always blessings to give thanks for!! 

What are you thankful for this weekend??

WEDNESDAY HODGEPODGE

I think it's been over a month since I participated with the Wednesday Hodgepodge  questions. These were fun questions so I'm taking a much needed housework break to write up my answers. To join in, head over to this blog. 

1. What does adventure mean to you? 

Adventure for me has always meant something out of the ordinary and usually somewhat spontaneous as is "let's just go on a road trip and find something fun to do". We've had a LOT of those especially when the girls were young and now that we're empty nesters, we are doing it again. But some of our adventures have needed planning (Paris, Rome, Montreal, Acadia National Park, Pittsburgh, Gettysburg National Park, Hershey, Amish country of PA, Maine,  Michigan, Albuquerque, San Francisco, most hiking trips, most Cape Cod trips, and most week long mountain/camping trips). 

2.  What are your thoughts on tipping? What businesses or service providers do you regularly tip? Do you resent being asked if you'd like to add a tip? What about when a suggested amount is presented?

I regularly tip my hair stylist. I regularly tip my  *$ barista (especially when my daughter was the barista) unless I'm ordering via the app, and we regularly tip waitresses/waiters if they do a good job, and/or the food is exceptional.  I don't resent being asked and I prefer that the tip is automatically included at restaurants. They (most) do not make a decent living wage in these horrible economic times. I never tip fast food as I don't think they accept tips. (at least when I was a kid working at Burger King we didn't get tips). We are NYers so of course our standard tip is 18% but we tend to tip at 20% if the restaurant is top notch.  For instance Olive Garden (we never go anymore though) gets 18% but MidPoint Pizza which is authentic Italian and top notch everything gets 20%. 

3. I scream you scream we all scream for ice cream...do we? Is ice cream a favorite treat at your house? What's your favorite flavor? Regular, soft serve, gelato, sherbet, or some sort of non-dairy version of ice cream...what's your pleasure? 

I can still eat cows milk ice cream if I have a lactaid tablet first.  Soft serve doesn't bother me but that's because there is a lower fat content. I love ice cream and my fave is oat milk coffee flavored ice cream or the plain chocolate. I also love the mint chip one.  My preferred brand is Oatly. I don't eat coconut milk ice cream as I find it too sweet and just kinda gritty.  At leas the brands I've tried. I'm ok with almond milk ice cream especially Ben and Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie. I basically only eat soft serve in the summer when I'm done with a hike and am near my fave soft serve stand in the southern ADK.  For home, I buy Oatley maybe once a month in the warmer months. 

My favorite soft serve flavors are chocolate raspberry and Mounds (Chocolate Coconut).  Both are available here.  I also tried chocolate orange last summer at this place which is in the eastern ADK and wowza!! SO good.  And yes, they even sell lactaid tablets for .05$!!! 

I always buy size kiddy or small.  They're big!!

4. What's your 'back in my day, we____________________ ' story or saying? 

Oh I have a lot but when I was a 12 yr old I remember my grandparents saying "back in my day we had to walk to school both ways up hill and back". (well so did I grandpa!!) But seriously, I was a teenager from 1973-1979 and I remember just never being home....meaning my parents never knew where I was. Me as a parent: "text me when you get there.  Text me when you leave", "Wear your bike helmet". "put on the sunscreen". I never did. My daughters? absolutely. I also tell them 

"Back in my day I always skipped math class and gym".  

their reponse:  "OMGOSH Mom no way could we do that now. There's hall monitors everywhere" 

5. Somehow this is our last Hodgepodge in the month of June. Next week's Hodgepodge lands in July. Wow. Sum up your June using three adjectives. 

HOT, HUMID, BUSY

6. Insert your own random thought here. Mine is a picture thought: 

Me about to plunge into the Hudson
after hiking 3.7 miles to this spot
the trail is called Blue Ledges in the central ADK
temp: 90 degrees
humidity level: 82%
my age: 65 
oldest age of hiking buddy: 70
youngest age of hiking buddy: 50s
Total in group: 5 
number of times I've hiked this trail: 5
Emotions of the group:  AWESOME but TIRED, HOT, EXCITED
ACCOMPLISHED, FIT

HAPPY WEDNESDAY AND HAPPY SUMMER!!