From the 'Burbs

Dateline: Melrose Park, Illinois

It has been over 3 months now since I moved to this western suburb of Chicago. The move itself and the adjustment has been very satisfactory -- much less difficult, in many instances, than I had anticipated. I'm still "in transition," though. A lot of normally mundane, everyday life things are still new and exotic. I still get stung by culture shock occasionally. But I must be making progress, since I feel I can blog about it now. :-P

Just off the top of my head...

Some things I like about living here:

1.) There's a small but fabulous public library, and I have a card! I can check out books and even movies free of charge. If my library doesn't have an item, I can usually get it through interlibrary loan. All this abundance still blows my mind.

2.) Although we don't have a car, there are several supermarkets within walking distance of us, and most of them have authentic Mexican food ingredients as well as lots of cool items for kosher, Polish, Indian, Italian, and other cuisines.

3.) Postal service is relatively inexpensive, reliable, and quick. Yeah, I know a lot of people complain about the U.S.P.S., but until you have lived in the developing world, you don't know good we have it here.

4.) This is the Midwest. We are not sophisticated like Out East nor cutting-edge trendy like on the West Coast. There's no ocean here, or mountains, or deserts, no canyons or glaciers or sleeping volcanoes ... just prairie (and a big lake, of course.) I love living in what truly is (despite its being a cliche) the country's heartland.


A couple of things I don't particularly like about living here:

1.) Folks always have the heating turned way up, and I feel like I am going to suffocate. Our apartment is so overheated that we regularly need to open the window -- when it's snowing outside! Even the public buses and subway have the heat way too high. I'm all for avoiding frostbite, but this is just too much. I wonder why the stores even bother to sell sweaters in the wintertime; inside, it's too hot for them, and when you go outside, you are all bundled up in a big coat anyway.

2.) That nasal Chicago accent. I suppose I will get used to it in time, however. I may even acquire one myself! lol


I'm sure more lists will follow.

Garage-less Garage Sale

Yesterday from noon to 6 p.m. I held a "garage" sale. It was actually in my apartment, as there is no garage here. I closed the doors to the two bedrooms and opened the door to the hall and did quite a brisk business. I sold most, though not all, of the "big" stuff, and a lot of smaller things.

And what were the first two items to go? The dvd player and the televison set. The most-asked-about items? The dvd player and the televsion set. The second most-asked-about item? The sewing machine -- which, while often talked about, still has not sold.

What sold the least? Books. LOL

Actually, that's not true. I sold quite a few books. It's just that I had so many that there are still many left. And it is true that they were much less popular than the dvd player and television set, and that many, many people looked over everything at the sale except the books.

It was an exhausting and nerve-wracking day, partly because I was only able to sleep 3 hours the night before. I was up early, trying to have everything ready by my noon opening time. I didn't have everything ready in time, but we went ahead and opened anyway, and somehow it all worked out. Actually, it worked out because I had several very capable friends there to help out and keep me sane. Without their helping hand, I have a feeling my sale would have not been very successful.

Before the sale, I had expected to have unpleasant feelings upon seeing strangers heartlessly going through my possessions. Strangely, that didn't really happen. Maybe because during the "rush" times I was too busy to think about it and during the slow times I was too tired to do anything but sit down and wish it were all over, but somehow I was able to distance myself from the "stuff." So much so, in fact, that what was left just seems like so much junk now, and I wish it were all gone. I wish the apartment were pretty much empty, producing an echo when I speak.

It will be soon. In a couple of weeks all the clutter will be gone, and it'll be just me and three suitcases. I'm looking forward to it.

Links to Enjoy

Here are a few more miscellaneous online places to go:

Vintage Images
"Vintage" (that is, old stuff) is all the rage right now. This site has free images from loooong ago for you to download for use in scrapbooking and paper arts, but I think the photos and ephemera are fascinating to just look at for their own sakes.

Neighborhood Profiles
Type in your zip code and learn all kinds of statistics about your town, from air quality index to income level.

Degree Confluence Project
"The goal of the project is to visit each of the latitude and longitude integer degree intersections in the world, and to take pictures at each location. The pictures, and stories about the visits, will then be posted here." Cool pictures of places no one else would ever have thought to document.


Mr. Picasso Head
Like the "vintage" toy of Mr. Potato Head (I had one of those, incidentally, as a child), you take pre-made parts and put them together to make a head. Unlike the old game, however, this is online, and the parts are Picasso-esque.

Collage Machine
Another fun art-toy thingy. Use this application to create an online collage.

Japanese Emoticons
Spice up your e-mail messages. These are lots more elaborate than just the classice sidewise smile :-) .

Remembering the Earthquake

Twenty-one years ago today an earthquake that measured 8.1 on the Richter scale shook Mexico City and other parts of the country, causing immeasurable damage. The following morning, an aftershock measuring 7.6 furthered the destruction. Official figures put the number of dead at "only" about ten thousand, but we will probably never know how many really died -- maybe three times that many?

(For more information read a brief Wikipedia article about the quake. See photos of the destruction at the National Geophysical Data Center site.)

I was living here in Mexico City when it happened, and although the whole thing was scary, I got off pretty easily. I was without power for about a week and without phone service for quite a bit longer, but I didn't personally know anyone who died, nor did I directly witness any dramatic events or consequences. Only one building in my neighborhood was seriously damaged -- and it wasn't mine. I think my parents --in the U.S.A. -- had it worse than I did, wondering if I were all right. After all, the news reports in the United States talked about how "the city had been destroyed," which was an exaggeration.

However, I do remember the event every year on September 19th ... which not everyone does. Those who experienced the earthquake say, "Oh, yeah, it's the anniversary ..." when I mention it. We then briefly exchange stories of where we were when it happened, and then the subject gets changed to something else. I'd say it has become a pretty dim memory for many, if not most, people.

But a lot of folks that I come in daily contact with do not remember the event. The vast majority of my students were either infants at the time or had not even been born yet. The '85 quake is not even a dim memory for them; it's ancient history. That is so weird. Why, everybody knows that for ancient history you have to go back at least to the 1950's! (I was born in 1964.)

Thousands died in this disaster (many of whose bodies were never recovered) and many thousands more were injured and left homeless. While not as dramatic in many ways as Sept. 11, 2001 was for New York, the earthquake left behind a somewhat similar feeling in that it marked a Before and After for Mexico City. Economic and political crises had become frequent in the years leading up to 1985, but it wasn't until the quake, El Temblor del '85, that a lot of people realized that the sunny 70's -- in many ways a heydey for this corner of the world -- were over.

Twenty-one years later, there are still people living in the "temporary" camps set up for those who lost their homes. Not all the collapsed buildings have had their ruins towed away yet, either, though parks and other lovely spaces have sprung up on some destruction sites. You'd think these daily reminders would keep the public saddened when they think about the disaster. I'm sure many people are bitter and have a right to be; however, among the folks of my acquaintance the things most remembered about the quake -- or at least the ones most reminisced about -- are the hopeful aspects of it all:

-- The amazing discovery and rescue, days and even a week after the earthquake, of several newborn babies who survived in the maternity ward of the completely destroyed Hospital Juárez. (Those kids turned 21 in the last day or two.)

--The sight of Spanish opera tenor Placido Domingo staying on for days to search for survivors in the populous and hard-hit Tlatelolco neighborhood, where he had had relatives; his plea for help for the area brought out thousands of volunteers.

--The way friends and neighbors and strangers came together in solidarity, if for only a brief time, until the emergency had passed.

--The outpouring of practical assistance from nations all over the world, despite the authorities' initial statements that "the Mexican government has everything necessary to face this disaster."


I think we humans hope instinctively. I think there is a "hope device" somewhere in our spirit that, unless somehow completely and tragically destroyed, continues to pump out a hormone-like stream of impulses into our lives until the day we die. So strong is this tendency that we even project hope onto the past, remembering the good things more than the bad.

It's quite amazing, actually, when you think about it.

Anniversary

One year ago today...









Happy Anniversary, Honey!

Olive Nut Sandwich

This is a great change-of-pace sandwich that I recently discovered. I originally got the idea from www.worldwiderecipes.com, though I've made some changes. For example, the recipe there called for parsley, which I changed to lettuce because I like the texture that lettuce adds -- and because I don´t usually keep parsley on hand!

Olive Nut Sandwich

2 slices whole-wheat, rye, or pumpernickel bread
2 tablespoons cream cheese, softened
6 pimento stuffed olives, sliced
2 tablespoons pecan or walnut halves, chopped
1/3 cup lettuce, very finely chopped


Lightly toast the bread. Spread on the cream cheese, then top with olive slices, chopped nuts, and lettuce chopped as finely as you can get it. Cut in two from corner to corner, and serve.


See a few more of my recipes.

Site-ings

Allow me to share a few miscellaneous web pages I have stumbled across recently. I don't know that there is a common thread running through them; if you find one, please leave a comment and let me know.

Sock Monkey Dress
The last few years have seen a resurgence of sock monkeys, I assume because of the nostalgia/vintage craze. I never had one of these growing up -- and I think I am grateful for that, as they seem quite sinister to me (kind of like clowns do). This link takes you to a dress made of sock monkeys faces. I sincerely admire the ingenious idea and wonderful craftsmanship used in this. Wearing such a dress, however, would surely cause me nightmares or worse. Now maybe if it were a Cookie Monster dress ...

Lost Ring Recovered
People nowadays are rude, insensitive, uncaring, self-centered ... But not everyone, and not always. Some still make a great effort to do a nice thing! I love to hear good news like this.

Oceangrams
Write a message, stick it into a virtual bottle, and set it afloat on the electronic sea. You can also pick up bottled messages that others have sent. Be sure to have your speakers on.

DeBrand Chocolates
Some family members of mine toured this chocolate factory in Fort Wayne, Indiana, recently, then sent me the web site. The chocolates are beautiful and delicious-looking. It's a good thing just looking isn't fattening. Hey, and on the site they let you enter for a free monthly drawing, too.

Middle East Map
How many countries in the Middle East and northern Africa can you identify on a map? It seems like we ought to make an effort to know the basic stuff about this hot spot of (former and current) world history ...

Floraphilia
Much more amazing than your average pictures of flowers. The artist sells prints of his photographs, but fortunately looking at them online is free. Food for the soul.

Chicken Tomato

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Doesn’t this tomato look like a little hen? The leaves make the wings, and there are even black spots in the right places for eyes.

Grammy (my grandmother) sent me this photo a few days ago. The tomato came from one of the plants she has growing right outside her front door in east central Indiana. It was sown and nurtured by my Uncle Wayne (an awesome gardener with more than just a green thumb – his whole hand and arm are green!), who says it is a “golf ball tomato.” He starts all his plants from seeds, and this vine is now about seven feet high, held up by a wire cage. I think they ought to consider christening this variety the “chicken tomato.” :-P

Uncle Wayne’s son David (my cousin) took the picture, and when I saw it I was instantly enchanted. I like the light and shadow contrast in this photo, and isn’t the smooth bright red 'mater on the patterned aqua tablecloth striking? Now I see why the red and turquoise combination is hot right now! Thank you, Cousin David, for giving permission for me to post your very artistic photograph.

Easy Sweet Potato Dessert

Recently I've been seeing a lot of sweet potatoes in the grocery store I frequent, so I figure it's time to start making this once again. Street vendors here in Mexico City sell something similar to this, so although the recipe is mine, the idea certainly did not originate with me. I like this because it is nutritious, it's easy to make, and the sweetness can easily be adjusted to suit most any taste.


Easy Sweet Potato Dessert

You'll need:

-sweet potatoes (I prefer the ones that are off-white inside)

-jelly or marmalade (strawberry or blackberry are my favorites)

-heavy cream, whipped cream, or Kool Whip

-chopped nuts (I like pecans)

Boil, bake, or steam your sweet potatoes until soft. Let cool, peel, and refrigerate. When ready to make the dessert, cut sweet potato into 1/2-inch slices and let sit until room temperature (or at least long enough to get the "refrigerator cold" off them). For each serving, place 3 or 4 slices of sweet potato in a small bowl. Top with a tablespoon or so of jelly or marmalade, then a dollop of cream, and finally a generous sprinkling of chopped nuts. Eat with a spoon.

Variations:

--If you like it really really sweet, drizzle sweetened condensed milk on it instead of the cream.

--Use maple syrup instead of jelly or marmalade, and omit the cream.


See a few more of my recipes.

New Beginning

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This is another selection from my now-defunct e-card site. (Click the image to see it a little bit bigger.) It says, "The longest journey begins with a single step. Congratulations on your new beginning," and I thought that was appropriate to my situation right now, what with being in the middle of relocating and all.

I took this photo in northeastern Indiana in about the year 2001. I'm not sure what it is, but there is something about it that I really really like -- maybe the angle of the road? the exhuberant Queen Anne's lace at the left? the visual roughness of the asphalt, maybe, or the way that the road disappears into the brightest part of the image? Something.