Tag Archives: #ordinarylegacymoments

Sunday at the Market

Posted on by

farmers-mkt-10-30-16018Still working on today’s post which obviously will be coming your way next Sunday because sometimes you just need to go another way.  When the weather is so incredibly delicious you must get out!

So off to the Ramsey Farmer’s Market we went with bag and camera and curiosity.  The people were out with dogs and costumes and fabulous hats. You can take a look at them over on the Ordinary Legacy FB page.

 

farmers-mkt-10-30-16009farmers-mkt-10-30-16011The squash and apples and brussel sprouts were all over.  The cakes and breads and honey were there too.  The mushroom farmer…wow.

farmers-mkt-10-30-16013

While the day started out beautiful the weather turned dark and rainy just in time to get everything prepped, the zucchini has been spiralized, the apples and spinach washed an refrigerated and the squash went in the oven to roast.

farmers-mkt-10-30-16023

farmers-mkt-10-30-16019The results of a good Sunday at the market?  The house smells like the fall and there is food at the ready for the whole week.  Have a good one…

farmers-mkt-10-30-16024

And It Makes Me Wonder

Posted on by

10-23-16002

Doesn’t it make you wonder when you come across something like this carved into a tree?  Around the bend, in a bit from the road, someone many years ago thought it was important to memorialize their…what?  Their being there together, their love, the date?

Doesn’t it make you wonder what ever happened to Angel and Francie?  Are they still together, do they ever come back here, does anyone else (besides nosey me) know about this?

Doesn’t it ever make you wonder what the story is?  Would you consider making one up?  Would you consider ever trying to find them, do you think someone else is trying to find them?

I’ve taken to walking again and while I find walking in nature therapeutic I really found this interesting.  I spent the good portion of an hour thinking about Angel and Francie and where they might be today. Are they happy?  Did they make it? Or did they change the road they were on?

And it makes me wonder…

Yes there are two paths you can go by but in the long run..

There’s still time to change the road you’re on.

And then that song took over (you’re welcome) and Angel and Francie were gone for a while. But I came back to them because if someone is going to take the time to carve something into a tree it should be worth the wonder.

 

Ordinary Legacy Moment: Eagle Scout Project

Posted on by

curiousCuriosity leads to ordinary legacy moments, make no mistake about it.  When something catches my eye, even in the midst of garage sale goings-on, I’ve got to take a look.

What a moment I stumbled upon.  Picture this, it’s 86 degrees around noon on the day of my cousin’s garage sale.  We are scrambling to put up a tent for cover from the sun and I see this van stop up at the corner.  Some kids jump out, and get to work?  On what?  By the time the tent is up, I’ve missed it.

But looking down the other side of the street there they are again.  Ok, I’m curious (otherwise known as nosey, I get it) because they are all crouched down on the screaming hot pavement painting a Maltese cross on the black top.  Did I mention it’s 86 degrees?  Probably 155 on the street…ok I exaggerate but it was damn hot.

Can I ask what you’re doing?  Sure, says Daniel Buda, it’s my Eagle Scout Project.  We’re painting a Maltese cross on the pavement in front of every fire hydrant in Dumont (NJ) so that in inclement weather our fire fighters can recognize the hydrant location.  If a hydrant isn’t shoveled out in winter, chances are the cross on the pavement will be seen after the snow’s been plowed.

eagle-scout-project004

eagle-scout-project003eagle-scout-project002

eagle-scout-project001

And there you have it, Daniel Buda of Scout Troop 1345 (Dumont/Bergenfield NJ) and his friends Sean Adomilli, Naomi Castaneda, Kendra Chaiken, Kyle Villareal and Eric D’Anna were going from hydrant to hydrant on one of the hottest summer days to insure that the firefighters of their town could do their job most efficiently…say what you want about the youth of today, these are the kids who are already ordinary legacies in the making. They were off again in a matter of minutes, on to the next location, being led by Daniel and shuttled by two wonderful gentlemen volunteers, I regret I didn’t get their names.

Later in the day when I was done with my garage sale shift I met the man who’s house was behind the hydrant, he hadn’t been home when the kids did their thing.  We had a great conversation about how cool it was and he told me that he’s lived in this house his whole life, I estimate his age at around 85, and his father was once the Fire Chief in town.  What a moment, what a good bunch of kids.

eagle-scout-project005

Made my day then, even more coincidentally I couldn’t help noticing all the Maltese crosses I passed on my way to Gramma’s today.  That is an ordinary legacy moment relived.  Thank you Daniel and company for a job well done. Let us know when you make Eagle Scout.

 

Sing Every Day

Posted on by

“He who sings scares away his woes.” ― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

It’s no secret I like to poke around the community gardens at the senior housing building where my mother lives.  It’s rich in soil, produce and wisdom.  This is Amalia (not sure of the spelling), who I met enjoying the day in the gardens several months ago.

amalia-20151

Can I take your picture? Instead of saying yes she got up and posed near one of the planted areas.  It’s such a reflection of that generation that having one’s picture taken means posing near just the right spot.  I have dozens of them, mostly black and white that look just like this.

Even with our language barrier we had a wonderful conversation about my mother and the lifestyles of the elders living in the building. Her advice to my mother was simple, sing every day.  Singing she said does something healthy to the brain.  She motioned that the energy travels up from your voice to your brain and fills it with something wonderful that travels back down and through your whole body.

amalia-20155amalia-20154amalia-20152

It can’t help but make you happy every day.  Her song was delightful, though I didn’t know a word of it, and I could indeed feel it travel from her voice to my brain and through my whole body.  I smiled all day. Thank you for that good advice, which I passed along to my mother and now to you.

“And all meet in singing, which braids together the different knowings into a wide and subtle music, the music of living. ” ― Alison Croggon,

Sing

Every

Day

Superpower…

Posted on by

Superpower (1)

The concept of superpower implies seemingly impossible abilities. According to Wikipedia: There is no rigid definition of a “superpower”. In popular culture, it may be used to describe anything from minimal exaggeration of normal human traits, magic, to near-godlike abilities including flight, superstrength, projection of destructive energy beams and force fields, invulnerability, telepathy, telekinesis, teleportation, super-speed or control of the weather.

 Doesn’t mean a mere mortal like myself can’t have a superpower, doesn’t mean you can’t have a superpower. My superpower is pulling together a meal for anywhere between two and eight people at a moment’s notice using nothing other than what’s in my pantry, the magic fridge (as my sister calls it) and a bit of Sunday afternoon mise en place. Or as I call it chop/roast/sauté therapy.

So while Sunday morning looks like this:

File Jun 12, 4 34 16 PM

Sunday afternoon looks like this:

Superpower (2)Superpower (3)

The result of this is the ordinary legacy moment of the week. That moment when my neighbors and I are chatting on the deck and we decide we’re all hungry. Minutes later we are dining on slices of lasagna made the previous day in a loaf pan, tomato-zucchini-mozzarella-basil salad with dark chocolate balsamic and olive oil dressing and for dessert the now famous angel food-blueberry-gelatin concoction that tastes exactly like you want summer to feel. Cool and refreshing. Nothing makes me happier.

Have a good week.