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Sue Spitulnik

Writing, Sewing, Travel, and Thoughts

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Sue Spitulnik

I am a retired grandmother that grew up in western New York State, left for 25 years, and am now back in the area. I happily live with my husband and two cats. I am pro-military, writing, food, family, and quilting. I am con-exercise, insulting commercials, and lack of common sense. I have met some great friends through this website.

Go Take a Hike

The National Day of calendar explains this day is set aside to get outside and take a walk in the natural beauty that surrounds us. I like to do that, especially to relieve stress and get away from it all for a while.

I looked up the meaning of hike and had to chuckle at its diverse definitions. One can hike themselves up onto a ledge, hike up their pants or hike the cost of something they want to sell. I like the thought the above picture imparts the best; taking a walk.

My sisters and I like to go for a hike along old railroad beds in the springtime in order to see the new wild flowers welcoming us into another growing season. One sister knows most of their scientific names and the other two know their common names. I just know they are pretty and marvel that they have names.

When I was young, my aunt and I liked to take a walk in the new snow, you know, when the first inch just covered the roadways. It was so peaceful and quiet in our little one-block town. We would talk quietly about the people that we could see in each house that had lights on; not in a negative way, but the current family news. We knew everyone’s name, and usually the dog and cat’s too.

I have also on occasion used the phrase when I was disgusted with someone, “Go take a hike!” Now the young people say, “I kicked that person to the curb.” I think our line sounded less drastic, because their wasn’t an actual act involved, just a command.

Times change, slang meanings change, the world changes, but taking a hike will always be a good way to enjoy the great outdoors. I use the time to reflect on life, think of what to say in my next blog, and drink in the colors of the landscape.

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Buttons, Buttons

Do you remember your grandmother or your mother snipping the buttons off shirts that were headed for the rag basket and then collecting them in jars? Maybe you even played games or strung them for ornaments and crafts.  The buttons were fun to stack into piles, sort by color or size, or scatter/slide across the floor or table making up different games each time.

My mother had a tin of buttons; we called it the button box. And yes, my friends and I got it out every so often and sorted through it just like the above paragraph says. I remember a set of four little blue bows made out of plastic that were buttons. They were so pretty, but I never found a use for them. There were also coat buttons, a couple of buckles that had been saved from  belts, and lots of little white buttons off men’s shirts. To this day I still cut the buttons off of shirts I am discarding, or off clothing I am making a memory quilt out of.  I can’t help myself, they may come in handy some day. Most of the clothing I buy has an extra button attached in case I lose one. I keep each one of those buttons in a specific drawer in a jewelry box my grandson gave me. I have even used one of them once. They are pretty to look at all jumbled up together in a pile and I can picture each piece of clothing they belong to.

When my husband gets dressed in the morning he often grumbles about the size of the buttons on his shirt collar and cuffs. I often remark I don’t know why, with men as top fashion designers, they don’t effect a change in the size of those little tiny buttons. Sometimes I button them for him and I have trouble with them; I’m sure the public would accept the change graciously.

My mother died forty-six years ago today. At the time I didn’t know it was National Button Day. I still think almost daily of the part she played in my life. Now I’ll think of her every time I see a fascinating button or any kind of button for that matter. She would love the fact buttons are now used on purses and as quilt decorations, not just on clothing.

 

 

 

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Clean the Fridge

The National Day of calendar says this day is set aside to actually empty your refrigerator in order to wash the walls and shelves. Who does that? Well, I do once in a while, usually before out of town company comes for a visit, kids and family don’t count!

Eleven years ago my step-son was working for the Cal-Berkeley Girls basketball team as their videographer. He became friends with a student named Jon Doss who did the play-by-play on the campus radio station. We met Jon the first time when we visited California. A few years later Jon came to New York to attend the Newhouse School of Broadcasting at Syracuse University. We got to know him a bit better. Then Jon got a job at WHAM, in Rochester, NY, as a sports broadcaster. I got in touch with him and informed him he would not stay in a hotel when he arrived, but would stay with us until he found a suitable apartment. We gladly became his “Rochester parents”; loaning him a car at times, rescuing him when he locked himself out, feeding him dinner on his day off and holidays, making middle-of-the-night trips to the airport and welcoming his wife whenever she was able to be in town.

I’ll get to the refrigerator….one evening while he was visiting, he asked if I had any lime juice. I told him to look in the fridge door. He found a bottle of Rose’s Lime Juice but  refused to use it because it was about six years passed the expiration date. With good humor and dismay he asked if I was trying to kill him. Then he proceeded to check most of the bottles in the fridge, throwing out half of them. With a twinkle in his eye, he said something to the effect of, “God, I eat here all the time!” Now generally I serve fresh vegetables, salad and meat. I make my own dressings, and rarely use a box mix or prepared food. He felt better when I pointed that out, then went to the pantry and continued the purge. By this time we were howling with laughter; well I was anyway. I had a lot more shelf space when he got done. The next Saturday at the public market I got him some fresh limes. He did continue to come for meals.

Jon moved back to California this past March to keep Bakersfield up to date on sports news and to live full time with his lovely wife. We miss his company, his humor, his wife, and that occasion when he thinks my fridge needs a clean out.

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Pickles: Sweet or Dill

It’s National Pickle Day. Which are your favorite? Sweet or Dill?

I grew up in a big two-story house in the southern tier of New York state. You could walk a large circle downstairs from room to room. In the hall between the kitchen and bathroom there were “things” lined up against the wall; the dog’s water and food bowl, the Charlie Chip can, an extra kitchen table chair, and, a crock of icicle pickles. If I had friends over, it wasn’t unusual to stop at the crock and help ourselves to a snack. Those were the good old days.

My husband’s family has a recipe for dill midgets. They put small cucumbers in jars with a saltwater brine, stuff in some dill and garlic and leave the jars on the counter for ten days before eating. The first time I saw them made I insisted the jars wouldn’t seal unless they were put in a hot water bath, but I was wrong. My sisters make bread-and-butter pickles and they always put them in a hot water bath after filling the jars. I don’t understand why the dills don’t need it.

We buy almost all of our fresh vegetables at a public market. Every year when the cucumbers are in season we walk slowly past looking at them with longing and share our memories of home-made pickles. We rarely make them, and why I don’t think to eat them at home I can’t explain. My sisters still do.

In our city we have a couple of burger joints that still have a condiment bar with things like onions, relish, and pickles for the taking. If we go to the one that has sweet pickle slices we eat them as an appetizer. The dill slices we put right on the burger. Funny how people choose to join flavors to get an enhanced one. Oh, and we always add the onions.

I have a friend that is a health nut and she eats sour things on purpose to make her body more alkaline. Says it helps to stave off disease. She’ll eat a half a lemon if it’s on her plate, but refuses the dill pickle. We tease her and takes turns eating it.

In honor of the day…….Go eat a Pickle!

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Thank a Veteran

Today is Veterans Day. I will be spending the evening with a special group of Veterans who are my personal friends. We belong to the Rochester (NY) Veterans Writing Group. Following is part of my portfolio that is on our web-sight page:

When we gather, we catch up on each other’s news and then write for about twenty minutes from a prompt sheet that gets our ideas forming. There are usually four prompts provided by one of our facilitators. After writing, each person reads aloud what he or she has written. Members of the group then offer constructive criticism on how to improve semantics. Suggestions are made for extending the piece into an essay, short story, or whatever. That’s the plan.

This is what really happens; most of us have chosen a prompt that requires a walk down memory lane: it can be a poignant memory with a good, or not so good, outcome while in the military; a humorous escapade from childhood or adult life; something a loved one did or experienced; a subject we feel strongly about and why; or sharing what losing a loved one feels like. After each person reads, the others acknowledge that the emotions shared are legitimate, worthy, and acceptable. The military brotherhood understands the range of feelings and the impact of PTSD. It’s a safe place to share. Personally, I always need my box of tissues; that’s just how I’m wired. Funny, I can talk about a situation, but when I read my own writing, I cry. Sometimes it’s embarrassing.

The number that attends the group ebbs and flows. There can be as many as twelve people and sometimes only five. Most attendees have served in a branch (or two) of the U.S. military and others have close affiliations to a current or past military member. There are no rules other than to have a desire to write, share, and learn. And, it’s free.

Attending this group for over a year now has given me some remarkable gains — friends, understanding, and knowledge. I am part of the tribe and I belong.

My husband is a veteran, as is the father of my children. I pay close attention to the Veterans who are my Facebook friends and vote the way they do because I trust their judgement. They have paid the price for the freedoms we enjoy in this country. May I suggest, today and every day; Thank a Veteran.

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Happy Birthday USMC

Happy Birthday to the United States Marine Corps!

I have a lot of connections to the military in this great country. I can name people who I know both past and present in all branches of the service, except the Marine Corps. I never thought of that until today. My lawyer’s son is a marine  but I don’t know him personally. Funny how that works. I wonder why the marines are avoiding me?

If you are at all familiar with my blog, you know I am pro-military because I believe our United States would not be what it is today without them. Yes, sometimes our government gets us involved in fights we don’t think are ours, and we lose young men and women for no apparent good reason. I have trouble with that too. But, think about the fact that it is us as a country that is looked to for help. We are strong enough and big enough to help others. It’s part of our job as a super-power.

The presidential election was two days ago, and we now have people protesting and rioting in the streets because of who won. This is sad and scary. I was raised to give a person a chance to sink or swim before passing judgement. If the protesters are also being destructive, aren’t they part of the problem instead of the solution. I’m all for freedom of speech, but please folks, wake up! Destruction and failure to cooperate is only making the problem worse.

Do I believe our president-elect has what it takes to be a strong, good president, able to keep us in a position of power? I have no idea. But he sure won’t get there with his constituents tearing apart the cities and causing more problems for the police and their neighbors.  Let’s hope the “educated” that disagree with the outcome of the election come to their senses before the Marines get called out to work on their birthday.

Peace!

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