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Sue Spitulnik

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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.

Too Many Suffer

It’s National PTSD Awareness Day. I had to study the picture to figure out what it was showing me. In case you need help, the background is camouflage, for a military uniform, and there is a tear running from the very healthy looking green eye.

I know a lot of people who suffer from PTSD, not all military. The men and women who have served in war zones and seen the effects of combat on the human body suffer, mostly in silence, trying to make sense of the senseless. Generally it is an invisible problem, so easy for someone else to say, “Well, he/she came home without a scratch.” There might not be any visible wound, but I can guarantee they have emotional ones. Some just deal with it better than others. A friend named Norm had the job of arming war head bombs during the Korean War. He never was in a war zone himself, but to this day he wonders if any of those bombs he loaded, killed anyone. It keeps him awake at night, even after all these years.

Another group who suffer from PTSD are parents who have buried children. The siblings of that child suffer also. I just read an article by Paula Stephens entitled “What I Wish More People Understood About Losing a Child”. She called the death of a child an “out-of-order death”. It’s unnatural. The pain never goes away and the child’s birthday and the day they became an angel are the toughest days of the year for the family. The power of the date is sometimes overwhelming. If you know anyone in this category mention to them the fact you remember something about their child. It helps them to know people haven’t forgotten their baby (no matter the age).

Sometimes even a stressful job can result in PTSD symptoms for those who did the job. Police officers, medical personnel, company heads, and anyone who has dealt with a traumatic situation are in that group. And their spouses and families suffer with them. It is proven that support groups can help people who deal with PTSD, but it is also a fact that too many people don’t look for a group because “they can handle it on their own”. I find that sad. I thinks it’s very helpful for a person to know they aren’t the only one who feels the way they do and they are still normal, maybe with a new definition of normal.

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It’s National Beautician Day. Where would we be without our hair stylists? It’s one of those things that is really hard to do for yourself unless you are ambidextrous and can work backwards in a mirror. It’s also frustrating when the stylist can make your hair do things that you can’t. The phrase, “I just can’t make it look like she does,” comes to mind.

I’m one of those lucky old ladies that has very little grey hair so I don’t spend time at the beauty shop getting my hair colored. My sisters are jealous. The fun part for me is when I am with them and people ask if I am their daughter instead of realizing I am the little sister. It makes them angry. It would me too if the shoe were on the other foot.

My husband used to get his hair cut by a professional but now I cut it. That came about when he went into a shop one day as a song on the radio started playing. He was back in his vehicle in time to hear the end of the second song by the same artist, with a buzz cut and without $12.00. With clippers, I can do it in about ten minutes and he gets a kiss on the cheek when I take the cape off. He says that is the best part.

I know some ladies that have been going to the same stylist for a good many years and they are fast friends and confidants. That hasn’t worked for me partly because I’ve moved too many times, but more so because I have fine, just curly enough to be a pain not a gift hair and I haven’t found anyone who can make it look nice and deal with the curls at the same time. It’s quite a challenge to get it symmetrical like I want it.

I enjoy going to the beauty shop to relax and listen to the other conversations. There is always a slice of life that is different to me. I find it frustrating to pay $50.00 when I am there less than half an hour. I guess the stylist has a good gig, especially if she can please her  clients.

Next time you go to your beautician, be mindful they are on their feet all day and probably have to listen to a lot of stories like a bartender does. I guess their job is worth the price you have to pay to look good.

 

 

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It’s National Pink Day. Yes, there is a day to celebrate a color, or perhaps, the history of it. The National Day of Calendar tells us according to surveys in both the United States and Europe the color pink combined with white or pale blue is most commonly associated with femininity, sensitivity, tenderness, childhood and the romantic.  Pink, when combined with violet or black is associated with eroticism and seduction.

Dating back to the 14th century, “to pink” (the verb) means “to decorate with a perforated or punched pattern.” (I use pinking shears in my sewing room.)

It would have been curious to find pink used in fabric or decor during the Middle Ages.  Occasionally it was seen in women’s fashion and religious art.  In the 13th and 14th century, the Christ child was sometimes portrayed dressed in pink, the color associated with the body of Christ. Pink was mainly used for the flesh color of faces and hands during the Renaissance.

The Rococo Period (1720-1777) was the golden age for the color pink. Pastel colors became very fashionable in all the courts of Europe during this time.  Madame de Pompadour (1721-1764), the mistress of King Louis XV of France, was known for wearing the color pink, often combined with light blue.  At one point in time, Ms. Pompadour had a particular tint of pink made specifically for her.

Pink ribbons or decorations were worn by young boys in 19th century England.  The men in England wore red uniforms and since boys were considered small men, boys wore pink.

Pink became much bolder, brighter and more assertive in the 20th century and 1931, the color “Shocking Pink” was introduced. And of course today, the pink ribbon is the symbol for breast cancer, which way too many of us know about first hand.

If you follow professional golf as I do, you know the younger golfers are often wearing pink shirts and even pink pants. I like that. It’s easier to keep track of them on camera in all that green expanse. In the same realm, if you are a Survivor (TV-show) watcher you will remember Phillip Sheppard wore a shade of pink underpants throughout his appearances. I went to the same school as Phillip and had a chance to ask him why. His answer, “For the good of the camera.” He was right. The cameramen couldn’t keep their lenses off him. Way to go Phillip.

Whatever form this color takes in your day, I hope you are “in the pink”, have not received a “pink slip” and are “tickled pink” at least once today.

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I Love Onions

It’s National Onion Rings Day. One of my best memories of onions in my youth came about when I stayed overnight with my oldest sister and her new husband. I think I was eleven. People did a lot more cooking at home back then. We got some really big sweet onions at the grocery store. G. cut them into 3/4 inch slices, dipped them in batter and fried them in a single layer in an electric frying pan that held boiling oil. They were soooo good. The onion still had lots of flavor, the batter was light, and we ate them as each batch was ready. It was a long slow process, but doing it together and getting our fill is part of why it’s so memorable. I also remember thinking it was a lot of work and quite messy.

These days when you order onion rings in a restaurant, they are mostly breading, very little onion and cooked to death. I guess I’ll never find a ring that lives up to the memory of the home made ones I shared with my sister.

I have always been an onion lover. There is a family story that my father went to get the box of onion sets to plant the garden when I was four and the box was gone. He wasn’t happy. The explanation goes, my babysitter had peeled them and I had eaten them all. That I don’t remember doing, but I wouldn’t doubt it.

I attended my 25th high school reunion and one of my classmates said to me, “You know what I remember about you? Onion sandwiches.” She was right. I ate an onion sandwich most days before I got on the bus to go to the afternoon session of kindergarten. I wonder if all the onions I have eaten have helped me stay healthy over the years.

Another time I ate all the onions was when I had lunch out with my aunt. There was a jar of chopped onions on every table because it was summer and people ate them like relish on their hot dogs and burgers. This particular jar was so sweet with just the right amount of tang, that my aunt and I ate them with a spoon. We were surprised when at the end of the meal, the jar was empty. We felt a little guilty.

If you love onions like I do may I suggest you make your own onion rings at least once. While eating them picture the idolized big sister making them for her little sister. I bet they’ll be the best you have ever had.

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The Bald Eagle is both the national bird and the national animal of the United States and appears on its Seal. If you think about it, there is often a decorative “head” on your American flag holder that is in the shape of a Bald Eagle. For me, the bird and the flag bring on the same emotion of patriotism whenever I see them.

I have had the good fortune to live in Washington state and New York state near where Bald Eagles live. I have seen the huge bird swooping the lake to grab a fish and it is a sight like no other. It makes you wonder how such a big bird can do such minute movements.

The name “Bald Eagle” derives from an older meaning of “white headed” as the bird is actually not bald. The adult eagle is mainly brown with a white head and tail. Their nests are the largest nests of any North American bird and the largest tree nests for any animal species. The biggest recorded eagle’s nest was found in St. Petersburg, Florida.  It measured 9.5 feet in diameter and 20 feet deep.  It weighed in at nearly 3 tons. (That’s a lot of sticks and mud. I wonder how they weighed it.)

At one time the Bald Eagle was on the endangered species list, but is no longer due to conservation and their ability to adapt to loss of natural habitat.

If you haven’t, I hope you get the chance to personally see a Bald Eagle fly over a lake. It’s one of those things that to be seen in nature is so much more impressive than seeing it on television. The size of the wing span will take your breath away.

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Be On Time

It’s National Watch Day. I’ve always been a punctual person. I believe being on time is showing respect to yourself and others when you arrive at a destination, job, party, or whatever in a timely manner. I also feel people that are constantly late have a control problem. They don’t control themselves, thus they do control the others that are waiting for them. Rude!

As a teenager, I can remember going out in the back yard with my girlfriends during the summer sunshine, beach towels, cokes, and a transistor radio in tow. We would take our watches off so as to not get a white wrist band from them while we soaked in the sun. We would check them every so often to make sure we turned over so we didn’t get too much sun all at once on just one side. The watch was always placed under one corner of the towel. I don’t remember our reasoning that it had to be covered.

When cell phones became the in thing, I gave up my watch because I could always “pull out my phone.” Everyone was doing it. I have recently realized that action can be conceived as rude. Yesterday during a talk at a museum, both my husband and step-son pulled out their phones and started looking up baseball and golf scores. I thought it very disrespectful to the speaker, but have to admit, if mine had vibrated, I would have pulled it out too. Our phone addictions might not be so bad if they helped us be on time.

Watches are coming back in style, and can be chosen to show off your own personality. Of course doctors and nurses have always worn them. I know a few people that have recently gotten new watches, because let’s face it, pulling that phone out is not always convenient (especially when driving) and sometimes just plain rude. I think I need to get myself a new watch to wear, especially when in public.

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