Independence Day

It will be a quiet Independence at our house. No big celebration as today is a day where my husband works so others can play golf on their day off. Nature of the job.

I love the country in which I live, but I am ever mindful we are just a piece of the world, where others also love their homeland.

I find this fitting today for Independence Day - it speaks greater of who we are as a people on this earth.

 

This Is My Song

This is my song, O God of all the nations,
a song of peace for lands afar and mine.
This is my home, the country where my heart is;
here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine;
but other hearts in other lands are beating
with hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.

My country's skies are bluer than the ocean,
and sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine.
But other lands have sunlight too, and clover,
and skies are ev'rywhere as blue as mine.
So hear my song, O God of all the nations,
a song of peace for their land and for mine.

This is my prayer, O God of all earth's kingdoms,
your kingdom come; on earth your will be done.
O God, be lifted up till all shall serve you,
and hearts united learn to live as one.
So hear my prayer, O God of all the nations;
myself I give you; let your will be done.



Text: Lloyd Stone, 1912-1993, sts. 1-2; Georgia Harkness, 1891-1974, st. 3
Text sts. 1-2 © 1934, 1962 Lorenz Publishing Company. Text st. 3 © 1964 Lorenz Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

As I walk

Since school has been out, I have been focusing in on trying to walk daily. It's done at the YMCA on the treadmill where the gnats are not members, and the room is cool and comfortable. I have been listening to my playlists on my Ipod and find it an eclectic mix of music. It keeps me distracted and I love listening to the variety I have on there. So I post for you one of my pieces I listen to while I walk. It seems to work perfectly for me.

Sweet Potato and Quinoa Salad

For some reason, I was unable to post this on Facebook's Note section, so I figured there was more than one way to skin a cat - so here it is!

Sweet Potato and Quinoa Salad

2 1/2 cups cooked quinoa or other small kernel grain (1 c. raw quinoa, 2 c. water, bring to boil with a little salt, cover and simmer 12 min.  Fluff grain with a fork, cover and let sit another 10-15 min.)

1 large or 2 med. (about 1 lb. sweet potatoes)

salt

1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and diced

1/4 c. minced red onion or shallot

freshly ground black pepper

1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil

2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

1/4 c. minced fresh chives or parsley (I used parsley)

 

If you haven't already, cook the quinoa.  Be sure to rinse grains well to clean off the bitter coating on it before cooking and drain thoroughly.  Peel sweet potato, dice it into 1/2" or smaller pieces.  Cook it in salted, boiling water to cover until tender.  Drain well. Toss together the potato, quinoa, bell pepper, parsley and onion.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Whisk the oil and vinegar together and toss the salad with about 1/2 of mixture.  Add all or some of the rest to taste.  Adjust seasoning.   Enjoy!

 

I had to add more dressing to the salad today.  At least half again as much. 

 

It is from Mark Bittman's, How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, cookbook.

How I changed the recipe - I added a can of black beans, washed and drained the beans.  I also added diced yellow bell pepper.

 

Recap and looking towards summer

I just got to thinking about this past school year. Students' last day is tomorrow and we finish up on Monday. We started off with 6 furlough days. However, the school year was bumpy - not because of my class. My students this year were a great group. However, this year included:

• a heart attack and a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes
• my mother's continued decline in health, resulting in placement in a nursing facility
• a broken tailbone
• shingles

Enough already. On the flip side:

• I am going to be a grandmother this fall.

So this summer, I am going to:

• take it easy
• read books
• exercise
• spend a week at the beach
• knit

What are you doing this summer?

Good Friday

Maundy Thursday

"To wash the feet of a brother or a sister in Christ, to allow someone to wash our feet, is a sign that together we want to follow Jesus, to take the downward path, to find Jesus' presence in the poor and the weak. Is it not a sign that we too want to live a heart-to-heart relationship with others, to meet them as a person and a friend, and to live in communion with them?"
- Jean Vanier

Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday ... reminds us that at the moment of what seems to be the height of Jesus' public acceptance also begins the process of His public betrayal, His public failure, His public abandonment. Only in the mind of God is Jesus any longer a success, it seems ... Here in the Passion narrative we trace the struggle, one scene at a time, between the Word of God and the ways of the world.  

Joan Chittister, from her book The Liturgical Year