Apron strings

"What do we eat? How do we obtain our foods? How do we prepare our foods? What do our food traditions mean to us?"

We live in a little town way up in the woods, very low population density, and we never thought a Smithsonian Institution exhibition would find its way anywhere close to us. But a few months ago we learned just such an exhibit would be visiting Rhinelander, Wis., for about a month.

It's called "Key Ingredients: America By Food." There are two traveling Key Ingredients exhbitions: The other is now touring in Arizona.

Rhinelander? That's not too far away--just 60 miles. A short spin down the road.

My wife and I had talked about seeing the exhibit during the holiday season, but the weather got cold, I enjoyed my nights off at home, and we got to watching DVDs together most nights--the onslaught of high school basketball was on hold for two weeks.

Suddenly it was January, and we still hadn't seen the show. We learned the exhibit's final day would be Jan. 21. And I had a game that night!

So on Jan. 15, the final Saturday of the show, my wife and David and I all made the trip to Rhinelander. A little shopping, yes. I took back a Christmas gift sweater that was too big. We restocked on cat food. And we went to the program, held at a shopping center where a fabric store used to be. (My wife still grieves.) ...



To complement the Key Ingredients show, local organizers came up with a local-oriented counterpart, focusing on the traditions of "the North Country."

From an introduction near the entrance:

What's going on, what's coming up

Oh, I wish I could post more often. I know I've been quiet lately. This time, though, it's not because of mental block. It's lack of free time. It's really busy at work, as I am out at basketball games two, three and even four nights a week after being in the office all day.

And I've got plenty of other interests, too. My e-reader remains busy. Right now, I'm about 2/3rds of the way through "Madame Bovary" by Flaubert. I'm trying to read at least a chapter a day, sometimes more, when I'm not busy with other stuff. But often, I can only read a half hour or so when I go to bed. And as soon I climb under the covers and get my book--often within seconds--Charlie hops up and walks up next to me. Purr, purr, purr! That's one of her special times to get petted.

Of course, I'm still watching hockey and the Red Wings when I can. I'm also watching international cricket matches from around the world--an internet channel I decided to subscribe to. I watched the Ashes series from Australia (vs. England) in December and January, and there has also been India in South Africa and Pakistan in New Zealand.

Besides the cricket, I've seen many lovely venues and people enjoying the Southern Hemisphere summer--may have written about that. I have also been looking up the places on Google Earth and zooming in and admiring the area--like the Newlands ground near Cape Town, South Africa. Last night (my time), they had a match at Queenstown, New Zealand, and that proved to be a very interesting setting. Too bad it was a rainy day--the match stopped almost as soon as it began. But I had to run off to a basketball game, anyway.

And, of course, how can I not mention the NFL playoffs and the success of our Green Bay Packers? The Pack will play in the Super Bowl on Feb. 6 in Dallas. I'm not a fanatical football fan, but I do enjoy pro football. And I'm not a fanatical Packer fan--I don't buy jerseys or other Packer junk. But I am a Packer fan.

My wife and I watched the conference finals from Chicago on Sunday, and it was extra special for us because it was the first time we have ever watched a live game on HD television. Finally, I know what that's like! The local digital project is nearly finished, and the cable company is testing some of the channels. I'm on the cable board--its president, in fact--and it will be so nice to get this project finished. All the work on the cable project has been a concern and taken up time for months.

I'm getting sidetracked. This is just supposed to be an update.

Several bloggy projects are in the works. One, about the a "Key Ingredients" exhibit my wife and I visited recently, is nearly finished. Probably will be posted later today. Also, I feel compelled to write a post about this winter, with photos--but I haven't had the time to get the nature photos I want to include. And finally, when I visited N last week, I interviewed her about her rescue dogs and got some photos of her "furry herd." You will finally get to meet them.

Soon. I hope. If I can find the time.

Tying the knot, literally

One of my oldest (only in terms of duration, I assure you!) bloggy friends passed along some wonderful news lately: She and her boyfriend are going to be the central attractions at a handfasting this spring.

It made me happy, both for her sake and for the wonderful memories it reawakened from the first handfasting I ever witnessed, last summer. It turned out to be one of my most memorable experiences in 2010.

First, let me ask: Do you know what handfasting is?

Don't feel bad if you don't. I didn't know until a few years ago. It's a traditional Celtic ceremony in which a couple is married, and it dates back to the Middle Ages. It is used by many neopagans, but the old tradition is also incorporated into the ceremonies of people who are not pagan.

In handfasting, the partners literally have their hands tied together. The term originates from the ages-old ritual of shaking hands over an agreement--and getting married is as serious an agreement as there is, even among polyamorous folks like the neopagan group I visit each summer.

That's where last year's handfasting took place, at that group's annual mid-summer gathering in southwestern Wisconsin. The couple's names are Amanda and Jim, and I have known them since I first attending their gatherings. It took place in the evening, at the main ritual circle.

First, say hello to Amanda and Jim ...



And here is something that played a central role in the ceremony; a picture I took earlier that afternoon. Only I didn't know it at the time. I took the photo because I thought it looked really neat, with all the stars and ribbons ...



I went to last year's gathering with S and T, and they attended the handfasting with me. Since Amanda knows I am handy with a camera, she asked me to be her handfasting photographer, using her little camera. I also took a few photos before the ceremony with my own camera.

Amanda got this photo of T and S and me, as we waited for the ceremony. It was just before sunset, as you can see, and I was so grateful my eyes were shielded from the setting sun. Wedding attire, as you can see, was casual ...



Many butterflies were flittering around through the campground and at the circle. Some chased each other around above the ritual circle. One landed on T's knee as the people gathered ...



The different items used during the ceremony were assembled at the altar ...



And Jim talked to the priestess who led the ceremony just before it began, making sure the broom was on hand. A broom? To be explained ...



Then the ceremony started. Quite memorable. The couple committed their lives and love to each other. The familiar wedding vows were replaced by promises of love through good times and bad times, of treating each other with kindness and patience.

It was pagan ... and as sincere and heartfelt and beautiful as any wedding in any church I have ever seen. The bride wore a beautiful white gown, and the groom wore a Utilikilt. Nobody spent money on dresses or flowers or booze or receptions. Like us, everyone who attended dressed in typical camp casual style.

I wish I could remember the words the priestess used; she spoke so well and wisely. Something like this: "Be understanding and patient, each with the other. Be free in the giving of affection and warmth. Be sensuous with one another. Have no fear and let not the ways of the unenlightened give you unease, for the Gods are with you now and always."

At the end, the couple clasp their right hands and their left hands together, and they were tied together with ribbons by the priestess, symbolic of their lives coming together. The hands make an "8" if seen from above. Or like the symbol for infinity ...



But the ribbons were untied later, and then came the final part of the ritual: jumping the broom together, symbolizing the effort both need to make so the relationship will succeed.



This provided the unexpected photographic highlight: As noted before, the groom was wearing a Utilikilt. And when he jumped up, the kilt also jumped up, and ... oh, my!

Well, it is a clothing optional camp, after all, and superfluous garments are not in style. In any case, the couple made several circuits to jump the broom, and this shot didn't need to be digitally altered to protect your virgin eyes ...

The new bride got a big laugh when she saw that photo. Just another vivid memory of a unforgettable day.

World of white

All around me, I see white. It's January. It's cold. I don't think we've gotten above 20F (-7C) all week, and we're not expected to do so until next week. Maybe.

For the last two mornings, it was below zero when I got up. The forecast says we are getting about two inches of snow today. Oh joy! Well, it's January, and it's winter. Just three or four months left till spring.

But what to my wondering eyes appeared on my computer screen the other day? Sunny skies. People lounging around on the grass, wearing shorts and loose tops and wide-brimmed hats. A couple guys wearing hollowed-out melons on their heads. A couple girls in bikini tops. Needless to say, I paid very close attention.

They were among the spectators at this week's test cricket match at Cape Town, South Africa. India was playing South Africa at the Newlands Cricket Ground, and I was watching it live on my computer--during breaks in the action, the TV cameras look around for interesting things to see.

Every few minutes, we would get a wide shot of Table Mountain and Devil's Peak--very rugged and spectacular and just west of the stadium. And then, right after that, they would show the spectators, who would cheer and whistle and wave little South Africa flags or beer bottles and look very comfortable in their hot-weather attire. They looked very warm and happy.

Then I looked out the window again at my world of white. And shiver a little.

****

After nearly two weeks of quiet on the local sports scene, I returned to reality this week: Basketball fever is back with a vengeance. I'm back in the maelstrom of high school hoops for the next two-plus months. This week, I'm covering four games in five nights.

(But I'll be honest about it: I set my own schedule. If I want to complain to somebody, I need to find a mirror.)

And so another year starts. In the past, I began each new year by writing resolutions or goals I want to accomplish in the next 12 months. If I had done that at the start of 2010, they would have included getting a new car, meeting B again and going on my first-ever flight in a commercial airliner. All those things had one thing in common: despite the best of intentions, none of them happened.

Still, I had a good 2010, and I don't regret what did or didn't happen. My philosophy is that things take place for a reason, and you can't always understand why they do, at least not right away. Circumstances change. You have to roll with the punches and deal with the inevitable changes in life. Disappointments? Sure. But there were unexpected joys, too, and you need to balance one against the other.

For instance, as 2010 started, my friend S was still with her husband, my mom was still in the nursing home, getting more and more frail, and my older son was looking for a girlfriend on web dating sites but feeling increasingly discouraged with the women he would meet. All those things changed tremendously in the last 12 months.

So what lies in store for me during 2011? Who knows? Surely not I. The past year tells me that. I'm setting my sights and objectives a little lower in 2011. No great plans.

A couple milestones--one literal--lie ahead of me. At some point, maybe in late spring or early summer, my car will hit the 200,000-mile mark. When I bought it in 2003, it had 43K on it. And the big one is in early August: My wife and I will hit the 40-year mark; 40 years since our wedding. We haven't decided how we will mark the occasion. I want to do something special, something we will both enjoy. No bright ideas yet, but it's still seven months away. Plenty of time for one of us to get an inspiration.

I will be treating myself in late March. One of the NCAA's regional collegiate hockey tournaments will be held in Green Bay, about 140 miles away. It's set up like the regional basketball tournaments; four teams take part, with the semifinals on Saturday and the championship game Sunday. The winning team advances to the NCAA's "Frozen Four" finals, in Minneapolis a week later.

So it's time for me to order my ticket. I will go there by myself, but I may be able to visit S and T while down there--Oshkosh is about 50 miles away.

I visited them during the last week of 2010, and I was well chaperoned: I invited my wife to come along (We hadn't gone out of town over the holidays.), and she finally said yes. A short visit. We visited some quilt and craft shops in the area, and then we all went out to dinner at Golden Corral and then relaxed in the whirlpool at the motel.

In between, my wife came up with an idea: She had learned about a big display of Christmas lights at a downtown park, put up by the city of Oshkosh's parks department. It was dark by then, so that's where we went after dinner, The lights were spectacular--a variety of big displays, mainly done with Christmas lights. You pay $8 at the gate per carload and simply drive through the park (with headlights off), oohing and ahhing at all the colorful displays.

So where are the photos? Unfortunately, I had left my good camera back home, and my little one isn't good enough to get photos of Christmas lights. Next time, I will try to be better prepared.