Sugar Grove
By Paula Mitchell
November is spreading its brownness over the hills in this community, muting the colors and bringing an end to warm weather. This month is sometimes described as bleak. November is lulling the land to rest, covering the ground with a blanket of brown leaves. Very soon, the ground will be blanketed with a counterpane of white. Wood smoke from chimneys promises warmth and cheer within the dwellings. November is closing its door on summer, bringing that cheery warmth inside.
This is the time for soups, bubbling and steaming on the back burner of the stove. The cellar is stuffed with ripe apples, potatoes, and jars of vegetables. Crocks of sauerkraut are stored in the corner, and the deep freezer is full to the brim with meats. This is the time for warm fuzzy blankets, when dry leaves skitter across the road like small, frightened animals, when the emerald green of the pines stands out amid the brownness of the hills, when trees with their bony arms reach skyward and shiver when the cold winds blow, when night comes earlier and delays its departure a little more each morning.
Perhaps it is November that brings about the longing for home, which is one of the most ingrained instincts there is. The old farm may be sold, the homeplace torn down or burned, yet there is still that desire to go back home again. Yes, there is a fierce pull to these hills. Returning home to a pot of soup would be a nice homecoming welcome:
Blended Vegetable Soup
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
2-1/2 medium yellow onions, peeled
2-3 medium waxy potatoes
5 medium carrots, peeled
2 teaspoons fine grain sea salt
6 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
5-1/2 cups vegetable broth
3 cups broccoli, florets and stems
Juice of a lemon
Instructions:
Chop the onions, potatoes, and carrots into (roughly) 1-inch pieces.
Heat the olive oil and butter. In a large soup pot over medium-high, add the onions and salt, stir to coat. Cover and cook for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally until onions soften completely. Add the garlic, and cook for another minute or so. Add the potatoes and carrots along with the broth. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer.
After 5 minutes of simmering, add the broccoli and boil another 7-10 minutes or so. Everything needs to be tender. Always test the potato and broccoli. Remove from heat.
Season the soup well to one’s liking with more salt, if needed, and the lemon juice. (Option: soup may be blended, if a smoother consistency is desired.)
Enjoy!
Life’s little lessons include the following:
- Practice teamwork.
- Keep noise down.
- Let the person with just two items go ahead of one.
- Call and check on a senior citizen.
- Hold the door open for someone entering.
The rains have circled like a plane over this countryside. Showers resulting in .61” fell Wednesday evening at the home of the writer. Temperatures have been captivating the jackets and coats.
Quotes for the week are as follows:
“A tree falls the way it leans.” — Spanish proverb
“I usually take a two-hour nap from 1 to 4.” — Yogi Berra
“Age is just a number. Life and aging are the greatest gifts that we could possibly ever have.” — Cicely Tyson
“If you don’t like the road you’re walking, start paving another one.” — Dolly Parton
“A man’s got to do what a man’s got to do.” — John Wayne
Sitting by the fire is the way to go to hear the “Talk of the Grove.”
The state road crew has been busy cutting brush along the highway. It certainly makes appearances more welcoming. Sad to say that potholes are appearing on the Reddish Knob Road. This is partly due to the cinders dispersed on icy sections during the winter months.
Bill and Charlene Rader of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, spent a week in their Rader homeplace in Sugar Grove and visited with families and friends. Last Tuesday, Eddie Rader visited in the home of Willard and Judy Rader. Saturday, Bill and Charlene returned to their home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Saturday evening, Halloween was celebrated at the rescue squad building. The children surely enjoyed the games, costume judging, and food which was provided by the rescue squad/Lions Club.
Rhonda Nash spent a delightful Saturday afternoon dressed as Professor McGonagall of Hogwarts, volunteering at the Sugar Grove Rescue Squad Halloween party. On Sunday, she also thoroughly enjoyed the History Alive! program at the Pendleton County Library, which was sponsored by the Friends of the Library and the Pendleton County Committee for the Arts. Actor/educator JoAnn Peterson of Ft. Ashby portrayed Frances Perkins, the first female Cabinet member and U.S. Secretary of Labor, who is also known as the “Mother of Social Security.”
So good to see that Dover Paul has returned to his “winter home,” following a summer hiatus.
Clickety-clacks for the chin waggers are as follows:
- Jim Dreyer swam across Lake Michigan in 1998 (65 miles), and then in 2003, he swam the length of Lake Michigan (422 miles).
- Prisoners at Folsom Prison in northern California begin producing license plates in 1947.
- In 1856, the secret ballot box, the most prized symbol of democracy, was pioneered in Victoria, Australia.
- Ketchikan, Alaska, is the salmon capital of the world.
- On July 4, 1959, Sitka, Alaska, is where the first official raising of the 49-star United States flag took place, minutes after Alaska became a state.
Concerns are for Mike Adams, Charles Anderson, Alfred Armstrong, Joan Ashley, Roger Ashley, Mercedes Aumann, Dave Basagic, Allen Beachler, “Bo” Boggs, Larry Byers, Doreen Calhoun, Joyce Calhoun, Marie Cole, Stanley Dahmer, Kim Davis, Tommy Davis, Steve Durham, Jennifer Errett, Isaac Eye, Mary Eye, Carl Gant, David Gillispie, Nancy Gonshor, Patsy Green, JC Hammer, Sharon Harr, Steve and Armanda Heavner, Hannah Hedrick, Jack and Starr Hedrick, Chuck and Tracy Hiett, Jim Hiner, Evan Hise, Tim Hively, Edsel and Mary Ann Hogan, Julia Homan, Keith Hoover, Debbie Horst, the family of Anna Gae Hughes, Bob and Cynthia Hurry, Mike and Lisa Jamison, Linda Jones, Richard Judy, Marsha Keller, Tara Kelley, Ruth Kile, Tom and Kim Kline, Tracie Knight, Laura Kropp, Melissa Lambert, Robert Lambert, Rex Landis, Donna Mallow, Roger and Skip Mallow, Audree Marsh, Anna Mauzy, Ed May, Gene and Joan McConnell, Gary McDonald, Rose Miller, Bruce Minor, Carroll and Dottie Mitchell, Tom Mitchell, Barbara Moats, Gloria Moats, the Karla Moats family, Sherri Moyers, Helen Nash, Aaron Nelson, Dominique Nelson, Dwight Nelson, Ruth Nelson, Cheryle Paine, Terri Parker, Andy Pond, Wayne Price, Janice Propst, Alda Propst, Mike Propst, Sheldon Propst, Eldon “Butch” Puffenbarger, Tom Rader, Willard Rader, Brandon Reel, Jason Rexrode, Jimmy Rexrode, Linda Fay Rexrode, Vesta Ruckman, Bernie Sasscer, Annie Simmons, Erin Simmons, Eva Simmons, Greg Simmons, Judy Simmons, Nelson Simmons, Tonya Simon, Robbie Sites, Mike Skiles, Bruce Smith, Ed and Carolyn Smith, Natalie Stephenson, Tina Stuben, Steve Stump, Linda and Larry Vandevander, the Amy Vaus family, Junior Waggy, Mary Louise Waldschlager, Rene White, Sherry Wilfong, Judy Williams, Patty Willis and Ann and Ed Wimer.
