FDR Advice for Successful 2017 Resolutions
18
01, 2017
16
01, 2017
Thoughts on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
President Ronald Reagan signed legislation in 1983 designating today as a federal holiday to honor Martin Luther King, Jr. and his accomplishments.
Dr. King’s nonviolent activism during the civil rights movement changed things for so many. He believed “We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.”
Today offers an opportunity to reflect on the past, think about the present, plan for the future, and remember what is truly important.
We are all in the same boat now.
More recently, the 1994 King Holiday and Service Act passed to encourage Americans to transform the King Holiday into a day of citizen action volunteer service.
This quote sums up Dr. King’s attitude on service
“Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”
As we reflect on Dr. King’s words, I encourage all of us to find a project that forwards King’s vision and participate. Let today be the start of a year in which we make a positive and peaceful impact in our community and the world.
Let’s make this boat we’re in a better place.
13
01, 2017
All Kinds of Eggs
A blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara
With our assortment of chickens comes an assortment of eggs. 
I am particularly fond of the olive colored eggs. Not sure which hen is laying them, but they are very pretty,
One day I found this egg in a nest box: 
It is not so pretty. As Brian predicted, there was no yolk and I wonder what happened.
Was this a first attempt? Then I thought maybe she was just having a bad day.
After all, there are some days that, if I were to lay an egg, which I cannot, it would probably look just as strange.
11
01, 2017
9
01, 2017
Legacy of Letter Writing
January 8 through 14 is letter-writing week. The intent of the week long observation is to have more people W-R-I-T-E a letter with a pen or pencil or any other writing instrument.
Handwritten letters offer such a legacy. It’s a shame we don’t value the skill and write more.
Texting and emailing have replace paper and pen as the preferred method of communicating. You can’t deny the convenience and accessibility, but an email or text doesn’t come close to evoking the emotional and visceral response of a lovingly crafted, handwritten letter.
Letters can tell such stories.
Recently, my husband spent days sorting through his family letters and other ephemera. From those old letters, he has been able to reconstruct his family history.
Some of the letters confirmed his memories. Some corrected his memories and others stirred new memories.
From all those letters between his parents , their friends, and his siblings and other documents, he has a timeline that future generations will be able to follow. Plus, they’ll have all the original letters to read.
Maybe you have family letters stashed away some place. Cherish them. Someday organize what you have.
I store family ephemera in vintage suitcases that in turn become side tables or coffee tables.
This year we received more holiday cards than ever before. Many of the cards had letters or handwritten notes. I’ve always been one of those who love to read about what our friends and family are doing. Receiving so many cards this year made my holiday all the merrier.
I’m hoping it’s a trend and others are coming to appreciate letter writing.
This week I encourage you to participate by writing a letter to a friend or family member. Or take the time to teach a child how to write simple thank you cards, letters, invitations, and post cards.
Receiving a handwritten note will put a smile on someone’s face. More importantly, you’ll leave a legacy.
6
01, 2017
The Year of the Rooster
A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara
According to the Chinese Zodiac, the year 2017 is the Year of the Rooster. I normally don’t pay attention to these things, but we have a Chinese student living with us so I am trying to broaden my cultural horizons.
My celebration began early with a gift from a friend. 
I love it!
Then Rachel and I were out shopping and saw a Doodle Doo sink strainer. Like the sweater – it was one of kind. 
Now every time I do the dishes, I am greeted with a cheerful chicken.
All this and 2017 is not even a week old yet! I’m anticipating a wonderful Year of the Rooster.
4
01, 2017
2
01, 2017
Black-eyed peas and Lucky New Year’s Foods
If you’re born-and-raised in the U.S. south, you never skip eating black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day.
It doesn’t matter whether the peas are fresh, frozen, or canned, you must have at least one pea if you want good luck in the coming New Year.
The tradition originated with Union General William Tecumseh Sherman’s march from Atlanta to Savanah, Georgia, in the fall of 1864 during the War of Northern Aggression. (Okay, it’s called the Civil War. I’m using the term preferred by diehard southerners.)
Sherman’s soldiers stripped the Georgia countryside of crops, robbed food stores and killed or carried away livestock as they progressed toward the sea. The troops passed over the field peas, what we call black-eyed peas, thinking the legumes were for animal feed. The plantation owners with untouched fields of black-eyed peas felt lucky to have food for the winter.
There are other foods here in the U.S. and around the world considered “lucky” to eat on New Year’s Day.
Greens. Collards, kale, or chard because they’re green like money.
Grains and noodles. Grains (corn, rice, quinoa, barley) are symbols of long life and abundance.
Ring shaped cakes and pastries. The circular shape suggests coming full circle. In Denmark, you might be served a dramatically tall, ringed cake called Kransekage, a cone-shaped pastry constructed of ever smaller concentric circles.
Pork. Pigs are a worldwide symbol of prosperity and a lucky New Year’s food, especially in Germany. The symbolism dates back to old decks of playing cards, in which the ace was known as die Sau (a sow, or female pig). The expression Schwein haben became a synonym for being lucky.
Fruit. In Spain, Portugal and many Latin American countries, New Year’s revelers eat 12 grapes at midnight— one grape for each stroke of the clock. If one grape is sour, that month might not be so fortunate. Other lucky fruits include pomegranate and figs. Pomegranate seeds suggest prosperity and figs fertility.
If you didn’t try any lucky foods yesterday, you might consider eating a few today just in case. After all, you can’t have too much good luck.
30
12, 2016
Christmas Black and Whites
A blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara
My best friend in high school had a job at the local bakery – The Little Cake Box. We lived in a small town and the bakery served as a social gathering place.
They sold Black and White cookies, one of my favorites. I would go by The Little Cake Box after school, buy a Black and White, and visit with Kathy.
After graduation, I moved away and eventually Kathy married the baker’s son. I looked for Black and Whites in Texas but have never found them. Kathy developed a malignant tumor in her leg and despite replacing her bone with titanium; she was unable to overcome the insatiable disease.
The year after Kathy died, Good Housekeeping magazine published the recipe for Black and Whites in their December issue.
It became part of our Christmas traditions to make Black and Whites.
This year we began a new tradition. I had icing left over from frosting the sugar cookies so I used it on the Black and Whites.
My only concern was in the name – could I still call them Black and Whites? The consensus on Miller Farm was “yes.”
28
12, 2016
Honoring Christmas
Today’s words of wisdom come from the novella Charles Dickens wrote in December 1843.
Dickens also published two other Christmas stories, but A Christmas Carol was by far the most popular having never been out of print. It’s also been adapted many times to film, stage, opera, and other media.
Dickens divided his novella into five chapters, labeled “staves” or song stanzas or verses, in keeping with the title of the book. The short tale of Ebenezer Scrooge’s strange night visitors continues to send a message that cuts through all the trappings of the season and straight into the heart and soul of the holiday.
Dickens described Christmas as “a good time: a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time: the only time I know of in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of other people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.”
This description became known as the “Carol Philosophy” and Dickens strove to live accordingly for the rest of his life.
Wouldn’t honoring Christmas by opening shut-hearts and thinking of others as fellow-sojourners on the same path, not another race of creatures, be an excellent way to end this holiday season and begin the new year?