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Something Fishy

October 29, 2018 3:32 pm / 1 Comment on Something Fishy

Yesterday we found ourselves at daughter Kathryn’s house for an early dinner of Chili. We also got a free meal the previous night and played some single deck Pinochle. Jeff and the Rooster were partners and we got our butts kicked two games to one. One of our losses was by more than 100 points, 120 is game, ouch!

Image result for pinochle deck
This blog is not about Chili, Pinochle or eating at the daughtersthough, it’s about something fishy. With Jeff off to work in our nations capitol for a few days we extended an invite to Kathryn and granddaughter Abigail & cousin Rachael for dinner tonight. We do that a lot when Jeff’s out of town and traveling.
So, Kathryn asks, “what’s for dinner Granny?” Me wife says, Cod Fish. Kathryn asks why do we put fish after the Cod? “Well, it could be Cod Cakes I say”. We also put fish after, Cat, I mean, would you ask someone to come to your house for cat? We put the fish after Tuna, Sword and Gefilte, don’t we? This led me to realize we put Brazilian & Sea prior to Bass. Should you be eating Drum, it’s color coded, Black or Red? Eldest daughter comes out with some strange thought provoking stuff now and then. Do I have you thinking? Are these prefix and suffix foods?
Tomorrow morning I’m having Bacon Pig with my eggs for breakfast, chicken eggs of course. What are you having for dinner tonight? Are these prefix and suffix foods I ask?
As long as we have the La carte de vins the girls will be happy, bon appétit.

Baked Cod

From the recipe book of https://www.delish.com
Total Time: 0 hours 20 mins
Ingredients:

4 cod filets, about 1-inch thick
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
4 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for baking dish
1 c. cherry tomatoes
1 lemon, sliced, plus more for garnish
2 garlic cloves, smashed but not peeled
2 sprigs thyme
2 tbsp. freshly chopped parsley, for garnish
Directions

Preheat the oven to 400° and pat cod filets with a paper towel until dry. Season all over with salt and pepper.
In a medium bowl, combine olive oil, cherry tomatoes, lemon slices, garlic, and thyme.
Brush a baking dish with olive oil. Pour tomato-oil mixture into dish, then nestle in cod.
Bake until fish is opaque and flakes easily with a fork, about 15 minutes.
Serve garnished with parsley, more lemon juice, and pan sauce.

Don’t forget to check on the elderly.

Image result for star of david Steelers photo

National Pastoral Care Week

October 22, 2018 3:21 pm / 1 Comment on National Pastoral Care Week

From October 22 to 28 we recognize Pastoral Care Week, also known as Spiritual Care Week. As more people around the world come to recognize the importance of whole person care, we take note during this special week, now in its 32nd year, to celebrate those who provide this care through professional chaplaincy and pastoral counseling. These trained professionals minister to the needs of persons of all faiths or none. They provide this care in hospitals, long-term care facilities, hospices, nursing homes and military settings throughout the world. By celebrating the week we have the opportunity to recognize the important and often unrecognized work and healing gifts of pastoral care givers, be they clergy, chaplains, or volunteers. By Eric J. Hall (Huffington Post)

www.peninsula.org

Back in June of this year daughter Kathryn, ever watchful over the lives of her aging parents, sent me an email pertaining to an upcoming educational program offered at the hospital where she is employed. The course offered the opportunity for an individual to be trained in Pastoral Counseling and ultimately be a Chaplain upon successful completion. I’m guessing she thought I had too much idle time on my hands. I accepted the opportunity, filled out a lenghthy application and passed the background investigation and was accepted.

I finished the course successfully along with five other classmates and have begun walking the halls of the hospital and doing patient visitations. I am part of the Volunteer Services of the institution and am proud to be worthy of this responsibility.

During my formative years I was raised a Methodist, practiced as a Lutheran and attended a Baptist church while in the Marine Corps in Washington, DC. Fifty three years ago I married a young Catholic girl and have long been a practicing member of that faith. I’ve worshiped with Mormons, Jews and those of the Episcopal faith and attended a few Charismatic services. The rooms I enter will have a listener from many perspectives and three-quarters of a century of life experiences. Now, if these legs just hold up, I may do some good. Not quite sure what they might say when they realize a Rooster’s walking the halls.

No matter the faith, we all ask for a blessing from a higher authority when the chips are not quite falling our way. This is especially true when sickness or injury brings us inside those antiseptic walls of a hospital. An ending quote from a Chaplain that was recently carried in the Huffington Post went like this.

““We as chaplains in health care are often invited by patients and family members to stand with them in sacred spaces at sacred times in their lives. We are there with them to witness the beginnings of the lives and the ending of lives. We stand with them and support them during some of the greatest joys and some of the greatest tragedies that life brings to any person.”

Pastoral Care Overview

The Catholic Health Association of the United States

https://www.chausa.org/Sitefinity/WebsiteTemplates/MatrixBaseTheme/App_Themes/MatrixBaseTheme/Images/subbanners/Banner_Pastoral_Care.jpg

Catholic health care is committed to care of the whole person – body, mind and spirit. We listen, we explain and we serve with compassion. As the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Services states: “Since a Catholic health care institution is a community of healing and compassion, the care offered is not limited to the treatment of a disease or bodily ailment but embraces the physical, psychological, social and spiritual dimensions of the human person. … For this reason, Catholic health care extends to the spiritual nature of the person. … Directed to the spiritual needs that are often appreciated more deeply during times of illness, pastoral care is an integral part of Catholic health care.” (Part Two: The Pastoral and Spiritual Responsibility of Catholic Health Care, Introduction)

Through the Pastoral Care Advisory Committee, CHA looks at the changing landscape, challenges and opportunities for delivering spiritual care in new and creative ways. While pastoral care has traditionally been provided in Catholic hospitals and long-term care facilities, the shift in health care delivery to non-acute care and outpatient settings has created new opportunities for patients and residents to receive holistic care in these new settings. Many of our members are using chaplains in physician offices and ambulatory settings where patients with chronic diseases are being treated. Catholic health care is committed to providing holistic care in whatever setting care is being delivered. The need for qualified chaplains is growing.

Recognizing there is a shortage of trained, qualified chaplains in health care, CHA is committed to working collaboratively with board certifying groups to ensure there will be enough qualified chaplains to fill the needs going into the future. Many members are finding ways to use board certified chaplains with the most critically ill patients and supplement their staff though trained volunteers and local clergy. For more information about pastoral care activities, please contact Brian Smith, MS, MA, M.Div., CHA senior director of mission innovation and integration.

Don’t forget to check on the elderly.

A Share from Minnesota

October 17, 2018 10:30 am / Leave a comment

Rev. Shirley Duncanson is a United Methodist Pastor. She is a graduate of United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities, Metro State University in Minnesota and Cleveland High School, in Cleveland MN where she grew up on a small fishing resort. Retired in 2013, she has served churches in Owatonna, Fairfax, Morton, Winona, Homer, Mounds View and most recently Hillcrest United Methodist Church in Bloomington, all in Minnesota. Shirley currently is a volunteer pastor at a nearby church. She is the mother of seven and grandmother of seven. Shirley enjoys photography, theological discussions, political discourse, book studies, and reading.

I share with you her perspective of the upcoming election. Shirley’s Blog can be followed @ https://shirleyhobsonduncanson.com/

Surviving the 2018 Campaign

Political ads are out in full force. If we want to learn something unseemly about a candidate, we can simply turn on our TV. I am living in a battleground state. Outside money is pouring in. A truth meter on every ad would help. I yearn for the election to be over. Meanwhile, airways are humming with innuendo.

Will that person running in the Third District be a pawn of Nancy Pelosi? Or the one in the Sixth District vote 100% with Donald Trump? Which party is really out to protect the pre-existing condition clause in the Affordable Care Act? And which one is out to destroy it? Did our congressman running for Governor suddenly stop working across the aisle since he decided to run for that office? Which candidates are ready to rip off Medicare? And who is out there with big oil, when Minnesota farmers are putting up windmills and making ethanol? Can a person be against a tax cut and still be for the people in their district? Or is opposition to a tax cut a fatal flaw? Which incumbent is destroying the environment and which one cares enough to save it? How can anyone be against “building the wall?” Is there a place for sanctuary cities? And who do we need to fear more – Nancy Pelosi or Donald Trump? I didn’t know that Nancy was running in Minnesota, but suddenly her face is appearing everywhere.

I hate this part of politics . . . Looking for dirt on others and making it up when it can’t be found. This year, the usual distortions of reality are turning into fear-based advertising. I see this from the Republican side in a slug of new ads this week. Likewise, I’ve been disappointed in Hillary Clinton’s “You cannot be civil with Republicans.” And Eric Holder’s “When they go low, we kick them.” Neither represents a Christian World View any more than the “Lock her up” chants at Trump rallies.

I need a time out. I want people who treat each other decently in public office. I want the Citizens United ruling overturned and names of people who pay for all the ads that disgust me revealed. I want debates that are mandatory and candidates required to answer the actual question asked. I want those debates broadcast live and transcripts available. I might actually find out something good about each one. It might sway my intended vote.

I hope you vote this year if you are eligible. I hope you recognize the power of a vote and the nonsense spewed that your single vote doesn’t matter. I hope you’re able to dig through the noise of the campaigns and get to the truth of a candidates position. I hope your vote aligns with the words and the life of Jesus – whose concern for the poor was primary and taught us that what we do for the least of our brothers and sister, is as if we are doing it for him. I hope your vote is one that will promote justice.

In the meantime, while the ads spew, the “mute” button on my remote is a gift, and Netflix is a safe haven.

Don’t forget to check on the elderly.

A trip to Connecticut

October 15, 2018 12:30 pm / 1 Comment on A trip to Connecticut

When the wife and I say we want to go home, the place we always refer to is, Connecticut. We especially loved Connecticut in the fall. We would go to football games in Storrs on a Saturday and watch Uconn back in it’s Yankee conference days. They’ve gone big time today playing D-1 athletics in a big stadium in East Hartford. They happen to be loosing a lot lately also.

Uconn-Icenter photo

We loved watching the tree’s turn colors. Our old neighbor’s, the Anderson’s, had a giant Maple that would turn the most beautiful shades of oranges and reds.

Image result for maple tree in fall color

Not the same tree, but it could be a twin.

Neighbors would bond while splitting firewood to burn in our stoves through the coming fall and winter. The smell of smoke would permeate in the air from those stoves. Ghosts and goblins would run through the local cemetary dating back to the 1600’s. On All-Hallow’s-Eve, back in the day when the children were young, this was a place which holds memories for a lifetime. With the coming of darkness, thoughts ran wild for those sitting on the stones, while stories were told. At times even the adults were taken aback with the frightful image of a translucent ghost moving among the headstones in the rear of the cemetary. Yes Vi Cordner, you pulled a good one on us that year.

Image result for Bamforth RD cemetery, Vernon, CT

Bamforth Rd. cemetary, Vernon, CT

I helped coach a midget football team back in the day, the late 70’s. We always had a travel game to Portland, CT. On the return home from the game we would stop at the old cider mill in the town of Glastonbury. We would walk among the trees. we could smell the apples on the ground, and the Buzzing of the Bees that never bit you in that time of the year. All those adventures are rekindled in my memory as I write this post. A few gallons of the finest Apple Cider would be purchased that day, along with a half basket of apples. Once back home, a tasty apple pie would not be far behind. Take a deep breath in from your nose, can you smell it baking in the oven?

Glastonbury today has many farms and agricultural resources, just click on the site below to view them.

http://www.glastonbury-ct.gov/departments/department-directory-a-k/health-department/better-health-initiatives/glastonbu ry-farms-and-resources

Connecticut is also home for the last steam powered cider mill in the U.S.

From their web site, I cut and paste to you, Clyde’s Cider Mill:

Welcome to B.F. Clyde’s Cider Mill, WHERE TRADITION IS VERY IMPORTANT

Clyde’s Cider Mill is located in the small village of Old Mystic, CT. B.F. Clyde’s started making Hard Cider in 1881.

The apples for our Hard Ciders and Apple Wines come from local orchards and are pressed into juice here at our Mill. The juice is then pumped directly into oak casks in the Mill’s cellar, where it is fermented and ages for up to 3 years. Our Ciders and Apple Wines are still, in keeping with the tradition of cider makers of long ago.

Tradition is very important to us here at Clyde’s. In 1898, Frank and Abby Clyde built the Victorian style building and purchased the machinery still in use today.

We are the last steam powered cider mill in the U.S. today. In 1994, Clyde’s was designated a National Historic Landmark.

We are open from September thru late December. With our cider press operating in the Fall.

Take a StepBACK IN TIME

A visit to Clyde’s Cider Mill is like stepping back in time. Come see the only steam powered cider mill in the U.S..

We start our season in September with our hard ciders and apple wines, jams, jellies, local honey, maple syrup, fudge, and what many people call “The best sweet cider on Earth”! Also available in the Fall are apples, apple pies, pumpkin bread, gourds, Indian corn, pumpkins, candy apples, kettle corn and apple cider donuts.

So take a break from the ordinary and come visit a National Historic Landmark and see the 6th generation of Clyde family making cider just like B.F. Clyde did in 1881.

http://clydescidermill.com/