by jphilo | Jul 7, 2015 | Top Ten Tuesday
July is a hot and sticky month in Iowa. Even so, it’s one of my favorite months. Here are 10 reasons why.
10. I save so much time in July not having to dress in layers, pull on boots or coats, or hunt for gloves before going outside.
9. Fourth of July celebrations are great fun, but they are more than fun. They are a time to be grateful for the freedom we enjoy in this country thanks to the courage and wisdom of our country’s founding fathers.
8. What is more lovely than gazing at fireflies twinkling during as long summer days fade from dusk to darkness?
7. Sweet corn.
6. My birthday is in July. I will celebrate the arrival of my 59th year, grateful to be in good health, relatively sound mind, and able to walk miles each day.
5. My sweet daughter turns 27 in July. She is a blessing worth celebrating all year long, but especially in July.
4. That same daughter and her husband were married in July five years ago. They are an amazing, faith-filled couple who are living an amazing life together.
3. In a few weeks, I get to spend a week helping out with our youngest grandson. A whole week of toothless grins, coos, and snuggles. What’s not to like about a July that holds that kind of joy?
2. Shadow Valley Family Camp begins tomorrow in Idaho. Look out mountains, here I come!
1. The Man of Steel and I were married in July 38 years ago. I can’t imagine enjoying July without him.
What do you like about July? Leave a message.
by jphilo | Aug 5, 2014 | Top Ten Tuesday
10. One of your earliest memories is of the pool party birthday when you turned five. Granted, it was only a kiddie pool with six inches of water in the side yard. But it was great fun. And as the photographs of the event show, you look pretty good in your swimsuit.
9. There’s never any homework to finish before the party begins.
8. In the same vein, parties never have to break up early because there’s school tomorrow.
7. Sometimes, your birthday coincides with your vacation, and you get to celebrate in far away places like Alaska, Idaho, Washington state, or your aunt and uncle’s farm in southwest Minnesota.
6. Even though you live in a four season state like Iowa, birthday meals can be eaten outside.
5. There’s no need for fancy decorations on a cake when everywhere you look, God has decorated July with flowers.
4. Fresh-picked sweet corn is on the birthday meal menu.
3. Because July is smack dab in the middle of peach season, your birthday cake can be fresh peach pie.
2. You can use the coffee house gift card at your favorite coffee shop to order not just coffee, but iced coffee…and then sit at a table outside to enjoy it.
1. Your sweetheart can ride a motorcycle to the store to purchase the most hilarious Modern Family gift bag ever in which to place the coffee house gift card he bought. Then he can hide both bag and card under his shirt to sneak it through the kitchen where you are cooking sweet corn for supper. That’s a Phil Dunphy moment if there ever was one.
by jphilo | Jul 24, 2014 | Three Thoughts for Thursday
- Hiram and I were bummed that we had to stay in Iowa rather than go to Family Camp in Idaho’s panhandle last week. But we were delighted when Mother Nature brought mountain air and weather to us for the entire week.
- Over the past week, our supper menus have consisted of smoked turkey and sweet corn, BLTs and sweet corn, and grilled chicken breasts with sweet corn. One night we had sweet corn and sweet corn. Hmm…can you see a theme developing?
- Did you know the government is working on anti-survelliance clothing that masks a person’s body heat? If they can do that, shouldn’t they be able to eliminate hot flashes in women going through menopause?
What are you eating with sweet corn this week?
by jphilo | Jul 15, 2014 | Top Ten Tuesday
10. Radio ads during sports broadcasts feature seed corn, soybean hybrid, fertilizers, and the like.
9. During the recession, Iowa’s unemployment rate was 2–4% lower than the national rate.
8. Unbearable hot, humid summer days and nights are interrupted by cooler, less humid reprieves that make a person appreciate good weather.
7. Cookie’s Barbeque Sauce.
6. Drives in the country on summer Sunday afternoons or evenings.
5. Fresh produce stands from June through September.
4. Soil so rich your son, whose college major is Soils, takes pictures of garden dirt when he comes for a visit.
3. After a childhood devoid of raptors, the eagles and falcons are back, soaring on the updrafts.
2. The green, verdant beauty of our country lane, which brings tears to my eyes each time I drive home.
1. Sweet corn, sweet corn, and more sweet corn.
by jphilo | Aug 15, 2013 | Three Thoughts for Thursday
- The premier of season 5 of Parenthood, my annual physical, and mammogram are all scheduled for September 26. I’m really looking forward to one of the three.
- The sound of a cardinal singing in a tall tree tugged at my heart and brought tears to my eyes this morning. What a beautiful way to start the day.
- Favorite summer meal I could eat night after night? BLTs and sweet corn. Yours?
