Country Cousin

Issue Date: May 5, 2022

Shirley Prudhomme

Happy Mother's Day!

Spring might actually be here, or at least a rainy slightly chilly version of what most of us think Spring should be. The National Weather Service is predicting a high of nearly 60 degrees on Sunday, May 8. If you're planning a Mother's Day cookout, better make it earlier in the day, because they expect a cloudy day to turn into a rainy day toward evening.

We're seeing a few trees flowering on forested hillsides, forsythia bushes are starting to show their yellow buds, and daffodils are popping up.

Saturday is expected to be mostly sunny, and almost 60 degrees. Winds appear to be slowing down, so it will feel w0armer. Predictions for most of the week are for high temperatures in the mid to high 50s, and night time temperatures just slightly above freezing. That probably means continued night time freezing termperatures in the northern reaches of TIMESLand.

GOD VALUES MOTHERS

I have often thanked God for the wonderful mother He gave me. She's surely in heaven with Him now, and probably in charge of His rose garden, or at least one of them. Wonder what kind and color of marvelous blossoms they're enjoying?

Recently came across an essay by May Patterson that ends: "Mothers are often unappreciated, but God highly values them." The website calls the essay a poem, and says it was inspired by Paul Harvey's "So God Made A Farmer."

It goes like this:

"At the dawn of time, God needed someone He could trust to love His precious children.

"And so, God made a mother.

"God said, "Life will often be harsh. I need someone with a gentle touch. Someone who can brush a tear from the downy cheek of a newborn and gauge a child's temperature without the aid of a thermometer. I need someone who has a special knack for soothing, who can kiss away pain and soften blows. Someone who will hold her child's hand firmly, until she has to release it, tearfully, on the first day of ."

"And so, God made a mother.

"I need someone who will care enough to gather daffodils and put them in a vase, so everyone in the house can enjoy the first blooms of spring. Someone who will care enough to rummage through the mismatched sock pile, in hopes of finding a match. Someone who will make birthdays extra special, sing silly songs with her toddlers in the car, and who actually wants to go on a school field trip to the insect museum, just to be close to her child."

"God thought, "I need someone who will play carols on the piano. Someone who will decorate gingerbread houses with the kids and wrap gifts and deck the halls for Christmas, for nothing in all my creation will be able to make Christmas as special as a mother will.'

"And so, God made a mother.

"I'll make someone who can gather a chaotic, busy family around the dinner for chicken soup, cornbread, and sharing life together. Someone who will organize playdates, piano lessons, and the pantry. I need someone who can find the lost football cleat, Dad's keys, and "Bun-Bun,' her little girl's favorite stuffed bunny."

"I need someone who can unload the dishwasher, pack lunches, call out spelling words, and make coffee, while bouncing a baby on her hip. Someone who will carry an amazing array of toys, snacks, and essentials in her heavy purse, and never complain. I need someone to help with endless school projects, organize the football banquet, and say, "I'm so proud of you,' even when her child fails."

"It must be someone who is willing to keep going, even when she thinks she has no strength left. Someone who'll strive to love her kids and to love their father even more. I need someone who's willing to work the second-shift, or take second-best, or play second-fiddle, so her family will have it better than she did."

"And so, God made a mother.

"I need someone who believes. Someone who will trust that I have a good plan for her and for her children, even when she can't see it. Someone who will for her family daily, for sadly, few people will. I need someone who will share my words and her children to believe in Me because I am the source of life."

"God said, "I'll place a second pair of eyes in the back of a mother's head, give her bionic ears, and grant her a generous portion of laughter and tears, for she will need them.'

"Sometimes she'll feel like she doesn't have what it takes. There will be days when she is overcome with worry, pain, or failure. But when the need arises, she'll be there. And while will be difficult, she'll come to embrace it with all of her heart."

"Yes, this is exactly what I need. To put it simply, I need someone who will love my children like . . . well, kind of like I do," God laughed.

"So, I'll give each mother a heart the size of Texas, and if she'll let me, I'll fill it with my special, of love. A love that resembles my own."

"Once I put a precious baby in her arms, she will never be the same. One day her children will grow up and move on, but she never will. As long as she lives, she will fight for her children, pray for them, and sacrifice for them."

"She is her baby's very first love.

"Her influence lasts much longer than her life.

"Her love is a living, breathing display of God's love."

WHY DID GOD MAKE MOMS?

Wrote last week about a few things some second grade kids had to say about their moms, but there's lots more. Here a few of their thoughts:

Why did God make mothers?

1. She's the only one who knows where the scotch tape is.

2. Mostly to clean the house.

3. To help us out of there when we were getting born.

How did God make mothers?

1. He used dirt, just like for the rest of us.

2. Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring

3. God made my Mom just the same like he made me. He just used bigger parts.

What are mothers made of?

1. God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world and one dab of mean.

2. They had to get their start from men's bones. Then they mostly use string, I think.

One youngster decided: "Moms have magic, they make you feel better without medicine."

Why did God give you Your mother and not some other mom?

1. We're related

2. God knew she likes me a lot more than other people's moms like me.

And finally: What kind of little girl was your mom?

1. My mom has always been my mom and none of that other stuff.

2. I don't know because I wasn't there, but my guess would be pretty bossy. They say she used to be nice.

QUIET GAMES

If your Mother's Day plans include a long trip to see Mom with kids in the car, try having them turn off the devices and enjoy some good old fashioned interaction time.

When things used to start getting out of hand on long trips with post-toddler grandkids in the car, we would play "The Quiet Game." Kids old enough to write notes love it, which I find surprising. At the signal "go" from Mom or Grandma, the timing starts. A stop watch would be a good accessory, but it's not necessary.

Once the game starts, no one is allowed to make a sound except a cough or sneeze. (Sometimes they start faking these, and if that starts happening coughs and sneezes count too.) Touching each other is forbidden. Resourceful youngsters have sometimes tapped on windows to get attention. Use your judgment on that rule. After all, it is making noise and this is the quiet game.

Communication is in writing only. Gives the kids writing practice, and can bring on a severe case of giggles when they try to exchange insults in writing. They get a lot more creative.

The driver keeps time. Sometimes this game has brought on as much as 15 minutes of blessed silence, but usually we couldn't make it past a minute or three. Even that helps.

Another good "on the road" game involves spotting something, then say, "I see something that rhymes with, for example, "brass." The answer here is "grass," but be warned and be careful. Sometimes you're left wide open for words you wouldn't use in good company.

Players have to be observant because by the time the word gets out the thing may be out of sight. You'd be surprised how hard it is to say what you want it to rhyme with instead of the word itself. Even adults can pass time with this one.

Here's another for adults or kids. Take the first three letters on the license plate in front of you and try to be the first person to make a word using the letters. You can add letters as needed, but must include the three from the license plate.

ON THE SOAP BOX

THEY WANT IT BOTH WAYS?

It's appropriate that with Mother's Day approaching, news has leaked out that our Supreme Court may soon reverse the Roe vs Wade decision that legalized the murder of unborn babies and even led to punishing doctors who refused to perform aboritons.

Can it be true?

If the Roe vs. Wade decision is overturned, states will be responsible for whatever laws are passed legalizing the murder of unborn infants.

President Joe Biden, of course, was not happy with the expected ruling, since it goes against the "abortion any time, for any reason or none," sentiments promoted by the Liberal Left. They have argued for years that prohibiting abortion is interfering with the woman's right to decide what is done with her own body. They obviously are not concerned at all about what happens to the baby's body.

After all the mandates of the last two years or masks, vaccines and staying home - for our own good - how can Biden or any other liberal can claim that their support for abortions is based on their belief in personal liberty, their belief that an individual, not the governent, has a right to decide what is and is not done with their own body.

How can any legislator, judge, or president claim to believe in individual right to choose, and then condone rules that severly punish anyone who refuses to have a vaccine they do not trust, and that has not stood the test of time, be injected into their body and the bodies of their children?

Medical personnel at VA hospitals across the land, including several from the VA Hospital in Iron Mountain, including at least one dentist who works there, are quitting or threatening to quit over federal orders aimed at forcing them to allow one of the anti-COVID vaccines to be injected into their bodies.

Liberals apparently want to have it both ways, or maybe they really don't see the comparison. They are generally pretty narrow minded.

In Biden's own words: ""�First, my administration argued strongly before the Court in defense of Roe v. Wade"�We said that Roe is based on "a long line of precedent recognizing the Fourteenth Amendment's concept of personal liberty "� against government interference with intensely personal decisions.' I believe that a woman's right to choose is fundamental"�."

Repeat: "intensely personal decisions"... ൖth Amendment's concept of personal liberty"... "I believe that a woman's right to choose is fundamental"�."

Assume that if he believes a woman's right to choose is fundamental, he would have to also believe a man would have the same right to choose.

Hummm"�If he really believes that, how can he promote vaccine mandates? Have to wonder which side of his face those words came from!!!

FALSE NEWS?

The thought police are busy deleting any information they don't like from postings on the Internet, and now President Joe Biden has provided official support by establishing what I call a Bureau of Thought Police. (This is real. The new board, in the Office of Homeland Security, is officially called the Disinformation Governance Board, and is being defended by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in the face of pushback from conservatives who find it Orwellian.

There is perhaps legitimate cause for the security agency to block posts aimed at causing violence.

That said, the thought police already exist on Facebook, Yahoo, Twitter and elsewhere. Yahoo thought police apparently don't care a bit about misinformation if it's put there by a paid advertiser.

What looked like a regular news headline on the Yahoo face page on my computer on Tuesday, April 26 proclaimed that an elderly woman in Marinette had been attacked while returning to her car after shopping, but scared off the attacker and was not hurt. Wanted to find out if it was anyone I knew, so I went to the web site. Turned out to be just an ad for an alarm to carry in purse or pocket. There was no real attack reported. The ad was just a lie. As of Tuesday, May 3, that false ad is still there, proclaiming false news. Guess Yahoo doesn't worry much about false information being posted on their site, as long as it's in a paid advertisement.

Way to go, Yahoo!!!

COOKIN' TIME

Canned and frozen vegetables deserve better treatent than they usually get.

GREEN BEANS AND TOMATOES

I love finding a tasty new vegetable recipe, especially if it uses canned and/or frozen vegies, because the freshones aren't always easy to come by at this time of year, or if they are, they don't have as much flavor as they should. This recipe reminds me of one old Armenian landlord in Appleton, Ed Malouf, used to make, but he would only make his wonderful version when freshly picked tomatoes and green beans were available from his garden in Appleton. By the way, his version involved long slow cooking, with the beans and tomatoes both very well done, and he seasoned them with mint, which tastes not at all like peppermint candy. He served his beans and tomatoes over cooked lentils as a main dish, but this vegetable dish is also very good on a plate next to meat loaf or whatever else as long as it isn't tomato based. That would be too much of a good thing.

1 medium onion, diced

2 tablespoons olive oil or other salad oil (use light olive oil, not extra virgin, which has a stronger taste)

2 cups fresh or frozen green beans, thawed

1 can diced tomatoes (14 ounces) with juice

2 tablespoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon sweet basil or mint

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Saute the onion in oil until it is tender but not browned. Stir in remaining ingredients, bring to a boil and simmer until beans are tender and the sauce is somewhat thickened. Serve with a slotted spoon. Another recipe, not Ed's, uses a quarter teaspoon of ground cloves instead of the mint or basil, but we don't like that one. You'd need to be a real clove lover to appreciate it, or even swallow it, in my estimation.

APPLE RAISIN BREAD PUDDING

4 cups soft bread cubes

1/4 cup raisins

2 cups peeled and sliced apples

1 cup brown sugar

1 3/4 cups milk

1/4 cup butter

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)

2 eggs, beaten

VANILLA SAUCE

1/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 7x11 inch baking dish, preferably glass or ceramic - not aluminum. In a large bowl, combine bread, raisins, and apples. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine 1 cup brown sugar, 1 3/4 cups milk, and 1/4 cup butter. Cook and stir until the butter is melted. Pour over the bread mixture and stir or toss to mix. In a small bowl, whisk together the cinnamon, 1 teaspoon vanilla, quarter teaspon salt, and eggs. Pour the bread mixture into the prepared dish, and pour egg mixture over it. Bake in preheated oven 40 to 50 minutes, or until the center is set and the apples are tender. While the pudding is baking, mix together 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup milk, and 1/2 cup butter in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat, and stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla. Serve over the bread pudding.

Thought for the Week: A prayer for all mothers (including me), by Malinda Fuller: "May excitement fill your heart every morning for all that the day can be. Your children are your treasure, and this day is a gift... may you fully embrace it all. May you lay your head down at night with a heart that is bursting and memories too plentiful to count. May you know unspeakable joy at the end of the day. May you recognize that though these days are so (so, so, so, so) long, the years are short. They are a breath. And as you exhale yours in the darkness of the night, may your cup overflow with thanksgiving. May your dreams be sweet and your sleep be restful.

Sleep well, Momma, knowing that the work you are doing is good, and your Father is smiling on you." Amen!

(This column is written by Shirley Prudhomme of Crivitz. Views expressed are her own and are in no way intended to be an official statement of the opinions of Peshtigo Times editors and publishers. She may be contacted by phone at 715-927-5034 or by e-mail at shirleyprudhommechickadee@yahoo.com.)

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