Monthly Archives: August 2012

Freedom to Vote!

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I voted yesterday. Usually I cast my votes without too much of a thought as to the privilege of voting. Yesterday I was casting my ballot in support of building a new school in my community.

This campaign for a new school caused some tension in my community. There were people on both sides of the issue that had strong feelings. The outcome was decided by our votes. I was reminded as I was voting that no matter what the outcome, if it didn’t go the way I hoped, I was lucky. I was lucky because I had the freedom to vote for or against something that mattered in my community.

Not only did we have the freedom to cast our vote we had the freedom to voice our opinions prior to the vote. We didn’t have to agree on the outcome. We could have varied opinions and they could be broadcast throughout our country without fear of reprisal.

I respect the fact that there are opinions different from mine. Occasionally those voices get heated and spew derogatory comments on some issues. Although I like things being respectfully presented we have to value those that present their differences in a more dramatic way. They can do so in this country as long as it is done without violence. They too have that freedom.

As I was walking away from voting I noticed the  people from many walks of life ready to cast their vote one way or another for something they believed in. We take that for granted as we do many of our freedoms. We may have many differences in our country and many different opinions but we still live in a great country where we can be passionate about something and have the freedom to voice that passion.

“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” S. G. Tallentyre

Something About Nothing-Vacationing in Albert Lea

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English: Albert Lea Lake from Myre-Big Island ...

English: Albert Lea Lake from Myre-Big Island State Park, Minnesota, USA (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

by Julie Seedorf ©August  2012

I vacationed in Albert Lea for two weeks. Technically it wasn’t a vacation as I commuted back and forth to my home to work but it felt as if I were on vacation. The purpose of the vacation was to cat sit our two grand kitties. I never understood the purpose of traveling from town to a lake home every night during the summer as some people I knew did. I now understand the reasoning behind their decisions.

Our little vacation in Albert Lea was a time away from the phone in the evenings. I could relax and read a book and not see all the projects or house cleaning staring me in the face as it did at home. Plus I had the purring of two cute kitties to wake me up in the morning. Plus I decided to take it easy on the cooking for those two weeks.

It was fun living in a larger community for a couple of weeks. I visited the Farmer’s Market and my taste buds fell in love with the scones and bread from the K and K Bakery. I met a talented artist that makes hand-crafted jewelry. Her business name is as lovely as she is Lovely’s By Laura. Her designs caught my eye and I know I am going to be one of her customers in the future. The produce selection was outstanding and there were many talented people sharing their products. I was surprised that I also could buy gluten free products at this Farmers Market. Of course since I was cat sitting I had to buy cat toys and the Farmer’s Market could cover that need too.

My friends, kids and grandchildren all know that usually I can be seen with a coffee cup in my hand. Of course I had to visit the new store in Albert Lea, Prairie Winds Coffee. One of my favorite pastimes is to visit coffee houses and check out their coffee. I wasn’t disappointed. I loved the ambiance of the building and the coffee and the aroma satisfied my coffee cravings.

Shopping also had to be on my list of things to do on my vacation. As I was checking out Northbridge Mall I stopped at Grandma’s Kitchen and had the best maid rite I have had since I was a kid in the 50’s. It tasted like the maid rites I used to order at a little diner in my home town of Wells. While I was there I noticed the Pork Tenderloin on the menu. The owner assured me it lived up to the D’s Drive In pork tenderloins that used to be served in Albert Lea. I will check that out in the future.

I was in heaven. I could choose from so many eating establishments over the two weeks and I did. There were so many choices I can’t name them all.

Since my son in Iowa is a Hy-Vee employee of 18 years working for PDI as buyer I knew I must check out the Hy-Vee store. There is always a helpful smile in every aisle. I chose the natural and organic foods section.  These were foods I normally could not get in my local food market.  I found rice chips with varying seasonings, organic cereals and sauces and more. I found products and juices to try and were new to me. It was a healthy grocery shopping trip.

The Albert Lea Tribune office was also on my list to visit. I took the time to stop in and meet with the editor Tim Engstrom. I had only met Tim once six or so years ago so I thought it was time to see if I remembered what he looked like. I hate it when you reconnect with someone you haven’t seen in years and they don’t age. It must mean they live a life well lived. Tim is one of those people.  It was great visiting with him and getting a tour of the paper.

Each day I had the blessing of driving by the lake since it was only a block from where we were staying.  I could stop, take a breath, take in the beauty and be thankful that for two weeks I had those views every day.

We take our communities for granted. We focus on what our communities don’t offer and fail to see what they do offer daily. We fail to see what we are lucky to have in our communities. This time around I didn’t make it on the Pelican Breeze or to the Freeborn County Fair. I didn’t make it to some hiking trails or community theater. There wasn’t time to check out the numerous churches in the area or the specialty shops. I will save those for another cat sitting vacation.

I can’t end this without talking about my grand kitties. I also had time to write so I documented my visit with my grand kitties for their parents in The Cat Chronicles. You can read it on my blog at justalittlefluff.com. It is not a great literary work just a fun piece from the perspective of a cat.  It was a joy watching those kitties each day. I miss them waking me up in the morning with a paw on my arm or a kiss on my nose. I miss the purring in the middle of the night and the unconditional love they gave us while we were vacationing in their house. What more could I want from a vacation?

Clumsy Cook!

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I am a clumsy cook. Most of my friends know that. Today I outdid myself. I decided to make scrambled eggs for lunch.

The first thing I did was venture onto my porch and snip away at the herbs that I planted in the pots this spring. There was one problem. I never remember what I plant. That is why I always stick those little plastic plant names with the herbs. I should mention I am not a herb connoisseur. You might have guessed that since I can’t recognize one herb plant from another except for chives. It had been a few days since I had snipped and one of the plastic dohickeys was gone. Oh well, I snipped anyway. I snipped chives and rosemary and whatever was in the last pot.

I walked into my house and a trail of herbs fell out of my hands onto the floor. Spill one.

My next challenge was to break the eggs into the bowl. I broke the eggs into the bowl but wasn’t ready as to  where I was going to dispose of the egg shells. I had to walk across the floor to the garbage and you guessed it, I dripped egg doo on my floor. Spill two.

I made the journey to the refrigerator only to find the milk was out of date. We had been vacationing so that was not surprising. Again it goes with my clumsy cook mode in the fact I didn’t check before I started cooking. I decided to use vanilla soy milk. I poured that into my eggs and started beating with my little hand-held whisk. I am so good at the whisk and I used so much force that I whisked some of the egg right out of the bowl. Spill three.

Next I chopped up my herbs and dumped them into the bowl along with some salt and pepper. I decided to be  a little creative so I opened a jar of pickled asparagus that I bought at a local farmers market. You guessed it, the top was on tight, I used a knife to pry and the juice flew all over. Spill four.

I chopped up a few spears of the pickled asparagus into my eggs. doused them with salt and pepper and again used the whisk the mix it up. That went well until I took the whisk out of the mixture. The whisk slipped from my hand and egg peppered my stove, my microwave and my floor. Spill five.

I heated the pan with a little olive oil and proceeded to pour the mixture into the pan. I was very careful but the egg mixture had a mind of it’s own and wanted to break my spill record so it spilled outside of the pan down the sides and fried there to leave evidence of my mishaps. Spill six.

Surprisingly enough the scrambled eggs with the unknown herb, the vanilla soy milk and the pickled asparagus was pretty good. I am sure the spills added to the flavor. Or maybe the universe knew that after all of those spills my taste buds needed to soothed by something good to eat.