Bends and Folds

Sunset, looking south

A week ago at Sunday School, our facilitator handed each of us a white square of paper. Kristen said that the small group lessons we'd been using every week had taken an unexpected departure. While she read the Scripture for the week, along with some supporting materials, we were supposed to follow the instructions she'd copied for each of us and create an origami sea turtle. It was a pattern provided by the World Wildlife Federation.

Origami is a 6th century Japanese art form that transforms paper into shapes. The photo above shows what it was supposed to look like when we got done. Then there were three pages of detailed instructions. The first two pages are shown below:

 

There also was a third page of instructions. I didn't take the time to scan it and include it here because not a single one of us got past Step 5. 

It led to a lot of laughter and camaraderie. But it didn't lead to any marine sea turtles. It also led to me volunteering to find non-origami Sunday School lessons for as long as this particular series lasts. May 4, we were supposed to make a fish. May 11 is supposed to be origami sheep and May 18 is supposed to be an origami dolphin. You get the idea. I'm guessing our success on these creations would have been about the same as the sea turtle.

I've done some thinking about origami (and why we were all so bad at it) since the laughter died and we turned off the light in the Sunday School room for another week. I don't think I have any answers. Some in the class were convinced the instructions weren't definitive enough. Some suggested that a YouTube video with visuals to follow might have helped. Others of us were reminded of our less-than-stellar stint in high school geometry class. Those diagrams were looking just a little too much like geometry, so that self-preservation gene kicks in and you figure you might as well give up now. 

No matter the reason, there were a lot of crumpled pieces of paper on the table by the time we were done. The trash can in the Sunday School room will likely need dumped more quickly than normal after all our "sea turtles" and instructions were deposited there after class.

Springtime blooms and weather prompted more musing. One night not long ago, I went out to look at the sunset sky. While the western sky is usually the main attraction during sunset, that night, it was the south, east and north that provided more drama - more bends and folds (if we're thinking origami). 

Sunset colors looking northeast

From my vantage point, the thunderheads just made for a dramatic sky. I might have been a little envious of the rain that was likely falling under those far-away clouds. But I wasn't sorry to miss the hail that also was part of the evening drama. 

So what does this have to do with origami? I did some Googling and found a devotional by Megan Simons called "The Origami of Life." It said, in part:

Origami, the Japanese art of paper folding, can be incorporated into devotional practices in several ways. One common approach is to associate origami with the concept of transformation, as a simple piece of paper is folded into a more complex and meaningful shape, mirroring the way God shapes and transforms individuals. 

The origins of origami exist within creation itself, where God has planned careful fold patterns for leaves and petals inside of buds. He has created insects whose wings precisely fold and tuck beneath their protective shells. Recently, as I have wrestled through some difficult questions, I have found great comfort in God’s precise planning and careful attention to every aspect of his creation—to the origami of each life. 

Megan Simons

Looking east

When I'm in nature, I'm often struck by how perspective skews our view. That evening of sunset, I had a different perspective than the people who were getting pummeled by hail stones ... or those being blessed with rain. 

It was all in where we were standing. Some of us were in the midst of beauty on the horizon. Others were in the midst of a storm.

We got a little of that beneficial rain last Wednesday. We weren't expecting it, but it left behind about an inch of much-needed moisture.

It will be great for this year's wheat crop and for newly-planted spring crops. 

 

There was even a glimpse of some rainbow colors peaking through the clouds.  

 

Maybe we all gave up a little soon on the origami. (Maybe not. But it's possible.) One of my friends said she was going to take it home and ponder it more to see if she could figure it out. Her husband came back with Sunday with an origami shirt fashioned from a dollar bill. (He watched a YouTube video to do it.)

Another devotional by Rich Forbes shared this prayer at the end:

Father, I am but a crumpled piece of paper in your hand, and at times the suffering I experience is almost too great to bear. Lift me Lord and, with a simple fold, move me past this tribulation; bring me closer to the shape of Christ and reveal more of Him in me each day. Lord God, let your hand hold me until at long last you can place me before you and see me as beautiful and good... made in your image. Holy Father, I realize that I will suffer and face many trials in this life, and I ask that you give me the strength to endure them, and the faith to understand that you will not abandon me to them, or ask me to endure more than I am capable of. Shape me to your liking and take pleasure in your work, and I will seek you always.

 Maybe those crumpled papers weren't so hopeless after all.

Chicken Chipulos

 

Most of us don't need Cinco de Mayo to add Mexican flavors to our dinner table. And I know there's nothing at all authentic about this Mexican-adjacent recipe. But, if you're looking to celebrate Cinco de Mayo on May 5, this new-to-us recipe was tasty. 

I volunteered to make a casserole dish for a PEO fundraiser. When the committee forwarded the recipe for Chicken Chipulos, I must admit I had to Google "chipulos." It's basically a chicken taco casserole prepared in layers. 

No matter what it's called, it even got a "thumbs up" from my beef-loving husband. So, I decided I'd make it for my next time cooking for the Stafford Core group. Core is an organization that helps individuals and families overcome poverty. Each week, they meet for educational sessions. Just as important, they connect with a community of other people who are there to listen and support them. Each week, community organizations provide a meal for those gathered. I organize the efforts for my church's turn at a meal, usually about once a quarter. Both at home and at Core, I served it with Spanish rice, lettuce salad, sour cream, chips and salsa. For even more Mexican flair, you could also add refried beans, chili con queso and guacamole - or a combination thereof!

While the original recipe used canned chicken breast, I purchased chicken tenderloins that were on sale at my local grocery store. I had seen a recipe for preparing chicken in a slow cooker to use for chicken tacos, so I gave that method a try. I combined two large packages of the chicken tenderloins with one packet of taco seasoning, one packet of ranch dressing mix and 2 cups chicken broth and let the slow cooker do the work. After it was cooked, I refrigerated the meat until the next day, then used a method Jill had told me about to shred the chicken. Doing a little at a time, I put the cooked, cooled chicken in my Kitchenaid mixer with paddle attachment. I let the mixer do the shredding for me, rather than pulling it to shred or chopping it in bite-sized pieces. It worked great, and I will definitely use that method again. 

If you try it, let me know how you like it. It was a hit at Core, too.

Chicken Chipulos

1 can condensed cream of chicken soup 

1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup

1 can (4 oz.) diced green chilies

3 cups shredded, cooked chicken

1 onion, finely diced

8 oz. sour cream

2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

8 10-inch flour tortillas 

To prepare: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine soups, chicken, green chilies, cooked onion and sour cream in a medium-sized bowl. Set aside. 

Rip tortillas into bite-sized pieces and layer 1/3 onto the bottom of a prepared 9x13 inch baking dish. Layer 1/3 chicken mixture on top, then a layer of cheddar cheese. Repeat two additional times, making sure to end with cheese on the top layer. Bake in preheated oven for about an hour and serve. 

 

Notes: 

• The recipe I got from my PEO sisters used 2 cans - 12.5-ounce each - of chicken breast meat. I bought chicken on sale at my local grocery store and threw it in my slow cooker with 1 packet of taco seasoning, 1 packet of ranch seasoning and 2 cups chicken broth. After it cooled, I shredded it, using the paddle attachment of my Kitchenaid mixer. Jill had recommended that method for shredding chicken after cooking, and it worked great!
  
• The original recipe didn't call for cooking the onion ahead of time. However, I wanted to make sure that the onion was cooked through. I combined my diced onion with a little splash of water and covered with plastic wrap, then microwaved until it was tender.  
• The recipe said to rip tortillas. I used clean kitchen shears. 
• While the recipe didn't say to do this, I put a very thin layer of the chicken and soup mixture on the bottom of the pan before adding my first layer of tortillas. My rationale was to prevent burning the tortillas or making them too hard. That worked well. (I still used the bulk of the first third of soup mixture on TOP of the first layer of tortillas.)
  

 

 

Candid Camera: Calf Version

 

Working baby calves is a bit different for me these days. While other people do the work, I stand around and point my camera at cute baby faces. That works for me. Retirement certainly cuts down on the bruised shins, the manure-smeared jeans and sore muscles. 

I admit it: I'm a sucker for baby faces, especially the faces with unusual markings. No. 33 kept catching my eye. But he was not the only one. 

One of these calves is not like the others. (There were other light-colored calves in the bunch. They just weren't in this photo.)

We have turned the daily feeding and care of our cow-calf herd to Tye and Todd Miller, though we still own the cattle. They run our cows with their own herd. When babies are born, our calves get the yellow ear tags and the Millers' get the blue ones. 

During calf-working day, it used to be Randy giving the shots. Now, it's Tye and Todd, along with Norva Lee who keeps the syringes filled and the pour-on applied.

Randy and Tye's friend, Aaron, helped get the calves up the lane, ready for their "doctor's appointments."

 

Todd asked if I missed the work. He offered to let me join in. However, it looked like they had it handled.

Peekaboo!

 

 And that gave me free reign on checking out the cute babies ...

 

... And the cute helpers.

 

Life Lately

 

How many years is a generation? 

What's your favorite piece of equipment?

How much is it when you add your two ages together?

 

Inquiring minds want to know - at least, inquiring minds in Mrs. Kylie Meyer's second grade classroom wanted to know! 

 

(Mrs. Meyer - after politely asking if we minded sharing our ages - had the students do a little mathematics on their own to come up with the answer. Now that's a good teacher! (And ... mental math has never been my best skill.)

 

Randy and I spoke to the Stafford second graders Monday on Farming: Then and Now.  We have visited the second graders for several years now. As with any quality teacher, Mrs. Meyer gave us an assignment. She wanted us to compare the "then and now" of farming. The second graders are learning about comparison and contrast. Mrs. Meyer helps to illustrate the concept by inviting community members with different backgrounds to talk about their professions or interests and compare them, then and now.

 

Every year, I'm thankful to my mom for putting together family history books for all the grandchildren. She made my job creating the PowerPoint easy because of the old farm photos she compiled in a three-ring notebook. I added some old photos from Randy's side of the family, along with some from our farming days. (There are examples of the photos in this blog post.)

 

This reporter was thrilled to see a few of the students had actually jotted down a note so they could remember their question during the Q-and-A time.  

It's always a pleasure to see the current "crop" of second graders. This year's class is small, but they were polite and inquisitive. 

 

STAYCATION

 

 

Last Thursday, we went to Dodge City for a Kansas Wheat event at Boothill Distillery. Randy had reservations to play golf the next morning in Dodge. But a sprinkly, foggy day changed the plans. (We won't complain about rain. In fact, we'd like to order some more.)  

 

So, instead of golf, we took the round-about way home and drove to Greensburg's Big Well Museum. Anyone in Kansas will remember, but for others: The rural Kansas town of Greensburg was virtually destroyed by an F5 tornado on May 4, 2007. While most of the town's buildings were reduced to rubble, the town decided to build back using "green" construction - appropriate in a town called Greensburg, right? 

 

These are some of the signs collected and saved after the tornado.

 

Both Randy and I remember visiting the Big Well on school trips when we were students ourselves. The Big Well, an engineering feat, was completed in 1888, with its 109-foot depth and 32-foot diameter originally serving as the town's water supply.

 

During our school field trips, we also remember seeing that "1,000 space rock" advertised in the salvaged sign above.  Now, the world's largest pallasite meteorite has a place of honor in the new museum. The meteorite is a blend of olivine crystals and metal.

 

The current site is much more impressive than the original. Now, the museum tells the history of Greensburg, along with the story of the tornado and the rebuild. For an empath, it's hard to see and remember the destruction and the lives lost.  But it's an inspiring story and an inspiring museum - good for a day trip.

Looking up

Looking down

We also ate lunch in Greensburg and toured the museum (home to a soda fountain) and the library. (I didn't take any photos there.)

 

FAMILY TIME

 

I've posted to Facebook about some family events recently, but I wanted to have the record in my blog posts, too. We treated the whole family to supper at The Blind Tiger in Topeka to celebrate our 44th wedding anniversary. We were so glad everyone could be there. 

 

Bonus event: This was the same weekend the girls had regional 4-H Club Day. Both had qualified for presenting at the regional event after getting top blues at the county 4-H day.

 

 Kinley's multi-media presentation was on dog shows. She got a purple.

 

 

Brooke's was a demonstration on making crafts with air-dry clay. She also earned a purple ribbon. 

After lunch, Brooke and I had a side trip to Barnes and Noble. (I tell her parents I'm glad to accommodate Brooke's book habit. They also visit the library, but we have fun at the book store, for sure!)

 

 

BIG BIRTHDAY

After all that excitement on Saturday, we couldn't have a regular old day on Sunday. We helped my dad celebrate his 91st birthday with a pizza party, cake and ice cream.

 

 

Kent, my dad, me, Lisa and Mom. Darci was in Pratt County a couple of weeks ago.

After the dessert, my dad was looking for his cowboy hat that he used while on the 1953 Kansas State University Livestock Judging Team. 

 

 Success! 

 

A LITTLE BASEBALL

 

We met Randy's sister, Kathy, her husband Dave and daughter Emily and cheered on the K-State Bat Cats in their baseball game vs. the Wichita State University Shockers last week. It's always fun to see lots of scoring. We did. K-State was triumphant - 13-10. And popcorn for supper? Yes, please!

 

Look for God's Face

 

  Time to Think

Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful,

 for beauty is God's handwriting.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

Time to Act

 Look for beauty in the small, humble places. 

Be present and thank God for what He reveals.

 

Time to Pray

Heavenly Father, help me to carry a heart full of gratitude

 for the small wonders You place in my path.  

 

As I got the next cup of coffee, I looked out the window to the northeast. The sunrise looked promising. 

 

My Facebook feed from yesterday reminded me that I'd missed both a beautiful sunrise and sunset.

 

I decided it was worth the effort to put on my shoes and drive down the road to my sunrise tree for some photos. I wasn't going to make the same mistake again. 

 

Whoops - Just one problem: Our car is in Manhattan, waiting for a new fuel pump. How could I forget? Just a few days ago, we were sitting with a "dead" car at one of Manhattan's busiest intersections. I was out of the car, trying to encourage drivers approaching behind us to move over a lane while we waited for a tow truck. (Yes, I know Manhattan, Kansas, is not Manhattan, NYC, but it was still stressful.)

 

This morning, Randy took the pickup to town to have his weekly breakfast with his buddies. I didn't have a vehicle to drive anywhere. 

 

 

So I pivoted. I just walked out to the silo to see what the view was like there. It was worth the short walk to watch the light come through the clouds, accompanied by bird song.

In the scheme of things, this pivot was a small hiccup. Others are coping with much bigger disruptions in life: the loss of a job ... a sudden illness ... an untimely death ... angry voices everywhere ... uncertainty about the future ... the list seems inexhaustible. 

The last few weeks in Sunday School and in church sermons, the underlying theme has been Steadfast Love. Several of us said we should cut out this snippet of the lesson and put it on our mirrors:

Seek God's face. Seriously. This isn't a cliche to make you feel butter. It is a program for ridding yourself and the world of fear. Set yourself the task of looking for God at work within us. So look. Look for God's face in the face of a stranger serving you lunch, working on your car, asking for a handout. Look for God's face in the gestures of kindness in this terrible world, in the opportunities to laugh and sing, the moments of grace with loved ones, in the passion of body and soul. Seek God's face in the beauty of music, in the wonder of the world around you. You're on a mission. If you fill up your life with the search for God, you won't have time to fear. 

Each lesson has also had a music playlist attached. Because music speaks to me, I've listened every week to the "assigned" song. As I usually do, I looked ahead to this Sunday's lesson. It gives me time to think about what we'll be discussing as a group. 

This week, the suggested song is Kacey Musgraves' "Rainbow." Another favorite was Arvil Lavigne's  "Head Above Water." Give them a listen. And look for God in the every day, ordinary things of life.

 

Backyard Glamour Shots

We sat in the backyard. Silently. Hardly moving. (That was after I told Randy to quit making noises to attract the cats.)

So ... if you think bird watching is a good time, are you officially old? Asking for a friend. 

From looking at a Kansas bird book, we think this might be a Nashville warbler. But we are willing to be educated by someone who knows more than we do.

OK, really, I'm asking for us.

Randy's bird house addiction is creating a new diversion. In recent years, he has added different birdhouses to the windmill tower in our back yard. Just this winter, he added two more. He selected a birdhouse and bird seed for his contribution to the men's Moore family grab bag gift at Christmas. And then he proceeded to select his own gift. Since no one stole the gift from him, he came home with the gift he arrived with. It was all part of his plan. (That's the red feeder below.) I carried it into the house. It was heavy. I made him carry it back out to the car.

Then, he bought another bird feeder that had been designed by a high school classmate. It's amazing what you learn about at your 50th class reunion. (That's the green spiral-shaped one in the photos.) 

We think this is a house finch.

That feeder was particularly popular on the day of our silent bird watch. Of course, it was the furthest away from our chairs. And ... I'm sure it was the superior design conjured up by Randy's classmate, Jim, and his wife, Rena. 

It's hard to see, but there are three birds on the feeder in this shot.

During the frigid, snowy weather, I'd watch out our back door. I loved the flashes of red against the white snow as the cardinals zipped here and there. But every time I opened the back door to see if I could get a photo, they'd fly quickly away. And, let's face it: I wasn't putting a lawn chair in the yard and sitting out in that weather. 

But, on these spring-like days, it's a regular bird banquet in our back yard. I was convinced that we wouldn't be able to set up our lawn chairs close enough that I could get good shots with my camera. But I was wrong. It took awhile, but I guess we eventually became "part of the woodwork" (so to speak), and the birds started arriving for suppertime.

 

I got excited when I saw the photos on my computer screen. It's always a little hard to tell what you have captured when you're just looking through the camera view finder. (Yes ... old. I admitted that earlier.)

I'd say that I could add them to my stash for the Stafford County Fair photography entries. But my bird photos never do well at the fair. We'll see how I'm feeling about trying again in July.

 

Female cardinal. We've had four pairs of cardinals in the backyard this winter. None of the bright red males flew in for their closeup.

 

 

I've gotten better cardinal shots throughout my county fair "career," so I know the cardinal shots I've gotten so far as not contenders. I don't think I've ever had a bird photo place in the county fair - no matter how good I thought it was.

 

However, one of the bird glamour shots will likely end up on a spring page of our family birthday calendar. 

 

It seemed not every visitor was a fan of my photography. One of our visitors feels similarly to me about getting their picture taken. 

 

I get it. I really do.