A LOVE LETTER FROM KEITH & MARY

WORTH IT!

Greetings! It’s Keith and Mary. We hope you are finding little flowers peeking up from the dirt, and birds building nests in your trees. It looks like March has almost stopped roaring like a lion, and I’ve even heard the occasional “baa” in the distance. Spring is such an exciting time, I thought I’d write you a haiku (see above left) about the biggest news in our life, vaccination! Fait accompli.

Like the rest of the animals, we are slowly crawling out of hibernation, and getting reacquainted with the squishy embraces of our family. We spent time with each daughter and their brood for tearful Vaccine Hug Days I and II. We also had our first after-school party with the younger grandkids last week with more planned through the end of the school year. We’re making a Menards shopping list for all the Spring construction and cleaning projects we’ve planned. And it’s feeling like the world is yawning, stretching its arms over its head, and getting ready to start living again with cautious optimism. We freely admit the year in isolation has revealed much to us about life, love, and priorities. There are things we want to honor and change in order to make what comes next worth the wait. Here are some of the things that make the past year’s struggles WORTH IT. — m2

Liner Note: When you get the link on your phone, you can click it whenever you are feeling bird-curiosity. You can hover over the bird in the picture above and its name appears. Click on the bird and you can hear its song. A couple of times a week, I write a mini-essay to my oldest grandchildren, and one is about why they should love birds. Click on the button below to read my bird advice AND snag yourself the link to this very cool little bird identification tool developed by the State of Minnesota DNR. It’s simple and covers most commonly sighted birds in our broader region.

Footnote: Hive Systems put together this graphic using data from the website How SecureismyPassword.net.

MORE STUFF THAT’S WORTH IT!

WORTH SUBSCRIBING
I am loving the Washington Post cooking classes. There are five different classes you can do sequentially, simultaneously, or however you like. I’ve completed “Plant Powered” (12 weeks) and am in the middle of “Essential Cookbooks” (10 weeks). I want to do “Baking Basics” next (8 weeks). There’s also “Meal Plan of Action” and “Zero to Dinner Party” (both are 12 weeks). They also have a weekly recipes newsletter. If you’re interested, check it out here. All free, by the way.

WORTH LISTENING
Keith’s favorite podcast since he first got earbuds way back in the day has been The Naked Scientists from BBC. If you’re looking to be amazed by life, nature, the universe, your body, whatever, I guarantee just one of these episodes will have you hooked. Check it out here.

WORTH UNDERSTANDING
Another thing I bumped into recently, while trying to learn more about “privilege” in our society, is the fact that the ultimate privilege is beauty. The data seems irrefutable. For example, in criminal sentencing, looks are more than 10x more important than race. For a good summary of these “beauty” findings, check here.

WORTH MAKING
My youngest daughter Mollie recently celebrated a birthday. She said she preferred a good chocolate eclair to birthday cake, so I did what I could, considering I was still quarantining in early March — I made her a pan of chocolate eclair torte. This is the world’s easiest recipe, but it fools people if they aren’t familiar with it. The trick is to let it sit in your fridge for a day so the graham crackers are softened and unrecognizable as anything more than a magical layer of graham goodness. My daughter raved, “My favorite dessert ever,” and my grand-daughter wants the torte now instead of her birthday cake. So, with this much applause for a simple little dessert, I thought I’d share it here.

WORTH REMEMBERING
My first kiss was the summer after fifth grade. The other kids told me he liked me and I said I liked him back. It was a welcome dare to both me and Karl Eikenberry, my neighbor. There was a gaggle of kid witnesses. We moved away at the end of the summer, and I sometimes wonder what happened to Karl. A few weeks ago, he surfaced in an article I was reading about politics. All these years later, I still recognized his little boy face immediately in that old man’s visage. Wow, Karl really gave America his best. You won’t believe what little Karl did so far with his seventy years on the planet. Props to you, Karl! Read about Karl’s exploits here. (Somehow, our kiss was overlooked in the Wikipedia article).

I guess it’s time I get some chorin’ done. That food ain’t gonna cook itself! But before I go, I just want to say that I send this love letter out to a list of family and friends each month, and I have been delighted that many of you write back and share your news, joys, sorrows, and the things that make the struggles in your life worth it. I believe with all my heart that my purpose, my raison d'être, is to create more love in the world in the small ways I can. Please know you’ve done that for me. You’ve created more love in my world. And I want to thank you for helping Keith and me endure the isolation of the pandemic, and for sharing your life and your love with us. I’ll write again soon. Until then, I hope you “Savor Spring. She only lasts a moment.” — Mary (and Keith by proxy)