Passion & Perseverance, Peace & Serenity

I'm mid-point in a 17-day "try-out" for a position as liberal political editor for a major online info website. Early November, my son-in-law suggested that I submit an application, so I did. To my surprise, on Jan 5, they sent me an email expressing interest, and offering me a trial run that started on Jan 7. (My son-in-law, a freelance writer, works for them as national editor on an entirely different topic. )

My task is to create a website, using their God-awful software, devoted to current liberal (not Democratic) issues and emerging liberal leaders, with a fair and balanced, not ranting and raving, perspective. Typical me...for the sake of perfection, I make the job big. Then exhaust myself.

I must provide balanced and brief explanations, relevant links and issues papers on.....get this....social security privatization proposals; the economy, monster trade deficit, income taxes, jobs and outsourcing; environmental concerns as global warming, preservation of wildlands and recycling; election reform and voting rights; death penalty; the wars on terror and in Iraq; abortion and Roe v. Wade (which I don't support, but still must explain); faith in public life (my idea...I have so much to say); health care; homeland security; stem cell research; education and "No Child Left Behind;" the USA Patriot Act and civil rights; and immigration reform. And leadership.

I'm tired with just 8 days under my writing and researching belt. But not too tired. That's part of the test....passion and perseverance, not just knowledge and writing talent. I have passion and perseverance in spades, so I'll finish this race, and finish it well.

But if I get the gig, which is not assured, the race will just be starting. I'll finally and officially be the journalist (press passes!) I started out to be when I was an undergraduate. I already find my mind continually preoccupied with news cycles, press releases and CNN breaking reports. I find myself eating badly and quickly, not exercising, drinking too much coffee, sitting all day and neglecting things I don't want to neglect.

My youngest is now 13 and almost a high school student. She's the last child at home. It's the perfect time for a new, satisfying venture to fill my life, but I'll need to learn to live it better than I have this past week. I'll need to integrate this new endeavor with my usual peace and serenity of everyday life.

Or else it's not worth it.

Wise Words for Today from Martin Luther King, Jr

To honor the January 15 birthday of an American son, visionary leader Martin Luther King Jr., a few quotes from him, courtesy of Brainy Quotes....

"The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in time of moral confict."

"The past is prophetic in that it asserts loudly that wars are poor chisels for carving our peaceful tomorrows."

"Faith is taking the first step when you don't see the whole staircase."

"Have we not come to such an impasse in the modern world that we must love our enemies---our else? The chain reaction of evil---hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars---must be broken or else we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation."

"We will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."

"Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend."

"Peace is not merely a distant goal we see, but a means by which we arrive at that goal."

Amen, Dr. King.

Robert Frost on a Rainy Day

Rain rain rain has pelted us for days. Weeks. Rain with wind. Heavy rain. Greater Los Angeles has fourfold its normal seasonal rain level this winter, and it's only January. Streets are flooded and flooding. Our backyard is a lake, and the rain continues.

I don't mind rain, but I don't love it. It's a cold inconvenience. One wonderful thing about rain...it makes for cozy reading curled up on a couch. It gave me time to read poetry today.....Robert Frost. His words are simple and solitary, full of meaning.

Lodged

The rain to the wind said,

"You push and I'll pelt."

They so smote the garden bed

That the flowers actually knelt,

And lay lodged---though not dead.

I know how the flowers felt.

A Time To Talk

When a friend calls to me from the road

And slows his horse to a meaning walk,

I don't stand still and look around

On all the hills I haven't hoed,

And shout from where I am, "What is it?"

No, not as there is a time to talk.

I thrust my hoe in the mellow ground,

Blade-end up and five feet tall,

And plod: I go up to the stone wall

For a friendly visit.

Mexican Potato-Cheese Soup - 2005 New Recipe # 1

I made a New Year's resolution to make 30 to 50 new recipes in 2005. I'm my own accountability group of one, and will be accountable for this resolution by publishing each new dish right here....

Ron and Andrea adored it. They slurped with such gusto, that I had to strongly stake my claim to save a bowl for today's lunch. This recipe is a slightly modifed version of that in "Coffee House Cookbook" by the University of California, Davis coffee house staff, 1996. (Buy, beg or borrow a copy of this fabulous cookbook of casual comfort food with an international touch. The no-fail recipes are extraordinary. I bought my copy when my oldest daughter was a a student at UCDavis.)

2005 New Recipe # 1 - Mexican Potato-Cheese Soup

6 medium russet potatoes, peeled & sliced thinly

1 tbsp, canola oil

1 yellow onion, chopped

3 tbsps, garlic, minced

1 7-oz can, green chiles, diced

6 cups, chicken broth or water

2-3 tspns, garlic salt

1 tspn, cumin

1 tspn, black pepper

2 tspns, butter

2 tbspns, flour

1 cup, low-fat milk

1 cup, sour cream

1 cup, jack cheese, grated

In a soup pot, cover potatoes with water/broth and simmer until potatoes are tender.

In a separate pan, saute onions in oil.

Add to potatoes, the onions, garlic, chiles, salt, cumin and pepper. Simmer for 30 minutes.

In a saucepan, make a roux by melting butter and adding flour. Then slowly add milk, stirring constantly, until you've created a creamy, smooth white sauce.

Stir roux into the simmering soup.

Five minutes before serving, stir sour cream into simmering soup.

Serve with jack cheese sprinkled on top.

Savor!

Truth and Overcommitment

Since the November 2 election, I've overcommitted, overpartied and overstressed. Happily, I might add, but still overdone.

I was a pollworker for 15 frantic hours on Election Day. As I moped around on Nov 3, licking my wounds of loss, my son called to say hello...and by the way, I'm getting married Nov 20 and we're having a baby in May. So with my ex-husband's wife and my new daughter-in-law's Spanish-only-speaking family, we frantically pulled together a lovely church wedding and sitdown dinner reception in 17 days. Yes, 17 days.

Thanksgiving was 5 days after the wedding, followed by the joys, wonders and jarring pace of the Christmas season. (See my Dec 19 post.) Two weeks with Ron and Andrea home. Two blessed weeks of planning and shopping, cooking and eating, presents and parties, topped off by fun New Year's Eve festivities.

This week I started researching and writing a series on a political subject that's been floating in my thoughts. On Monday and Tuesday, I published parts 1 & 2 at my other blog, Heart, Soul & Humor. Hits and readership for Heart have grown radically, wildly, in recent weeks, and I feel such passion for the topics. It's exhilirating.

I woke up today tired, though. Tired and hungry to recharge, renourish, ready to lie low for a couple days. Ron and Andrea are back to their day lives,and I regained peace and quiet. So I exercised this morning, took a leisurely shower, baked a healthy pumpkin-raisin cake (no frosting).

I read from my fave Christian devotional, a 1928 book "A Way to Peace, Health and Power - Studies for the Inner Life" by Bertha Conde. The chapter on "The Spirit of Truth" leaped out at me. These words hit deeply...."Truth demands courage, and that is why so many timid people are afraid of it or dare not utter it....All the blessings of human society would disappear if the spirit of truth were withdrawn."

I quietly prayed to know how God wants to use my recent passions. I do it because I seek to illuminate...to tell the truth, and to have the truth heard. I don't often feel heard outside family.

As if to answer me...I received an email this afternoon from a major internet site, asking me to "auditon" for their lead editor position for liberal politics. I'd submitted an inquiry months ago, had entirely forgotten about it. They've been reading my work, following my blogs, and they're interested. It would be an amazing opportunity for exposure and influence to bring truth to others.

I think I'll give it my best shot. Maybe this is where God is next leading me.

Christmas Card Stories

I can't bear to throw away Christmas cards. We have a basket in our family room full of cards and letters received over the last couple years. Sparkly greetings with trees, stockings, holly, beaches, bald eagles, candy canes and holy scenes, and always, people sharing family news, sharing dreams, sharing their lives. We don't often see some of these loved ones, so their greeting card gab is all the more precious.

This December, our mail box held photos of a family on the North Shore of Oahu; four siblings sitting on a rock, Center Court at Wimbledon; children swimming, surfing and fishing; four horses and three dogs (all on one card); 12 family members attending the Lion King musical in Reno.

There was a photo of Steve with his arm around his dad, who has suffered for several years with non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Dad has been off chemo since summer. There was a photo of one-year-old Kate in front of presents and warming fireplace. Her parents are so grateful for their only child, who was born with disabilities and only one functioning kidney. There was a photo of my niece Emily and her new husband at their elopement wedding in the Bahamas. They look young and exuberant in wedding dress and tux, standing oceanfront just after taking their vows.

My sister sent us two cards, so her recordkeepng hasn't improved. We received cards and letters by email, which is just as touching and personal to us. One clever and always trendy family sent a letter composed mainly of symbols.....for sports played, places visited, musical instruments played, remodeling projects completed.

Today, I will retire our Christmas 2004 cards and letters to the family room basket. And in 2005, I will savor the smiling photos, the sentimental and newsy words, the pieces of peoples' lives.

God is good.

Perfect Start to 2005

Good company, good conversation, good food and a steamy kiss from my husband at the stroke of midnight.

The party started at 6 PM so I thought it would poop out by 10 PM. I was wrong. The potluck New Year's Eve party for 30 of all ages was great fun, with games, laughter and the Times Square ball dropping amid a festive crowd.

A perfect way to start 2005.