Holidays | Mixed Metaphors

Dec 12 2020

Posts

Dispatch from the Hideout: Riding the Coronacoaster

Coronacoaster (noun): the ups and downs of a person’s mood, or life generally, during the coronavirus pandemic.

Some people experience motion sickness and avoid amusement park thrill rides. I’m one of those people. I’m also a person who has a reoccurring dream when I wrestle control of vehicles headed in a dangerous trajectory to avoid catastrophe or death. Those began as a child, when from the backseat of the car, I leaped to the front seat to grab the steering wheel from my parents. Oh, My!

Yes, I’m on the coronacoaster and I want to get off — or seize control! Continue reading →

Tagged Control, Coronacoaster, COVID-19, Dispatch from the Hideout, Family, Friends, Gratitude, Grief, Holidays, Home, New Year, Pandemic, Recovery, Reoccurring Dreams, Social Distancing, Solitude, Winter

Nov 25 2020

4 Comments

Posts

Thanksgiving: Things Change (Again!)

“The only constant is change.” — Heraclitus

“Things do not change; we change.” — Henry David Thoreau

As I write, it’s the Sunday before Thanksgiving. I’ve been rereading Thanksgiving Holiday journal entries from the past 12 years, plus my Thanksgiving blog reminiscences. A theme emerged which I’ve addressed before, yet continues to weave through my life — and the lives of loved ones — things change.

Thanksgiving is traditionally a family holiday, whether you celebrate it with your bio or chosen family. I’ve done both. Another theme became apparent as I reread what I’ve written in the past, grief and gratitude go hand-in-hand. Continue reading →

Tagged COVID-19, Family, Father, Friends, Future, Gratitude, Grief, Holidays, Home, Memoir, Mother, Past, Pie, Present, Racine, Reminiscence, Sisters, Stories, Thanksgiving, Things Change, Turkey, Zoom

Jul 04 2020

Posts

A Solitary Life: Living Independently

“What matters in life is not what happens to you but what you remember and how you remember it.” ― Gabriel García Márquez

“Memory is the diary that we all carry about with us.” — Oscar Wilde

Today is the 4th of July, the Independence Day Holiday. Yesterday, I began reflecting on the meaning of the day, which celebrates the independence of a nation following a revolution and the freedom of its people from an oppressive government. Of dire concern — we are living through what may be judged as another oppressive government — our own — as our elected leaders dismantle democracy and favor the corporate aristocracy and dominant white culture. We are not truly free and independent until we are all free and equal under the law. Continue reading →

Tagged AA, Blogging, Childhood Memories, COVID-19, Family, Fireworks, Fourth of July, Friends, Holidays, Home, Journals, Memoir, Memories, Parades, Racine, Recovery, Relationships, Reminiscence, Safer-at-Home, Solitary Life, The Orphan Holidays, Wisconsin

May 23 2020

1 Comment

Posts

Dispatch from the Hideout: What Was, What Will Be

“You can’t go back home to your family, back home to your childhood…back home to places in the country, back home to the old forms and systems of things which once seemed everlasting but which are changing all the time…” — Thomas Wolfe

On the Friday before the Memorial Day Holiday weekend, I reminisced about holidays past. Years ago, a group of friends nicknamed, ‘The Orphans,’ would plan an annual camping trip to Peninsula State Park in Fish Creek in Door County, Wisconsin. We dubbed these one of the ‘The Orphan Holidays.’ From a vignette from my memoir in the works, Perfectly Flawed. Continue reading →

Tagged Coronavirus, COVID-19, Death, Dispatch from the Hideout, Family, Friends, Holidays, Home, Loss, Pandemic, Physical Isolation, Relationships, Skin Hunger, Social Distancing, The Road Ahead, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Historical Society Journal Project

Apr 12 2020

1 Comment

Posts

Dispatch from the Hideout: Home Alone Easter Holiday

Like most holidays I celebrated as a child, Easter was a hybrid of religious traditions, the social culture from the generation in which I grew up, and our own ethnic and family rituals, which we repeated in some fashion every year.

Easter Holidays Past

Note: Includes excerpts from Poop Eggs & Lamb Cakes

Today is the Easter Holiday and Passover. Growing up in the 1950s and 1960s, my family had many traditions which we repeated every year, some with glee, and others with complaints. On Easter Saturday, we’d color eggs, which the Easter Bunny would hide that night. Mom boiled two or three dozen as our family grew. She’d cover the kitchen table with newspaper and the kids would crowd around it with our crayons, the white wax marker to write our names, a spoon in hand ready to dip the eggs in the assembly line of Easter egg dye in her Corelle coffee cups. Continue reading →

Tagged Dispatch from the Hideout, Easter, Easter Brunch, Family, Family Traditions, Fathers, Friends, Holidays, Home, Home Alone, Lamb Cake, Memoir, Mother, Movies, Pandemic, Poop Eggs, Racine, Seasons, Shelter-in-Place, Spring, Stories

Dec 31 2019

Posts

Memories Are Made of This: Grief & Gratitude

“Memory is the diary that we all carry about with us.” — Oscar Wilde

“Sometimes it only takes one song to bring back a thousand memories.” — Unknown

It’s in fact a song that inspired the title of this essay and reminiscence. I don’t consider it a favorite in my playlist, however, the title captures the spirit of this blog post. It was a popular song about nostalgia. It’s been performed by country western singers like Jim Reeves, The Everly Brothers, and Johnny Cash, and covered by crooners like Dean Martin and Bing Crosby. Full disclosure, for me, it’s the title that captures the essence of the song’s meaning. Our lived experiences create our memories. Continue reading →

Tagged ERA, Family, Gratitude, Grief, Holidays, Intentions, Looking Backward, Looking Forward, Lysistrata, Megan Campbell, Memoir, Memories, New Decade, New Year, Nostalgia, NYE, Relationships, Reminiscence, Romantic Friendships

Dec 06 2019

1 Comment

Posts

70 Is NOT the New 60, It’s 70!

(Or, the Third Act before the curtain closes)

“There’s a moment when people know — whatever their skills are at denial — that they have passed from what they can delude themselves into thinking is middle age to something that you could call the third act.”— Nora Ephron

“Aging is an extraordinary process where you become the person you always should have been.” — David Bowie

First, let me say at the outset that I’m grateful that I’m above ground and not dust in the wind. When I was nearing my 65^th birthday five years ago, I found this factoid reassuring. If one lives to the age of 65, they have an 80% chance to live twenty more years to 85 years old. Hallelujah! Continue reading →

Tagged 70-Years-Old, Acceptance, Aging, Baby Boomers, Boomer, Death & Dying, Family, Fathers, Friends, Holidays, Home, Life & Living, Longevity, Mortality, Mother, OK

Nov 03 2019

1 Comment

Posts

Comfort Food: Winter Blues, Holidays, & Weight Gain

“Food is a lot of people’s therapy — when we say comfort food, we really mean that. It’s releasing dopamine and serotonin in your brain that makes you feel good.” — Brett Hoebel

“Comfort food is the food that makes us feel good — satisfied, calm, cared for and carefree. It’s food that fills us up both mentally and physically. Finding comfort in food is a basic human experience.” — Ellie Krieger

Last night, I turned the clocks back an hour. This morning the sun rose earlier and tonight it will set sooner. Daylight Savings Time is over and regardless of your views on its merits — or not — for me it’s the onset of Living the Mole Life, a season characterized by comfort foods, winter blues, the holidays, and weight gain. I isolate, sleep, and eat more than I do the rest of the year. I basically hibernate and retreat to my hideout. Continue reading →

Tagged Autumn, Comfort Foods, Family, Friends, Hibernate, Holiday Parties, Holidays, Home, Mother, Potlucks, Seasonal Affective Disorder, Seasons, Weight Gain, Winter, Winter Blues

May 27 2019

1 Comment

Posts

Memorial Day: Memories, Flowers, & Gratitude

“What matters in life is not what happens to you but what you remember and how you remember it.” ― Gabriel García Márquez

Flowers have long been used to memorialize loved ones and symbolize new beginnings, which makes them an ideal tribute to observe Memorial Day.

This Memorial Day Holiday weekend I find myself looking back, remembering loved ones now departed, friends and family traditions that have changed, and loved ones who’ve moved away from Wisconsin. Many new beginnings start with good-byes and letting go. Memorial Day is a holiday to remember those who served and died for our country — and for my family — to remember our family members who are no longer with us in life yet remain in memory. Grateful. Continue reading →

Tagged Chosen Family, Death, Family, Family Traditions, Flower-Planting, Friends, Holidays, Home, Memoir, Memorial Day, Mother, Racine, The Loud Family, The Orphan Holidays

Dec 31 2018

3 Comments

Posts

Who Knows What Tomorrow May Bring?

“Yesterday is but today’s memory, and tomorrow is today’s dream.” — Khalil Gibran

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” — Mahatma Gandhi

The flip side of the question that the title poses is “Who knows where the times goes?” As I age, time seems to slip by faster. An event that happened a month ago feels like it occurred last week. My to-do lists each day grow longer, as if I need to accomplish as much as I’m able to before time runs out. Dreams and plans for tomorrow are aspirational and possess greater value because they may elude me. In the end, there is no guarantee for tomorrow.

There is only today and a lifetime of yesterdays. Continue reading →

Tagged Death, Family, Future, Grief, Holding On, Holidays, Letting Go, Looking Back, Looking Forward, Loss, Love, New Year, New Year's Eve, Past, Present, Relationships, Sisters

Mixed Metaphors

Mixed Metaphors, Oh My! – A place where words, this writer, and readers play together.

Tag Archives: Holidays

Thanksgiving: Things Change (Again!)

A Solitary Life: Living Independently

Dispatch from the Hideout: Home Alone Easter Holiday

Memories Are Made of This: Grief & Gratitude

70 Is NOT the New 60, It’s 70!

Comfort Food: Winter Blues, Holidays, & Weight Gain

Memorial Day: Memories, Flowers, & Gratitude

Who Knows What Tomorrow May Bring?