Wednesday, August 20, 2025

Stay Calm and Hodgepodge On



A hodgepodge is a jumble or assortment of things that might not appear to belong together. Joyce at From This Side of the Pond hosts a weekly link-up called Wednesday Hodgepodge that is a little collection of questions for bloggers to answer just for fun and to get to know each other. I always look forward to chatting with friends over coffee, so pour a cup of your favorite and let's visit for a few minutes!



Here are this week's questions - and my answers - for this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge.

1.  What's worth standing in line for?
 
It depends how long the line is, doesn't it? I don't enjoy standing in line, but I'm quite willing to do it for good food at a fair or a sporting event, or to get on a ride at a theme park. I'm old enough to remember standing in line, or even camping out, at a ticket booth to buy concert tickets as soon as the box office opened. And I've "stood" in a phone line and in an internet presale queue to get concert or sporting events tickets too. Worth it every time, I think. And then when we went to the events, of course we had to stand in line before they let us in.

The next toilet stall at a stadium or concert venue. I do a little planning to minimize my wait time, but once I'm in line, I won't give up my spot. 
 
2. Tell us about a favorite food related memory.

A lot of my fond memories that involve food go way back to when I was young, and involve my Grandma and my aunts, and they tend to blend together a bit. Whenever we visited my aunts or they came to visit us, my Aunt Alice would make vereneki (aka perogies) and every time it was the highlight of the visit. My brother and I kind of competed to see who could eat more. My Aunt Linda's specialty was cookies, and our favorite was one we just called White Cookies or Icing Cookies. They were a soft white cookie with a simple vanilla icing but oh, so good! At my Grandpa and Grandma's, I remember a few times when the whole family feasted on fresh corn on the cob, waffles (made on the outdoor waffle iron!), rollkuchen, and watermelon. I've never been a big fan of watermelon, but serve it alongside fresh rollkuchen dipped in golden syrup, and I'm all in. 

Now I'm thinking I will have to plan a meal of corn on the cob,  rollkuchen, and watermelon. I wish I knew how to spell the low German word for watermelon, or at least the low German word I know. The closest I can find is the Russian word that's pronounced arbuz. Anyway. Those are good food memories!

 3. What are some things you find particularly peaceful or calming?

 Looking up at the stars on a clear night. A sunrise or sunset view from a well-placed porch or deck, or a nature setting. Watching a gentle falling snow from a comfortable spot inside, or listening to gentle rain while sitting on a covered porch. Sipping a coffee or cold drink and listening to songbirds, and watching as they stop by my birdfeeders. A good porch or deck is a high priority for me when we start seriously shopping for a house.





4. Is there something you do now that gets you just as excited as it did when you were a child?

 I love going out for ice cream! I choose different flavors as an adult, but getting ice cream is such a treat!  If it happens that I'm out for a walk when it starts to snow big fluffy snowflakes, I absolutely catch them on my tongue and take as much delight in that as I did when I was a little girl. 


5.  To what degree are you in touch with friends from grade school? high school? college if you attended college?
 
 I'm not in regular weekly or even monthly contact with any school friends, mostly because I don't live near any of them, but I have quite a few that I've connected with on social media and interact with from time to time. I have one friend that I've known since we were in first grade that I interact with online fairly regularly, quite a few from high school, and a few from college. I'm still in touch with my best friend from high school, though our lives are quite different and we occasionally email or message. I make sure to get together with her when I'm back in the old stomping grounds. I'd gladly get together for a cup of coffee with any of my friends from back in the day but the opportunities to do so just don't come along very often.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Maybe if we wrote letters, we'd be in touch with our old schoolmates more often. Turns out Writing Letters is the theme of the current Wednesday Quotes link-up. I'd love to have you stop by and share a quote or two. You can find it here: WQ - Writing Letters.

I'm so glad that we're back to chorus rehearsals every Monday, and that our church is back to Dinner + Discipleship on Wednesdays. Our first D+D was today. It helps me remember what day of the week it is when I have those regular things on Mondays and Wednesdays. And it's great not having to worry about what's for dinner on Wednesdays! Now, the downside for now is that there's this whole section of highway on my commute from work that is under construction and there's no avoiding it. It slows everything way down and it seems like there's at least one accident every day too. I decided this week that I will need to plan on going straight to chorus and straight to church on those days instead of coming home first, which makes for a long day. And on Wednesdays, it makes for a late Wednesday Hodgepodge! Hopefully not this late every week though! 

How would you answer some of these questions? Leave a comment and let me know!



From this Side of the Pond

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Simple Meal Planning - Plan to Eat

15 comments:

  1. We have a lot of porch options in this house, designed that way on purpose. I'm sitting on the screened porch now. We pretty much live on them and they get the most use of any space in our house so I highly recommend. I write letters still. Not often, but there's just something about the act of writing and also receiving, particularly today when its so rare, that I love. I have quite a few letters saved. It's a whole new world now and letter writing is something of a lost art. Hope you have a great weekend!

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    1. I miss my covered porch at our previous house, and now I regret that I didn't spend more time on it. A good porch will be a non-negotiable in our house search here.
      I agree that letter writing seems to be a lost art, or in the process of being lost. Hopefully enough younger folks see the value and revive it a bit.
      Thanks for stopping by and commenting!

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    1. One of my favorite things! Thanks for stopping by and commenting!

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  3. Your answer and photos for #3 are fabulous! I do find being in/observing nature to be so calming too. I absolutely still get excited about going out for ice cream too and have made it a point to try lots of new flavors this summer.

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    1. I don't consider myself an outdoorsy person, but it's almost all nature settings in some way that I find most calming.
      I've only been out for ice cream a couple times this summer, but I did try new new flavor combos each time, I think.
      Thanks for stopping by and commenting!

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  4. I used to love to write letters and as a teen I had several pen pals. It was so fun to receive a letter.

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    1. Getting a letter addressed to ME was quite the thrill when I was young. It still is so exciting to get happy mail instead of junk or bills. Guess I should write a couple letters and give someone else that joy. :-) Thanks for stopping by and commenting!

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  5. Enjoyed reading your answers! Completely agree with you on question 1. And enjoyed your food related memory. My mom and I exchanged a lot of letters when I was in college. I'm glad that I kept most of them. Letter writing is such a lost art...

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    1. I also wrote and received a lot of letters when I was at college, and I guess the first couple years after we moved to NJ. Before emails and messaging, obviously! I used to keep so many letters but now have just a few that are very special to me. Thanks for stopping by and commenting!

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  6. I remember standing in line for concert tickets too, the fun has been taken out of that by buying tickets online.
    What wonderful food related memories. I had a great aunt who was an amazing baker.
    What beautiful views! I especially like the snowy one.

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    1. Yes, in a way it's so much easier to get concert tickets now, but the internet has taken some of the fun and challenge out of it. Thanks for stopping by and commenting!

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  7. I haven't been to many concerts and haven't ever been into sports other than my kids' swim meets. I think the only line I've stood on that mattered was getting into the bathroom! When it comes to food, the first thing I can think of is my mom's pot roast. It was seriously melt in your mouth delicious. She tried to teach me how to do it, but I could never replicate it. I love the sound of rain falling, even better with thunder, but my tinnitus sometimes prevents me from hearing it very well.

    https://marshainthemiddle.com/

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    1. Pot roast is such a good comfort food. It's a very simple homey meal but so so good when it's done right! Sounds like your mom knew the secrets!
      I love the sound of thunderstorms too. Our whole family used to gather on our front porch in MD and watch the storms roll in from the mountains. I miss that. Sorry you can't always hear the rain and thunder as well these days. I appreciate you stopping by and commenting!

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I love comments! Keep the conversation going over a virtual cup of coffee.