Linda Roorda

I need to contact them again, I think, about somehow insulating my supposedly insulated overhead garage door better, tho the garage is never used because of the exhaust fumes that came into the house back when we moved in after our house was built in '82.  Or should I just close it up but leave a door for lawnmower?  Tough decisions... 

A few years ago, I subbed for a high school English teacher, and decided to read to "my" students from the book they were to start. Of two sets of copies, one updated version held a new intro by the author of "Night", Elie Wiesel, who entered Auschwitz at age 15, their age. I let my emotions flow, i.e. the sadness and tears. The students were so quiet you could have heard a pin drop. In the hall later, one young man thanked me for what I had done for them. Here is a small part of that intro as we remember the Nazi's Auschwitz and its liberation 80 years later, one of many concentration camps holding the Jews and their sympathizers.

"Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, that turned my life into one long night seven times sealed.

Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the small faces of the children whose bodies I saw transformed into smoke under a silent sky.

Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith forever.

Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence that deprived me for all eternity of the desire to live.

Never shall I forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes.

Never shall I forget those things, even were I condemned to live as long as God Himself.

Never…

Afraid of the blows. That was why I remained deaf to his cries. Instead of sacrificing my miserable life and rushing to his side, taking his hand, reassuring him, showing him that he was not abandoned, that I was near him, that I felt his sorrow, instead of all that, I remained flat on my back, asking God to make my father stop calling my name, to make him stop crying. So afraid was I to incur the wrath of the SS. In fact, my father was no longer conscious. Yet his plaintive, harrowing voice went on piercing the silence and calling me, nobody but me…

I remember that night, the most horrendous of my life: …Eliezer, my son, come here… I want to tell you something…Only to you…Come, don't leave me alone…Eliezer… I heard his voice, grasped the meaning of his words and the tragic dimension of the moment, yet I did not move… yet I did not let him have his wish. I was afraid.

My father no longer felt the club's blows; I did. And yet I did not react. I let the SS beat my father, I left him alone in the clutches of death. Worse: I was angry with him for having been noisy, for having cried, for provoking the wrath of the SS…

But I had not moved. I shall never forgive myself. Nor shall I ever forgive the world for having pushed me against the wall, for having turned me into a stranger, for having awakened in me the basest, most primitive instincts. His last word had been my name. A summons. And I had not responded.

Sometimes I am asked if I know "the response to Auschwitz"; I answer that not only do I not know it, but that I don't even know if a tragedy of this magnitude has a response. What I do know is that there is "response" in responsibility. When we speak of this era of evil and darkness, so close and yet so distant, "responsibility" is the key word. The witness has forced himself to testify. For the youth of today, for the children who will be born tomorrow. He does not want his past to become their future."

2 hours ago, Ann said:

I saw the pictures of your wedding gown and veil,  Linda, and it’s beautiful.  

Thank you very much, Ann 🙂

On 9/9/2024 at 6:53 PM, Ann said:

Today I learned that if your wedding gown is more that 20 years old it’s considered to be a vintage gown.  If it’s more than 50 years old it’s an antique.   I also learned that once your gown is cleaned after your wedding, you shouldn’t touch it with your bare hands as the skin oils can cause yellowing which also happens with age.

 Today I sent my antique wedding gown away to be restored.  It wasn’t an off the rack gown but made for me as a one of a kind gown.  I picked out the fabric and lace and pearl trimming.    I can’t give a reason why I’m doing this,  just that “something” is urging me to have it restored.

So... my wedding gown, now 50 years and 1 day old LOL, that I made on my own ca. 1900 treadle machine, is a genuine antique! It's in the photo from our 40th anniversary as header for today's 50th Anniversary Poetic Devotions' blog.  Never had it professionally cleaned, able to wear it on every 5th or 10th year anniversary, still looking like it did the day I finished making it and the veil a lifetime ago!

I gotta admit... these posts are hilarious! I'll make a stab at my ideas of yum since I can't eat any of these items anymore - mustard only on hotdogs, no chili, no relish, no onions, definitely NO ketchup!! And NO mayo, gravy or anything else on french fries - just salt for the purist LOL!  Syrup on breakfast sausage - absolutely not!  But a big yes to homemade Dutch Balkenbrij covered with syrup like my mom-in-law used to make after a cow was butchered!! (It's like scrapple from the PA Dutch who are Deutsch, aka great German peoples, but NOT Dutch from Netherlands like me and my late hubby.)  And yes, dark chocolate is the best!  How I wish I could have some!!  Grated carrots in salads, not small chunks.  Miracle Whip? Nah!  And how could I forget a favorite I long for - Vita pickled herring!!  There's the Dutch in me - miss that sweet/sour raw pickled herring with onions!  LOL!

On 1/1/2024 at 12:16 PM, Twin Tiers Living said:

By now the seed catalogs are likely showing up in your mailbox, and dreams of what to grow, what to try begin to fill our minds.

This year’s gardening megathread is now officially open, so let’s hear what you’re planning, doing, and harvesting throughout the yea

No seed catalogs at this house!! I've always looked forward to their arrival to peruse again and again, dreaming of bright and beautiful flowers to come... and now, even tho I made some purchases last year, but no catalogs have arrived to date and likely will not be coming...  Otherwise, will just work with what I've got or look at those companies online of last year's catalogs and see if there's anything I can add to the gardens.  A far cry from years ago when I grew a very large garden to can and freeze the produce. Cannot do that anymore, sadly.  

8 hours ago, Chris said:

The leaves generally start to fade about this time of year, but some of them seem to be turning earlier than usual. I noticed this particularly up along the lake.

We could very well have a cold, snowy one. 

My sugar maple has a small section near the top that I just noticed today has begun to turn ever so slightly... summer went by all too fast!

...and Why It Failed"  -- Have read considerably on the American Civil War, been to Gettysburg on our honeymoon, stood on top of the rocks overlooking the field where Pickett's Charge took place. Researched and wrote for my Homespun Ancestors blog about the battle and Lincoln's short and to-the-point simple but reverberating speech to commemorate those who gave their lives in this important battle.

This book by Carhart is key to understanding Gen. Robert E. Lee, a highly respected West Point graduate, who thoroughly studied and put to use Napoleonic battle plans which won for the Confederacy. Lee lost Gettysburg because of two main side failures which were to have supported Pickett for a major win - one of which became a great triumph for the Union's Brig. Gen. George A. Custer. A man of great valor, courage and bravery, he, too, studied at West Point, thus also knowing how to win in various battlefield situations. With far less men on the field, he stopped J.E.B. (Jeb) Stuart's advance to meet Pickett's men by also using Napoleonic battle plans... based on centuries' old tried-and-true methods.

I was impressed with the extensive research by Carhart. Impressed with his writing and detailed explanations of the battlefields before these armies converged at Gettysburg. Impressed with both Lee and Custer's bravery and skill on the battlefield. As I was intrigued from previous readings about Custer, he was a great soldier before arrogance caught up with him at the Battle of Little Big Horn - a battlefield my daughter and I visited in 2004 enroute from her job in Calif to S.D. for grad school. Standing at the rise which overlooks a wide open plain where the Native Americans had encamped, seeing behind us the gravestones of every one of Custer's men made me wonder "what was he thinking"?!

A must read for all Civil War buffs!

My family's order of 3 doz mixed baby chicks arrived safe and healthy with no dead little ones back in the spring of 1970... and as a teen, I commenced a crash course from my Dad on how to care for them once my Mom said they were old enough to be put out in the newly remodeled old chicken coop. And I learned responsibility and a love for my collection of mixed breed hens!  Too many people, like Rosenthal, think they know better how to run our lives than we do!!!

5 minutes ago, Chris said:

And of course if poured yesterday, so we'll see what happens I guess. I think the potatoes are ready to pull either way. 

Nice you got pouring rain in your area! We got maybe a few little drops and that was it. Not even enough to wet the dust...

Enjoyed this post! I was amazed to see that several of the chicken breeds I raised in my flock as a teen are either threatened or recovering. Sad to learn what's happened to alot of the traditional breeds of many livestock, not just chickens, but glad that those chicken breeds are recovering. My dad had an old book on chicken breeds and care thereof from his 4-H days as a teen in NJ and he won judging contests at the local fair, netting a trip to the Boston chicken show in the latter 1940s. Sadly, the book has been lost over the years.

On 7/7/2021 at 9:20 AM, Ann said:

Last week we enjoyed a delicious lunch at the Blue Dolphins.  The service was prompt and the food was delicious and portions very generous.

I especially enjoyed the Greek salad.  I'm not a big fan of vinegret dressings but this was wonderful.  I told Hubby I would go back just for that salad.

We've eaten there several times in the past - love their food too!

I can still remember the old Newberry's which we frequented after we moved to Lounsberry in '69 - got some really good items there, including a suitcase that's still in great condition! Have been thru the Antique store a couple times and really like the items and diversity... but didn't buy.

On 3/25/2021 at 11:32 PM, Kevin said:

Disney + is not available on cable.  It is a streaming platform like Netflix. I have 4 streaming services and no cable. 

Thanks very much Kevin! but I haven't a clue how to do streaming services. My husband is blind and I'm not tech savvy. I've struggled with using DVDs, and even stopped doing that.

22 hours ago, Kevin said:

Dr Pol is on Disney + if you can stream

Thanks Kevin - Don't get Disney on our cable; don't know what streaming is 🙂

Welcome to Haefele! We're very pleased with what they have, tho Nat Geo and Nat Geo Wild are gone and the Mets baseball channel has been gone awhile, and we miss our Dutch Dr. Pol vet. Have had Haefele cable TV now for several yrs. Tempted to get internet too and use Frontier only for landline, but not looking forward to the hassle of changing all our many email user connections to a new name, so haven't switched. We get MeTV under Binghamton's ch.12.3 (I think it is - Ed's my DJ), and we really like the music channels too as my resident DJ toggles btwn different venues we like should a not-so-good song start playing LOL! Enjoy!!

Great video! I'd love to have chickens again, but... This brought back alot of memories! I took care of 3-doz-plus chickens of mixed breeds (aka straight run!) that arrived as baby chicks in the mail too, 6 Muscovy "ducks" with one who set and raised ducklings (yes, they were delicious albeit greasier than chickens), plus one guard goose who my toddler brother named "Honk" and the name stuck! Both my parents knew how to care for them - my Dad grew up in Clifton's city life, but, with farming in his blood, raised chickens under his Mom's tutelage, winning 4H competition with his prized birds such that he won a trip to Boston competition as a late teen. My Mom helped care for 3000+ chickens in varying stages on their dairy farm during the Depression; her Mom did the candling, and they took "tons" of eggs into Albany to markets every week. We kept our chicks with the lamp, feeder, and small waterer similar to this video - but in a big tall box in back corner of our farmhouse kitchen. When she deemed them old enough, I put them into the re-claimed chicken coop that my Dad had remodeled/updated/reroofed, using glass eggs found in the nesting boxes from the former owner of our property - supposedly they help the pullets know where to start laying eggs. They were my responsibility as a teen and I loved them! We also knew some were meant for the freezer, so my sister and I were the "dunk and pluck" crew. Dressing one old hen, my Mom showed us the raw forming eggs minus the shells in varying sizes - really cool! Maybe someday again... 🙂

On 2/10/2021 at 3:44 PM, Ann said:

Has any one ever tried this?

What a neat idea!!