Given my love of history, I found it hard to stay away from a historical celebration of my new town. It’s not often you encounter anyone or anything turning 150. The actual anniversary was earlier this month on the 11th, but for some reason the two decided that today would be the official public celebration (although the town was encouraging everyone to ring a bell at noon on the 11th to memorialize the actual date). The weather wasn’t exactly cooperating, but the rain was rather light and so not that dissuasive to me from participating. The celebration took place in the Armory, which is a castle-looking building on Main Street. I have driven past the building many times and was always curious about it. It turns out to be a local event venue, seating about 200 people, so it’s a great place for speeches, meetings, weddings, etc. When I walked inside, I found a number of tables/booths established, each representing one of the many local concerns in the community. I went by each of these stations, taking pictures and pamphlets as I was interested. One of the first items to elicit that interest was a timeline of Harford County, of which Bel Air is the county seat. Just this tidbit of history was fascinating to me and further endeared me to my new local community. Next to the timeline were two pictures of the historic Hayes House, which is the first house built in the area, is currently undergoing renovation, and will open soon for the public to tour. At the far end of the meeting hall was a huge replica of the county seal along with some historical artifacts and a female greeter in historical dress to answer questions people might have. I confess I was surprised (and pleasantly so) to see the county seal containing the motto “At the risque of our lives an fortunes,” a snippet from the Bush Declaration, signed in Harford County well before the Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadephia and containing the same sentiments from the signatories of sacrifice for freedom. Having spent so much time already in the local library, I had to stop by the booth for the library, especially when they were displaying posters describing the history behind the library. Reading through the history of the place where I now live, I wondered about all of the history in the places where I have lived all over the country. They weren’t celebrating any 150-year birthdays, and not having some event like that which invites the public in to learn more made that history more difficult to access. That said, if I had really wanted it, I could have gone out and gotten it. My gratitude for the ease of that access for my new local community then came to the fore as I saw actual wooden nickels on display. They were from a centennial celebration of the incorporation of the town. I had never before seen wooden nickels, though I remember hearing about them years ago. Now with actual bona fide wooden nickels in front of me, I had to check them out and take a pic. I also had to check out displayed right next to the wooden nickels a commemorative plate made for the same centennial celebration. What I find fascinating about the plate is the collection of notable buildings from across the history of the community. I’m not a huge fan of architecture, but I do love history, and seeing this type of object makes me wonder about the connections that might be made in its use. Eating food off a plate like this could be seen as taking the history of the place into you as you consume your meal. Plus seeing the Oddfellows Lodge in the upper left gets that classic R.E.M. tune playing in my head: “Oddfellows Local 151 behind the firehouse, where Pee Wee sits upon the wall to preach . . . .” The celebration event was much more than was inside the meeting hall. After exiting the building, I decided to take a tour of the garden located on the side of the building. The garden contained a public chess/checker board which some young whipper snapper had constructed as an Eagle Scout project, a very worthwhile effort. I remembered by own Eagle Scout project and regretted the changes that Scouting has made since I was a part of it. I’d probably be more supportive of and more active within the organization today otherwise. Behind the garden is a huge courtyard area, probably used for public speeches back in the day. Behind that area is the back of the building, and here I found two interesting surprises. The first was an old-time fire truck, which looks to be about as old as I am, maybe a bit older than that. The second surprise was a trolley car dating back to 1915. I was invited inside the car. Up front is a driver section with a control dashboard that looks like something from 1965 rather than 1915. Behind the driver section is a seating area on one side that does look something from 1915 and a model train track display in the other side. The display runs the length of the trolley, so I couldn’t fit it all into one shot, meaning making another video. All in all, it was great event, and I’m glad I stopped by. I feel a greater sense of appreciation for my new community, a greater connection to it, and a greater desire to participate more in it. Yes, I am already volunteering a couple of hours each week, but I feel like I need to do more than that. I’m not sure what that will turn out to be, but time will certainly tell that tale.
I wasn’t expecting to do this today when I got up, but some switch inside of me got triggered this morning, and I decided to make this experimental recipe for creamy corn chowder that I had assembled. I had no idea how well it would work out, assuming it worked out at all, nor did I know if it would really make chowder. To me, soup with its runny liquid base is on one end of the spectrum, on the other end of the spectrum is stew (which properly made is thick though it runs a little), and in that sweet spot in the middle is chowder — not liquid like soup, but not as solid as stew. Of course, the part that made it easy for me to decide on a whim that now was the moment to make this was its preparation in the slow cooker. The slow cooker is one of my best friends in the kitchen (and should be so for everyone, I think). For most things, you just dump everything in, set it, and forget it until it is time to eat. And the smells it places in your home are just fantastic! This recipe was no exception. Here’s what I put into my 2-1/2 quart slow cooker for this recipe:
Initially, I put in all the dry ingredients except for the bay leaf. Then I added each of the wet ingredients and stirred until everything was more or less evenly distributed. Finally, I added the bay leaf on top, covered it, and set it to cook on low for 4 hours. After 4 hours, I came back, removed the bay leaf, stirred everything together so that it would once be even, and served it with some natural wheat bread. I call it natural because it doesn’t have all the preservatives and other chemicals that most of the junk bread in the bread aisle has in it. It turned out to have a very good flavor, which was wonderful. I was happy to have developed a vegetable-centric recipe, as I need more convenient ways to get more vegetables into my diet. That said, when I make this again, I will be making some changes. First, the end result was more like soup than chowder, so to thicken it, I will reduce the chicken broth to one cup and hold back the flour and milk initially. About a half hour before the dish is done, I’ll mix the milk and flour together separately, and then pour that mixture into the slow coker, stirring so it gets more or less evenly distributed. That should thicken it up into more of a chowder and less of a soup. Second, the flavor as is in this first attempt was really good. I could sense that part of the reason for that was the smoked paprika. The portion of smokiness it imparted was just lightly, however, so I want to double or maybe even triple the amount next time so I get more of that smoky flavor coming through. Third, the wheat bread I served with the soup was a nice addition, but I’m thinking that some cheddar biscuits might pair better, especially if I have actual chowder and not just soup. The aftermath of my hospitalization a year and a half ago forced me back into the kitchen in search of recipes that would help promote my recovery and avoid pain (which eating the “wrong” things would quickly bring). I still have some trouble, though to nowhere near the extent it was when I left the hospital. But it did bring some healthy habits into my life, and experimenting with and developing recipes like this one have reintroduced me to the joy I once had being in the kitchen. It’s good to be back in there. Not long after moving into my new town, I felt the need to give back to the community as a way of getting to know it better. While in this context, I happened upon the website for the Harford County Historical Society and saw that they were in desperate need of volunteers. I love history, and I thought this would be an enjoyable way to follow the prompting I had to give back to the community. After meeting with the society director and one of her associates, an elderly gentleman named Walt, I was assigned an independent project based on my needs with my schedule (or rather the schedule that I presented). That project aims to digitize the collection of oversize documents, Walt showed me his process for creating and naming the digital files, which, being an engineer, I quickly improved by developing a more efficient procedure. Speaking of which, when Walt gave me my training for the project, he asked if I knew anything about computers. I instantly thought, “Well, I’m an engineer, so I hope I know something.” But in that second before responding, a decision confronted me. Would I respond with something smart? Or would I pretend to be ignorant? Or would I just pretend to be a hot shot know-it-all? I settled for something more in the middle: “You could say I’m a little familiar.” Now I go in once a week for a couple of hours to scan oversize documents. The documents aren’t in any specific order, so I’ve gotten a glimpse of all sorts of things from the 18th century on. For someone who loves history, this is a pretty posh job. Today, though, I got a special treat. Several different projects are in the works at the same time, and one of those projects must involve historical objects, because I see different objects set out around the oversize file cabinet where the documents I am scanning are kept. Today I saw an actual old-time telephone. The telephones that I grew up with as a kid are already museum pieces, so to see something that was an actual museum piece when I was growing up was really cool. Even cooler was being able to touch it. It’s not often you get to touch a real piece of history like this, so I thought that was a special unanticipated treat. Looking at the back side of the phone, I saw holes for screws, and instantly the engineer side of me wanted to take over. I wanted to find a screwdriver and open the thing up! I didn’t, of course, but it was awfully tempting. Looking out the window from my seat by the scanner, I saw a fantastic view of the national and state flags waving outside. The photo I snapped didn’t really capture the vibrancy of the flags waving motion, so I made a short video. Overall, I feel very blessed to have this special gig. It doesn’t offer a paycheck, but the pay it offers is well worth the time I exchange for it. I’m glad I was able to find it! It’s not surprising that my neighbor decided to make noise (through playing loud music and other high-volume activities), but it surprise me he started so early today. So I decided to do something that I had never before done — just get in my car and go get breakfast somewhere new. I have visited a new place to breakfast before, but never on a whim; it has always been planned out in advance. The new place is one that I had passed by a time or two or three — the Sunny Day Café in downtown Bel Air, Maryland. I love breakfast, so a new place to catch a bite of breakfast easily makes my list of places to visit. But this place tots itself as “voted best breakfast in Harford county,” so naturally I had to check out the claim. And since I am verifying that sort of claim, I had to make sure that my favorite breakfast item, a.k.a. biscuits and gravy, was a part of my meal. To this “side dish” I added scrambled eggs, home fries, and turkey sausage. It took a while to get my order out, which is fine since that probably means that they were fixing it fresh. But was it worth the wait? I’m not sure. Something about the turkey sausage was off. It didn’t taste right. I’m not sure if it was the blend of spices wasn’t quite right or if there was something wrong with the meat itself. Whatever it was, it just tasted off, and given my previous experience requiring a stay in the hospital, I decided not to eat both sausages. The eggs wee fine, but the home fries were very bland. Good thing I had the gravy; it was the perfect complement that the home fries really needed. The biscuit was okay. It was essentially an old-time powder biscuit. I don’t mind that so much, since the gravy paired well with it. But I do prefer biscuits that are flaky and flavorful in their own right. Again, good I had gravy, gravy, gravy. The price was about what I would expect for a local joint. If everything about the meal had been downright fantastic, I would say it would be worth the price. But if this is what passes for the best breakfast in the county, I should set up my own shop. It wouldn’t take much effort in my kitchen to snag that prize. Still, for an impromptu visit, not bad. I give it 3 stars. Few would dispute the idea that Abraham Lincoln was one of the greatest US presidents. A racist assassinated him on April 14, 1865. Seeing the anniversary of that fateful day just around the corner, I thought it would be best to remember Lincoln by returning to the scene of the crime. And so I planned a visit to Ford’s Theater in downtown DC today. I have to admit that I turned out to be a bit more adventure than I anticipated and yet not enough. Let me explain. The day began with a drive into downtown DC, which I try to avoid because many of the streets have a higher probability of confusing me, even with the GPS app on my phone (although I do confess the app does help some). I considered taking the Metro instead, but somehow it seemed that I would actually save time by driving in myself and parking at a nearby garage. So this morning I took off and headed into DC. The morning was cloudy, overcast, and very windy when I left. By the time I arrived, the sun was starting to come out. Apparently the parking garage I chose from the options I saw online did not materialize, or at least I didn’t see it anywhere in sight when the GPS app said, “You have arrived at your destination.” Like I said, the app helps out some. I thought the best thing to do would be to keep driving; surely another one must be nearby. After driving a few blocks and not seeing anything, I turned right, went down a block, and then turned right again. At the next light that stopped me, I repurposed my GPS app to find any parking garage. Then I saw one just to the left. I quickly turned in, and after a short conversation with a confused attendant, I found myself going further and further below ground within tight spaces to find a parking space. The maze I had to go through to get out of the building was even worse, but eventually I surfaced. With 10 minutes to go before my tour started, I consulted my GPS app and was misdirected around the corner. I should have just walked straight ahead and crossed the street at that corner.
Rejoining the line, I followed along down very tight and steep steps into the lower portion of the building where a museum is housed. I know some people like taking lots of pictures of the exhibits inside museums, but I’m not one of those folks. Something about me just feels it’s somehow uncouth or just downright wrong. My attitude is that if you want to see what is inside a museum, then go see it for yourself. What’s the point of the museum otherwise? I did make an exception — OK, I made a few exceptions. First, I saw this fantastic framed document in the gift shop that I just felt I needed to capture about the similarities between Lincoln and Kennedy. I did not before realize that these two American presidents had so many similarities, some of which are just downright uncanny. Lincoln’s Rules of Conduct was also on display, though like the previous document was also out of stock (making me feel a little more easy about taking photos). But the exception that really baked my bagel was Booth’s deringer pistol, or rather I should say a replica of Booth’s deringer pistol. All the promotional material for Ford’s Theater, and as can seen even the display in the museum, touts the displayed object as the actual pistol Booth used to assassinate Lincoln. The photo I took is a little blurry, but it is clear that what is on display is not Booth’s deringer but a plastic replica made from a mold fashioned with the actual murder weapon. It’s nice to “touch a piece of history,” but I would prefer that piece of history to be real. Of course, I don’t blame anyone associated with the museum for not displaying the actual piece; if I were in charge, I wouldn’t have it out on display for anyone to put their hands on. But neither would I be touting a replica as the real thing. Outside that one exhibit, what I saw in the museum is well worth the trip to see. Lots of exhibits that were very educational. After seeing everything, and taking my time to do so, I learned that I misunderstood the tour description. I thought that everything I purchased with my ticket would take 30 minutes to run through. No, the 30 minutes is just the museum. So after that half hour, I followed folks in line up the stairs to the actual theater area. I went upstairs another level to find a seat in the balcony area with a good view of the box where Lincoln saw his last theatrical performance. The public doesn’t go in there, and it’s clear to me why, so I’m OK just to be in eyeshot of it. After a few minutes, a park ranger appeared on stage and began a history presentation about the events surrounding Lincoln’s final days, which was educational but also kind of creepy since the stage was all set for the current run of Little Shop of Horrors. I regret not recording the presentation. Even an audio format would have been engaging after the fact, especially since it was filled with all sorts of interesting tidbits that I did not know previously. A lot of good the presentation did, though, because as I write this I can’t remember any of those interesting tidbits — more reason why I regret not recording it! So if you plan a visit to Ford’s Theater, going out of your way to attend a tour with the ranger talk is a definite must. Following the ranger talk, we all shuffled out to the street, which was behind the old-time doors I had stood in front of when I was in line at the very start. People began filing across the street for a tour of the Peterson house, and another long line awaited me. This one took much longer to get through — a whole 45 minutes! — mostly because the space inside being so small only 15 people at a time could enter. But eventually I did get inside. The actual room and bed where Lincoln met his end were interesting to see and are the last things seen inside the house. A walkway then leads you to stairs with an interesting quote on the wall. I was so impressed with the quote that I decided to snap a photo. I think the quote speaks for itself. Between the bottom of the stairs and the outside street is a final exhibit room with the highest stack of books I have ever seen in my life. I tried getting it in a photo, but it was so big that I couldn’t fit it all into a single shot. So I made a quick video. As I bibliophile, I just couldn’t stop geeking out over this “Tower of Books.” Once out on the street again, I had to get back to my vehicle. I wanted to linger longer and check out on of the nearby restaurants; there was a Greek place serving “yeeros” and a French café that both looked intriguing. But I had told the parking attendant earlier I needed only 2 hours, and my 2 hours were just about up. Getting out of DC was a bear, and I saw that it would have been much better to take the Metro, which I recommend for anyone visiting the theater. Overall, though, I don’t regret going. This is a definite bucket list item that is worth every minute. And since the theater is still being used as a theater (it wasn’t always so), I may have to go back some time to see a play in the house that Lincoln loved to visit.
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PurposeHere you can find news and announcements I want to share. In between I'll include reviews of the books I read. Find me on Goodreads.com for more book reviews. Archives
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