A new blog suggested by Liz...
We're all getting older.
I know, I know. Some people would like to ignore that, but I'll confess, I embrace my aging. I find myself just a bit happier and a bit more comfortable in my own skin as I get older. I love the life I've built with Himself. I love the family we've built. Well, I'm happy.
Maybe I don't mind getting older so much because I have a fondness for old things. My house is filled with antiques. I was talking about buying a Griswold pan for all my Minions. I want one to give each of them as they graduate. (I know, it's a few years off, but I like to be prepared.) I've been teaching them to cook...and a lot of my cooking is in my Griswold, so that's where they're learning. I would like all of them to be fully functioning humans when they are young adults. Learning to feed yourself and others is a part of that. Learning to care for your personal needs is another...which is why after a summer-of-cooking, next summer is going to be the summer-of-laundry. They're going to learn how to do their own laundry, fold it and put is away. (I do love summer-themes...a couple summers ago, we had a summer-of-rafting. We built a few with varying degrees of success and eventually came up with a working raft! And you can ask the Minions about their summer-of-salad...loving salad was not the result, but they can all eat a salad, I'll call that a win.)
Back to the Griswold. The cast iron pans were made here in Erie. (If you read my books, you know how much I love writing about my hometown. I love collecting things from Erie as well.) The pan I cook in almost daily is over 100 years old. It's old, but still functional. One of the pieces we picked up recently was rough. It was rusted and had some pitting. We've been working on it and it's once again functional. It's developing a nice finish. It might be a bit worse for wear, but it does it's job.
That's what I'm hoping for as I age. Maybe I'll be a bit rusty with some pitting, but I want to still get the job done. I want to be hanging with the kids as they learn to build rafts, learn to cook, and do their own laundry. And so many other things. I want to help them find the beauty in the outdoors. I want to make them ask questions and go looking for the answers. I want them to be fully functional humans.
I've always been a fan of the triple goddess. Maiden, Mother and Crone. I found my younger years uncomfortable, and truly felt I came into my own in those mid-years, raising kids and caring for the elderly in my life. And I look at the crone-years with a sense of potential. The kids don't need me the same way. The Minions still have a few things to learn from me, but they don't need me as intensely. I feel like I'm coming into my own. Like my Griswold, I might show my years, but I still have work to do and I can still get it done!
I can't wait to see what comes next!
Holly
PS. Speaking of what comes next, have you read my most recent books and pre-ordered the what's-coming-next ones?
Slip and Fall: A Harry's Pottery Mystery #2 Kindle, iBooks, Kobo, Nook
A View to a Kiln: A Harry's Pottery Mystery #1 Kindle, iBooks, Kobo, Nook
A View to a Kiln on Jeopardy!!
Exclusively available for Kindle and KU.
Around the Square
Book 1, 2 , 3 are out now.
Book 5 is available for preorder!
I love it, too! Not the cast iron--I can't cook on it--but the traditions, and being older.
ReplyDeleteWith a bit of experimenting, it really is fun to cook with! And being older rocks!
DeleteI have an amazing cast iron collection, Griswolds, Wagners, and even some old ones from Japan. I too am collecting some for my adult children, mostly because I’m tired of being asked. “Momma, when you die would you leave me your cast iron?”
ReplyDeleteLOL Kids. Even when they get older they're still kids and don't think about what they say. My Minions are already trying to decide which pan they want. At least they're not waiting for my demise...just being old enough to go to college.
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