Family, Food, holidays, Seasons, Uncategorized

Rich Beyond Measure

28 Comments

I made broth last weekend.  It is the Brodo recipe from The Splendid Table with 9 lbs of turkey wings and 3 lbs of beef bones.  It simmers for 14 hours. It produces a couple of gallons of golden brown goodness. We use it all the time, so we try to always have some on hand.  We  consider ourselves rich as we put the broth containers in the freeze “This is wealth”, we say.  Who needs more things when you have broth?

We have much to be thankful for besides homemade broth.  We feel especially rich in good friends,  good coworkers,  and in our community as a whole.  In this season of rampant consumerism, I think it is good to consider all the things that contribute richness to our lives.

What makes your life a richer, more satisfying one?

 

28 thoughts on “Rich Beyond Measure”

  2. HI–
    You’re right Renee; we also have a lot to be thankful for.
    We know how lucky and fortunate we are in so many things. Even having access to wifi at home. I know a lot of college students who tell me they don’t have connection at home; either they use their phones or wait to be at the college.

    I don’t worry about food, water, home, heat, transportation, money. And we know we’re only a random split second left hand turn or slip on the ice from a lot of those things.

    I tell a lot of people; you need to go stand outside at night and look at the stars (or clouds for the last month), but you need to get your perspective in the world and know how lucky we are even to BE here.

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  4. I have two drawers in the kitchen we designate as “treasure drawers, as that is where we keep baking supplies like glaceed fruits, chocolate, maple sugar, brown sugar, powdered sugar, raisins, currants, dried figs and apricots, almond paste, cocoa, citron, etc. This is my first baking weekend, and I will soak the glaceed fruits in rum preparatory to making stollen and klaben. Just looking in those drawers makes me feel rich.

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  5. One trend I find offensive and wrong is the growth of Christian churches that promise riches and abundance if only you join them. I feel like snarling whenever I drive past one of them.

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    1. I’m not sure what’s behind your reference to girlfriends, Joanne. I know about ten guys (most of them the sons of friends) who fall somewhere in the 18 to 30 age spectrum. Almost all of them live at home and do not date.

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    2. Or maybe boyfriends?

      I have several friends who within the past couple of years have had to deal with the reality that their children had gender and/or sexuality issues. In one case, two children whose sex at birth was designated as a boy and girl. The son came out last year as gay, and the girl, at about the same time, began transition to the male gender. The whole family is doing fine now, but it has been some very emotional and stressful months.

      The other couple have three kids. The youngest is a boy, who came out as gay last year. His “girlfriend” is currently transitioning to male. These issues are real, and people deal with them in real lives. Again this family is strong and loving, and they’re currently focusing their energies on dealing with a recent diagnosis of cancer at the base of the tongue of the father.

      I think the lesson is to not take things for granted.

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      1. Good question, PJ. It’s one I have asked about these kids. I don’t know them all really well, but I think the young guys I know are all straight. They just don’t date, or date much. Against that, my sense is that young men have way more girl friends than was true in my generation (girl friends, two words, not girlfriends). That seems like a positive change to me. I’m resisting the impulse of older people to criticize younger folks who do things differently. One of the young men who went years without dating suddenly–or it seemed sudden to me–got married. Behind what looks like a change in dating patterns could be new economic realities that cause young folks to delay dating.

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        1. Steve, I didn’t mean to suggest that Joanne’s son’s are gay, or that the three young men you mentioned are. I was merely pointing out that young people nowadays are much more aware than most folks our age of gender and sexual orientation issues, and that we make an awful lot of assumptions that may or may not be true.

          Despite the fact that my parents were good friends with a lesbian couple, I don’t think the thought ever occurred to them, or to me, that I may not be straight. I know people my age who married a person of the opposite sex in a vain attempt to live up to the expectations of others at the expense of suppressing their true sexual orientation. In some cases they had kids, and later divorced because one of the spouses could finally no longer live the lie. I personally know at least three couples where this was the case. In all three cases it was a gay man marrying a hetero woman, and all three had kids. I’m sure there are plenty of cases of the opposite as well.

          I don’t see this as a negative thing, but it most certainly is an issue that can greatly upset family dynamics as we know them. These are complicated, powerful issues, and it takes a great deal of love, compassion, and understanding to navigate the turmoil that often ensues when such issues arise.

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  7. Thanks for this post, Renee, a good reminder to focus on gratitude. I remind myself of this daily, but as you all know, that doesn’t stop me from noticing and complaining about all that’s wrong, too. But keeping the balance on the positive side is so important; keeping things in perspective.

    Friends, good souls that help when they see a need. I’m blessed with some absolutely wonderful, caring and giving friends.

    Although my freezer isn’t stocked with such a wealth of homemade broth, I am blessed with the ability to stock my larder with whatever I want and need.

    I often contemplate how lucky I am to live in a home free of violence. Having grown up the way I did, I do not take this for granted.

    Hans is off for a brief visit with a friend who is dying from pancreatic cancer. We’re both blessed to be reasonably good health.

    The amaryllis I bought from Breck’s may not be sprouting, but my Christmas cactus is about to burst into bloom. It’s such a joy and welcome surprise every year.

    I could go on and on; suffice it to say that I’m rich beyond my wildest dreams.

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  8. I’ll be the odd one out. Christmas makes me sad because 1/3 of my tribe will be missing. Dave, my oldest who lives in Naples, and his five kids have always made it home for Thanksgiving. We only have the whole family together this one day of the year, and they didn’t come home this time. Lots of empty chairs.

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      1. We’ll have about 10. To respond to your comment, Renee, getting 10 people on a plane to FL would be impossible. In fact, Dave and his family aren’t coming home because “It’s too hard to have 5 people fly”

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  9. My life right now is rich in having people in it, and (it seems, at least, that) this wasn’t always the case. I’m envisioning concentric circles:
    – Husband at the center, we’ve sustained each other through some tough times.
    – then a few close friends & family members (even if I don’t see them frequently) that I can level with about anything.
    – then like-minded people I see regularly in committee work and/or singing, dance groups
    – then people I like and respect and would perhaps like to get to know better, that I see in all walks of life.
    (Baboons show up all through these circles – sort of varies with what sort of discussion we’re having on any given day.)

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