Fifty Years, Really?

Totally timeless, isn't it?  When did it begin? Will it ever end? I certainly hope not!

Unfortunately our human bodily lives to have "limits" on them.  Oh, some are much longer than others for sure, but all eventually succumb to time.

I am reminded of this today as I received an invitation to my 50th High School Class Reunion.  Yep, fifty years!  Can I really be that old?

As I looked over the names at the bottom of the list who are on the committee for the reunion, all of them are very familiar to me....most I haven't seen in the past fifty years.

Living in Florida, then Georgia and now in Utah, I have been quite far away from my original "stomping grounds" for quite some time now.  I have managed to visit a few times, but it has probably been about 15 years since I was last in Maryland.  It will be interesting to say the least re-connecting with the people I knew all those years ago.  It will be fun to see how many actually show up to the reunion, as we are scattered all over the country at this point.  It seems that most people now don't stay in the State much less the City where they were born and raised.

I venture to say that the little hamlet where I actually grew up has changed least of all.  It is such a small place at a dead end peninsula on the Potomac.  Not much had changed when I was back there 15 years ago.  There are plenty of fond memories there, and some not so good as well.  I can't even imagine having spent my entire lifetime there.  I think I knew even as a child that I would not.  I had always wanted to see other States and Countries, and I have been blessed to be able to do so.  Sometimes I feel like I have lived several lifetimes in the last fifty years. I have traveled a lot, worked many jobs, had many children and grandchildren, and now here I am in Utah living in the Rocky Mountains - the absolute LAST place I would have dreamed I would end up!  Life certainly has taken some twists and turns along the way.  I don't regret any of them.

I have heard some people say they wish they could go back to High School.  Not me.  I don't think I have ever wished that.  Oh, it isn't that it was bad or anything.  I just knew that there was a huge world full of interesting people out there that I wanted to get to know.  I have always been a person who looked forward to each new day seeking new adventures.  From traveling the world, to snowshoeing, to Paddle Boarding I have always been unafraid to try something new.  Tomorrow I plan to travel up the mountain to Snowbasin and try my hand at downhill skiing for the first time.  I will have an instructor, and there is plenty of fresh powder to fall on so I shouldn't get too many bruises!

I am looking forward to going back to Maryland for the Reunion.  I have lots of cousins still living there that it will be fun to see.  I have friends there that I haven't seen in 50 years and I am looking forward to reconnecting with some of them too!  I want to walk the halls of the old Lackey High School and remember...just remember.  So much happened when we were students there, including the assassination of President Kennedy.  I will never forget sitting in my tenth grade class that day.  I'll bet neither have any of my classmates.

Life is so different now.  No more manual typewriters, not even Selectrics! Wow, I wonder what we would have thought if we could have seen fifty years into the future?  We lived in the Viet Nam era, our parents in WW II, and now - well now it seems the whole world is at war in one way or another.  I hope the next fifty years prove to be more peaceful than the last fifty.  I pray that there is some hope of growth into a more peaceful world.

For now, I am looking forward to sharing stories with my classmates from the past.

PEACE, LOVE & JOY

Linda

Craving Blue Crabs!

I grew up in Southern Maryland right up the hill from the Potomac River, backwater creeks and estuaries. When the weather got hot the craving for Steamed Crabs was strong. It was part of a family tradition to get a line, some chicken necks or smoked eel, cut them up small and attach them to a trout line. The trout line had bouys attached to each end...and an anchor to hold it in place. We would get in the boat with our line, bait, dip nets and a bushel basket.

We would usually head out early in the morning and place the line to attract the crabs. Then we would go ashore to come back a little later to fish the line.
It was an exciting time as you crept back up to the line and began to pull it bait piece by bait piece. If you were lucky, the entire string would have a crab on each little piece of bait. We used to fill a bushel basket in one morning.

Then, we would hurry home with our "catch", place them in a large stainless steel drum with just the right amount of water in the bottom to cover the rack and lots and lots of cayenne, Old Bay and Salt! About 30 minutes later out came the most beautiful, tasty creatures you ever ate. Believe me, by the time we were four, we knew how to pick out our own crabs. This is an art that people in Southern Maryland learn at a very young age, and never, never forget.

You don't have to have a boat to catch crabs however, or even a trout line with smoked eel. This Summer, while we were at Okaloosa Island, I took my granddaughters crabbing for the first time. We went to the bait store and picked up some collapsible basket traps ( about $3.00 each ) and then to Publix for a package of about a dozen chicken necks ( about another $3.00 ). As you can see, crabbing isn't expensive. It does however, require GREAT patience.

After purchasing our supplies, we headed for a local public dock to hunt the watery treasure. The girls were beside themselves with excitement about the possibility of catching crabs. After tying the chicken necks to the bottom of the traps, we placed our little baskets into the shallow water off the end of the dock and waited.

It wasn't too long before we pulled up our first tiny (just a little over 3" point to point) crab! You would have thought it was a 200 pound Marlin for all the excitement it generated. The girls were ecstatic, and I was thrilled at the memories we would share about this day. We only caught eight crabs that afternoon, but taking them home and preparing them for the girls was part of a tradition I wished to pass to yet another generation of our family.

I spent a little time showing them how to pick out their own meat, also part of the tradition, and they thoroughly enjoyed it.

We shared lots of time, talk and just plain fun that day on the dock. We even had a large Blue Heron who sat at the end of the dock and kept company with us ALL day! We knew what he was waiting for, and when we got ready to leave, he got his reward.
What a happy bird he was. Didn't know Herons ate chicken necks, sounded kinda cannibalistic to me, but he gobbled it right down.

Making memories and carrying on traditions with your children and grandchildren is such an important part of life. These special little moments are the ones they will remember more than the trips to expensive amusement parks. Hopefully they will carry these joyful moments with them and share them with their own children someday.

Oh, by the way, here is a family recipe for the best Crab Cakes you will ever eat.
Just in case you are like my hubby, who was born in Pennsylvania, and refuses to learn to pick out crabs!

MARYLAND STYLE CRAB CAKES

Ingredients

1 Pound Crabmeat...you can use your favorite...I prefer lump, but claw is
equally tasty
1/2 cup melted butter..yes BUTTER
1/2 cup fine bread crumbs
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup finely chopped, sauteed onions
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning (there is NO substitute for this)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste

combine above ingredients until well mixed, adding crabmeat LAST...gently fold crabmeat into the mixture. Scoop (I use and ice cream scoop) mixture and place gently in lightly oiled frying pan and flatten slightly. Brown lightly on both sides.

Serve immediately....these can be made ahead and warmed in the oven before serving if you can keep your family from gobbling them up as they come out of the pan!
I make "mini" crabcakes as an appetizer during the holidays. The kids just love 'em!

Relfections on Birthdays Past

My oldest Son will be 44 years old tomorrow! Now if you don't think this blog applies to you, listen up. Before you know it that little baby you are holding in your arms will be 40 in the blink of an eye. It seems like only yesterday that Cliff was riding on that old red tractor with Harold (who passed away some years back after battling Parkinsons) and his sister Wendy. I don't know where all those years went, but now Cliff has two boys of his own (one of whom is already 15, the other is 8) and I am a great grandmother of two!

I am saying all of this to remind you to take each day as it comes, and enjoy every minute of it. Not all of the days will be easy, but some of them will be spectacular. Like the time when Cliff was just a little guy playing Little League in Berlin, Maryland. He wanted a pair of cleats (they were expensive) and I told him on the way to his game that day that I would buy him a pair of cleats when he hit his first home run. Well, I didn't get to wait long, as that day at the end of the game the kid not only hit a home run, but hit the winning home run. I laughed, cried and sighed and was so proud all at the same time. That was nearly forty years ago, and I still remember it so clearly.

Now, we go to the boys soccer games and root them on and cheer when they are successful and comfort them when the game goes the other way. I am so proud of them. They are growing up to be great kids who will soon be great adults, and I enjoy the time I have to spend with them. I have four children and seven grandchildren and two great grandchildren. I can remember when someone used to say something happened twenty years ago, and how long a time that seemed. Now I realize how easily that time slips away.

Don't rush it. Enjoy each and every day and whatever it brings. Tell your family how much you love them every chance you get. Be generous with hugs (in spite of the fact that the boys sometimes seem a little embarrassed by them)and with praise. Share joy, recipes, memories and just plain old fashioned fun. Time is short!