hummingalongblogcom

  • MY TRUTH

    My anxious heart-

    It’s the midterms

    They dominate our world right now,

    unless we completely close ourselves off…

    But that’s actually impossible

    …food prices

    …fuel costs

    …airline fare

    …beef

    …rent

    …electricity (Thankfully I have solar)

    …medical costs

    Whether it is your actual struggle or someone you know

    We are all impacted

    What effect has that on our mental health

    …Our mood

    …Our interactions

    …Our self-control

    Where can we find peace?

    My backyard is overgrown. I know I need to tend to some tree pruning. My immediate excuse is that I need to wait for my lemons to ripen. But there IS another reason I haven’t called the arborist to come bring order to the over-growth. I am appreciating the abundance of green circling me, enveloping me in soft green arms. It is a type of self-care. Whether I am sitting on my back patio or viewing it through my large back windows…nature brings calm to my world.

    I learned a great deal about dopamine through Russ’ years with Parkinson’s. It is a feel-good chemical that helps regulate mood. Being outside in the AZ sunshine triggers its production and significantly reduces my stress hormones.

    Being outside does not solve my anxiety all on its own. There are other ways for me to help myself. I need to take action in how much social media, technology, political print I engage in. Fortunately I got rid of Face Book and Instagram a couple months ago. I limit myself to The NYT, Heather Cox Richardson, The Week magazine and NPR. No doomscrolling for me. I can see from others who engage in the rabbit holes of scrolling that the excessive amount of reading, watching and scrolling they do is unhealthy. They have their reasons, but I know it doesn’t support my quest for calm. What is coming at us in real time is distressing enough. If I engaged hours of scrolling a day and I would have to go to my counselor more than every other week!

    I am rereading the book “I Guess I Haven’t Learned That Yet” by Shauna Niequist. It is reminding me that boundaries are both good and necessary. It is reminding me to remind myself that my heart, my emotions, my concerns, and my values matter. It is reminding me that I sometimes have to unlearn a way of doing something in order to accept a new path. Sometimes I have to unlearn an old emotional trigger to find new ways to respond. It is reminding me that our lives are built of transitions, moving pieces that build our whole. It is reminding me of the beauty of being me, that my best self is me being authentic, me being honest and me ‘allowing’ those traits to shine.

  • AGING

    AGING

    In thinking of age,

    being a senior…

    you know,

    that stage in life

    when you realize

    you’ve lived more than half your life.

    You wonder of the natural aging process.

    And then…

    the vision of yourself on your phone,

    when you inadvertently flip the camera image

    and you wonder “who is THAT?”

    What are the interconnected changes happening within?

    What of those on the outside?

    What of passing time?

    It’s all an emotional mix

    and

    it’s complex.

    It’s a daily shift of meaning.

    Could it be time to shift my narrative?

    Should I fully focus on calm and peaceful moments?

    I need to be honest.

    What are my needs?

    How might I make it OK to focus on ‘my’ needs?

    My life has been about supporting others.

    What of now?

    I don’t want to be a burden.

    If I voice my needs,

    is that a burden to the ears that hear?

    I’ve seen much.

    I’ve had much.

    I’ve lived much?

    It’s all there…my story.

    Security and dependance.

    Joyful and despairing.

    Focus and scattered.

    Overcoming severe trials and grief.

    And my need

    to use my vulnerabilities to build inner strength.

    Now, in my 70s,

    I find they all resurface,

    all those feelings and emotions,

    shifting in and out of my days.

    Have I learned anything in this journey of life?

    Let’s hope so!

  • BAKED OATMEAL

    BAKED OATMEAL

    This baked oatmeal combines simple ingredients which can be adapted for any flavor preferences. It’s like bread pudding for breakfast—creamy, soft, chewy, and delicious! I like to make it ahead and enjoy it all week long.

    The original recipe was twice this much, but I chose to half the amounts…perfect for 4 to 6 for breakfast or several days for one or two persons. I use a small casserole dish that’s about 2 qts.

    It’s a very forgiving recipe. You can make it the morning of or the day before. You can freeze it whole or in individual portions. You can add fruit into the ‘batter’ or wait until you serve and add it fresh. You can add nuts…or not. You can serve it with milk or yoghurt or both. Truly, play to your taste, your refrigerator contents or your whim of the moment.

    Ingredients

    • A shy cup of milk
    • 1 large egg
    • 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
    • 2 TBL unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled slightly
    • 1/8 cup unsweetened applesauce or mashed banana
    • 1 and 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
    • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
    • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
    • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
    • 1/8 teaspoon salt
    • 3/4  cups mixed fresh or frozen berries (if you use frozen, don’t thaw
    • Add-ins might be raisins, cranberries, apples, peaches, pears, blueberries, blackberries, bananas…

    Instructions

    1. Preheat the oven to 350°F  Spray your baking pan with nonstick spray.
    2. Whisk all of the ingredients together in 1 large bowl. Pour into prepared baking pan. Top with nuts, if desired. (Or stir into the oatmeal mixture.)
    3. Bake for 30 minutes or until the center appears *almost* set, which gives you a soft oatmeal. For drier and more solid baked oatmeal, bake until center has set.
    4. Cool for 5 minutes before serving. OR cover tightly and refrigerate for up to 1 week.

    To Reheat: I just nuke it for 2 minutes in my individual serving bowl. You can also put it in a 350 oven, covered, for about 10 minutes.

    To Freeze: Cool baked oatmeal completely, cover tightly and freeze. You can cut into individual portions if you’d like, thaw overnight in the frig and warm in the morning.

  • FACT vs FICTION

    I am not a veteran movie goer. Before moving to Tucson I had probably gone to 5 movies in my adult life. Since moving here 3 years ago I have probably gone to 5 movies…it is something to do to fill the time when you are a widow.

    Yesterday Doug and I decided to go to The Social Reckoning. Several months ago I deleted my accounts to Facebook and Instagram. Though I am completely innocent of hiding anything, wrong doing, inciting anger or telling untruths… I felt vulnerable. The business model ran with a me, me, me approach. I felt they were in it for the money alone and this film confirmed that idea. To my way of thinking it allowed untruths.

    This is a 60 Minute interview with whistleblower Francis Haugen:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Lx5VmAdZSI

    It is hard for me to put into words what this film conjured up in my mind. I WANT to be open and forgiving. I WANT to believe what I am told. I WANT to live in light and joy and hope. But as technology advances, as our government becomes more about leaders and their wishes and less about ‘the people’, the more I question what’s in front of me.

    This film is largely about Facebook, Instagram, Mark Zuckerberg and unethical business practices. It’s a solemn film describing the true path of reckless behaviors in the platform that allows hate speech, misinformation and violence to spread. They figured out that ‘negativity’ breeds engagement. And a very scary fact to me is that about 43% of Americans use Facebook as their source of news! Meta (new name for Facebook since 2021 when The Wall Street Journal published Jeff Horwitz’s investigative series, The Facebook Files) Meta understands that the piece you are most likely to re-share is something that makes you angry…i.e. “rage bait”.

    To encourage this trend, they have changed their newsfeed algorithms. If you engage at all with a ‘like’, a comment or a share, you change your algorithm. Re-sharing or replying will alter your feed. And if you dane to engage in anything political, dangerous, subversive or cult-like…beware. That’s exactly what they want, that’s the money maker.

    These are the actors, playing the parts of the main force of the film. Above is Mark Zuckerberg (Jeremy Strong), scary to look at, scary to listen to and scary to understand that millions (and millions?) of people believed in him. What’s going on behind his eyes and his unemotional body language?

    Next is the Wall Street Journal’s investigative reporter, Jeff Horwitz (Jeremy Allen White) with the former Facebook civic integrity product manager and eventual whistleblower, Francis Haugen (Mikey Madison). The two worked together to bring forward leaked documents proving the social media network knowingly allowed hate speech, violence and misinformation to spread across the platform.

    Lastly is writer and director of the film, Aaron Sorkin. His first film was The Social Network which was his Academy award winning film of Facebook’s original story. This film he said: “draws heavily from real events and consultations with real-life figures like Horwitz, but condenses, restructures, and stylizes conversations and timelines for dramatic effect.” It certainly got my attention!

    My question to you is…. do you believe everything you read? Do you believe everything you think? In fact, thought is not reality, through thought our realities are created. Does that apply to algorithms that take us down ‘rabbit holes’ and deeper into dark thinking? Next time you find yourself in a rabbit hole, consider how you got there.

  • PATIENCE, PATIENCE, PATIENCE

    PATIENCE, PATIENCE, PATIENCE

    Generally speaking, I am patient until I’m not. Yet again, my house challenged me and I wished (it’s fruitless) that I did not have to problem solve on my own. Alas, I left the problem for a few hours, did some subliminal thinking and came back to the problem with a fresh outlook…calm, in control and with a problem solving mindset.

    My problem? I couldn’t get my safe open. A couple weeks ago it took me 3 tries to open it. Today 3 tries did absolutely nothing. I left, calmed my anxiety and came back for another try. 3 tries…nothing.

    Now the problem solving kicked in. First a look through my household ‘manuals’ folder. My suspicion was correct… the manual was IN the safe I couldn’t open. Now there’s a smart move?

    Next was a google search and reading several articles. One suggested I find a screw on the bottom of the keypad and once the screw was out twist the keypad clockwise (it was counter-clockwise) to access a battery compartment. To accomplish this I needed a flashlight find the very tiny screw and to try multiple screwdrivers to find a good fit. Up and down on the floor (NOT a pretty sight) multiple times for alternative tools, I finally got the screw out. I could ‘see’ a battery, but it was behind another wall of plastic.

    Back to the computer and a search on YouTube. Three videos later, one suggested there was actually a hidden ‘battery drawer’ on the right side of the keypad. VOILA! It took 4 AAA batteries and I was out so off to the store I went.

    Returning home, I replaced the batteries, closed the drawer, tested the combination…I am back in business.

    My rational mind tells me not to sweat the small stuff. Sometimes however, that’s hard.

    I just sent a ‘grieving’ post to a friend from a long ago blog entry. I reread it first before sending and a paragraph jumped out at me. “But that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the banal, practical details of this loss. When a spouse or live-in partner dies, suddenly you are responsible for everything. Every light bulb that blows out, every time the lawn needs mowing, every bill that needs paying , every home repair, all the grocery shopping, all the decisions…I’m hyperventilating just writing this.“

    Therein is the hidden layer of trouble shooting the safe. I am pretty much on my own. I have friends I could call and of course Doug would step in if I asked, but in the moment of a problem I freeze, feel sorry for myself and finally force myself to plunge in.

    What is there to learn from this? There is always a solution. It’s OK to reach out and ask for help. You can always find an answer on the internet, but you may need to try multiple queries. Step away if you find yourself getting anxious or overly frustrated. And the sure fit for most situations…hire someone.

  • THOUGHT FOR THE DAY…

    THOUGHT FOR THE DAY…

    “While fear may be contagious, courage is as well.”

    Jack Smith

    This phrase flit across my screen this morning. I love it! It came from Jack Smith’s opening statement before the U.S. Judiciary Committee on September 29, 2026.

    He was there, under oath, to defend himself of the president’s accusation that that he had abused power when investigating Trump in 2020 for three infractions: election interference, the January 6th probe and moving classified documents to Mar-a-Lago.

    Jack Smith defended his work and that of his staff with this opening statement.

    That mirrors one theme from both the books I recently reviewed: “The Giver of Stars” by JoJo Moyes and “Address Unknown” by Katherine Kressmann Taylor.

    I believe ‘enthusiasm breeds enthusiasm ‘. Can the same premise be made for fear and courage? If you embed yourself in a group spreading fear, does that make it easier for you to embrace? Is the same true for courage? Does it all come from within your soul or from pieces of your experiential background laced together? Is it focused reflection or passive listening?

    I want to be courageous, really I do. But the ‘doom’ news grips me, the daily onslaught of worry. I wonder what good it will do to make accountability matter. Does being kind and respectful have any baring on others; modeling what it could mean to be kind.

    Given the premise of the opening quote “While fear may be contagious, courage is as well.“, I believe it does matter. I can be make these qualities a part of my being. I can Save my angst and judgment of others and focus on myself.

    In that respect I vow honesty to tell the truth and avoid deceiving others. I will be accountable, taking full responsibility for my mistakes. I will model respect, treating people fairly even when they are from different backgrounds. And lastly I will be responsible, keeping my promises.

    Being a good human is not easy. What is perhaps easy, is making life about YOU. As you approach your day, your week, a problem, your family…aim for honesty, accountability, respect and responsibility. Make every effort to make it about humanity, not just you.

  • THE GIFT OF A RAINY DAY

    THE GIFT OF A RAINY DAY

    Rainy days are a gift, especially if you live in a moisture starved part of the country. While floods and hurricanes plague other parts of the country, we have been experiencing a severe drought. Looking at pictures of the Great Salt Lake, the Rio Grande or Lake Powell you see that each is disastrously low.

    I remember years ago, before I moved west, talking to a friend who had moved to Utah telling me what a gift it was to HAVE to stay inside for a day because it was raining. At the time I didn’t ‘get it’ but here in the west the outdoors lures you daily.

    For my afternoon at home today, inside, with rain dancing on my windows, I was given the combined gift of finishing an audio book while making soup. Perfection!

    The book is set during the Great Depression in Kentucky and follows 6 women working as packhorse librarians. The ‘project’ was through the Works Progress Administration program ((WPA) with the program using women on horseback to reach remote areas of the ‘hollers’ (small sheltered valleys) from 1935 to 1943. The librarians earned around $28- a month and they supplied their own horses.

    The Giver of Stars follows the lives of one particular library team in Kentucky. Each librarian’s story sucked me in and made me want to finish the book quickly, while not wanting it to end. A perfect rainy day read.

    …and all the while, listening, I made soup (which I gave to friends)

    Red Lentil Pumpkin Soup

    Truly? What is better than a book and soup on a rainy day? And this soup is so easy. The recipe calls for it to be cooked in a crock pot, but I used my La Creuset pan in a slow oven. I have a bit of kale-rice salad left from last night’s dinner and I think it will be a yummy combination.

    INGREDIENTS

    Yield:4 to 6 servings

    • 1½ cups red lentils
    • 1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin purée
    • 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
    • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
    • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
    • ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional) 
    • ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
    • 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
    • Kosher salt
    • ½ cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
    • ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
    • 1 red onion, chopped 
    • 1 lemon, juiced

    PREPARATION

    Step 1
    Add the lentils, pumpkin, turmeric, paprika, coriander, red pepper, cinnamon, 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon salt to a 6- to 8-quart slow-cooker; top with 5 cups water and stir to combine. Cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 6 hours, until the lentils are tender. (This soup holds well on warm if you need flexibility.)

    Step 2
    Before serving, warm 1 tablespoon olive oil in a small skillet over high heat. Add the pepitas, cumin seeds and, if the pepitas are unsalted, a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring constantly, until the pepitas are toasted and the cumin is sizzling and popping, 2 to 3 minutes. 

    Step 3
    Scrape the seasoned pepitas onto a paper-towel lined plate. Put the skillet back over high heat and add the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, the red onion and a generous pinch of salt. Cook, stirring often, until the onion is browned and softened, about 8 minutes. 

    Step 4
    Scrape the onion and its oil into the soup along with the lemon juice and stir to combine. Taste and add additional salt if necessary. 

    Step 5
    Serve the soup in bowls and sprinkle with the toasted pepitas. The soup will thicken as it cools, so adjust the texture with additional water as necessary.

    With fall coming in many parts of the country, I hope this post finds you intrigued. And the financial benefit is that you can get the book at the library (free) and the soup is inexpensive and time efficient. Enjoy.

  • PUMPKIN CAKE

    PUMPKIN CAKE

    I have to say… Doug likes his sweets! I am happy to make them though I eat very little of them. I try to have things in my freezer for him as well as workers who come to the house. Yesterday my handyman, Aaron told me “The worst thing that you have ever made for me was delicious! That cracked me up.

    Several times a week we have ‘nosh’ at LeBuzz with friends, a great little cafe/coffee shop. Recently Doug has ordered pumpkin cake every time. we go. It IS good, but a tad sweet. This recipe mirrors that… good and a tad sweet.

    You can make it as a bundt cake or a sheet cake (which is obviously easier to freeze). If you choose to make a sheet cake, use a 10 x 15 baking pan and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes, until cake tester comes out clean.

    Enjoy…

    Ingredients

    Pumpkin Cake:
    • baking spray for pan
    • 3 cups flour
    • 2 tsp. cinnamon
    • 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
    • 1 1/2 ground nutmeg
    • 1 tsp. ground allspice
    • 3/4 tsp. salt
    • 1/2 tsp. baking power
    • 1 cup canola oil
    • 2 1/2 cups sugar (I used less)
    • 3 eggs, at room temperature
    • 1 tsp. vanilla
    • 1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin puree
    • 1 cup raisins

    Maple Glaze:
    •3 TBL. unsalted butter
    • 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
    • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
    • 1/8 tsp. salt
    • 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
    • 1 tsp. vanilla
    • chopped walnuts for garnish if you’d like

    Directions

    Preheat oven to 350.

    Prepare the pan. Grease and dust with flour.

    Whisk together the dry ingredients…flour, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg, all spice, salt and baking powder. Whisk to combine.

    Mix the cake batter. In separate bowl, beat the oil and sugar together until fully combined. Beat in the eggs one at a time, making sure each is fully incorporated. Mix in vanilla.

    Finish batter. Beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, alternate adding the dry ingredients and pumpkin to batter, mixing on low speed. Be sure not to over mix. Stir in the raisins.

    Bake the cake. Pour the batter into the pan. Tap the pan on the counter to release any bubbles. With a bundt pan, bake 55 to 60 minutes until cake tester comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool 10 minutes and then invert on a wire rack or a bottle. Cool completely.

    Prepare the glaze: Put butter, maple sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a pan over medium-low. Stir occasionally into the butter is melted. Remove from the heat and whisk in the powdered sugar and vanilla. Let it cool a few minutes to thicken up. Spoon the glaze over the cooled cake.

    It’s pretty simple, give it a try.

  • COX is now Spectrum

    COX is now Spectrum

    The former COX salesperson, now a Spectrum salesperson, assured me it was JUST unplug two cords and plug into the new box.

    She told me to turn OFF the TV before beginning the process, unplug two cords and plug them into the new box…and that’s it… you’re up and running.

    Well, not quite. I eventually called tech support and they wanted to use AI. I asked for a representative which took multiple number selections and a 10 minute wait. Not too bad in the scheme of things. This is a huge transition for everyone.

    So, the TV should be ON. There are currently 3 plugs in the back of the COX equipment, one can be thrown away, thus only two necessary now. I needed my password. I have to ‘program’ both the TV and the remote.

    The simple unplug and plug-in has now been a 40 minute process and I haven’t even begun the actual work!

    I am gently savvy when it comes to tech. What in the world do those who are tech challenged do? I at least understand the terminology and can find information on YouTube or through phone calls. I’m grateful I learned as much as I did when I worked for the church.

    But honestly, I am in complete frustration mode.

    I have taken deep breaths, restarted the connection process at least 8 times, had Aaron (handyman) do the same, driven back to Spectrum and will now have a tech guy coming to the house later today. This very simple process that ‘anyone’ can do is now in hour 4. I am just going to leave it as it is and wait for tech help.

    If you were in this situation how would you handle the frustration? I realize I feel this because my expectations have been thwarted. I was told ‘easy’ and it isn’t.

    I am well aware in a tech situation that a prudent move is to start over. I did this multiple times. When Louis came, he was calm, methodical and fairly quickly realized the ‘new’ box was faulty. Fortunately he had another in his truck, He switch it out, took away the previously attached spit cable, added an ethernet cable, programmed the TV and I am up and running. It took 7 hours start to finish.

    All along I was ‘playing into’ my assumption of ease. By stepping back, taking a breath, rethinking the ‘I can do this myself’ approach, and accepting the help of tech support, I am certain I saved myself further hours of frustration.

    And to end on a good note: Louis gave me a suggestion of a Mexican restaurant he considers worthy. Taco Giro. There are 5 of them in Tucson and he has tried them all. He feels the one on Valencia is #1 and the one on Craycroft and 29th to be #2.

  • STILL RELEVANT TODAY…

    STILL RELEVANT TODAY…

    A friend suggested a book title saying it was a short, and a culturally relevant read. I was bogged down in the book I was reading so thought…well yes… short and relevant works for me.

    Be forewarned if you choose to read this book. It is absolutely short and relevant, but it is also a scary look at what is unfolding before us with this current administration.

    Indirectly it leads to reminding you to rediscover what might bring connection in this culture of disconnection.  Even amidst the mess, something inside me aches for connection, but I wonder if that is possible and what might my role be?

    It would be easy to assume the problem is ‘out there’. But when I confront the harder truth, I see that I am witness to my own failings. I’ve withdrawn further and further as things got uncomfortable. Sure I have written to senators and congressmen, I have participated in a couple of demonstrations and I have read endlessly, but did any on of those truly reach that ears that needed to hear?

    We live in a culture that’s increasingly connected digitally but more fractured emotionally. Social media feeds us a constant highlight reel. In recent months I had to stop social media completely. I found I was drowning in an unhealthy emotional spiral. I am surrounded by friends and family caught in the same spiral. To save myself I have limited the amount of news I process daily.

    The basic premise of the book is how racism destroys a lifelong friendship; a short and devastating epistolary. It is fiction; the exchange of letters between two friends, an art dealer living in San Francisco and his business partner who has moved back to Berlin, Germany. It takes place over the years 1932 to 1934. How can the story find relevance to us today?

    The early letters are full of warmth and deep affection between the two men, two friends. But the longer Martin is in Germany, under the growing influence of Hitler and his ideology, his tone changes to cold nationalism and he eventually rejects Max out of fear and bigotry.

    Is that what is happening in our world today? Are we in the midst of this cult behavior? Is there a possibility of light shining out of the obscure dark and gloom?

    I will spare you the details of the book as it is truly worth reading/listening to. But with every twist, I pondered my own role in today’s world. How can I respond?