The View From Mrs. Sundberg's Window

Let Warmth and Quiet and Time do Their Thing

March 9, 2010

Listened to the show Saturday and it was not bad. It was a Joke Show, and lucky for us, as it's been something of a rough week in our house. Everyone has a sinus thing or some nasty thing going, nothing terrible, but enough to make a person feel like not doing much of anything but curling up with a blanket and a good book under the pretense of reading away the afternoon, but really the hope is to doze off into oblivion awhile and let warmth and quiet and time do their thing.

Throw in a week ahead of Spring Break and Fairly Crappy Weather and you've got yourself a house full of people with a lot of time on their hands who don't feel like doing much of anything. At all. Not even Mr. Sundberg, who generally has it in him to do something like carving wood or splitting wood or taking a walk in the woods. We all, for the most part, just wanted to be unto ourselves, dozing the weekend away in armchairs and window seats and corners. Each in his or her own domain for a stretch, not to be bothered or awakened or questioned or nudged, coming up on occasion for Vitamin C or oatmeal or water or air.

And so it was. For what seemed an endless stretch of hours. And, gradually, we came out of our respective cocoons still congested, still sniffling, still feeling like our faces were poured concrete, and we found each other again, now wanting company, but quiet, respectful company. We watched movies together, movies we've seen several times, and movies that were just released at the store. Since I hadn't had time to get to the grocery store, there wasn't much in the fridge for a decent meal before the Oscars. I made wiener pot pie, something new, and it disappeared without a complaint. Not a one. We sat together and talked about summertime and who's going to what camp, and who wants what job, and we managed to laugh a bit, and there was even a belly-laugh or two. There was some wrestling, eventually, and pile-on, and by sometime late Monday someone asked if I might make a chocolate cake this week and someone else was craving pork chops in the crock pot, and I imagine, should you drop by later in the week, you'll find us back in the swing of things.

It's like that, life is. Comes to a screeching halt and all you need is some time alone to gather yourself, and the laughter's not long off, and pretty soon you're craving cake, and the world feels right again. Thank goodness for all of it.

Chow Mein Hotdish
My mother made this recipe often about this time of year. It goes well with biscuits and butter, and tastes almost better warmed up the next day, should you be so lucky as to have some left over.

1 lb ground beef

1 medium onion, diced

2 cups chopped celery

Brown together in pan with a little butter, salt and pepper.

Mix together:

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can cream of mushroom soup

2 1/4 cups water

2/3 cup uncooked rice

Add hamburger mixture, mix well.

Pour into casserole and bake at 325 for 1- 1 1/2 hours.

Serve over chow mein noodles or add noodles to casserole.