The View From Mrs. Sundberg's Window

The Big Plunge

May 28, 2012

Listened to the show Saturday and it was not bad. I'd been writing all afternoon, about how things were a while back, and how they are now, and what happened in between.

Writing is one of the best things. It just is. It feels like the wind must feel when it blows, or cheese when it melts, how those Jesus lizards feel when the run across the water. It feels like what I'm supposed to be doing sometimes, as much as making a rhubarb pie feels other times, or attempting to help the kids with their chemistry on occasion. I don't really keep a journal, and I don't really know what I'm going to do with all of the pages piled up on my bookshelf, but that doesn't matter so much. I'm not writing for any real reason except to do it, and because I may discover something important and because I somehow feel lighter afterward. Though I do enjoy reading to Mr. Sundberg when he's around. He laughs sometimes, and calls me "Woman" and shakes his head in a way that tells me he likes what I wrote. Sometimes it's something just for him, how I feel about him, and that can be interesting for sure. It's easier sometimes to put it on paper. All that feeling.

On Saturday afternoon I wrote a number of pages about the summers of my childhood, how idyllic they were with the visits to the swimming hole, walks past the old railroad bridge, the cow poop pond, the five cent candy rack at the corner store, hot church services, the sounds of cicadas and crickets and peepers. I wrote about reading in the maple tree and washing my hair under the gutters during a big rain and taking naps in the warm grass and rope jumping off the cliffs into the river. Which is how writing feels to me, pretty much. Like letting go, flying through the air, and making a splash into cool, clear river water. Yeah. The Big Plunge.

The kids and I bake different things in different seasons, and summer is prime time for Whoopie Pies. Variations galore, and there's something of being a kid in it all for me.

Wonderful Whoopie Pies

1 box chocolate fudge or devil's food cake mix
1 sm. box instant chocolate pudding mix
1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 cup water

Filling:
1 cup shortening
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1 cup marshmallows or marshmallow creme
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Mix all ingredients together with a electric mixer for 3 to 5 minutes. Spoon onto a greased cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes at 350. When done, place cookies on waxed paper or rack to cool.

Cream shortening and sugar, then add vanilla and marshmallow. Mix well. Place filling between two whoopie cookies and now you have a yummy chocolate pie. Try other mix flavors -- cherry chip, lemon, etc.

Enjoy!

Previous article: « Get your arms around the universe

Next Article: Feet are a funny thing »