My mother once surprised me. In a moment of frustration, she looked me in the eye and said, “If only I could be a genie for a day.”
I normally never thought of my mother thinking this way. There have been several stories and fairy tales that involved people coming in contact with a genie or Leprechaun who would grant them three wishes. Most always, those people wished foolishly and wound up in worse shape than before they had the wishes.

A sister in the Lord shared this recipe with me. I had given her my Red Grape Pie recipe. She showed up at church last Sunday with this recipe in hand. I am a believer in sharing recipes. There are those who say ”Oh, I couldn't give you the recipe for that. It's all in my head. I just throw it together.” Some just flat out refuse to share a recipe. However, no two cooks making the same recipe end up with quite the same tasting dish, don't cha know. If I have a special way of making something, I share it. I am too old to keep secrets.

With winter weather there are two distinct camps of people: those that love it and those that do not. You may have picked up in past articles that I am in the love winter camp, and cold/snow fans have actually been labeled. We are chionophiles (ki-own-a-files), those who thrive in cold winter conditions, especially in snow. It’s a Greek word that literally means “snow lover”.

You don’t see ceramic shops around much anymore. When I say ceramics, I am talking about the kind that comes out of molds as opposed to that which people form with their hands and/or on a potter’s wheel (that is usually referred to as pottery.) I have done both, but I grew up painting ceramics with my mother because in those days there were ceramic shops on the Army bases we lived on.

Rigel: So, did you hear about Betelgeuse?
Vega: Oh my, yes! It’s all over the galaxy.
Algol: What is?
Vega: You haven’t heard?
Rigel (rolling eyes in derision and disbelief): Where in the Milky Way have you been? Everyone’s talking about it. I heard Bellatrix telling Arcturas that Canopus said that Alnitak said …
Algol: Enough already! OK, OK, OK. So, I don’t know what you are talking about. I get it. I’m uncool.
Vega: Puh-lease. You? The triplet “Demon Star” not cool. Oh, you are definitely cool. But, in the know? No.

A growing body of research supports spinal manipulation:

After an extensive study of all available care for low back problems, the federal Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (now the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality) recommended that low back pain sufferers choose the most conservative care first. And it recommended spinal manipulation as the only safe and effective, drugless form of initial professional treatment for acute low back problems in adults.

All of us have been touched by the work of the Civilian Conservation Corps and New Deal whether we realize it or not. As an elementary student, I attended a W.P.A.-built school, Corryton Elementary, and swam at the C.C.C.-built Big Ridge State Park beach. We camped and hiked through the erosion-preventing New Deal era forests and park campgrounds. During the Great Depression, Union County was effected greatly by programs like the C.C.C.. The Corps' reach put men, desperately in need of jobs, to work and helped to shape the physical landscape of the county.

My mother would have been 92 had she lived until January 16th of this year. Our mother/son relationship had its ups and downs, and of course, as Proverbs 22:15 (KJV) says, “Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.”

Originally, I was going to use the title “Guiding Lights,” but I thought it sounded too much like one of the daytime dramas. That being said, this article does have some driving drama in it.

My first driving drama happened in my early 20s. I was heading to work at Baptist Hospital. Thankfully it was a Saturday morning, which meant lighter traffic on I-75.

Do you get the idea that I like pie? I certainly do. My sweet tooth is a mile wide and beyond belief deep. I just plain like pie!

This is another of those recipes that would have been hard to make back in the day. Wouldn't the cooks of yesteryear liked to have had Cool Whip? Didn't happen. There was no Fridgidaire Refrigerator to keep it in. Hey, we didn't even have electricity. I do now , so here we go.