Sunday, May 10, 2015

Take Five - Mother's Day Edition - Pearls of Wisdom

I haven't posted many Pearls of Wisdom lately so I think I'm due.  Today is mother's day and I am grateful for such a wonderful mother.  We have certainly had our moments, but I admire and love Pearl more than anything.

Below are five things I learned from Pearl.

Pearl of Wisdom 1:  Cooking.  Pearl is the world's worst cook.  I love to hear stories about women who learned to cook from their mother's because they would cook together on a Sunday afternoon and make wonderful five course feasts.  I learned to cook in spite of Pearl.  Examples:

  • Fresh baked bread has flavor.  Who knew?
  • The only time corned beef needs to be in a pot for the entire day is if it's a crock pot.  And corned beef is pink, not white, when it's finished.  Ditto sauerkraut.  Actually, sauerkraut in a pot all day, crock or not, is overkill.  And it shouldn't be pink ever.  Unless you cook it with beets.
  • Beef does not have to taste like shoe leather.  Oh, it also doesn't need to cut like shoe leather.
  • Seafood may be cooked in pans other than cast iron.  It also tastes very good.
To be fair, Pearl did have two things she did well:  soup and mac n cheese - and I'm not talking that crappy glow-in-the dark mac n cheese, but the real homemade stuff.  And her split pea and bean soups were amazing!

My brother and I told her a few years ago that her cooking sucked.  Her reply, "well you kids survived."  True statement, Pearl.  Another true statement - I was skinny growing up.

Pearl of Wisdom 2:  Recycling.  I often hated that mom would dust the house with some Pledge and dad's old underwear, or whatever other cloth she had that was no longer in use for its original purpose.  Now I find myself salvaging stuff I didn't think I would.  Hey, reuse and recycle.  I do draw the line at underwear.  I use old washcloths, dishcloths, towels, etc.

Pearl of Wisdom 3:  Gardening.  Truth be told, Pearl can garden. She has a wonderfully green thumb.  And she likes it.  She helped me when I still lived in Alden and we had these amazing flower gardens.  I hope to have her help me down here in Franklinville.  

I will confess this - my brother and I had a good laugh one day when we saw a bunch of sticks planted in a row.  I think Pearl saw them laying on the ground and thought she should plant them and trees would sprout up.  They didn't grow, in case you were wondering.  I find myself laughing because Jamie and I planted some hummingbird plants that are actually sticks.  I keep thinking that I see buds on the sticks.  Alas, I don't think so.  I'm giving them another week or so.

Pearl of Wisdom 4: Laughing.  Life is too damn short to be so serious all the time.  Laugh!  Mostly at yourself. Sometimes at others if they do something really stupid.  Usually at your husband.

Pearl of Wisdom 5:  Multitasking.  Pearl is nothing if not efficient.  In fact, she used to mow the lawn topless.  That may be the norm in Europe, but in Marilla, not so much.  Her reasoning?  I don't want tan lines, there are no neighbors (and there weren't), the sun is out and the grass needs to get cut.  Why not mow the lawn and tan?

Now, I am not a proponent of tanning so I can't say that I agree with that, but can you argue with her logic?  I should point out that Pearl also taught me to love my body and myself.  Topless?  It's only boobs.  Everyone has seen boobs so who cares?  If you are comfortable, it doesn't much matter what others think.  

Thank you, Pearl, for such valuable life lessons.  You are a blessing!  Happy Mother's Day.

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