This is the ninth year of Maria’s Monday Morning Video, now popular and much sought after as a calm, peaceful, and safe way to start the weekend, a tonic in turbulent times. She never fails to do this video, even in the coldest weather. I love to hear her talk to the animals; they seem to understand her.
Georgia O’Keeffe: During the second half of the nineteenth century, the exotic South African calla lily was introduced to the United States, and its distinctive spear-shaped leaves and yellow and white blooms began to become a significant subject in America.
The flower became even more popular with artists after Freud provided a sexual interpretation of its forms that emphasized its masculine and feminine nature, according to neew and complicated levels of meaning to depictions of it. The calla lily soon became a recurring motif by important painters and photographers in the early 1930s; O’Keeffe became known as “The Lady of the Lili,” a name she hated initially. – Georgia O’Keeffe and the Calla Lily In American Art.
Freud said they were sexual, and Katharine Hepburn (as Terry Randall) said in Stage Door in 1937, “The calla lilies are in bloom again. It is such a strange flower, suitable for any occasion. I carried them on my wedding day. Now I place them here in memory of something that has died.”
Then O’Keeffe discovered them. They were launched and famous. I just got the book today.
When I began taking photos of the calla earlier in the year, I had yet to learn of its interest and rich history. But I will learn more about it and take more calla photos now. I’m hooked.
Note: As an experiment, I’m adding the Pantry Art I’ve been publishing to the flower art I’ve been doing. Both are affairs of the heart. I’m just trying it out to see how it feels. In my heart, they are one, and all are very beautiful. —- Jon
_______
From the Cambridge Pantry Chapel.
There is a sexual feeling to the calla; I didn’t see it at first.
The Cambridge pantry has all kinds of dark corners.
The calla became internationally famous in 1937.
Reserved.
Yellow calla.
I appreciate learning about the foods Sarah asks us to get; I realize how little I know about the complexities and challenges of running a food pantry and, above all, of being one of the mothers and fathers who can’t keep up with food prices have to make decisions they never imagined they would have to make.
I’m also learning a great deal about nutrition, and the impact the foods we eat have on the body, as well as the children who suffer greatly from hunger and food deprivation.
Sarah has reasons for every food item she requests, but she often needs more funding to help people who need it or have to make awful choices.
Her relentless efforts to restock her shelves with variations of chicken soup, especially during the season when so many children get sick, is a testament to her commitment. Your response is a testament to your big hearts.
She never stops advocating for her members, a cause we all feel deeply connected to.
So, I researched the nutritional value of the soups she seeks today, especially chicken soup. I was impressed. According to three medical studies, this is one of the healthiest soups or foods they can eat, especially this time of year when children are in close quarters with fewer opportunities to go outside. They get sick a lot. This is where soup comes in:
For example:
Vitamins and minerals: Chicken soup contains many vitamins and minerals, including vitamins C and K, iron, and essential fatty acids.
“Soups are among the most popular foods here at the Pantry,” says Director Sarah Harrington. “With the cold season here, they are in great demand and trendy during the holidays.”
The parents say this helps their children avoid the inevitable colds, and if they get one, it builds their strength. They plead for these soups, and I hope we can help stock enough to get through the holidays when many kids get sick.
A lot of mothers say they help with colds.
Here are the two soups Sarah is asking us to help get to the food pantry.
Campbell’s Condensed Homestyle Chicken Noodle Soup, 10.5 Ounce Can (Pack of 4), $3.99.
Campbell’s Chunky Soup, Creamy Chicken, And Dumplings Soup, 16.3 oz (case of 8), $17.34.
I was surprised. This is one of the most essential items we can get this time of year. We can fill Sarah’s shelves with these soups. This one makes a difference. I remember my grandmother pouring chicken soup down my throat if I got sick.
Another nutritionist said, ” Chicken soup helps your body do the work by giving it the necessary supplies.” Hopefully, she can help Sarah to help the families who turn to the food pantry for help.
It doesn’t fight the cold itself; it just helps the body by giving it the best environment possible to succeed. It’s got good vitamins, protein, and water content. It helps your body do the work by giving it the necessary supplies.
_____
These canned foods are the weekend requests. Please feel free to browse the Cambridge Food Pantry Amazon Wish List at any time, day or night.
You can click any of the links here or gain access by clicking on the green “Cambridge food pantry” button at the bottom of any blog post.
You can make your own donation choices. Every item on the list is urgently needed and unavailable, and the soup shelves are empty.
Thank you.
Excellent. On Sunday, I’m off to the Farmer’s Market for fish, vegetables, and fresh veggie burgers, and I’m buying Maria a pink wool sock for the winter since she would never buy a $28 by herself.
I’ve switched almost entirely to reading British Mysteries. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book by an Irish writer that I didn’t like. I’ve discovered a small bookstore in Brooklyn – The Lofty Pigeon On Church Avenue – the people in it are lovely, and co-owner Dava has turned me onto The Cold Cold Ground by best-selling Adrian McKinty, set in Belfast during the awful “Troubles,” the first in the Sergeant Duffy series.
It’s the best mystery I’ve read in many years; I’m hooked. He’s a great character with great stories to tell.
My daughter Emma, who is also a mystery buff, turned me onto the store, and I owe her for this one. Dava and I bonded quickly; we spent a half hour on the phone talking books.
I also have a wonderful and surprising book about “Georgia O’Keeffe and the Calla Lily in American Art, 1860 to 1940.” The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in New Mexico is the publisher of the book. I had no idea my humble Calla Lily had such an essential place in American Art or that it is a critical part of O’Keeffe’s art and the art of other artists.
I am still determining which of these two books to finish first; having this problem makes me very happy. I love great mysteries and photographing my Callas, which are by far my favorite flower or plant to photograph. I’ve got four of them growing on the living room windowsills. I also love booksellers like Dava. Life is good.
Every morning, Zip, The Prince of Bedlam Farm, goes to the rock wall and looks out at his kingdom. He is faithful to this ritual and seems ever-happy with his kingdom and freedom.
Preparing for the bonfire, we light to celebrate the Winter Solstice (the darkest day) on Sat., December 21, 2024, at 4:19 A.M. Goodbye to my chair.
Fate speaks for herself.
People think of nature as beautiful and soothing, but we have learned something else in our time. Nature is also violent and ruthless. Every time we go into the woods, we discover bones of all kinds and all sizes. Maria, ever the artist, is making a sculpture of them.
“We are bound up in a delicate network of interdependence because a person is a person through other persons. To dehumanize another inevitably means that one is dehumanized as well…Thus, to forgive is indeed the best form of self-interest since anger, resentment, and revenge are corrosive of that summer bonum, that most excellent good, communal harmony that enhances the humanity and personhood of all in the community.”
— Bishop Desmond Tutu, the architect of Reconciliation in South Africa, on forgiveness and the perils of dehumanizing.” —
The recent political ordeal, which we all endured, was a dehumanizing experience. It affected me deeply, as I’m sure it did for everyone who participated or suffered from it. Each of us, every person I know, and perhaps every person in the country was dehumanized by one side or the other. We were called evil, dishonest, stupid, dangerous, and destructive. These labels, hurled at us by different individuals, left wounds that may take a long time to heal.
I was deeply moved by Bishop Tutu’s Truth and Reconciliation work, which he undertook to humanize his country and show the rest of us the way. There is no magic wand for hatred and cruelty. But it’s the best idea I’ve come across. We are tearing social harmony, the heart of our culture, to pieces. The people who dehumanize others are dehumanizing themselves. There are no winners.
Every name we hurl at others comes right back on us. Just look in the mirror. Hate is a poison.
Reconciliation may not heal everyone and everything, but as Nelson Mandela wrote, ‘In its bearings, Desmond Tutu and the idea of forgiveness conveyed our common pain and sorry, our hope and confidence in the future.’ This campaign reminds us of our individual responsibility in the process of reconciliation. It’s a call to action, urging us to stop and think. It’s time to start somewhere to unite rather than divide our country.
This change can’t be initiated from the top, and it is not right now. It begins at the bottom, with each one of us. I’m in. Every day of the past month has corrupted all of us and stained our democracy, but we have the power to change that.
There is no alternative to change. (Speaking only for me.)
