Blog Index - August 2017

August 15, 2017	Fairy Ring
August 21, 2017	Writer’s prompt for August:  Missed Connection

August 21, 2007 - Writer's prompt for August

Our writing prompt for our group this month was:

Missed Connections or misconnections

Below is my meager attempt.

Misconnections are a daily occurrence in my life.

I own a deaf husband who often says, “You didn’t tell me.” From my point of view he also has selective hearing.  Currently he has a 50/50 mix of selective hearing and deafness.  Let me give you a prime example.

My retired husband does the majority of the grocery shopping,  When he retired he became my “housewife”.  Trust me, every gal should have one.

Last Thursday he went going grocery shopping.

I said, “I need Ricotta cheese and mozzarella cheese to make homemade manicotti.”  

I actually have his attention for a change.  He looks at me; a good sign.  I continue to explain with one flat hand raise above another to demonstrate the size of the ricotta cheese container.

“I need one of the small Ricotta cheese containers.  I think its 1 pound or 12 ounces.” Not the big one.  I prefer whole milk if you can find it.”

He nods – another good sign.

I continue saying, “I need a one pound package of Mozzarella cheese and I like those large pasta sea shells.  You know the big ones. . . I like those the best.  If you can’t find those, then get a box of lasagna noodles.  But, shake the box to make certain they aren’t broken.  Keep shaking boxes until you find one that isn’t broken up.”

He nods absently.  I think I have lost his attention.

I call out to him, “You wrote it down? Mozzarella Cheese, Ricotta cheese and pasta sea shells?”

He tosses me that look I know all too familiar, saying, “I don’t need to write it down.”

He leaves and I start the laundry and think about last week when I asked for FETA cheese – a whole chunk not the crumbled kind.   I sent him to Ingles where I know they have it.

On that occasion he returned empty handed from both Wal Mart and Ingles and said, “They don’t have Feta cheese.”

Inwardly I sighed knowing full well Ingles has it in the expensive cheese department as well as the less expensive dairy isle.

Unknown to him I went to Ingles the next day and got two packages of the Feta Cheese as I use it to garnish my Summer Squash sauté. Both packages are still on the refrigerator door.

Later as I fold laundry he brings in the groceries announcing proudly, “I got what you wanted.”

Unpacking I find a 2 pound tub of Ricotta cheese – the big one and lasagna noodles, not shells.  I shake them – they are not broken.  That works. The final item out of the bag IS a chunk of FETA cheese which was not the brand that Ingles carries, so I guess he actually found it at Wal Mart.  It doesn’t do me any good.  To make Manicotti I need Mozzarella cheese.

Looks like I’ll have to get Mozzarella cheese tomorrow.

August 15, 2017 – Fairy ring

        I was out running errands today and out of the corner of my eye I caught sight of an unmistakable Fairy ring.  I was watching for traffic from the left and the right in an attempt to leave the Ingles grocery store parking lot safely.

        What a delight – big huge white mushrooms on lush green grass.   Made me smile and remember the first time I had seen this phenomenon.  I don’t remember seeing any when I was a child in New England, but when I moved to the south I saw my first exquisite example on a lawn in front of one of buildings in the Milliken Office complex in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

I was a Kelly Girl at the time working for Milliken while a large chunk of their staff was in a “war room” trying to kill the NAFTA bill that went into effect in 1989.  I stopped dead in my tracks – I know everyone hates that idiom – but I can say, it is one of the few times that I was so surprised and delighted that I stopped to admire a complete circle of huge lush mushrooms in a fine stand of lawn.  I simply was not expecting it at the beautifully manicured campus I was rushing to that morning.

I had heard of fairy rings in passing and possibly saw a picture of one in a gardening magazine in years’ past, but that morning it made me smile and made me stop and look for a glimpse of one of those elusive dancing fairies or sprites. During the time I was at Milliken – a several week stay – the lawn was mowed and the fairy ring would disappear and then return.  That is what surprised me the most – destroyed by lawn mowers and then it came back.

The next fairy ring I noticed was a double one on the lawn of the Alexander Town Hall the next summer and it was perfection.  I talked my husband into taking me back after dinner that evening so that I could stand on the tail gate of his pickup truck to get a bird's eye view and picture of it.  It was an impressive double fairy ring and he admired it as much as I did.  I didn’t get a very good picture  - low battery in the 35mm camera at the time.  [I can’t always be fabulous at everything I attempt, though I will blame that failure on batteries.]

The town of Alexander was annexed in 1999 into Forest City, North Carolina, and I haven’t seen those fairy rings for a long time.

But, as many people say – bad things come in threes – as well as good things come in threes.  I saw the one up at Ingles signage, then another at a 4-way stop sign near the old white house near the Forest City Golf Course, and then a third one just south of the cross roads of Hudlow Road and Smith Grove/Lincoln Street.

I told my husband I’d seen three fairy rings when I got home and where they were.

He said, “Yeah, I meant to tell you – I saw one just a day or so ago . . .” but he couldn’t remember where.

So, he still knows I am charmed by them and I guess he is too.  We used to have one – a partial one  - near front walk and my dear husband would mow around it because he knew I admired them.    I guess he felt they were a lucky omen.

Today, when I was researching the mycelia and fairy rings or elf rings as some call them I did run up on an interesting bit of folklore.

“One folk belief . . . claims that a house built on a fairy circle will bring prosperity to its inhabitants.”

        So, I suggest anyone looking to build a new house – look for fairy rings.

NOTES:

http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/gardens-gardening/your-garden/help-for-the-home-gardener/advice-tips-resources/pests-and-problems/diseases/fairy-rings/lawn-mushrooms.aspx

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairy_ring

A fairy ring, also known as fairy circle, elf circle, elf ring^[1] or pixie ring, is a naturally occurring ring or arc of mushrooms.^[2] The rings may grow to over 10 metres (33 ft) in diameter, and they become stable over time as the fungus grows and seeks food underground. They are found mainly in forested areas, but also appear in grasslands or rangelands. Fairy rings are detectable by sporocarps in rings or arcs, as well as by a necrotic zone (dead grass), or a ring of dark green grass. Fungus mycelium is present in the ring or arc underneath.

Fairy rings are the subject of much folklore and myth worldwide—particularly in Western Europe. While they are often seen as hazardous or dangerous places, they can sometimes be linked with good fortune.