An Aptly-Awarded Award

I'm humbled by the generosity of Kathryn at Prairie Rose Designs for choosing this blog as the latest recipient of the "Aptly-Named Blog Award." The honor came following the post just preceding this one, but I suspect a series of agricultural posts last summer played a significant part in our recognition.

Since we are firm believers that rewarding behavior enforces it, our readers can rest assured that we will endeavor to live up to all that this award stands for, and will strive to continue winning this award for many years to come!

Thanks for visiting. Interview requests can be submitted in the comments section.

Family history as told by the odometer

If you're like me, when you pass a milestone, you reflect on the experiences that brought you to that place. What would be more natural when your car passes the 200,000 mile mark than to look back at your mileage log and remember the events that logged those miles?

1997 wasn't a full year since we bought the car in April. The Taurus replaced a 1984 Honda and became "Karen's car" since it was obviously the most reliable of the two cars we owned at the time.

1998 through 2002 represent the quiet years of use by a mom with two young children. Homeschooling started in 2001 so that may have contributed to the slight dip that year.

The change in trend starting in 2003 can be traced to at least two effects. In late 2002 we bought a timeshare and started feeling our way back into traveling more on vacation. Mid year 2003 we donated our second car to charity, and became a one-car family for the first time since 1995.

2004 included our first trip to Williamsburg, VA in the spring, and a 5,000 mile trip through the west in September.

By April 2007 we were a two-car family again, although the Taurus didn't really become the secondary car until early 2008 -- almost eleven years as our primary transportation. Mileage for 2009 increased slightly because I was driving further to work most of the year.

That brings us to where we are today. Unfortunately, we probably won't be able to follow our family's behavior with the Taurus mileage anymore, but it may be possible in the future using the minivan log. Stay tuned: more exciting charts in the future!

200,000

In April of 1997 we bought a brand new Ford Taurus that we hoped would serve us for many years. As of yesterday, it's traveled 200,000 miles and continues to serve us well. This is the first vehicle we've driven this far, and I'm grateful for each additional day of service we can squeeze out of it.

I'll spare you the details of the Toyotas, Hondas, and Mazdas that died before they reached this milestone, I'm just happy to finally drive a car this far. If someday it hits 300,000 miles, you'll read about it here first!

Gerrymandering? Who, us?

You may not recognize the name Elbridge Gerry, but I'll bet you recognize his influence almost 200 years after a Boston newspaper coined a term based on his last name. In 1812, Governor Gerry of Massachusetts signed a law that redistricted his state to benefit his political party. One of the districts gained a slender, winding shape that resembled a salamander, so the term describing the act of shaping a district to gain political advantage references both Gerry and the shape of that infamous district.

Surely after 200 years of social progress and unselfish service by our elected officials, gerrymandering is an antiquated concept. Or maybe not.

I don't know which individuals are responsible for the ridiculous congressional districts in Illinois, but they ought to be ashamed of themselves. At least the Chicago area is untouched by such underhanded tricks, right?

Other than districts 1, 3, 4, 5, and 7, it looks pretty reasonable. District 4 was actually drawn by a federal district court in order to establish a district with an Hispanic majority that satisfied Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. So that means it's legitimate. Or something....

Snow Ice Cream

When God blesses you with 5 more inches of fresh snow in your yard you naturally enjoy looking at it for awhile, but then you really need to take dominion. One usually takes dominion by shoveling and placing the snow in a place where it doesn't make life difficult. A better way to take dominion is to eat the snow! Granted, we only took dominion over one gallon this time, but you've got to start somewhere.

The recipe below came from our neighbors at Marjo Acres, who also turn out a tasty gallon or two of milk on a regular basis.

1 cup cream (I can't imagine this recipe with anything but fresh, raw cream)

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup sugar

Mix all ingredients and pour over 4 quarts of clean snow. Mix well.

The original recipe called for 1 cup of sugar, but we found half that amount was plenty.

After warming yourself with lots of shoveling, who doesn't crave ice cream in the middle of winter?

Thanks for visiting!