An Afternoon with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra

Last Sunday, some Methodist ladies were on the move again searching for cultural enlightenment. At 2:00 pm, we were in our seats at Bass Hall awaiting the performance of Adam Golka, a touring concert pianist based in New York. We sensed a different aura and audience today than the one we shared on our last visit when we saw Menopause The Musical. Not one person laughed.

Golka is a young man (26) but he is an old friend to the area. He earned his artist diploma from TCU and played his first concerto with FWSO at age thirteen. His rendition of Brahams Piano Concerto No. 2 lifted the listeners up from their seats to a melody-filled place of grace and beauty. From the moment guest conductor Joshua Weilerstein lifted his baton, and Golka lifted his hands, the audience made no sound – no movement, no cough, no whispering. After about one hour, I noticed some masculine heads resting on chests, or their neighbors, but even then, they slept silently. The attendees wanted to savor every note.

In the powder room at intermission, I heard some interesting remarks: ​

“Marge, did you notice there were 34 fiddles on that stage, but they sounded like just one?”

​“I don’t know much about Brahams, but I do like his lullaby.” ​

“I didn’t want to come. My mom made me. But that Golka guy plays a rad piano!”

We absorbed the unique culture afforded by classical music and brought it home with us. The beautiful, soaring notes remain in my head and heart. I’m so glad that Adam Golka returned to Fort Worth and shared his musical talent with the city where it all began.

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Thought for the day: 

A woman is like a tea bag. You never know how strong she is until she is in hot water. – Eleanor Roosevelt. 

And the Methodist ladies said, “Amen!”

Come to Texas!

If you own a business – small, medium or large – consider moving it to Texas. 

Since 2000, some 5.2 million people voted with their feet by moving to Texas. – Gov. Rick Perry

Perry also says a combination of low taxes and moderate regulation has created the environment that allowed 1.6 million jobs to be created while he has been in office. But we need more jobs and more workers. All those people must have goods and services. Every Texan can attest to the massive population explosion. We are building additional roads and freeways as fast as we can. Our just-completed schools are too small. Temporary class rooms sit on their playgrounds. A Texas town I considered moderate-sized now has sixteen high schools.

We’ve lived in North Central Texas for six years and have seen no indication of a recession. Residential and commercial construction (especially medically related) has continued unabated. Streets, highways and loops have mushroomed at all entrances to our town. We now have three shopping malls where none existed ten years ago.

Parts of Texas have not one home for lease or purchase. If you want to live in the Permian Basin of West Texas, your only choice is to get on a contractor’s list to build a dwelling. The arrival of every type of oil and gas recovery operation has caused a giant boom.

Your business would be in good company in Texas. Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, known as “the other Lockheed” to distinguish it from Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, is making its mark by taping global markets for armored cars, robots and missiles. Old Timers say it is “blowin’ and goin’”.
All across the state, progressive banks are installing high-tech ATMs that do much more than dispense cash. The machines will accept deposits of up to 50 checks at a time and issue receipts, allow transfer of funds between accounts and give you cash in denominations according to your needs. Skilled employees are necessary for their installation and accurate function.

If your business offers special skills and training, we NEED you: Especially if your expertise is water or trash. We have a shortage of the former and an overabundance of the later.

So come to Texas. Work hard and you will prosper – so will Texas.

Friends in High Places

Recently Bell Helicopter landed a 407 model on the grounds of a high school near my home to unveil the company’s partnership with the high school.

A Senior Technical Training Instructor and Course Developer will work as a bridge between the school and Bell as the partnership gets underway. In the fall students will be able to start taking a one-semester, introductory class titled Concepts in Engineering. After completing the intro class and a subsequent year-long course, students will have hands-on experience with Bell instructors. The intro classes will feature guest speakers from Bell and other local engineering companies as well as potential field trips to various work sites.

Bell professionals spoke to the students and teachers about career paths that could result from participating in the program. Students would have the option to pursue a technical route, moving into helicopter assembly after post-high school graduate technical training, with possible internships and a continued connection with Bell through a four-year aero-space degree. This is a win-win situation. Students may discover an interest in assembling helicopters, or the field of engineering, and receive a head-start on a satisfying career. Bell Helicopter will be building a potential work-force pool for the future.

This concept would work equally well for many other fields of study in the medical arena, oil and gas production, and the food industry, just to name a few. High schools willing to join in this type of advanced education are plentiful. The possibilities are endless.

Surely many other professions can see the advantages in establishing such a partnership.

A Super Duper Garden Design

My husband loves his birthday gift. It is an agricultural marvel.

Our children and grands pooled their resources and purchased a VegTrug for him. This structure, installed in the backyard, allows him to conduct the entire gardening experience with comfort and efficiency.

It arrived with a book of instructions and 200# of organic garden soil. After assembly it measures 30” high, 30” wide and 72” long and has six sturdy, plastic-capped legs. Absolutely no bending, stooping, kneeling or sitting on the ground is required from sowing the seeds through harvesting the produce. Side benefits are the up close and personal view of the tiny green sprouts emerging from the rich, black dirt and the satisfaction of providing fresh, healthy vegetables with almost no effort for the family to enjoy. Every chore, including weeding, can be done at waist level. Its greenhouse frame and cover insure protection for seedlings and delicate plants. The design is perfect for gardeners with artificial knees and chronic back pain.

The delivery truck arrived on a Friday and the VegTrug was ready to receive plants before nightfall. Saturday morning found us on a quest for purple-top turnip and cabbage seeds. I have no intention of actually eating a turnip, but my husband said they grow well in winter, and he wanted something that will grow now. Hopefully, I’ll acquire a taste for turnips. A systemic search of every feed and seed store, as well as all garden centers, proved that no turnip or cabbage seeds were available in our area. We then turned to the internet and found seeds in North Carolina.

Today the seeds are in the ground at the proper depth and are receiving adequate water and sunshine for germination. They are assured of tender, loving care and constant supervision.

The VegTrug is truly the gift that keeps on giving.

Human Life

I’m passionate about several issues. Among them are Texas, education and the right to life. Many of today’s “enlightened women” have an emotional, tenacious commitment to the availability of abortion. I believe one reason for this attitude is that some women have been brainwashed to believe that what is growing in their womb is not human life.

Yet science tells us that human life begins at the time of conception. From the moment fertilization occurs, the child’s genetic makeup is complete. Its gender, its height, hair and skin color are already determined. The only thing the embryo needs to become a full functioning being is the time to grow and develop.

Recently at a political rally, a young woman said, “It’s my right to have an abortion if I do not want a baby. I should have control of my own body.” Who speaks for the baby – for its rights? Of course, in drastic situations abortion is advisable. If the pregnancy directly threatens the life of the mother, the physician may recommend aborting the fetus. The same is true if a proven defect will prevent survival of the child. If the pregnancy is a result of rape, the mother and her family must make a difficult decision.

Scientists tell us that human embryos are human organisms, living individuals of the human race at the earliest developmental state. Development facts include:

• Eighteen days – a baby’s heart begins to beat
• Forty-three days – brain coordinates movement
• Seven weeks – a baby can hiccup
• Eight weeks – organs can function
• Nine weeks – baby has permanent fingerprints

Regardless of the biological maturity of the fetus, it is a member of the human species. And with that comes an inherent dignity and right to life.

Celebrate Soup!

We awoke this morning to a diamond-sparkle world of heavy frost and a nip in the air. It’s a day to celebrate soup – tortilla soup. 

There’s alchemy in soup-making from the moment the onion and garlic begin to soften in the hot oil. Immediately your nose tells you something wonderful is happening.

The key to making soup is to take your time. Never dump everything into the pot at once. A soup’s flavor must be coaxed out. Add a vegetable or two at a time, let them heat, then add some more.

Soup is all about the details. It has a built-in wait time. The tortilla soup I’m making this morning is to be served for dinner. And it will be even better for lunch tomorrow.

Soups are great anytime of the year, but for me, fall is the official kickoff of soup season. Winter finds me searching out all my tried and true recipes plus trying a few new ones. I freeze the excess and can grab a container from the freezer and heat it at a moment’s notice.

One of my favorites is French potato-leek soup, but my husband is not enthusiastic. He prefers a robust soup with character – one whose flavors reach out and grab the taste buds.

If you like, you can dress up your soup when it is served. Just sprinkle some crushed, toasted pistachios on top, add a spoon of grated cheese, a cooked, crumbled bacon slice, or a few chive sprigs. Chopped fresh herbs add flavor and visual appeal. In our family, we prefer our soup naked.

Soups are by nature comfort food. On this diamond-studded day, tortilla soup will be just right.

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TORTILLA SOUP
 
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained & rinsed
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
2 boneless chicken breasts, cooked and diced
1-1/4 cups water

1 (10.5 ounce) can chicken broth

1 can of corn, drained,

1 can of hominy, drained

Tortilla chips

Shredded Monterey cheese
Sliced avocado
Few green onions

In medium stock pot, heat oil over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic until soft. Stir in chili powder, oregano, tomatoes, broth and water. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in corn, hominy, chiles, beans, cilantro and chicken. Simmer 10 minutes.

Soup can be ladled into individual bowls and topped with crushed tortilla chips, avocado slices, cheese and chopped green onion. We prefer to serve tortilla chips in a basket, with the avocado, cheese and whole green onions served on a platter.

Enjoy!

Life Without Bees

If the bee disappears from the surface of the globe, man will have no more than four years to live. – attributed to Albert Einstein. 

The Western honeybee is responsible for one in every three mouthfuls of food you and I will eat today. And something is killing them.

From the almond orchards of California to the blueberry bogs of Maine, billions of honeybees are needed to pollinate multibillion-dollar crops. Without bees, these two foods, as well as 235 others, will vanish. Included in these are three of my favorites – apples, lemons and squash.

My family has a personal knowledge of the scarcity of bees. This past summer, not one bee visited our vegetable garden. My husband manually pollinated the squash, zucchini, cucumber, cantaloupe and watermelon blooms using homemade swabs.

Beginning in 2006, beekeepers across America opened their hives, found them full of wax and honeycomb and even honey, but devoid of actual bees. The beekeepers sought other employment. We might someday replace the bees, but can we replace keepers with 40 years of experience? Among the causes of bee extermination are agricultural pesticides, a parasitic mite and bacterial and viral diseases. Yet there is no clear cut culprit.

But American ingenuity is stepping in. In 2007 Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Science successfully developed a life-size robotic fly. The school was awarded a $10 million grant to build a network of autonomous artificial bees.

Can we afford to pay $100 for a watermelon?

Compete Globally

In 1865, Horace Greenley, writing for the New York Tribune, said, “Go West, young man, go West and grow up with the country.”

Living in 2013, Greenley would say, “Go West, young man, and East and South and North around the world and become a global contender.”

Modern educators are urging parents to teach their children a foreign language – or two or three. Then send them to college abroad to perfect the language and understand the cultural diversity. Some corporate executives are recommending two years of service in the Peace Corps in a foreign land prior to employment.

A few years ago, there was a push to learn Russian. Today someone fluent in Chinese has special marketable skills.

For our economy to experience long-term growth, our young people need to learn other languages and to develop sensitivity to various ways of life.

The world is your oyster – find the pearl.