Trish Hermanson's Blog: Croutons - Seasoned Bits of Life, page 17

Unhappy Anniversary to Us

     Unhappy anniversary to us. This year marks four centuries since the first African Americans arrived (unwillingly) on our shores. We acted no more neighborly toward Native Americans, corralling tribes so we could take their land. Then in World War II, we incarcerated Japanese Americans but didn’t intern German Americans. Why? Maybe because “they” didn’t look like “us” who are lily white?     
     The recent wave of immigrants challenges us again. In the past we welcomed needy Europe...

What to Do in Case of a Situation

     This sign cracked me up because we used to react to emergencies, but now we create “Situational Action Plans.” Please, if I’m ever in an emergency, don’t call it a “situation.” Just get help!     
     Other signs I’ve observed recently have been more straightforward, like the South Dakota bill board that poked fun at just about everyone - “Eat Steak, Wear Fur, Keep Your Guns.” Another, advertising a western store, told me, “Use Your Head When Buying a Hat.”     
     A sign in a Den...

What's on Your 'To Be' List?

     Here’s a challenge for us New Year’s Resolutionists: I asked my friend Jean Snedegar what’s on her bucket list now that she’s retired as a BBC reporter and public radio producer. What was left to do since she’s already met both the royal and the commoner at work?
     Her brow furrowed as it always does when she’s deep in thought. “For thirty years I’ve viewed myself as a journalist and broadcaster,” she said. “So instead of asking what I want to DO, I asked myself who I want to BE....

Need a Bail Out or a Crockpot?

     Did you ever want to bail out of something that seemed impossible? I have. Artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir must have felt that way, too, when he attempted what no other French Impressionist had accomplished: a massive painting combining still life with landscape and portraiture. Over a two-year period, he changed the landscape, changed the clothing, changed food on the table, and repositioned his fourteen models, even painting out a woman who exasperated him.     
     “One must from t...

The Scandal of Christmas

     The real Christmas story is even more scandalous than finding an “Eat More Chikin’” cow in my Nativity scene (compliments of my family). In the true story, Mary, a teenager, tells her fiancé she’s pregnant by the Holy Spirit. You expect him to believe that? No way. So being a good Jewish boy, Joseph plans to privately dump her. But in a dream that’s enough to rattle anyone, an angel tells him to marry her. Not an easy start for a couple.     
     Then Mary goes into labor while the...

Is It Naughty or Nice to "Out" Santa?

     Outing” Santa Claus is dangerous. That’s what my granddaughter learned when she told a classmate that Santa is just pretend. The child’s parents complained to the teacher, the teacher reported it to my daughter, and my daughter was left trying to explain to our granddaughter why parents teach their kids that Santa is real.     
     So what’s the problem with believing that this jolly old man sees you when you’re sleeping, knows when you’re awake, and knows when you’ve been bad or g...

Is There Beauty in Darkness?

    Ever find it hard to see anything beautiful during a dark time? I’ve struggled with that since the sudden, unexplained death of our six-year-old granddaughter this year - nothing but pain and sadness. So I’ve held onto a story I learned about Robert, a father scrambling to provide for his family early in the Twentieth Century. He’d attempted various jobs that produced nothing but poverty. At Christmas he tried earning money at a fair to buy presents, but failed. On his way home to h...

What Color Do You Reflect?

     Can you imagine loving to clean house? Not me, but that describes a friend of mine. Another friend studies something broken and figures out how to fix it, while I stare at it dumbfounded. My friends and I are as different as colors refracting off a prism, and I’ve come to realize that these contrasts are clues to who we are meant to be.      
     Exploring who I’m created to be has been one of life’s greatest adventures. I’ve learned to pay attention to how people compliment me. Or...

Join My Campaign?

     When my hairdresser moved away, life as I knew it ended. She didn’t simply style my hair every six weeks, she reshaped my self esteem. She’d served as my confessor and cheerleader. And now that she was gone, I wondered whether I had ever really thanked her.     
     For that matter, have I expressed gratitude to all the other service providers who keep me glued together? Like my mechanic: I don’t know the difference between an oil pan and a bedpan, yet he never disses me. Or the fo...

Why Was Anne Frank Denied Entry into America?

     Imagine that Anne Frank had been allowed to immigrate to America. She’d be eighty-nine now, perhaps penning a memoir of her escaping from Nazis, settling in Boston, and fulfilling her dream of becoming a writer.     
     Her father tried desperately to relocate his family into the United States, but the gates into our country snapped shut.    Trapped in Amsterdam, the Frank family hid for two years in rooms concealed behind a bookcase. When discovered, they were shipped to concentr...