Author Archives: beth

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About beth

Ann Arbor-ite writes about enjoying life with all of its ironies and surprises.

an evening at home.

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after a busy day

spent teaching, singing, walking, grocery shopping with a mask, writing new plans, meeting, and conferencing

i finally sat down

one last time

all of it behind me

settling in for an evening at home

 picturing myself like the image above

and then 

the mirror

came into play

where it was revealed

that i was actually

more like disheveled barbie

but she probably has more fun anyway. 

 

when you have a vision of where you need to go,

it sounds uptopian. but when you get to the tipping point,

your understanding switches.”

-christiana figueres

 

 

 

Watercolor painting credit: An Evening at Home, 1888, Sir Edward John Poynte, Bourne Gallery, Reigate, Surrey, UK The Bridgeman Art Library

push.

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Michigan football wide receiver Ronnie Bell has an epic quarantine workout

Ronnie Bell had a unique routine while quarantining back home in Missouri.

To stay in shape, the Michigan receiver would go outside … and push his family’s Chevy Tahoe around the block.

“I’ve been pushing the cars with my little brothers,” Bell told MGoBlue’s Ed Kengerski. “We’ll take the car outside and put it in neutral and just push it around the neighborhood. “They push the little Lexus and I push the Chevy Tahoe.”

Like many of his teammates, Bell went home for a spell after the coronavirus outbreak forced Michigan to cancel in-person classes and athletic activities, including the Wolverines’ spring practices. 

“We were probably a week out from spring ball before everything happened,” he said. “Just kind of had to shift mindsets from getting ready, mentally, for spring ball, getting all excited for spring ball, and then having that taken away from you. You’ve got to adjust and adapt to your different circumstances.”

Bell, who is majoring in creative writing, says the shutdown made his academic life more difficult, as it prevented him from participating in office hours with his professors. But he did appreciate the opportunity to go home and spend time with his family, calling the experience “the best thing about” quarantine. 

Bell is back in Ann Arbor, where he lives with running back Hassan Haskins and linebacker Cam McGrone.

Does he miss football? “Of course.”

“(I miss) just being around the guys and being around the facility with all the coaches,” Bell said. “Everything about it. You don’t realize how much you were going to miss it until you get it completely taken away from you.”

For now, Bell and his teammates have connected with each other and the coaching staff through Zoom. He says the team has tried to install the offense as best it can through virtual meetings.

Bell, who had 48 catches for 758 yards and a touchdown in 2019, has been watching film on a consistent basis in hopes of improving upon his breakout sophomore year. He says he has gone over film of himself looking at situations in which he could’ve done “something different” or “something more.” He is hoping football will return in the near future.

“Everybody’s just unbelievably excited,” Bell said. “You could tell everybody was just getting antsy and itchy, just to get back to it. Everybody’s on edge because nobody really knows when everything will somewhat go back to normal.

“whatever I engage in, I must push inordinately.”

-andrew carnegie

 

 

credits: orion sang, detroit free press, ed kengerski, mgoblue.com

the whole story.

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“love your whole story even if it hasn’t been the perfect fairy tale.”

-marilyn moushigian koulouris

 

 

 

image credit: m.e. mcnair

intoxicating.

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happy national cocktail day

in this era of zoom happy hours, the quarantini, and more than lots of stay home time

what have you been mixing up in your quarantine cave?

do you find yourself using

whatever you can scrounge up in your kitchen?

is your go-to

a cornhattan, pickled okra and tonic, dandelion/parsley wine, a salsa sour?

what have you managed to blend, shake, mix, mash, stir, or sling together

to create your new signature drink?

all cocktails and mocktails welcome here.

“life is a crazy mixture of intoxicating cocktails.”

-ken poirot 

 

image credit: lisa zador

another day.

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sharing the park

with front-line workers

needing a respite

 making their way through another day. 

 

“when people go to work, they shouldn’t have to leave their hearts at home.”

-betty bender

swap meet.

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 this sign in a local store

so funny and makes a good point

yesterday

i found myself

swapping out a box of rigatoni

for a homemade strawberry shortcake donut

it all depends on supply and demand

and irrational cravings

i consider the transaction a win-win

vs.

a battle of the titans

yes

 there are days

when i would swap in the other direction.

what have you swapped during your quarantine?

 

“america ships tons of sugar cookies to denmark,

and denmark ships tons of sugar cookies to america.

wouldn’t it be more efficient just to swap recipes?”

-michael pollard

 

from a mother to her daughters.

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happy mother’s day

to my daughters

who have shared in

my seemingly endless graduations

and all of

 our many, many other adventures and misadventures,

i  am grateful to you and love you for this

you’ve made me happy

watching you all grow

from amazing daughters into amazing mothers

you are my idols. 

“i don’t have to be perfect.

all is have to do is show up and enjoy

the messy, imperfect, and beautiful journey of my life.”

-kerry washington

sink right in.

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walking with the grandies

they are mesmerized

by the carpet of tiny flowers in the grass

and sink right in. 

 

“life is always a rich and steady time

when you are waiting for something to happen or to hatch.”

-e.b. white, ‘charlotte’s web’

toast.

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I’m not gonna’ lie, i’m pretty good with toast.

 

“What is the right way to cut a piece of toast?”Diagonally, insists the narrator in NIcholson Baker’s novel “The Mezzanine.” It creates a “triangularly cut slice” which in turn yields “an ideal first bit.” With rectangular toast, you must “angle the shape into your mouth, as you angle a big dresser through a hall doorway.” (Dwight Garner, NYT book critic’s new essay on the literature of breakfast food.)

“i have trouble with toast. toast is very difficult.

you have to watch it all the time or it burns up.”

-julia child, master chef (1912-2004)

 

credits: New York Times, Dwight Garner, Nicholson Baker,”The Mezzanine”, google images

stillness.

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argo park, ann arbor, mi, usa – spring 2020

“the important stuff will still be important by the time you get to it. the unimportant will have made its insignificance obvious or simply disappear. then, with stillness rather than needless urgency or exhaustion, you will be able to sit down and give what deserves consideration your full attention.” – Ryan Holiday, Stillness is the Key