Learning New Things

  

   One of the advantages of having no place to go is that there is time to learn new things. I'd like to share with you some of the new things I have learned.

    I've learned how to video chat. Last weekend my niece Lissa and her husband Kurt had their son, Daniel, blessed. Since there were several friends and relatives who could not attend the blessing due to distance or restrictions on gatherings, she set up a Zoom meeting. C and I logged on and were able to watch. One of the participants was Lissa's mom, Micki. Micki and I have been friends since infancy. Micki was having trouble getting on Zoom. Eventually Lissa had her watch via a video chat app that both of them had on their phones. Later in the day I sent Micki a text and she told me of the app. I downloaded it and then asked if she would care to try it out later that day.

  In the evening, after supper, I called Micki via the app and we shared a cup of tea together. I showed her around my house. I got to see hers. We talked about cats and cooking and jobs and all sorts of things. It was wonderful. We have talked on the phone now and again, but this time we could see each other.

  I decided that I wanted to learn how to make a Ten Stitch blanket. This blanket is made by knitting a strip in a spiral until you get tired of knitting or until you run out of yarn. A month or so ago, my friend, Dana, taught me how to do the corners. It took a lot of practice and a lot of knitting and then ripping out what I had done and doing it over. Then I had to learn how to pick up stitches. That was much easier. I decided that the best thing to do would be a trial run using cotton yarn and making a dishcloth. I'm working on it now. The beginning isn't pretty, but it's looking better.

   I have a recipe website that I look at when I want some ideas for meals. One of the things I saw was a recipe for depression cake. It's a cake that doesn't need butter or eggs which were in short supply during the depression. It makes a small eight inch square chocolate cake. It's the perfect size for two people to have a bit of a treat. It's also a pretty good cake. I made it with peanut butter frosting. This is something my grandma used to do. No one else I know has ever heard of peanut butter frosting. It is the best thing to eat on a chocolate cake.

  C and I have learned how to make dry beans in a crock pot. Both of us like beans and it's much less expensive to buy the dry beans and make them ourselves. Our first batch didn't turn out too well. That is because we used old beans. We have tried again with a fresh bag of beans and the results were perfect. Our goal is to freeze the beans and slowly stop buying canned beans.

  Another thing I learned to do is cook with dehydrated apples. I made an apple crisp that turned out pretty well. Next time I have to use more apple pieces. I saved the liquid left over from rehydrating and cooking the apple pieces. It's got sugar and cinnamon in it, I'm hoping to cook it down and see if I can make a syrup with it.

  I've still been doing yoga almost every morning. I've started on another 30 day challenge. It has been a challenge. A lot of the things done in these video classes are things I can't do. One of the things I'm learning to do is adjust. I'm learning to use props, to modify some of the poses and sometimes to just drop into table top, high plank or down dog until I can rejoin what the teacher is doing. Most of the time the teacher in these videos mentions two things. The first is that we are all not the same. Everyone has different bone structures and different abilities. The goal is not to nail every pose on the first try. The goal is to do your best that day and to modify things so that they work for you. The other is impermanence. Nothing stays the same forever. Things change and your ability to do things will change over time. Some things may become easier and some harder. Don't worry about it. Just go with it. She also mentions that our bodies are not symmetrical and never will be. This is not a flaw that must be fixed. This is how you are and the thing to do is to learn to work with it. I find this very comforting. This mindset is helping me in ways on and off my yoga mat. 

  I'm looking forward to doing more things with what I have learned. Maybe teaching myself more new things......