Kindness Shelved: Monthly Poetry

 

 

 

Last Friday of the month is for

Monthly Poetry Group to rhyme.

Diane, Mimi, and I take turns,

"Kindness" is the theme this time.

 

As usual, today I'll try,

a poem to write . . . or fudge.

Whether I'm successful or not,

you get to be the judge.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kindness Shelved

I remember kindness past,

seems to have died out at last.

The times we'd put ourselves aside,

and just let kindness be our guide.

 

If someone needed help, just ask,

we'd try to pick up any task.

Volunteers wanted? We'd apply. 

Rarely let the chance go by.

 

Need a ride to get your car?

We'll help out, be it near or far.

Struggling strangers we might see,

as a chance, good samaritan to be.

 

Neighbor isn't feeling OK,

I'll take her kids, keep them for the day.

Bring her family dinner too,

it's the kind of thing we'd always do.  

 

Tortellini Dinner Casserole

 

 

 

Showing kindness we should treasure,

of our own character, it's a measure.

Doing for others lets all see,

the kind of person we've chosen to be.

 

Nowadays we're less engaged,

and this makes me just enraged,

often putting first ourself,

kindness languishing on the shelf.

 

Here's something I hate to hear,

and my answer, loud and clear:

"What's in it for me?" you say.

No, kindness doesn't work that way.

 

Before you go, stop by these blogs for more Collections poetry:

 

On the Border

Messymimi's Meanderings

 

 

Tortellini Dinner Casserole

                                               ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

1 package (12 oz) frozen cheese tortellini

2 oz pepperoni slices

3/4 cup marinara sauce, I use my Homemade Marinara

1/2 cup half and half

1 small zucchini

6 oz x-small cooked shrimp

5 slices mozzarella cheese (can use shredded)

1 tsp Italian seasoning

 

Directions:
*Cook the tortellini, drain well, rinse a few times with cold water, drain again, and place in a mixing bowl.

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 2 quart round or 8 inch square baking dish,

*Set aside 6 slices of pepperoni, chop the rest and add to the mixing bowl.

*Trim the ends of the zucchini, cut in half, then slice. Add to the mixing bowl, along with the shrimp. Mix.

*Whisk together the marinara and half and half, add to the mixing bowl, mix well, and pour into the prepared baking dish.

*Top the mozzarella, then the Italian seasoning, and the reserved pepperoni slices.

*Bake for 30 minutes.

Small Gestues: Secret Subject Swap

Welcome a Secret Subject Swap. This month 8 brave bloggers picked a secret subject for someone else and were assigned a secret subject to interpret in their own style. Today we are all simultaneously divulging our topics and submitting our posts. Read through mine and at the bottom you’ll find links to all of today’s other Secret Subject participants.

My subject is: What was the last "act of kindness" you performed? Why?
It was submitted by: Rena of Wandering Web Designer.

My last act of kindness was just a small thing, really. I was halfway across town when I remembered that I was running low on an ingredient I needed for dinner. There was a Walmart right across the street from where I was and I ran in.

I was headed towards the self check-outs when I got to a line where a couple were just paying and no one else was in the line, so I diverted there. At first I was frustrated, the couple was taking their time paying. Then I realized what was happening. The woman was pregnant, had to be 8 or 9 months as she was huge. She was there with a man and they were speaking, not in English, and trying to communicate with the Walmart worker. Their order consisted of a pack of diapers, some bottles, and a sweet little outfit. Apparently it's a girl.

They were speaking softly to each other, counting money, pointing to items and to the money they were holding. It became clear that they couldn't purchase everything they had chosen. They pulled out the outfit and handed it to the store associate, apparently having enough money for the diapers and bottles. 

I grabbed the outfit. I didn't much care but it was actually marked down to $9.97, so I grabbed a $10 bill out of my wallet. I think the couple thought I was buying it for myself, as they were grabbing their bags to leave, but started to understand when I placed the outfit in the bag with their bottles. To say they were grateful is an understatement.

I don't think acts of kindness need to be huge gestures. I don't think acts of kindness need to be public. I don't think acts of kindness need to be expensive. I don't think acts of kindness need to require a ton of effort. I don't think acts of kindness need to be planned out in advance. I think acts of kindness just need to be . . . kind.

Pasta with Broccoli in Garlic Olive Oil

When my kids were little we were friends with a family who had a boy the same age as my older son and a girl in the same class as my younger son. We were good friends, all getting along well. One afternoon after school I called my friend about a play date. She was sick. Really sick. She could barely lift her head from the pillow, said her kids were probably tearing the house apart and that was fine with her.

I called to my kids, jumped in the car and went to her house to see what she needed. All she needed was to try to sleep. I grabbed her kids, stuck them in my car and told her to go to bed. She didn't expect to be able to come get her kids and asked if I'd bring them back when they were done playing. I told her in no uncertain terms that I would not be bringing her kids back at all as long as she was home alone, that her husband could pick them up after work.

I had planned Pasta with Broccoli in Garlic Olive Oil for dinner. I was serving it with a salad and garlic bread. I doubled it. 

I'm not going to tell you that it was hard to do because it really was not. When my friend's husband came for the kids, I had dinner for his family packed up and ready to go. 

Nothing I did that day, like the day with the pregnant woman at the check out line, was a grand gesture, nor was it planned, either time. Sometimes in life an opportunity to do something kind just presents itself. It's in those moments that we show who we are. 

Here are links to all the sites now featuring Secret Subject Swap posts. Sit back, grab a cup, and check them all out. See you there:

Never Ever Give Up Hope
Wandering Web Designer 
Cognitive Script 
Southern Belle Charm
The Bergham Chronicles  
Climaxed 
Part-time Working Hockey Mom 

Pasta with Broccoli in Garlic Olive Oil

                                                              ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe


Ingredients:

3/4 cup olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp dried red pepper flakes
1# thin spaghetti

1 1/2 cups broccoli florets  
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 TBSP fresh parsley, chopped

Directions:
*Place the olive oil in a pan with the garlic, black pepper and dried red pepper flakes. Steep over low heat for 15 minutes. 
*Cook the spaghetti to al dente. Two minutes before the spaghetti is done, add the broccoli to the pot. Drain the broccoli and spaghetti. Move to a serving bowl.
*Pour the olive oil mixture over the spaghetti and broccoli and mix. Add the parmesan cheese and mix well.
*Top with fresh parsley.
 

World Kindness Election Day

Today in the United States is midterm election day. Perhaps you already know that. I think if you live in this country and own a TV or have access to the internet or have a phone or drive down a street, it would be pretty hard not to know that there are elections going on. I'm not going to write about the election today, though. I posted a plea about voting back in May called Functional Democracy and I hope you read it. 

Today I want to call your attention to a holiday that's coming up next week. Tuesday is World Kindness Day. I not only want to talk about it because it's important, but because it's so much more important in this country and in this current political climate. There is, at this time in history, a sad juxtaposition between politics and kindness, so I've chosen today to talk about World Kindness Day.

One of the things we seem to have lost track of in this country is that we live in a global society. We share this earth. When our actions as a country become narcissistic, that doesn't happen in a vacuum. What we do in terms of treaties, the environment, relationships with other countries, it all has a ripple effect, it all affects others not only in their relationships with us, but with each other as well. If we retreat from a circle of allies, that circle gets stronger, with us on the outside. That has long term and far reaching implications. I say this all to make the point that kindness matters on all levels, in our homes, communities, cities, states, country and globally. 

But let's start small. Because it really is that easy. If you show kindness on a local level, if we all do, it changes who we are, how we live, and how we're seen on a much larger level. What we do on a microscopic level can produce macroscopic results. That makes it a lot easier to think about, doesn't it? 

There are already so many suggestions out there. Kindness rocks (wrote about this too in my post from June of 2017 called Everybody Should Get Stoned). are a fun way to brighten someone's day. Or pay it forward by paying for a stranger's coffee, or really, just share a Thanksgiving treat with your neighbors. Even those with trump signs in their yard (sorry, couldn't help myself).

Gobble Gobble Turkey Treats

There are all kinds of ways to make the world a better place. For today, let's all be sure to vote. Votes matter, they are the mechanism for making our morals and values heard on a national level. And on the way home, why don't we each find some small kindness we can do in our communities? Because actions matter too, they are how we make our morals and values heard on a local level.

 There's always more to say about kindness. Before you go, some other thoughts about World Kindness Day:

Dawn of Cognitive Script shares World Kindness and Elections. 
Jules of The Bergham Chronicles shares Kindness Matters. 
Jenn of Sparkly Poetic Weirdo shares What We Need to Know When It Gets Bad: Kindness Keeps Us Here.
Diane of On the Border shares That's How You Were Designed.

Gobble Gobble Turkey Treats

                                                                       ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
6 Airhead Extremes multicolored candy strips
4 oz chocolate chips, chocolate bark or brown candy melts
10 marshmallows 
10 thin pretzel sticks
20 candy eyes
10 pepitas or sunflower seeds

Directions:
*Cut each candy strip into 5 triangles. Set aside.
*Press a pretzel stick straight down into the back of one flat side each marshmallow. Some of the pretzel stick must still be above the marshmallow. This will be the top.
*Melt the chocolate chips, bark or candy melt until smooth when stirred. 
*Dip each marshmallow into the melted chocolate and place onto parchment paper.
*Just as the chocolate is about to set, place 2 candy eyes onto the side of each marshmallow. Below that, press a seed into each to resemble a beak.
*Using the tip of a knife, place a little melted chocolate onto 10 of the candy strips. Use that chocolate to stick a candy strip, wide side of the triangle at the top, onto each pretzel half.
*Last, for each turkey, add a little chocolate to the backs of 2 of the remaining candy strips. Attach them to each side of the candy strip already on the turkey. The short side should be flush with the top of the marshmallow and the long sides should be placed up the pretzel, touching each other. 

Acts of Kindness the Third

Today it’s my pleasure to post the third installment in the Acts of Kindness series.

In July I received a phone call from a woman who had found my son’s wallet and wanted to be sure we got it back intact. After posting about it on FB, people started telling me their own stories of acts of kindness they’ve experienced. I knew these stories needed to be told. So I asked for submissions and got so many I had to break them out into three separate posts. This is the third one. If you missed the first one, it’s here: Acts of Kindness Series. If you missed the second one, it’s here: Acts of Kindness Too.

Here are more of the stories submitted to me. Again, in their own words:

~While traveling into the “city” with my husband to do some shopping, I had to stop to get gas. When we were pulling out of the gas station onto a busy 4 lane highway, my hubby noticed something in the middle of the road.
“Pull over, pull over” he says. “That was someone’s wallet”.
I finally got pulled over and turned around. Hubby runs out into the highway to retrieve the wallet and as much of the contents as possible. It was a very full wallet with many credit cards, over $300 cash, business cards and such. We decided not to take the wallet back to the gas station as you just never know and tried to get it to the local police station. Now we live in a very rural area right by the state line and police stations are not open “after hours” in the winter. We drove around this very small, wooded community tucked along the shores of Lake Michigan for 20 minutes trying to find the police station only to find it closed with no emergency number. We decided to continue onto our shopping trip and try to find the owner when we returned home as the address for the owner was a town that is more than 40 miles away.
Upon returning home I looked up the owner in the phone book and tried every number possible with no luck. The number that was for the wallet’s owner had been disconnected. After doing more research and making more calls we finally found a number that “could” have been the owner. After more than an hour trying to get an answer I finally got “Jane” on the phone and told her that I had found something that might belong to her.
“You found my dog? Where is my dog?”
“No I don’t have your dog but I have something else that might belong to you.”
“Can I call you back later? I really need to find my dog.”
Now this was a bizarre conversation but I understand the love of a pet so I gave her my number and left it in her hands. The next day she finally called back. When I told her that I had her wallet she didn’t believe me and didn’t even know she had lost it. I gave her my address and arranged a time to meet. The meeting day and time was 2 days away! i felt uncomfortable with that but she told me that anyone who had gone through what we went through to find her had to be honest people and she felt comfortable leaving her wallet in our care. When she finally showed up to get her wallet she told us that she found her dog and that she had just moved out of state so she didn’t know how we had found her. Lucky for her she had written her cell number down and placed it inside her wallet. She insisted on giving hubby a $40 reward which he tried hard not to take but she was adamant. “Jane” had only been gone about 2 minutes when she pulled back in the driveway and gave hubby another $40 as she said she didn’t think that the first amount that she gave him was enough!
Boy that $80 sure did make a nice donation to our local food pantry!

Carey James, Michigan

going into the oven

Choco-Berry Layer Bars

out of the oven, still warm

~Many years ago, when my son was just under a year old, I was traveling with him to visit my parents. My husband stayed behind to work.
We were on a plane waiting to take off and we were delayed. Eventually we were told that we had to change planes and because we had pulled away from the gate we’d have to go down stairs from the plane, walk into the terminal and up more stairs to a new gate. I had the baby, a diaper bag, a backpack and a small stroller that fit into the overhead compartment. There was no way I could get it all off of the plane. The pilot, copilot and stewardesses all watched me struggle and never did a thing to help. One passenger came over and took the stroller. Another took my backpack and a third took my diaper bag. I walked down the stairs carrying the baby. The passenger with the stroller had it set up at the bottom of the stairs. All those passengers walked with me to the terminal, collapsed the stroller and took it up the stairs, set it up again and walked me to the gate. I didn’t know what to say to them all. “Thank you” didn’t seem like enough but it was all I had.

Bethryn, Massachusetts

~When my son was little he loved the show Blue’s Clues. At one point, Subway was giving out Blue’s Clues toys with a kids’ sandwich. We went almost every day trying to get one of each of the toys. There was one toy he hadn’t gotten, the notebook, and the day we went in hoping to get it the promotion had ended. My little boy was heartbroken.

A young girl who worked there said that she had one at home and if we came back the next day she’d let us have it. I offered to pay her but she refused. I went out to a store and put together a gift bag and went back the next day. She had remembered and handed my son the notebook. You should have seen the smile on his face. I had him hand her the gift bag. She rewarded him with a big smile as well.

Camryn Jas

Choco-Berry Layer Bars

                                       ©www.BakingInATornado.com

                                                                                                                                         

 
Prinable Recipe
 
Ingredients:
3/4 stick (6 TBSP) butter or margarine, melted
½ of a 11.5 oz pkg Keebler Fudge Stripes Dark Chocolate cookies
1 cup chocolate chips
¾ cup white chocolate chips
8 Strawberry Marshmallows, each cut or broken into 8 pieces
1 cup of Raspberry baking chips or of coarsely chopped Wilton  Dark Cocoa Raspberry Candy Melts
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
 
Directions:
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
*Grease a 9 X 13 baking dish.
*Process the cookies in a food processor until they are fine crumbs.    
*Mix the cookies crumbs and the butter or margarine and pat firmly into the bottom of your baking dish.
*Sprinkle with the chocolate chips, then the white chocolate chips, then the Marshmallow pieces, and finally the raspberry baking chips or candy melts.
*Cover with Sweetened Condensed Milk.
*Bake for 25 minutes.
*Remove from oven. Cool for 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edges. Allow to cool completely at room temperature before cutting into squares. Remove from pan. Store in the fridge. Bring to room temperature for serving.        

Acts of Kindness Too

Today it’s my pleasure to post the second installment in the Acts of Kindness series.

In July I received a phone call from a woman who had found my son’s wallet and wanted to be sure we got it back intact. After posting about it on FB, people started telling me their own stories of acts of kindness they’ve experienced. I knew these stories needed to be told. So I asked for submissions and got so many I had to break them out into three separate posts. This is the second one. If you missed the first one, it’s here: Acts of Kindness Series.

Here are more of the stories submitted to me. Again, in their own words:

~In December of 2009 my father passed away. I flew to California to be with him, only hours before he passed, and was alone the entire three days in LA taking care of his burial details. I am a country girl, raised in an extremely small town, so this was a horrifying experience for me being alone in the city, especially dealing with my dad’s passing. On my last flight back to Savannah, it was late, and a very small plane. The stewardess came through with the beverage cart and there was a man sitting a few seats in front of me who asked for a beer. He was unable to get one because they only accepted credit cards and he apparently only had cash. At this point, beer sounded pretty darn good to me, so when she go to me I ordered one and asked her to give the man a beer too. She kept asking me if I was sure I wanted to do that and I told her most definitely. She gave the man his beer, told him it was from me and he then attempted to give me cash. I refused his cash, of course, and just told him to enjoy his beer.
Our plane landed and when I got off the man was standing waiting for me. He, once again, attempted to pay me. I again refused. I explained to him that my father had just passed away and I felt that it would have been something he would do, so not to worry about it. Now mind you, this man was older, it was two days before Christmas and, I kid you not, he looked like Santa Clause! He explained to me that his mother had just passed away and he was traveling to Savannah to take care of the funeral arrangements. We exchanged “I’m sorries”, and he one last time tried to pay for his beer. I told him no, just to take care and be safe. He asked me if I had children and I replied yes. He then told me if I wouldn’t take the money for the beer then to get my kids something for Christmas from him and slid something into the pocket of my carry-on and walked away.
A friend of mine was waiting to pick me up at the airport and I proceeded to tell him the story of the man that looked like Santa and the beer. He was like, what did he give you? I said I didn’t know, I hadn’t looked. He was eager to know so I reached into my carry-on and grabbed out what the man had given me. It was a $100 bill. My mouth hit the floor! Of course I could not accept this gift! $100 for an overpriced $8 beer on the plane?!? No way. Well, as late as it was, the airport was pretty empty. I was standing at the baggage claim and looked everywhere for this man. He literally vanished! Needless to say the kids got a very special present from “Santa” for Christmas and, in tradition, they get a special gift from him every year now.

Shelley Jackson

~My husband was home for R&R during his 2nd deployment. We went out to this little restaurant to enjoy his last night before he was to be sent back. A couple was sitting beside us and were talking about our kids and just enjoying talking to them. Asked my husband if he was military. It’s a big military town where we were at the time and he said “yes I’m home for R&R, I go back tomorrow”. We all ate and talked and then we asked for our check. The waitress came and said it was already paid for. And the couple said they paid for it. They told us to enjoy his last night and they wanted to thank him for his service. It was really nice that they did that.

Cassandra Meadows writes @ Dates 2 Diapers

Chocolate Confetti Cheesecake Bars

~When my Son was about 6 months old, I went to a different Walmart than usual to pick up some formula. When I got to the register, they told me that they didn’t accept WIC there. Seeing as I didn’t have enough cash to cover it, I was going to put it back and leave. The lady behind me in line said “Let me pay for it”. I said that I couldn’t possibly let her do that because it was too much money. She said “you need it, right? I want to buy it for you. Just pass the favor on to someone else someday.” And she bought me $60 worth of formula. I actually cried in the middle of the store, I couldn’t believe how kind she was!!

Tasha writes @ Patience Juice

~After finding out a woman who had recently lost her husband at 42 with no life insurance needed her electric bill paid, I did it because I have been very blessed. I did not identify myself and I received a peace that is so hard to explain. Random acts can be just a smile or a hand up but I believe you receive more than they do. I hope everyone will try it. How wonderful our lives would be!

Author wishes to remain anonymous

As with the last post I want to mention what a pleasure it’s been to collect and publish these stories.

Chocolate Confetti Cheesecake Bars

                                                                        
©www.BakingInATornado.com

                                                

Printable Recipe
 
Ingredients:
1 stick butter, melted
1 ¾ cups flour
1 cup sugar
¼ cup baking cocoa
½ cup toffee bits
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2TBSP multicolored nonpareils
2 TBSP multicolored sprinkles
 
Directions:
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 X 13 baking pan.
*Mix butter, flour, sugar cocoa until well blended. Add the toffee bits. Your mixture will be dry and crumbly.
*Press 3/4 of this mixture into the prepared pan. Use a little more if you need to, but make sure you have a good bottom crust. Set the rest of the mixture aside.
*Bake for 10 minutes. Allow to cool.
*Beat the cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, egg and vanilla. Carefully swirl in the sprinkles and nonpareils. Swirl in only twice or it will change the whole color of the batter instead of swirling into the batter. Pour over cooled crust.
*Sprinkle with the other half of the crust mixture.
*Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the center is set.
*Cool before cutting. Store in the fridge.