A Sunday Walk in the 'Hood

It’s day 40 of Quarantine 2020. It’s also Earth Week leading up to the 50th anniversary of Earth Day on Wednesday. We have been out walking in our neighborhood a whole lot more recently, using it as our P.E. class for the girls and myself. This past Sunday we decided to glove up and take along trash bags to pick up the random trash that finds its way to the side of the road.

Well, to be fair, I supervised and pointed, “Trash!” whenever I would see it and then go about making photos of my cute family collecting and cleaning up the neighborhood or a wildflower or the green fields or a neighbor’s American flags, or a duck crossing sign, etc. One must do what one must do, after all.

We’ve tried to make this clean-up-the-hood an annual tradition - right around the same time of year, and Earth Day. Most years I am also picking up the trash and cleaning up our ‘hood. It’s a feel-good exercise and another way to honor the Earth and our fellow inhabitants, wouldn't you say? We do live in a pretty area and it’s nice to slow down every so often to take in the natural beauty that we’re fortunate to enjoy. How we love our home planet. As they say, there’s no planet B.

At one point on our three-mile walk, we saw a neighbor out riding his lawn tractor, cutting his grass along the side of the road. He took notice to what we were doing, and the heavy sack of trash my husband was carrying. We said “hello!” to one another over the tractor’s motor and he said, “You can leave the trash at the end of my driveway, at the corner.” We thanked him and went about picking up more finds. He then turned around and drove his tractor up his long driveway and just as we were passing, he came back down with not one but two more trash bags to hand off to us and he took our full bag to dispose. That was such a thoughtful act and we couldn’t help but smile big and thank him profusely! Thanks again, neighbor!! (:

Back at home, I snapped off some photos of the blooming Crabapple tree and the azaleas in full bloom. My girl, Alanna said “there’s so much color in our yard.” It’s spring and we love it, every year! I know I’ve said it a dozen times, but I’ll say it again, I adore springtime and all the beauty that’s bursting forth from the earth’s awakening. Another “Go-Round” to witness all the vibrant and breathtaking majesty, full of wonder and awe.

We have another reason to celebrate this Earth Week and Earth Day! We went solar last month!! It’s been exactly one month to the day and we’ve produced the equivalent of $140 in kWh!! Whoot! We weren’t certain how we’d adjust to solar panels and my husband needed many talks about the immense benefits in relation to the long-term investment (the price tag made him hyperventilate at first). But, month one in and under our belts, and we’re seeing the power of solar in a whole new light! Yes, pun intended, sorry. I’m so proud that we took the leap, and are paying it forward - for our girls’ future and that of every other kiddo on the planet, for that matter. If we each just chipped in, to do what we can, no matter how small, I think we’d see a massive wave of change for the betterment of all.

Have a Happy Earth Week, my friend!
Happy 50th Anniversary to Earth Day on Wednesday! How will you be celebrating the day?
Thanks for stopping by. Continue to stay safe and take great care to be well.

With love and neighborly friendship,
Barb

In Loving Memory of Dorothy Liszcz

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to most all of the photos displayed in this post. The photos are scanned reproductions and credit to professional portraits are given where known. Obituary written by Jeri Misler.

In Loving Memory of Dorothy Hullinger Liszcz
1930 - 2020

Dorothy Marie Hullinger Liszcz, 90, of Robeson Township, Mohnton, passed away peacefully on Easter Sunday, April 12, at Mifflin Center Memory Support facility, Shillington, PA. She was born February 1, 1930 in Reading, PA to Mary Helen and Leon Hullinger.

Dorothy graduated from St. Peter’s Catholic School in Reading. After graduation, she worked for many years as an administrative assistant at Luden’s factory before she was married in 1952 to Walter R. Liszcz. 

Service was the hallmark of Dorothy’s life.  She spent her life giving generously of her time. She was committed to visiting friends and family, volunteering, and creating a warm and loving home for her four children.  Placing others needs above her own came naturally to Dorothy, a committed, lifelong blood donor and community volunteer. 

Along with her predeceased husband, Walter, she served as an active member of the Church of St. Benedict RCC, Mohnton, for over 60 years. Dorothy joined the church’s Women’s Auxiliary, the “Prime-Timers” group, and was a loyal volunteer for the church’s annual Chicken BBQ.   A prized baker, Dorothy’s coconut cakes and award-winning apple pies were sought after, and fought over, by festival regulars. She spent days leading up to the event helping friends and family members make chicken soup and polish perogies, both popular sellouts by noon on festival days.

A fan of travel, Dorothy enjoyed bus trips with the church’s senior group, week-long road trips to girlfriend’s cabins to play cards, and visits to see her daughter and granddaughters in Maine, Virginia and even Alaska.  She enjoyed several cruises, and was a lifelong lover of warm beaches.

Dorothy valued friendships and worked hard to maintain them with generous and thoughtful acts of kindness. Her many friends included co-workers from the school cafeteria kitchens of Robeson Elementary and Twin Valley Elementary Center, former classmates, and close friends from St. Benedict’s Church.  Her commitment to her family was equally as strong as she enjoyed close relationships with her six siblings and their families all the years of her life.

Dorothy is survived by her three sons, Jeffrey, Brian and Kurt, all of Mohnton, daughter, Jeri of Winterport, ME, daughters-in-law JoAnne and Barbara, and son-in-law, Scott, plus seven granddaughters: Chelsea, Lauren, Tien, Daija, Zara, Alanna and Emilia. She is also survived by many nieces and nephews including Linda, Dennis and Eddie Liszcz, and good friends who are like family, Jeannie and Bill Hauck, MaryAnne Kremp and Jackie and Kevin Kremp.

She is predeceased by her husband of more than 50 years, Walter Liszcz, and sisters, Elizabeth Wisniewski and Evelyn Gavin, and brothers, Leon Jr. Leonard, Donald, Richard, and Joseph Hullinger.

Special memories from family members:

My mother-in-law expressed her love freely through cooking. On our visits, she would always have one of my favorites ready upon arrival. While Easter raisin bread, kielbasa, or perogies were always enjoyed, her apple pie was best. She made this on most visits and I shamelessly competed with my children for seconds. We always ate pie while watching the birds, petting Lacey, and hearing all about the family
happenings since our last visit. I loved those times. — Scott Misler

Special memories from family members:

Grandmom always loved to take me on walks as a child.  We would sit on a big rock on the farm, that she called the "wishing rock".  She reminded me to make a wish every time.  I will never forget that memory!  I used to wish she could see Pop-Pop again. — Lauren Liszcz

When thinking about grandmom, I always think of the mornings in which we would spend in her kitchen eating her famous raisin bread. She would always make it special for us when we would visit, and always made sure there was plenty. We would all sit around the round table in the kitchen, sitting and chatting and eating raisin bread.  — Daija Misler

When I think of Grandmom Dorothy, I think of her strength. The way she would kiss your cheek hard when she hadn’t seen you in a while; like she was trying to soak up all those moments in between in one quick, hard kiss. Or her grip on my shoulders as she would smile at me before pulling me in for a tight squeeze. She lived her life with passion and you could feel it being released from her hands and fingers and arms in those moments. The tightness, the emotion in her face and hands, the happiness. She made every small moment count up to some of the biggest moments of the day. — Chelsea Simmers

More memories to share:
My memory is stopping in to see her on a Sunday, at the end of the day, and as we waited for Jeff to join us, we would have a drink together.  She was always happy to say "yes" to even a glass of white wine! Jeff would mix her something a bit stronger when he arrived. — JoAnne Liszcz

I became a mixologist over the week ends when I would make mom, two versions of martini's. Then the stories came out.  Loved them. — Jeff Liszcz

As a kid, on Sunday nights, Mom made the best chicken pot pie for our supper.  Afterwards, I remember, we would gather around the TV to watch Walt Disney and eat ice cream sundaes with sprinkles and whipped cream. On snow days, when we are off of school, she would tell Jeff and I to walk out to the barn and get some eggs and she’d make whatever kind of eggs we wanted.  On cold days we always had cream of wheat with cinnamon, sugar and butter and we felt so warm. I can remember taking mom to mass after dad passed away. I was truly blessed to have a mother and a father that made life special.
Mom had a way of making everyone feel loved. — Brian Liszcz

Mom was my number one fan throughout my little league days thru my high school years playing sports.  She’d give the umpires a hard time if they gave a bad call when I was at the plate.  She would say, “That’s not a strike!  That ball could’ve tied his shoelaces!”  She always made my birthday special by making my favorite, apple pie. I’ve never had an apple pie as amazing as hers, and I’ve tried many. 
She made life sweet and special.  I love you, Mom. — Kurt Liszcz

Birthdays were always important to mom. She worked to make each of our birthdays  special. My 13th birthday will always stand out since she decided we needed to have a square dance in the barn, with a real “caller,” bbq , hotdogs and all the fixings. I got to invite my friends and we had a great time
learning to “do-si-do” and “swing our partners.” To this day, I am not sure how she convinced Dad
to clean out the barn so we could have a square dance!
She must have had to do some sweet talking for that to have been approved! — Jeri Misler

My own reflections:
My beautiful Mom-in-love, Dorothy, taught me so much about family; how traditions are a bedrock of building family life, stability for children and the meaning of sacrifice for others.  When I met my husband, Kurt, I fell head-over-heels, but I didn’t know he was “the one” until I met his parents. Through their steadfast example of love and commitment to family and faith, my missing pieces fell into place and I was home.
I only wish I could have adopted her cooking and baking skills!
We are all blessed for having had such a beloved mother/grandmother in our lives.  She's reunited with her husband of more than 50 years, her parents and siblings in heaven now.  We all agree that she had a front row Easter celebration full of amazing grace and love!  It has helped us with our grief knowing there were beautiful reunions of the people we love most in this world.
— With the greatest admiration, your daughter-in-love, Barbara

~

Interment will be at Robeson Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery, Plowville for immediate family, Friday, April 17. In lieu of flowers, remembrances in Dorothy’s name may be made to the Church of St. Benedict, 2020 Chestnut Hill Road, Mohnton, PA. 19540.

We will celebrate Dorothy’s life with a public mass at at future date.
~

Please feel welcomed to leave notes of remembrance, special thoughts, and condolences for the family to read in the comments section below. Thank you.

April 2020 and Quarantining

Well, hello there!! It’s been a while! I am ashamed to say that I had lost my appetite for blogging. Or maybe I just got busy living life that I didn’t find the time to pick up my blog and write, in more than a year! I almost forgot how much I enjoy this space and connecting with my photog-reader-friends in this way. So, I dusted it off, cleared the cobwebs and am diving in, again. And what better time to do so than a global shuttering and quarantine?!  It’s day 29 of quarantining for my girls and I. We initiated our homebound confinement a few days earlier than what was ordered by our Governor. So, we are in the groove now.

I am by nature an introverted soul (yes, hard to believe, amiright?!) and enjoy being home, having solitude and staying in Pj’s all day is not a problem for me. The more difficult adjustment through these recent historic times is actually going out. It’s not such a pleasure to be in a state of fear at going to the grocery store. It’s all so incredibly odd to me, and I’m going to venture for everyone else also. We are all looking at one another with cautious glances, taking precautions at navigating our physical distancing, and wondering what in the world is happening?! We do our best and carry on, that’s what’s happening. In that spirit, I thought it would be good to share some of the things we’ve been up to over here in our little corner of the universe.

Spring has sprung!! The daffodils bright little faces are shining with joy; the trees are budding and some are fully in bloom; buds of all kinds are popping with promise! I LOVE spring! You too? With the quarantining going on, I’ve found myself picking up my camera more often than not to make photos for the pure joy of it and to capture this history-in-process. Because, let’s face it, eventually this will pass, we’ll all go back to some sort of normalcy and won’t it be nice to have some record of how we managed? I think so, too.

We celebrated Emilia’s 11th BIRTHDAY last weekend! She said that it was her best birthday yet! We started the day with our traditional breakfast in bed and presents. We had a special guest with us from Maine, Kurt’s sister, Jeri, to help sing special wishes and celebrate the festivities! It was such a treat to host “Aunt Jeri” for a few days! In the evening, when it was time for Emilia’s ice cream birthday cake, we had another special guest join our celebration - Chelsea! Chelsea’s in Arkansas these days and we miss her sooo much! Thank heavens for technology and FaceTiming!

Speaking of technology, the girls are both up and running with cyber-edition, home schooling. Our teachers and the many people working behind the scenes to get this up and running on such short notice have done a wonderful job for the kids! Truly, I am blown away by what’s possible and how easy they’ve made this transition seem. I’m certain they’ve been working round the clock, formulating ideas, planning and implementing curriculum via a screen. This is not easy for them, in the least. Emilia even had an art lesson with her art teacher via YouTube! The kids, too, are doing an outstanding job! We’re finding our new routine, right along with everyone else.

With the warmer temps, we’ve been outside more often, taking walks and soaking up the sunshine every chance we get! I hung up our hammock on the back deck and found some “me time” to chill and read. Did you know that Bumblebees bite? I had no idea they would bite - not sting - until later in the evening when I felt sharp needle-like sensations on the back of my calf. Lo and behold, one little bumble lost its way or was looking for a warm hiding place in my pants. Either way - Ouch! The girls thought it was the funniest thing ever to see their mom scrambling away in fright of a big bad insect crawling up her leg! We all had a good laugh at that one (after I iced my leg that is)! :) Ha!

Photo by Emilia :) Prior to bumblebee fiasco.

How is your April quarantining been? Are you finding new rhythms and routines? Has it been difficult for you? Or easy to adjust? Please let me know how you are faring through this “Reboot” time. Any tips or tricks you can pass along? We keep putting our best faith efforts forward and find ways to laugh, every chance we can. I also remind myself often that this is a chance to learn, to make art, to read, to play games and listen to music. I really have no idea what I’d do without the Arts. They are a saving grace for me and my family. I hope to hear from you soon. Thanks for stopping by. Be well and stay safe, friend.

With warm hugs and all love,
Barb