Frieda B. salutes Jake Reilly, 24 years old, who cut himself off from all social technology for 90 days.
“The best part for me was just the difference between riding your bike to work and going for a bike ride just for the fun of it. I would sit in the park a lot, throw the football with my friends, go ice-skating, and all that kind of silly stuff that you take for granted. It’s all around you. I think that was the best part and most people really overlook that.”
After last winter’s (and this past October’s) relentless snow-siege on the Northeast, I’ve said no less than 37 times how I’d be fine with not one more flake of snow this season. And I’ve meant it. But then, I found glow cones… Are you kidding me? How fun is this?? Simple, magical, luminous. Just the way childhood should be. So. If you could, would you rather… pick “no snow” or “snow and glow”? Here’s how to learn to make glow cones of your own.- Renata
You will need:
Sticky snow
Bucket (at least 20 quarts)
Hand shovel and larger shovel
Outdoor candles
Directions:
Using a shovel, fill the bucket with snow. With your (gloved) hands, compress the snow tightly into the bucket; add more snow, and compress again. At its widest point, the finished cone will be as wide as the bucket you use.
Pick the spot where you want to place your cone, and flip the bucket over, tapping the bottom with your hand shovel to release the cone. To make taller cones, stack compressed bucketfuls of snow on top of one another. Try making cones of different heights, using 1 to 3 buckets of snow for each.
Compress the cones gently using the hand shovel or your hands. Add snow to even out the transitions between buckets. Then, holding the shovel at an angle, scrape the sides of the cone to remove any excess snow. Smooth the surface by brushing it with your hands.
Use the hand shovel to carefully carve out a hollow in the top of each cone; these indentations will hold the candles. The indentations should be deep enough to shield the candles from the wind but shallow enough to allow you to reach in to light them.
Finally, carefully place one outdoor candle in each indentation, making sure the candle sits straight so it will burn evenly. Light the candles as soon as darkness falls, then head inside to watch the cones glow brightly from the warmth of your home.
Taken from “Snow Play” by Birgitta Ralston (Artisan Books). Photo by Vegard Fimland.
I’m a bit blue after this past weekend of NFL football. In one fell swoop, I saw the elimination of Brees, Tebow and Rodgers. As a mom of two boys, I seek out male role models in any field who exhibit Intentional Integrity: the choice to use your gifts in life to do something better for someone else. Sure, there are decent guys in pro football. But there are few who truly strive for the big picture beyond the 80″ screen. Let me know if there’s someone in the Final Four I’m overlooking.
- Renata
If you’re looking for reason to smile, hope, give thanks, these two girls might just be it. I stumbled across this video today, and it made me smile all the way down to my ankles. If that’s possible. The only thing that’s hard for me is knowing I might never play guitar as easily as this 8-year-old plays her ukelele.
The Frieda B. Team is all in when it comes to the wave of Thanksgiving that is sweeping through Facebook and other online communities.
Are you one of the many who are posting one thing every day for which you are thankful? POST IT HERE also – each “I am thankful for” comment that is posted either here or on our Facebook page will be entered to win a $20 gift card. That’s enough for a FREE TURKEY this Thanksgiving!
You may enter once per day – we’ll draw the winning name on Monday, November 21st.
It’s a fact: There’s great power in good news. And according to one of our favorite optimists, Anne Frank, “Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news.”
So let’s deliver it. Tell us… What’s your good news today?
Sorry this isn’t an upbeat post. But sometimes in order to do good we need to face the ugly. I read a story today that makes me more passionate than ever to fight for the integrity and worth of our children. I won’t go into the sundry details; you can read them for yourself if you’d like, here.
But, essentially, Mexican drug cartels now are recruiting American children as young as 11 to do dangerous work for fast cash. And the most disturbing, maddening thing of all? The cartels refer these youth as “the expendables.”
There are no words. Simply no words.
May those of us who care do what we can to love as many children as we can into a place where they know they are too valuable to be used, at any cost.
And may those of us who pray, pray for the safety and rescue of those already in harm’s way.
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.”
