Waiting for February to end

Bena Mae Seivers Columnist

“Some people are not happy unless they are hating someone with different ideas, different nationality or creed.” This quote jumped out at me because it is a mirror of the attitude that exists in the world today. And I ask myself why.

Is hate a security blanket for these people? Does it protect them from thinking outside the box? Would opening up their minds to different ideas, ideologies, differences of opinion, shatter their comfortable little world and threaten their “head in the sand” beliefs?

I say this because of the prevalence of hate-filled rhetoric we hear on the airwaves incessantly. And it needn’t be that way.

Daily we are bombarded with political campaigners sniping at one another over who is the biggest liar. Like kids on the playground. Do we want a Commander in Chief who behaves this way? Give us something of substance.

Because we are more alike than different. I see signs of it every day. And it gives me hope. Over the years I have received letters and e-mails from readers that tell me we are on the same page when it comes to down home values, love for one another, and an appreciation of what is really important in their lives. I have never, and I repeat NEVER, received a letter that was controversial or bigoted in any way. My readers are kind benevolent people and I treasure them more than I can say.

Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, I’d like to find a way to remove February from the calendar It is a nothing month, wedged between cold January and blustery March when we have signs of more temperate weather and sightings of the first crocus. This February is a case in point and has been unusually cruel to me.

I’ve just spent seven days in the hospital with severe pneumonia. It occurred the night after a chemotherapy treatment, hitting me with a double whammy because both of these happening at the same time can take you to your knees in a hurry. Top that off with a severe middle-ear infection that left me totally deaf. I now have a new respect for those who are hearing-impaired, having never had this problem before.

After a day at the hearing clinic, my doctors and I are treating the problem with steroids that drive me up the wall, but the deafness is hard to tolerate. And it is getting better, but oh, so slowly.

Since I’m recuperating, there isn’t much I can do but sit and wait on nature to take its course. So I sit by my front window and count vehicles going by.  I learned that every fourth vehicle was a pickup truck. Most of them red.

Nutella Cupcakes with
Nutella Buttercream Icing

Cake Ingredients
1 box Butter Recipe Fudge cake
mix (Duncan Hines)
1 stick butter
4 eggs
1/2 cup Nutella spread
2/3 cup water

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350.
Line two muffin pans with cupcake liners. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine 1/2 cup Nutella spread and the stick of butter. Beat at medium speed with a hand-held mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at time, mixing well after each addition. Add cake mix and water. Mix on medium-high speed for 2 minutes.
Divide batter between muffin cups (I use an ice cream scoop).
Bake for 18-20 minutes. Allow to cool completely before frosting with Nutella Buttercream.

Buttercream Icing Ingredients
1 cup butter
2/3 cup Nutella spread
6 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup whipping cream (may need a
tablespoon or two more)

Instructions
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and Nutella spread until smooth and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes.
With mixer on low speed, add 6 cups sugar, whipping cream; mix until light and fluffy.
If necessary, gradually add more powdered sugar or whipping cream to reach desired consistency.