WWURA NEWS
Welcoming retired WWU Faculty and Staff and others
April 2021
President’s Notes
The WWURA Board were all gathered around the electronic table (aka Zoom) for our monthly meeting. Zoom is a great tool but like all tools it is best utilized if it is not the only item in your tool bag. But Zoom did allow for the focus on issues, stories, bad puns, insights, and laughter that was shared within the Board. I’ll be happy when we can again sit across a physical table from each other (…and I can eat the snacks, without counting the calories or carbs since Board meetings are a calorie/carb free zone).
The Board continued the discussion of the organization’s financial status, highlighting costs and sources of revenue. We’ll provide more detailed information but we are probably looking at a dues increase. We also discussed looking to the University for some support in resources. And finally we discussed the need for increasing our membership base of recent and past WWU employees.
But it wasn’t all serious business, and we ended the meeting with Evelyn sharing information on green burial, composting, etc. which is in her column this issue.
Enjoy!
Kevin
(360) 733-8145
For Your Calendar
WWURA’s Upcoming Travelogues
April Travelogue: Australia
Wednesday, April 21 4:00 PM
Here’s your opportunity to visit Australia via a Zoom trip with Andy and Michelle Goerdel.
Andy and Michelle will share their visits to national parks and other places of interest, including both remote and common sightseeing locations. Their 3-month trip included driving 10,000 miles and hiking over 1,000 miles.
They have much to share!
A link will be sent to you April 20th. Here’s hoping to see you!
May Travelogue: Around the World, Part 3
David and Susan take us on one last adventure, leading us across the rest of the globe and home! Mark your calendar. Details will be in the May Newsletter
June Travelogue: Around the World, Part 4
Academy for Lifelong Learning – Spring Quarter
Pique your interest. Explore new ideas. Revisit “old” ideas. Join your friends.
Take low-pressure (no tests), inexpensive, short courses through the Academy for Lifelong Learning. Some of the topics being covered this spring are: amphibians, pollens, the post-pandemic world, Rex Stout and Nero Wolfe, Baha’I Faith, First 100 days of the Biden presidency, air pollution. The classes this spring will be taught on-line (Zoom).
Interest Groups
BOOK GROUP
We will meet April 20th at 2:00 pm on Zoom to discuss Paris in the Present Tense by Mark Helprin. Lina will send a link for Zoom.
- May’s book is Washington Black by Esi Edugyan.
- June’s book is Death in Mud Lick by Eric Eyre.
Donna Moore
360-733-5769
OPERA GROUP
Metropolitan Opera streaming: streaming schedule for April 5 through April 18
April
- 5 (Faust, 2021)
- 6 (Rigoletto, 1981)
- 7 (Eugene Onegin, 2017)
- 8 (Francesca da Remini, 1984)
- 9 (The Nose, 2013)
- 10 (Romeo et Juliette, 2007)
- 11 (Luisa Miller, 2018)
- 12 (Cendrillon, 2018)
- 13 (Iolanta/Bluebeard's Castle, 2015)
- 14 (Die Zauberflote, 2017)
- 15 (Hansel and Gretel, 1982),
- 16 (Rusalka, 2017)
- 17 (Turandot, 1987)
- 18 ( La Cenerentola, 2014)
CBC Radio is playing operas of the MET from previous years. Start at Saturday 1pm PST.
King FM broadcasts Seattle productions 10 am on Saturdays.
Radio broadcasting of operas
The following stations offer opera each Saturday:
- CBC Radio 2 at 105.7 (starts at 1 pm with Ben Heppner)
- King FM (98.1) at 10:00 am (try computer if your radio/stereo does not connect).
Evelyn Ames
360-734-3184
WRITER'S GROUP
Troy Faith Ward, 425-299-4924, troyfaithward@gmail.com.
Meets twice a month. The groups are kept small so there is time for reading and critiquing each other's work. Our writer’s group now has an opening for one female.
A second writing group has started and is accepting new members. Meets twice a month. Call Bill Smith 360-920-6390, billsmith1545@yahoo.com if interested.
COOKING FOR ONE (OR TWO)
Welcome to the one-year anniversary of “Cooking for One”! It was April, 2020 when I gathered my courage and submitted my first recipe to the Newsletter. It was a southern favorite, Shrimp and Cheese Grits. Readers were not entirely pleased. They let me know that they wanted something easier and with fewer ingredients.
The solution? Only use recipes from people other than myself. (Just kidding, of course, although the recipes have, this past year, come from several different cooks.) To celebrate this first anniversary, April’s recipe is one that has been in the Krogh family for more than a half century. I was introduced to it one Sunday morning, early in my marriage, when my husband suggested that cottage cheese pancakes would sure be good for breakfast.
My terse response: “Cottage cheese, whats?” I had never heard of anything quite so bizarre. A successful breakfast required a phone call to Bud’s sister in Seattle (we lived in L.A.), along with some basic instructions. The pancakes turned out to be easy to make and were quite tasty besides.
By 2021, cottage cheese pancakes had become a favorite and reliable weekend breakfast for all sides of the extended Krogh family. As someone “cooking for one”, I find they work well as a quick supper, especially served with a side of ham or bacon.
Important perhaps, considering the response to last year’s first food column: Not counting a dash of salt, this recipe has only four ingredients and, if you want, you can just throw everything in the bowl at once and mix it up.
- Suzanne Krogh
Cottage Cheese Pancakes For One
1/3 cup cottage cheese 1 egg
1 tablespoon neutral oil such as canola
1 heaping tablespoon flour
Dash salt
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, beat the egg with a fork.
- Add the rest of the ingredients and whisk them until everything is well mixed.
- In a medium-large fry pan, preferably non-stick, brush all over with a neutral oil such as canola. When the oil tests hot (scattering a bit of water makes it sizzle), spoon on batter to make pancakes whatever size you like. Flip them when the bottom turns medium brown, and then cook until both sides are browned.
- Serve with your favorite pancake syrup or topping. Applesauce with sliced bananas makes a good choice.
Tips
- To make this recipe for two people, I recommend tripling it, rather than doubling, as follows: 1 cup cottage cheese, 3 tablespoons oil, 3 heaping tablespoons flour, 3 eggs, a generous dash of salt.
- If there’s batter left over, use it by the next day for freshness.
- “Heaping tablespoon” is a measurement left up to you. Don’t worry if it isn’t exact.
Covid-19 Updates from WWU
Breakthrough Cases
In an effort to answer as many of your pertinent questions as we can about the COVID vaccines, Western's Dr. David Hansen, Western's Associate Medical Director, will address common questions or misconceptions here each day.
Have a question for Dr. Hansen? Email it to vaxfax@wwu.edu, and don't forget to review Western's existing vaccine FAQ on its coronavirus website.
https://westerntoday.wwu.edu/news/the-vax-facts-answering-your-questions-on-the-covid-vaccines-0
About Western Washington University Retirement Association
Email: mal.iaap@clearwire.net
Website: https://www.wwu.edu/wwura/
Phone: (360) 733-6052