Lutefisk & Other Dangerous Delicacies

“When in Rome do as the Romans do.” That might work for Rome, but what do you do when you are invited to sample the delicacies of the local culture? Basically, I hem and haw over the creativeness or the alchemy of such a dish, but I try not to speak with my lips parted, lest a spoonful of the heated sop be thrust into my yapping maw by a good-natured grandmother.

Edible oddities are nothing new under the sun. Every culture has astonishing edibles, gleaned and prepared from the most unusual of resources. In the Polish culture I was introduced to duck’s blood soup bobbing with prunes. Or how about cooked pigs feet in gelatin? No thanks, I didn’t care for it either, although I did develop a fondness for ox-tail soup. That was as wild and as ethnic as I could get growing up.

How about you? What local or cultural delicacies have you tried?

Did you develop any surprising fondness for something weird or unusual?

Whisel*, Carnivore & Vegetable-arion

PS: Oh yeah, about that Lutefisk…..

Light and More Light

Greetings friends…. 

I hope you are enjoying a burst of sunshine in your part of the world. There’s nothing like the brightness of solar radiance to effect a certain level of cheery and motivational persuasion. The gritty greys of the upper midwest cloud cover encourage coziness and quietude. I need light and even more light to activate my full senses.

I do have a sunbox and ionizer which exudes safe waves of fluorescent light, but I miss the body warmth of sun for sure. I am considering a small UV lamp which provides measured doses of ultra-violet rays to benefit healing and boost the immune system. When used therapeutically, they are ideal for wholistic situations. Let there be light and let it be the abundance from which the being can soar.

As news would have it, this is the final year of incandescence, those gourd-like bulbs warming interiors with various shades of yellow voltage. Soon we will go green, adapting to the cool blue of flourescence. I am all for saving energy, but they are poor conductors of sunshiny ambiance. Perhaps this conversion will encourage architects to build more homes and buildings with transparent walls and ceilings, welcoming the real sunshine.

I live in an apartment with good windows for light, but no direct sunshine. I sleep late with my world-ready time being around 3pm, so morning and early afternoon sunshine is not available to me. I have to artificially light-up my interiors, substituting artificial wavelengths as best I can. Being a primarily inside person is both a boon and a bane. I am at liberty to choose activities and interests at will, at any time after my waking, but I must admit, I miss the skin-companionship of natural light.

Natural sunlight is best, a gift from the gods. I bask in its presence for small bursts whenever and howevr I can. I call them my little moments of intimate reverence. 

And what is your world like? Do you have sunshine coming in thru skylights or windows? Are you out and about often in the warming rays?  Do you feel an inner wellness after being out in the sun for awhile?

Best wishes, Whisel*, MoonChild*

 

  

Trains, they are on a comeback

I was so happy to read in the Washington Post this morning, a great article about the resurgence of trains in this country, and that is both passenger and freight. This follows a conversation Shirlstars and I had last week about our hopes and dreams that there would be a comeback of trains. Then we reminisced about what a role trains played in the development of this country and opening up the west and allowing for easier communication between those who moved on west and those left behind in the east. Then in the great heyday of Hollywood, all the stars traveled by train, from coast to coast and points in between. Many movies of the 40’s and 50’s took place on trains, not to mention Murder on the Orient Express. I have to ask you is there anything more romantic than travel by train.

Full Moon in Scorpio

Today’s full Moon in Scorpio (Exact at 6:09 EDT) instigates fearless soul searching. It brings into focus buried truths about reality, sometimes unsavory, that have been clogging up the psychic system. On a personal level, this might mean unraveling a mystery within yourself that upturns the old way of seeing and doing things. At the collective level, it shines a broad beam on dark fascinations, public obsessions, extremes of behavior, and the like, that have taken hold of society at large.

The gifts of this full Moon in Scorpio may only be fully revealed in solitude, since it takes time to get to those deeper interior levels. However, it also lends itself to intense encounters that resolve underlying patterns at play in relationships. It’s not always comfortable or easy to see what’s really going on. But when you have the courage to bring a situation out from the shadows, you’re in a position to do something about it.

Moon/NASA

Molly Halls’ Astrology Blog (About.com)

Path With a Heart

From Carlos Castaneda: “Don Juan’s Teaching”

Don Juan said:
Anything is one of a million paths. Therefore you must always keep in mind that a path is only a path;
if you feel you should not follow it, you must not stay with it under any conditions. To have such clarity you must lead a disciplined life. Only then will you know that any path is only a path,
and there is no affront, to oneself or to others, in dropping it if that is what your heart tells you to do.
But your decision to keep on the path or to leave it must be free of fear or ambition.

I warn you. Look at every path closely and deliberately. Try it as many times as you think necessary.
Then ask yourself, and yourself alone, one question. This question is one that only a very old man asks.

My benefactor told me about it once when I was young, and my blood was too vigorous for me to understand it. Now I do understand it. I will tell you what it is:Does this path have a heart?All paths are the same: they lead nowhere.

How Full is The Glass?

Remember the great song from South Pacific? Cockeyed Optimist. . .yeah, that one.

I can’t seem to get that word, that quality of feeling out of my thoughts today. It is interesting being optimistic. I have always been more so on that end of the spectrum than the other. Some people I know and interact with find me just endlessly exasperating because I generally see things in such a positive light. It isn’t actually my intention to cause others to lose patience with me, it just actually is who I am.

Tapping

 

Something I’ve found to be beneficial and easy to do when I’ve gone over the edge emotionally, is “Tapping”.  It’s used by the EFT (emotional freedom techniques) insights group and currently espoused by Paul McKenna, whose “I Can Make You Thin” series is hosted on the cable Learning Channel.

 

 

It’s a quick, easy acupressure technique that allegedly stimulates energy meridians, minimizing physical and emotional stress and centering the body/mind in a calming, immediate manner. I don’t know that it is 100% effective in disengaging all difficulties, but I DO know it works for me on an emotional level.

 

Whenever I am on the verge, or in the midst of going bonkers, I tap. The tapping somehow calms me, relaxes me and quickly distances me from the tanglement in my mind or feelings. I’ve included both websites below. Emofree has a free manual for download, if you’re interested.  It has helped me greatly.

 

How do you respond to a surge emotional overload?

 

Best wishes, Whisel*

 

 

 http://www.emofree.com/

 

http://tlc.discovery.com/tv/make-you-thin/make-you-thin.html

 

 

Money

I’m happy to say, I finally have enough.

.

No, I haven’t won the lottery, received an inheritance or found a religious icon in my Raisin Bran to auction on ebay. And yes, rent has increased, gasoline keeps rising and food prices are creeping up toward the ceiling.

.

But I have enough to keep a heated/cooled roof over my head, vittles on the table and in the cat dishes. I have enough for electricity, cable, internet, phone, meds and artist’s supplies. What I don’t have any more, are those extraneous bills that held me hostage during my middle years. I’ve paid off my “plastic” obligations that traumatized my life and dreams for decades.

.

And I’ve retired as a “shopper”. I am no longer a patriotic consumer that spends for seasonal wardrobes or upgrades when a new and improved product comes on the market. I am not a purchaser of new furniture and accessories. I visit thrift stores and other peoples’ give-aways. I do not spend indiscrimanitely on items that catch my eye. I have learned to become a financial survivor in this economy of acquisition and rising costs.

Sunday, small talk

Hello Dear Readers:

Here’s a picture of my dear little grandson Mathew, with whom I spend a lot of time every week. He is nearly 20 mo. old, (18 mo. old in this picture). and just the most fun for me in the twilight years of my life….

I’ve been helping my daughter, his mother, with a lot of things, incl. watching Mathew while she works for her Dad’s business, on Tues. and Thurs. She actually works there 5 days a weeks for a few hours each day, but on Mon., Wed. and Friday she also does babysitting and those days I don’t go along as it involves too much driving and too long a time commitment for me. I am helping her because it’s almost impossible for her to do her work with little Mathew roaming around the office and her work always has  to accommodate raising her kids without having to use baby sitters herself.  This summer she will begin college and will enroll Mathew in the child care school on campus.

Space

.

Not outer or even the inner, but the piece of world that immediately surrounds you.

.

I’m speaking about Home space and what you do with it.  I’m one of those folks that enjoys small spaces.  In my small workroom AKA bedroom, I have a bed, dresser, desk area, cat feeding station, TV & stand, computer station and a painting studio area. I couldn’t be happier.  The picture I’ve included is way too spacial and organized to actually represent my room, but it does have most of the components I mention, even the easel in the bottom left corner.

.

.

.

If given a larger room to spread-out, I’d probably section the extra footage into a parlor rather than change my format from what it is now. Yes, it’s tight, but everything I need and want is within reach, less than three steps in any direction.  And I have 3 metal file cabinets and 4 plastic storage columns to keep tools, supplies, doo-dads and necessities off the floor. Altho I do have some floor items, like canvases and books that couldn’t live anywhere else. 

.

Additionally, I like my furniture to jut out into the room rather than ring it around the walls. It takes a zig-zag motion to walk through this room, sometimes sideways, and land in a high-backed wicker chair by the window. It’s a pip to clean, since it has several nooks and crannies. The cats love it.  So do I.

.

What is your workspace like?  Is it all in one room, or do you prefer designated rooms for designated activities? Do you like large spaces or small spaces?

.

Best wishes, Whisel*