Wyoming Pictures

Click on a picture for a larger view.

Just to share some of the amazing looks of The Cody, Clark and Powell areas of Wyoming I have been visiting lately. These are more professional pictures than I can take, but I will share more when I return in a few weeks.

Hope you enjoy this peek into the awesome scenery that abounds there.

Love and Hugs

Shirl

My Water Ways

 

I’m an ocean soul, a beach dweller, a sand and spray sprite… even though I don’t live near a coastline. That’s immaterial to me right now. I’ve visited the Pacific shore and especially the Gulf Coast so often, I have them etched in my memory. Even the salty mist, the humidity, the sound of laughing gulls buzzing my head demanding a food scrap, the smell of ocean water, the feel of damp, impressionistic sand beneath my feet, and the incredible sights of sunrise and sunset as it blazes the pulsing, liquid surfaces of the world. I love the horizons where water meets the sky at an infinite, linear line of blue.

 

In most ways, except actuality, I experience my life …on the beach at the ocean. My favorite lotions and gels come from Bath and Body Works with aromas like: Seaspray, Dancing Waters, Sea Grass, RainKissed Leaves, Water Blossom Ivy and Sea Island Cotton. Recently, I purchased some coastline posters by Daniel Pollera to hang in my newly-imagined “balcony” area, that when finished will suggest a beachfront deck or porch. Here’s one of his pieces.

 

Anyone else have a passionate affinity to a water or Earth spot? To any of the basic elements or weather conditions?

Best wishes, Whisel*

 

 

 

 

Minnesota State Fair

 It’s that time again folks… for the dazzling midway with rides and game booths, for the concert stages with well known and local talent. Animals, competitions, horse riding, exhibits, events and food, food, food.

The unusual fame of the Minnesota State Fair is its variety of “food-on-a-stick” vendors. Not just your usual corn-dogs, sausages and ke-bobs, either. I am talking about appetizers, entrees and desserts too. Last year there were 57 varieties of “food-on-a-stick” offerings, like bar-be-qued alligator, frozen grapes, fish and chips, fried cantaloupe, baklava, chocolate taffy, pulled pork sandwiches, key lime pie, spaghetti and meatballs….. um… erg…. ah…. I’d better quit now or risk a belly-ache just typing this out. Possibly all state fairs offer this type of fare, but MN really goes all out with their deep-fried, edible constructions.

 

I’ve been to a number of state and county fairs in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. Long ago and miles away I remember seeing Pat Boone and the Lennon Sisters sing at a Fair. And yes, I must admit, when I was much younger I paid the extra dime or dollar to see the magic acts, the animal and people oddities. I loved the rodeo competitions and talent shows too. I even performed in one at a county fair when I was in 4-H. Like I said…. long ago and far away

 

Any state or county fairs happening in your area? Any memories of attendance or participation in them that you’d like to share?

 

Hope you’re enjoying end of summer activities.

Best wishes, Whisel*

 

The 4-Step Cook

 Not a Cook, a Cooker, or a Cookie am I, not a chef, not a baker, nor a sandwich maker. Still a body must eat, a face must shine and a throat in a moat must swallow. Not by can, tin, bowl or basket alone, does a diner design her dinner. So a BOOK appeared one holiday cycle, wrapped in blue paper, whetting my whistle. Aha, I said, It’s a winner.

Given by a lovely lady, a lemony child who knows her way about the kitchen, who loves to snicker and snacker at the oddities I call food piled on saltine crackers. It was funny and sunny, a good product for the money.  A Book for a not-cook, take a look :

 

Only four ingredients, nothing more. No mystery, no exotica, no gourmet lore. Just four ingredients, not a challenge, not a chore. Quatrains of recipes, ingredients of ease, like mayonnaise, mushroom soup and cheddary cheese. THE END….

 

                                 ****************************

 

Not really, but this weird, rhyming Suesse-sa-long is driving me crazy. I don’t why I started it, but when I sit at the keyboard it’s anybodys guess as to what will come out. The book is really fun and simple. My kind of world. Favorite recipe: Zucchini Bake. It goes like this:

 

5 medium zucchini (sliced round)

1 cup Monterrey Jack Jalapeno Cheese, grated

½ cup bread crumbs

1 can (14 ½ oz) stewed tomatoes

Boil zucchini 8 minutes until crisp tender. Layer ½ the zucchini

in greased casserole dish. Sprinkle with cheese & crumbs.

Top with remainder of zucchini. Cover with tomatoes.

Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

 

What’s not to like? How about you? Do you have a favorite recipe to share? What about a treasured cookbook you’d like to write about?

 

Best wishes, Whisel*

 

http://www.fouringredientcookbook.com/

 

 

System Support

 

Now I’m not the healthiest of folks who walk this planet. I’m not even average, but it’s not for lack of trying. The easy way, of course. I pop pills.

Vitamins, supplements, herbs, gels, caps and tablets. Ultra B complex, super dose vitamin C, potassium citrate, calcium with D, flaxseed oil, milk thistle, multi-vitamin, selenium, garlic, lecithin, ginkgo and others. I probably couldn’t tell you all the reasons each of these items were added to my wellness repertoire. But somewhere along the line, it sounded good and made sense to me.

 

I have it all written down, all worked out, three times a day, what products to take. Not too much, no overdose, mixed only with other compatible tablets. Though I’m not really a healthy type, I guess I’m as well as well can be.

 

Being a believer helps. Plus, I’m getting several quarts of water every day… just from swallowing my stash. Anyone else into vitamin or herbal therapies?

 

Best wishes, Whisel*

 

The Power of Fear

I realized last week that humans make decisions based on many levels – one of the most powerful being that of fear.  This hit home when my daughter changed candidates based on an email thread.  My daughter is a bright, well-read and beautiful woman who belongs to a fairly conservative church and has done a great job of balancing her beliefs with justice and fairness to all.  Making a decision based on an email thread didn’t fit her style.  If she had gleaned this information through her intensive Biblical studies, well, then I would have understood!

The more we talked, the more I realized that what is really frightening her was something deeply personal and earth shattering to her foundation.  Then I got it.

I know of times when I was consumed with fear about a perceived threat, and how that fear permeated the rest of my perceptions.  I build an energetic moat to protect myself from those threats – real, imagined, or too vague to tell.  Nothing escaped my cynical view.  I was wary and ready, survival was the key.

Today I read a piece that claimed that recessions are the result of collective fear.  It reminded me of the bank run in “Its a Wonderful Life”.  George Bailey watched his customers swarm into his bank to withdraw their money, because they were sure the bank was folding.  George met the issue head on.  He talked to each person from his heart, reminding them that we are all connected.  He used their unified effort to save themselves as a way for them to work together for the common good of everyone.

George’s lessons reverberate in my soul.  My mission is to remind my daughter that she can trust and embrace the Good that is available to all of us.  She is powerful.  So are we all.  And in that power, we can lift each other out of the bog of fear and into the connectedness of trust and awareness of each other.  Together, we can change the nature of what plagues us.  Maybe that is the mission we are all challenged to take.

 

Its a place to start.

The Olympics

The Opening Ceremonies were stunning as is expected of any host nation. The Parade of Nations… just glorious with so many global representatives full of hope, bright spirits, enthusiasm. Beautiful people in the prime of their physicality, winning, losing, competing, congratulating. I am partial to the crisp water sports of course, swimming, diving, rowing..though not a fan of water polo… too much splashing. 

I enjoy most of the games, especially volleyball, swimming, gymnastics, archery. Almost all the sports except the ones I can’t figure for scoring, like dressage, boxing and sometimes fencing. I prefer events with a finish or fault line or a target so that I can follow along with the athletes. And of course, watching older participants, 30 years and up, catches my eye.

I admire the discipline and focus of individuals, the cooperation and celebration of teams. In spite of all the cruel carnage and hostility in the world, it is still a wondrous place where individuals can express their potential. In sports, arts, invention, kindness, beautification, philanthropy and creation. The mission is to stay true to that which you wish to accomplish and be devoted to the energies that get you there.

Best Wishes, Whisel*

Enthusiasm

“Enthusiasm (from the Greek, “filled with God”) is an ongoing energy supply tapped into the flow of life itself. Enthusiasm is grounded in play, not work…. Enthusiasm is not an emotional state. It is a spiritual commitment, a loving surrender to our life process, a loving recognition of all the life around us.”
                                   ~ The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron (adapted)

I love this definition of enthusiasm. “A spiritual commitment”…. I’m used to thinking of spiritual commitments as obligations and responsibilities, but hey… now I’m excited about enthusiasm! I owe it to myself and others around me to be enthusiastic. I like that. 

How does enthusiasm as a “spiritual commitment” work for you…. if it does?

 

Best wishes & Enthusiastically yours, Whisel*

Problems

“There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands.

You seek problems because you need their gifts.

                         Illusions, The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah

                                                     by Richard Bach”

 

It helps me to remember wise sayings when I’m in a bind because sometimes I just get all caught up in the challenge and then I think that’s all there is. Every problem has a discordant vibration that tickles the fancy of a problem-solver. I have to remember to pause and look at the piece as if it were an inspiration. Every problem has a malfuntioning gear that entices the interest of a creative inventor.

 

I have to remember to examine the whole picture for opportunities that might lead me to somewhere fascinating. Every problem has an unsuspecting clue for explorers who wish for adventure.

 

I have to remember not to blow a gasket, not to go psychotic, not to jump up and down while beating that problem to death. There are no gifts for problem killers. And being cross at daily frustrations really takes the fun out of life.          

Again…. more practice. More awareness. And yes, more humor and laughter. I just HAVE to remember. How about you? Do you welcome challenges for the gifts they bring?

 

Best wishes, Whisel*

 

“We are game-playing, fun-having creatures, we are the otters of the universe.  ~Richard Bach”