Wild Wild Weather

We have had some spectacular skies the past couple of days. If I were a meteorologist I may understand why, but my uneducated brain is simply marveling at the intense beauty. Tonight the wind is whipping around, the waning moon is providing enough light to see the ominous gray clouds, and the constellations are brightly visible. Yesterday, rains were alternately heavy and misty, the clouds heavy, stratified and dark, yet at other times the sky was filled with layers of brilliantly lit, angelic clouds. The only pic I got was with my phone in the car. I love an awesome sky.

The Lowly Meatloaf

I wish I could do vegan. Truly. I am sure it is makes the human body operate at peak performance and makes us feel really good, but being born and bred American, I often crave the food I know the best, especially in the winter. More and more I appreciate the wonderfully versatile meatloaf. It is good out of the oven of course, but also good cold in sandwiches. It can be frozen serving size and popped out to be enjoyed in its usual sliced form, or it can be be cubed and used in spaghetti sauce in place of meatballs. It also falls in that category of comfort food. yum...

Mamas, love your babies.

Ninety years ago a young woman was one day away from giving birth to her first child. My grandmother often talked of that day and how in the agony of childbirth, she yelled out to the doctor as he was trying to calm her, “How many babies have you had!” My mother grew up very loved, as I was, as my children were and still are, and my grandchildren, too. Lori and I were talking yesterday about the love that we get in our earliest years and how it gives us strength for the rest of our lives. There is no replacement for it. It is a cushion, the spring of self worth, and a place to lick our wounds. That is just how it is.

Warming and more

Having more padding than the average human needs does not keep me warm in these cold days as it may seem that it should. I have to rely on layers, wool socks, and cups of hot drinks that heat my hands and innards. For Christmas I got some great loose Jasmine tea and a neat floating tea infuser (thank you Trip and Lori) and a fine and hip china mug (thanks Carin), and I have been enjoying them all together. After my last drink of the fragrant and sweet Jasmine tea, I looked to see what the health benefits could be. Honestly I was surprised to see there were so many. It calms your nerves, helps with weight loss, reduces risk of cancer, and helps prevent fat absorption. I have also been drinking some organic white tea from Stuart the tea man. I have learned that this tea, from tender, young, barely processed leaves, is the very best tea for us because it is so high in antioxidants and improves our body’s immune response. Both of these teas need no adulteration by sweeteners since they taste good enough without. I think the case for tea will keep me drinking on through summer.

First Book of the New Year

Today begins the much anticipated year of 2012. I hope it is a happy and blessed one for us all.

The cold and often gray month of January has become a welcome time of refreshment. With its short days and low demands except for those I place on myself, one thing I feel set free to do is to open waiting books and read with intensity. I just finished The King’s Pleasure, a biographical novel about Katharine of Aragon written about forty years ago by Norah Lofts, and recommended by a co-worker. As we know, a well written book has the ability to take us to another time and place; this one took me to sixteenth century England.

Just about as much as I am taken to a bygone or different era or situation, by the time I get into a book I also start feeling a connection with the author. I wonder what the room is like that she is writing in. I picture her sitting alone, writing by hand, on an old typewriter or new computer, pulling just the right words from her brain, and reviewing for long hours, for that is what it would take to come up with a cohesive and interesting tale. (Unless of course one is manic.) In their pensive, quiet times, authors also must precisely record their astute observations that give stories their character. Here are some simple and true observations Lofts gave about people.

”…it happens when too much power falls into the wrong hands.”

“To become excited, to laugh and cry too readily, to show rage…it never serves.”

“Sharp words, spoken with a smile, can pass for wit.”

“Patience and time sort all things.”

“Smiles are interchangeable currency.”