Not Quite the White Death (ReDux)

Once again the weather people have gotten us all jacked up for death by white and nothing could be further from the truth. We awakened this morning to a wet dust of snow and temperatures in the low 30s. I think my car thermometer on the way to Mass said it was 31. True, temperatures are expected to plummet as the day progresses and I guess the winds are supposed to pick-up but that's nothing given the hysteria the media promotes. In fact as I write this it's just your run of the mill winter day. Much ado about nothing... Now north of here in Minnesota and Wisconsin, they have something to be concerned about!

Hard to believe we're less than two weeks away from Christmas. Next Saturday Matt, Ciara and Aiden will arrive. Fred, Gail and Zoe will follow on Friday. Christmas Eve will be at Thom and Karen's house and then we'll have Christmas Day. In the meantime I hope to get Aiden up to the Behringer Crawford Museum to take in the trains; that will probably have to be Wednesday; he visits Grandma Jan on Thursday and I work M,T and F.

Not Quite the White Death

It's snowing this morning. There's an inch on the ground. The first real snow of the season. Maybe we'll get it out of the system early. Then we can endure the cold without the hassle that snow brings.

There are benefits to snow. I like the quiet especially on a weekend morning; the snow muffles all the ambient noise. The glaring white paints the landscape with a uniform sterility as far as the eye can see. The air is crisp and clean and still...It's the stillness like the quiet that conjures up snow's magical qualities.

Today's snow is a fitting end to a 2 week vacation. Stayed in town. Christmas shopped. Puttered around the house. Caught up on recreational reading. Otherwise didn't do much. The batteries are recharged but now have a cold to soldier through. Few plans today, maybe some grocery shopping, perhaps a little catching up before the grind of work to come tomorrow.

Christmas is a short 3 weeks from today. As always, anticipation is more enjoyable than the actual event. I'm looking forward most to friends and family; our time together will be busy and too short. We can only hope to live in the moment and enjoy the experience as it unfolds.

Of course December is also a time to take stock, reflect on the year that's winding up and look toward the year that is yet to unfold. There are many things that can be improved, little that can or should be changed but much that can be remembered.

Cold and Damp

Cold and damp this morning, the first day of December, a Wednesday at that. Hint of snow in the air and weather forecast. Yesterday's relentless and at times, heavy, rain has given the landscape a worn and droopy composure. I walked yesterday for about an hour and as per usual the rain held off until I was 30 minutes away from the house. The walk was finished in a downpour and strong headwind. I was cold and soggy by the time I got back to the house.

Remembering JFK

47 years ago. Wow!

Read an interesting opinion piece in the NYT this morning by Jackie's personal Secret Service Agent/Escort. Hard to believe she was just 31 years old when she became First Lady. That's amazing.

A period of promise shuttered by JFK's assassination. Presaged perhaps the most turbulent period of our history since the Civil War. I suspect we're still feeling it's affects in many ways and our current political impasse is a reflection of the conflict of rapid and relentless change that started during that long ago period.

Anyway, I'll think about this today. Hope you will too.

First Week of Vacation

On vacation for a few days. The original plan (way back in March or April) was to go to Dallas for Thanksgiving and visit my sister JoAnn and her clan while spending some time with Matt's clan for their annual holiday event. Unfortunately life intervened. What did John Lennon say? "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.." I think that's the line from his song "Beautiful Boy." Anyway we're staying here in Independence and will celebrate Thanksgiving with Colin here at the house. It's probably a good thing that I have the free time because there are a number of little projects that need to be finished up after the major floor renovations made this past winter, spring and summer; just little touch-up jobs.

So anyway, as I write this entry the sun's shining there are some wispy clouds but otherwise blue skies; there's a light breeze and it's 63 degrees. I know, I know it's late November what's going on here? Don't know but I'll take it. It will change. Matt, Ciara and Aiden are in Dallas with family. They'll be there the rest of the week catching up with extended family. Aiden will get to know his cousins and play, play, play with some children his own age. I think Ian, Rieko and Rosemary plan on driving over from Little Rock to spend this coming weekend in Dallas.

Linda and I are looking forward to the holidays but will miss having Ian, Rieko and Rosemary visit. It's a long drive or a short, expensive flight so we understand. More importantly we're looking forward to the two new grandchildren (boys) due in March. We can't wait. That will bring us the blessings of 4 grandchildren. Aiden will be the "big cheese" and I'm sure he'll love that and Rosemary will have the status of reigning princess a title that she'll wear proudly I'm sure.

Enough for now.

Back Home in Independence

Linda and I had a wonderful time in Charlotte. The best weather imaginable, good company, good food and lots of fun!

Friday I did buy my rain barrel (just one); they only had two left and I didn't like the way the 2nd one looked, pretty beat up. Getting it into the car for the drive home was no problem. I just used it as a "capsule" and filled the inside with other things. Friday afternoon I picked Aiden up from school and we pretty much just hung out until Fred arrived from Greenville, SC. I fixed dinner of Grilled Grassfed burgers with lots of cheese, tomatoes, onion and salad. It was devine. Of course it was a little bit of a chore keeping Marley the black lab from eating with us also; you can't turn your back on anything or it's gone. Of course Aiden thinks that's great.

Saturday was our big adventure. We rented a 22ft pontoon boat and spent the day on Lake Norman. It was spectacular: hot and sunny with a stiff breeze and crystal blue skies. Boats, personal watercraft and all manner of sailboats were out throughout the day. There was even some sort of sailboat race; very colorful. Aiden had a ball despite being somewhat laid low by a "cold." He loves to swim with the "fishies;" climbing up and jumping off the boat. We ate lunch at the Rusty Rudder in one of the numerous coves and had an adventure getting in and out of our berth; I'm just glad Matt was driving!

We laid low on Sunday. Ate lunch at the Olive Garden and sent Gail and Fred back to SC. I do have a great 2 minute video on my I-Phone of Aiden playing with Marley and a young chocolate lab called "Hershey." I'd like to post it but haven't figured out how to edit it yet.

Monday we drove home: 503.8 miles, 8 hours, average speed 67 mph and 1 speeding ticket (doing 75 in a 55....motorcycle cop knocked it down to 65, don't know the cost yet). No complaints, only 2nd ticket in 39 years!

Now, back to the world...

Back in Charlotte

Linda and I arrived in Charlotte yesterday around lunch-time after an 8 hour drive. Actually it was about 7.5 hrs which was one of the shortest drives we've made to here. We came down I-75 then East on 40 through the mountains to just short of Asheville where turned Southeast toward Charlotte. In the past I've hesitated going this way because of the slow drive from East of Knoxville to Asheville (steep, winding roadway and 60 mph speedlimit). Sun and clear skies the whole way.

When we got to Charlotte we stopped at an upscale grocery store called EarthFare. You know the kind, lot's of organic produce, meats and other products. Expensive. But, the food is excellent. The last time we were here (June) we saw some nice rain barrels but didn't buy them. Now they're available at a $40.00 discount so we're going to buy one and maybe two. I laugh thinking about us driving home with those two barrels taking up the inside of our car.

I brought Aiden a balsa wood airplane and after school we went to the park and played and played. He had a terrific time and wore himself out. That was after his treat of water and blueberry scone from Starbucks.

Glen Beck

I hesitate to even write anything about this person but I feel compelled to say something. Linda and I just got home from out walk and I had some quiet time to just think things through a little bit. My conclusion, GB is a showman, a clown who just says incendiary things with the clear intent to rile up not only his listeners but those who revile him. He knows what he's doing; make no mistake about it. His modus operandi is to make money, to further feather his nest and the larger nest of Fox news.

I think about Lady Gaga and Madonna before her; both of these women are incredibly savvy and know exactly what they're doing. Mick Jagger, Steven Tyler; rock and roll is filled with showmen. GB is just a little brother to the other flame throwers out there: Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter... I mean, do they really believe the stuff they say? I choose to believe otherwise; they know where the paths to riches lie and they play the lie for all it's worth.

They're really no different than some folks on the other side of the fence; they just have bigger microphones (Al Sharpton are you listening?).

What I do know is that divisiveness serves no purpose other than to distract and evade working on the real problems we face as a nation and can only solve by working together; put differences aside and find some common ground and move forward from there. GB might have something to add but I can't get beyond the just plain meanness of his message.

International Space Station

A great evening for stargazing. The skies were crystal clear making for a clear view of the ISS as it flew over the house at 20:49. Flying West to East it appeared as a very bright star almost directly overhead. It was clearly visible for about 5 minutes before falling off the horizon directly East Northeast of the house. I think it's supposed to be visible again tomorrow night but I doubt if the viewing conditions will be quite as nice.

Fall is on the air...

Yeah, I know, the heat will be back but the weather changed dramatically over the past few days bringing an early hint of fall. Temperatures have been in the 70s with a breeze, low humidity and lows in the high 50s. It's a refreshing change from the previous couple of weeks with temperatures in the 90s and humidity to match.

Currently converting all my music from WMA files to the I-Tunes format on my computer. I think I have close to 4 gigs of music. That's not much by some folks standards and most of the music is relatively old but it's nice to have it all in one place so I can access it and move it back and forth from my I-Phone and I-Pod.

I've been gradually figuring out how to use the I-Phone but I'm sure I've just touched the tip of the iceberg. I'm really enjoying the different apps but I think what I like most is just the simple utility of the tools it brings to the ordinary. Like being able to listen to voice mail without going to a "mailbox" or sending text messages in a "conversation" string. I also love how I can easily download e-mail. I continue to believe it's one of the best investments I've ever made.

Spent a couple of hours this morning on a conference call putting the final touches on an Abstract to be sent to the Society of Critical Care Medicine for their national conference in January (San Diego). It would be too cool if it's accepted.

I-Phone 4

I bought 2 I-Phone 4s on Monday. I was fed up with the customer service (lack thereof) from CBW and despite having had service from them since 1996 jettisoned them! It felt good to finally be done with it. I'm a little bit sad that my land-line telephone number was also disconnected. It had been in the family for almost 40 years. Things change.

We love the I-Phone. It's amazing. I'm sure we'll discover some warts as things move forward but so far it's one of the best purchases I've ever made. We shall see moving forward.

Bison (Buffalo) Flank Steak

Linda and I love flank steak. My dad turned us on to it several years back and we've been eating it regularly ever since. This past Saturday we were shopping at Whole Foods and they had Buffalo Flank Steak on sale for less than $10.00/lb. So I bought  a small one that weighed in at about 12oz. I didn't freeze it; just left it in the 'fridge until this morning when I pulled it out, unwrapped it, drizzled it in EVOO and balsamic vinegar, seasoned it with salt and pepper, covered the glass container sheltering it and put it back in the 'fridge to marinate throughout the rest of the day. I guess about 5 hours or so. This evening I grilled it over high heat for about 15 minutes and served it with steamed zucchini, fresh tomatoes and mozzarella. It was delicious. In fact, I believe it was the best tasting flank steak I've ever eaten. I would be hard pressed to say it tasted any different than beef but it sure was much more tender. Very surprising. I laugh because when I bought it the butcher said "you do know this is bison, don't you" like there was something wrong with it.

It's HOT

That about sums it up: It's HOT!

The temperature at 06:30 was 75. I think we're expecting a high of 92 or so, not bad, but the humidity is so oppressive you feel like you're in a sauna and it's 10 degrees hotter. Last night Linda and I went for an leisurely stroll after 21:00 and it was still over 90 and the sun was below the horizon. Now, does this prove global warming, no but something sure is going on. Where's that swimming pool I always wanted when I need it?

I was watching a great show on PBS Monday night about "breakfast dives" and right about now I could go for trying one out. Of course maybe some of the appeal was that it was produced in the fall or winter because everyone was wearing sweaters, jackets and coats so maybe its a subliminal message of some sort. I don't know but I'm hungry.

Nothing on my agenda today, so far. We'll have to see how the day goes. More later...

Well so far the day has not disappointed. It was 94 degrees before 12:00n. Now that was on my car's thermometer so it's probably off a few degrees. The weather person on WNKU says we're supposed to reach a heat index of 105 later today.

I called my dad this morning to see if he wanted to go for lunch. He said he was already cooking his lunch and declined the offer. My mother was going to the Tennis Matches today; I sure hope they have plenty of cold water available. Since dad declined lunch Linda and I just went to Whole Foods and bought a gallon of Snowville Creamery heavy whipping cream (one for us, one for Charie) some Greek EVOO, a little jar of Coconut Oil and some organic avocadoes. While in the store I was comparing coconut oils. Whole Foods brand is called "356." Now, you can buy a jar of  "organic, expeller pressed virgin coconut oil" in their cooking oil section for $6.99/14oz. or you can buy "organic, expeller pressed virgin coconut oil" in their vitamins section for $9.99/16oz. The only difference I could discern was the one in the vitamin section came in a fancy black plastic container with lots of nutrition labeling and included an additional 2oz. When I asked Jenny in the vitamin section about the difference between the two she really couldn't come up with one. Who knew?

Now you might ask what Linda and I do with all that "heavy whipping cream." First Snowville Creamery is un-homogeneized milk from pastured cows (grass-fed). Heavy whipping cream has no carbohydrate in it and tastes great with just about anything: coffee, fruit, smoothies... you name the delight. But, more importantly, we make ice cream with it. Over the weekend we made plain vanilla and added crushed almonds; it was to die for! Today I'm going to make it again with 1/2 the sugar and see how it turns out. My suspicion is that it won't have as good "mouth feel."

For now, off to the library and maybe a coffee at Starbucks.

We didn't get to Starbucks but we did get to the library. Dinner was interesting. We used our clay roaster to cook two plump chicken breasts that I cut into halves and smothered them in an indian sauce made with tomatoes, curry and spinach. We roasted this along with a spaghetti squash for about an hour. It was spectacular. The chicken was perfect and the squash was a very nice accompaniment in place of rice or pasta. We simply roasted it with olive oil, salt and pepper then drizzled it in cultured butter.

Desert, however, was even better. As noted above I made vanilla almond ice cream with just a 1/4 cup of sugar, 1 cup of whole milk, 2 cups of cream and 3/4 tsp of vanilla extract. That's it. We served the ice cream over fresh picked peaches that were truly delicious.

Welcome Followers

I'm glad that just maybe someone else is finally reading what I post! The downside, of course, is that I can't promise what you read is worth the effort. However, the bloggers whose blogs are in my blogroll are worth reading so, if nothing else, follow the links. I really like the first one on the list which is really an aggregator of blogs dealing with a low-carb lifestyle. Most of the blogs on my blogroll are included. Take a look.

Off to Work, again....

"America is now on the unlit, unpaved road to nowhere." - Krugman, Paul, NYT 8/8/10

 What a discouraging statement to read this early in the morning! In fact, what a discouraging, almost apocalyptic opinion piece. Nevertheless, my fear is that this is the road we're travelling down. All I have to do is look around and the evidence is there. Will the lights go out in our town? I suspect it might eventually come down to that; to me its logical to remove the least objectional of necessary services before real cuts are made and if a city, county or state budget has to be balanced, what choice do you have? One of my colleagues in a rural Ohio county community has no bus service for her children. She can manage to find a work around but what about those families that can't? Do they not go to school?

Here's the thing, if you want to have these services you have got to pay for them and the middle class is tapped out or no longer exists. So those that have are just going to have to pay more or they will suffer the consequences just like everyone else. We are all in this together.

Another Sunday Morning

I like Sundays. I like being off work on Sundays but I don't mind working on Sundays either. Sunday is just a great day. This is probably true because people are just more laid back on Sunday, period. You know I just don't know but that's what it seems like.

 This Sunday morning is cool and Sunny; a great weather morning. I've been up since 05:45 when I turned on the coffee-maker. Truth...I went back to bed but didn't fall back to sleep. I listened to the BBC until 10:00 GMT (06:00 local) and finally climbed out of bed for good. The coffee was great. Added a little heavy cream and it was good to go.

I read the Times. There wasn't really a lot of things to interest me this morning but I did skim most of the features and read a few things of interest. As usual it led me to read a few more things and now I'm thinking about what to do with the rest of the day.

So, more later....

Now, just a little more. Linda and I went off on a nice, leisurely drive down Rt. 8 for a visit to McGlasson Family Farm to get another supply of peaches. I think I've bought a bushel of them over the past week and a half. Unlike apples you have to buy peaches in small lots and eat them quickly before they spoil. These peaches aren't like the grocery store varieties because they were picked off the trees and placed on the stand for sale within 24hrs. They are incredibly sweet. Why you would even want to put sugar on them I don't know. I wanted to buy some fresh, ripe Gala apples but Linda wouldn't let me buy any more apples until  I finish the Paula Reds I already have in the 'fridge. I did buy one, though, and ate it on the drive home. We also bought some slicing tomatoes; ours just haven't ripened despite the work we put into them.

We left McGlasson's and did a little exploring. We drove out Rt.8 until it dead-ends with a small enclave of homes. I guess it's about another 5 miles or so. There's quite a lot of interesting properties as you meander catching glimpses of the mighty Ohio through the trees.

Lunch was tomatoes, basel, mozzarella, and avocado drizzled in balsamic vinegar and EVOO. We're going to have baked curried chicken (pasture raised and locally purchased at the farmers' market) over spaghetti squash. We might have some fresh tomatoes too!

Ciara, Matt and Aiden were off to Lake Norman to "swim with the fishies" so I'm waiting for a full report.

I haven't heard from Aiden and that's disappointing but I did want to post just a bit about dinner. It was fantastic! I guess I should really start keeping track of what I add and don't add and the amounts. All I can say is that I used the clay roaster, cut up the chicken and arranged it nicely in the bottom, added salt, pepper, yellow curry, red pepper powder, cumin and doused it with coconut milk; then, into the oven at 225 for about 2hrs and finished out at 350 for another hour or so. We had roasted spaghetti squash and tomatoes as an accompaniment that was really terrific. We topped it all off with my homemade vanilla almond icecream and peaches. It doesn't get much better.

Tuesday Morning Ramble

It's getting hot already and it's only half-passed eight! Humid too. At least there's a breeze. I believe we're supposed to top out at a high of 94 today. Ian says Little Rock has been and will be over 100 today and tomorrow; in fact I think it's supposed to be over 104. That's HOT! (actually miserable is a better word). As I look out on the deck the sun's up there's a light breeze and it's very hazy. It's days like this that I wish I had a pool!

I'm working on several new books. The one I started last night is The Passage by Justin Cronin. He's a Professor of English at Rice U. in Houston, TX. I bought the kindle version last night after reading the cover jacket at Barnes and Nobles. Further investigation reveals it to be the first book in a trilogy about vampires. I'm going to reserve judgment at this point but the reviews I've read are excellent.

Getting back to the weather thing; my trees look spectacular they've really grown in big spurts. My 3 pin oaks have grown at  least two feet. The maples have grown 3 feet. It's really quite amazing. Having said that my garden has been pathetic. Our squash and zucchini plants have shriveled up and died. My tomato plants have grown quite well but the fruit has been very slow to ripen.

More later...

Well, it didn't get quite as hot as predicted but the humidity made things very challenging. I believe the ambient air high was 90. Much hotter with the index.

Walked twice. Once late this morning for about 75 minutes and again this evening. By myself this morning with Linda tonight. I'll see how my right knee feels in the morning.

Hot and Humid Weekend

Heat indexes hovering near 100 degrees on both Friday and Saturday. Fortunately there has always been a stiff breeze to take the edge off of things even though it's reminiscent of a dragon's breath. Friday we didn't do much at all as I recall but yesterday we floated away the hottest part of the day in the lake at Ryland courtesy of my aunt and uncle. It was a wonderful afternoon. I think we spent the better part of two hours just floating.

Back to Normal

I'm not really sure what normal is but Buzzy's back in NC and my life is now self-centered, again. Not too happy about that. He called last night and talked about his dog and cat before going off to bed and getting back on "schedule."

Ate well yesterday. Lots of water, fruit, veggies some coffee a little chicken and almonds and coconut oil. Slept well. Long day again today. Hot. Was supposed to rain last night but I don't think it did.

Coffee and heavy cream this morning tastes great.

Grateful for the past two weeks and looking to make today a great day.

Buzzy Goes Home Today

Aiden and Family leave to return to Charlotte this morning. I believe they want to get an early start but not this early (05:00). They have two weeks of Buzzy's things to find and pack in order to get on the road. I'm sure Linda and I will find several things left behind. It was a good visit; I'm grateful that we got to enjoy Aiden's company. We had a lot of fun. He talks almost nonstop (except when he's playing the Wii or watching Dora and Diego's exploits on NetFlix). Today Linda and I return to work and begin planning our next adventure. Hopefully something over the Labor Day weekend.

Gratitude

“In our daily lives, we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but the gratefulness that makes us happy.” -Albert Clarke

Sunny, Hazy Sunday in Independence

Aiden has spent the past two weeks with Mimi and Papaw. We managed to get in the zoo and swimming at Ryland Lakes but really the most fun was had watching the airplanes at CVG and Lunken Airfield as well as catching a few freight trains as they rumbled by the neighborhood. He managed to con us into buying some new games for the Wii but he usually went back to playing the Wii Sports. He especially likes to Bowl and play Baseball. The weather cooperated for the most part. It's been very hot and sunny most days with some thunder showers mixed in here and there. However, Mimi and PP didn't plan things too well because there were only a few days when we were both off together. That's OK because in the long run we still had fun.

Fourth of July

It's a spectacular morning here in Independence, Kentucky. The sun's out, the skies are clear but you get the feeling it's going to get very, very warm. The humidity is creeping up and if we're really lucky we won't get any rain. That would be a nice change of pace.

Colin came out the house and joined Ciara, Matt and Aiden for a cookout. We had a dinner of mashed cauliflower, brocolli as a complement to pork spareribs, chops and t-bone steak. The pork was kind of tough but flavorful; the steak was marvelous. The real treat, however, was the Skype session after dinner with Ian, Rieko and Rosemary. They just returned from Japan. They're jetlagged and trying to get back on schedule. Rosemary is just beautiful and quite the showoff. She likes the attention.

Today we'll join the Muehlenkamp clan at Ryland Lakes C.C. for the annual 4th of July party. There will be 4 generations present with my mom and dad being the oldest, I guess, and Aiden probably the youngest.

Ciara and Matt plan on leaving for NC tomorrow and Buzzy will get to spend 2 weeks with Mimi and Papaw! He's excited right now; we'll see how he feels about that tomorrow morning when he realizes that mommy and daddy are leaving him here!

A Year 1/2 Over or is That Beginning

Ok, Ok.

I haven't posted in a looooong time but now I feel the need to restart. So...perhaps its fitting to begin in the middle and bring my "readers" up to date.

Ian and Rieko and daughter Rosemary are in Japan but should return to LittleRock this coming weekend. Ian will have a few days to recover from jetlag before returning to his old squadron and taking up a new assignment. I can't wait to see how big Rosemary's gotten. She's now what? 5 months old? She'll be walking and talking before we know it.

Colin's meter reading and losing weight. He looks great. School's going well. Let's hope he keeps it up.

Matt, Ciara and Aiden are planning a long weekend here in Independence and if all goes well Buzzy will spend two weeks with Mimi and Papaw.

My plan is to update my profile and blog and get things better together as the day and week gets on. Perhaps pictures too.