SPROUTS!!!

Now….I am going to ruin everyone’s idea that sprouts are solely a Springtime activity.  Contrary to that assumption…sprouts are what get this Alaskan through a long winter with limited exposure to sun and fresh greens.

I have tried my hand at sprouting in the past.  I didn’t get very far with the jar approach.  I am sure I was just doing it wrong….and at that time YouTube had not occurred to me.  (Was it even around at that time?)

I was too forgetful to leave them in a cabinet I would surely forget during my busy week…so I wouldn’t rinse them dutifully…and this resulted in stinky, rotten sprouts.

A solution presented itself this last fall…as I was watching one of my favorite YouTube personalities…John Kohler on the “Learn Organic Gardening at growingyourgreens.com” channel…specifically this episode: 

How to Grow Sprouts with Water or in Soil Any Time of the Year at Got Sprouts

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQqML3Ayxi0

…and so I decided to give it a shot the way they demonstrated….in the highest-quality soil I could find.

This gardener uses Black Gold Organic Gardening Soil as the base….adding appropriate amounts of Blood Meal, Bone Meal, Azomite, and Greensand to the blend for full-spectrum nutrition.  At some point…I would love to add the Ocean90 solution to the whole mix as done in the video…but for now…this will do.

So…as the video shows…it is as simple as placing a packed inch of soil into trays…seeding them with presoaked seed…stacking them until they pop, making sure to maintain good moisture by covering the top tray.

I have noted a need to water them daily…probably because I choose not to stack them…mainly to avoid the mold development I observed on my first run with this.  I have also taken to a light sprinkling of cinnamon (which I actually open up a cinnamon supplement capsule for my source) over the top of the seeded trays, as to prevent this mold from wanting to take over before it even starts.

I have observed sprouting within 24 hours of seeding the trays…and can generally start stealing little sprouts to munch by day 3 or 4. 

I graze on them…some people choose to juice them or add to salads.  Enjoy them however you see fit and your health will benefit either way.  I just like the idea of the fiber and the enzymatic action that chewing them up presents for nutrient absorption.  That is why I usually enjoy them with a Vitacoco…

Grateful.

At one of my most unsure times….I am grateful.  

Financially, domestically, and every other measure of life component is up in the air…I am grateful.  

I could focus, as in the past, on all of the uncertainty as a negative force.  But, unlike the past, I am here now.  And it is now that I know that life will always find a way. 

Just as uncertain I am about future possibilities, I was equally flabbergasted by the unforeseen directions and paths life offered me when the time for a choice was given.  There was NO way I could have guessed at the gifts life was to grant me, and there is no reason to fear that life will forsake me now….after all of this?

I think I may have discovered for myself a truth:  Good moods build dreams.

I am grateful for opportunity.

I am grateful for this beautiful day.

I am grateful for the life that abounds all around us.

I am grateful for love…in all forms that it exists in life…for it is the reason I get up every morning and keep doing this.

I am grateful for this amazing journey…filled with beauty and splendor, sharply contrasted by a world filled with chaos…like a photograph with focused clarity of exhausting detail.

For a fantastic journey of VISUAL beauty....click here:  http://pinterest.com/eclectica78

I promise, you won't be disappointed....

Have a magnificent day and prove to yourself that days like this can change your life!

Helping for NO reason?

I feel bad...but maybe I did the right thing in expressing my feelings....I mean, what is the worst that can happen, right?

I wrote the following to the folks at www.urbanconnection.com on the comments section of the "About Us" page:

"I found your site looking up aquaponics. Ironically, we have the same mission…only you all have made many more steps than I and my group have and we don’t intend to do it the way you are.

I know that we must be able to learn from the success of others…and in that spirit, I am glad you have had success.

I am writing you now, however, to express a conflict that I have…and clearly…this is MY problem…but I thought perhaps my point of view may make sense to you…so here it goes.

I have serious issues with organized religion of any sort. I feel it is the number one reason employed by those who oppress us (and yes, there are real, tangible forces that wish to enslave us) to divide us so that we are more easily conquered. I understand that the Catholic claim to being the “spokesperson for Christ” was a governance tool…and I guess one MIGHT say that the ends justified the means….but I look around at the world and CLEARLY this is not so. In the face of serious population issues and womens rights violations, they have been a prohibitive force on logical solutions. I understand that not all Christians are aware that their bible comes from the Vatican’s basement…but knowing that is so…and that the UN itself has granted them claim over any document in anyway connected with Christ by mention…means that any form of biblical referencing does so with their blessing.

Now I feel terrible right now…what kind of audacity could I possibly possess to question people doing great things for the love of humanity? The thing is this…I feel that leading people away from the true nature of God and our cumulative consciousness by tying it to this long history of tyrannical behaviors for the sake of power is granting these men…who have stolen our rights to God…merit.

Just for fun…why not a woman for pope? You want to speak to “God” on behalf of all life on Earth? Why not a woman who knows what it is like to create a couple herself? Perhaps 10 of them…so she knows what each one costs.

My point is just that though I think it is beautiful what you are doing….even if it is benign and a true attempt at helping people…is it really help to mislead people as to the true power of taking responsibility and that WE are all part of the cumulative that is “God” and we create our own reality with what we envision?

I ask you to consider how truly powerful it would be to do the same thing for love and nothing more…is it really so far off from the truth? Is it blasphemous to see God as love…and just leave it at that? Why does it have to fill the hopper with people now primed to carry out political agendas with religion to back it up? Why can’t we just do what is right by each other? Why do people need a religion to find God??? And who says these Christ followers (for which many of us honestly don’t think he existed with some compelling evidence to back it up) have the market on God?

It disturbs me to see people handed religion before reason…or any sort of real education. Especially desperate people in vulnerable states of being.

Thank you for what you are doing. I hope you are sure about why. Peace and love to you despite my personal issues."

So...there it is.  I was all bent out of shape that a friend of mine from my high school days is a crazy born again that has issues with understanding how science works.  So sad.  I just can't take arguing with someone I'd first have to educate!  God love him.

Heads Up!

So.  The world didn’t end.  We are all still here.  I made my snarky comments on Facebook…(So..."the Apocalypse" turns out to be the stark realization that no big event is going to come save us from having to wake up, shut off the damned TV, and learn to take care of each other...lest rot in our own filth.)... here we are almost past the first quarter.  Now what?

The thing is this….we are in big trouble.  This shouldn’t come as a surprise to an astute observer.  Whether you are a consumer of mass media (of the reputable or junk sort)….or an indigenous tribesman that has no concept of today’s advances, you have noticed we have a few “problems” to face before handing this world to our offspring.  In fact, we have known we were in big trouble since before I was an identifiable part of the “we”.  One has to grant me a small bit of consideration for my anger that no one seems to care about the trouble we are in unless it wears the guise of some mythological persona come back to end the world in one giant cataclysm!

I admit…I was half hoping, no….praying, for something to come and expedite the restructuring of our current social conundrum in some drastic and permanent way.  I would even wonder if just the power of self-fulfilling prophecy and the human intent was enough to fabricate some form of event. I mean it was our imaginations that dreamed up everything else we enjoy….why not an apocalypse?  

http://www.livescience.com/14173-doomsday-scenarios-apocalypse-2012.html

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/12/121219133551.htm

http://theweathercentre.blogspot.de/2012/12/polar-vortex-collapse-arctic-freeze.html?showComment=1356230240926

 I also had this sinking sensation that I already knew we would have no such luck.

But maybe it really isn’t luck.  I look around the world from time to time (obviously when I am able to stomach what I may find) and must admit that not all news is bad news.  Sadly, for me to want to even get out of bed and continue running this race anymore, I really need to believe that we were meant for something in all of this.  I like to say that humans didn’t evolve out of rock-scum into the perfect matter manipulation machines just to die off because most of us are inexcusably…uh, ignorant…(We will go with that word as opposed to a preferred alternative).

I need to believe that there is hope and a reason.  I realize that I may NEVER, ever get the vindication of proof…just living on the likelihood that we do all this for a reason.  And for now, I am happy with the notion that we may just be a data gathering organism of a cumulative consciousness sort…taking all of our experiences back to this organic, energetic “collective”.  Isn’t that a warm and fuzzy?  It certainly works for me.

Some of the first pieces of good news to come to my attention this year have really helped me find that warm and fuzzy spot of hope.  Following are three examples I found that made me smile and provided me with the will to read the news another day.

The End of Cancer As We Knew It…

There is now (thanks to an amazing kid named Jack) an early test for the detection of three very deadly forms of cancer (Pancreatic, Lung, and Ovarian)…meaning that humans will have an affordable proactivity tool to prevent these horrible cancers from ever forming fully…provided a person can get medical care at all.  But I am focusing on positives here…for now. J

http://www.upworthy.com/im-pretty-sure-this-video-of-a-kid-freaking-out-is-going-to-save-me-from-dying-o?g=2&c=upw1

So this, and a bunch of other amazing advances I read in my ScienceDaily.com subscription every single morning bring to mind a thought.  Not so fast thinking that you may avoid taking the proper responsibility for what has happened to our home…you may live a whole lot longer than you ever thought.  How scary is that? 

A Change In The Way We Grow…

There are groups that have put their back into the green movement everywhere I look…like this Steve Ritz guy I watched present on a TED talk.  His Green Bronx Machine has the capacity to transform the way we look at food production.

http://dailyedventures.com/index.php/2012/10/23/stephen/

Growing food in our kitchens and public spaces is not just a good idea, it is a revolutionary step toward changing our lives back to a sustainable model of living.  It will encourage us to eat better.  We will waste less as a society and use less fossil fuels to transport food inefficiently.  Our food will be more nutritious, last longer, and even taste better!  And imagine the educational opportunity our children being a part of their own food production really provides them!  And most importantly, our basic needs will not be dependent on a supply chain that can be cut at any time.

I personally donated a measily $10 to a great project I found on Kickstarter.com…leave it to another place with real winters to take their food sourcing seriously.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2056017617/vertical-harvest-of-jh-a-growing-system-for-change?ref=activity

Yet another example of those that take their local ability to sustain themselves very seriously.

http://www.verticalfarm.com/

And this amazing blog about a student implementing his project….

http://urbantechfarm.com/tag/indoor-farming

A Time For Everyone To Share…

Someone I know very well has a radio show here in Alaska on a Fox News station.  The fact that I can say I know someone who has a FOX News show…of ALL networks is kind of a miracle…let alone a self-described conservative! J

But what is so “ positive” is that from 4 to 6 PM, Tom Anderson, as mentioned, a person with a tendency toward conservative views, has breached a list of topics that, in my opinion, need to be addressed.  And though I can honestly say that though I often don’t align with Tom’s views, he is in fact fair and balanced…just as he claims to be. 

http://www.tomandersonshow.com/#!/pageHome

Why is his show my example of a major positive in the world, you ask?  I mean, it’s nice that one wants to promote a friend’s show and all…but really?

Here is my reason.  Mr. Anderson has chosen to grant Dr. Faheem Younis, M.D., normally a regular guest on his show, a few moments of time, now on a daily basis, to discuss issues affecting us all in regards to the Muslim-Christian/Judaic conflicts in our global society.  In my opinion, a conservative talk-show host granting a minute of his time to help breach the gap of cultural understanding, despite the potential pressure it could cause him from his peers that disagree with his decision, is a phenomenal step toward changing the world we share.  To be fair (the saying is “fair and balanced for Alaska”) he also provides the “Stand For Israel” representative Rabbi Jonathan Greenberg.

Now, I admit that I have found myself angry or disagreeing with things I hear both Mr. Younis and Mr. Greenberg say with their moment in the light.  I do not agree, nor will I ever, that any sort of religious dogma or claim to what is “holy” by some group of naked apes (uh, I mean humans) is reason or justification to fight over imaginary lines in the dirt or kill one another…extending a religious war several centuries or millennia. I realize that both are doing their best to encourage peace…but in my opinion…holding on to this BS idea that something is holy or divine OTHER than human life, is missing the point completely.

However, in the spirit of knowing it is my duty to always acknowledge a person’s right to speak their truth, I am just glad someone is willing to let both speak.  At very least it sheds some light on what these people are thinking.  I say bravo to Tom and encourage him to keep up the excellent work…though I don’t think that in light of what he has accomplished in life, anyone’s permission to go on and do wonderful things will be required.

A Time to Focus on New Goals…

It occurs to me that this might just be a turning point for humanity; a “changing of the guard”…so to speak.  We have so many wonderful things to be thankful for and regardless of our mistakes; we must learn to keep our focus “above the line”.  I can almost picture the lines of an altimeter in my vision…telling me if my thoughts are pointed above the horizon….am I eventually going to crash if I keep flying in this direction?    In that way, this mental imagery I have crafted…this analogy that helps me process how to deal with what is important, right now.  Staying in the now…or what I call mindfulness…is my form of mediation.

And do you know what?  Scientists are finally quantifying what the Tibetan monks have known for centuries….meditation works!

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130213092309.htm

Even the U.S. military has been using it in their dealings with PTSD prevention. 

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1920753,00.html

It is an ancient trick.  Some have called it “The Secret”…others magic or malfeasance.  All it is really is tapping into the energy created by attention and intention…knowing that the human focus crafts reality.  Anyone ever told you to be careful what you wish for?

It is never too late to admit we are wrong.  It is never too late to pull up.  Humans are beings of their own imaginations.  That for which we fixate will be our future.  If we want to fly, we just have to keep that picture in our minds…and keep our thoughts and heads up!

BTW....as I am posting this...right now....there is a frenzy of media coverage regarding a meteor that has just hit Russia....and yet another that has just hit near Cuba.  Both have been estimated to be the size of Cadillac Escalades.  For those unaware, recently, we here on Earth have been tracking DA-14, a meteor the size of half a football field....yet this morning we were struck by two meteors coming from opposite directions.  If rumors of Earth passing through a debris field are true...this could get ugly.  Makes me wish we had more of those urban farms up and running.  Good luck and Godspeed.  Do not forget to tell them you love them....whoever they may be.  If there is one thing I wish to share with those wanting to know....there is so much beauty in the world.  I looked at this page today (http://pinterest.com/eclectica78/awesome/) and the tears started streaming down my face.  There is so much beauty in the world...and this is just a fraction of what I have seen and been able to capture.  Infinite amounts go unnoticed....how fantastic.

The Girl With No Box?

At some point, it was obvious that I was going to have to explain the choice of a title for this blog.  Aside from implying that if I were to become homeless, I’d be at a disadvantage, there is a reason this statement fits.

My grandmother, Arlene, used to say (unfortunately sans humor), “You weren’t raised: You just grew up….Sprouted!  Like a weed.” 

Perhaps now is where I should mention that though I am still twisted up about the relationship with my grandmother, I can at very least see that “hurt people hurt people” as my very good friend Brad reminds me often.  I will someday expound on what happened to her that twisted her heart in the way that it was twisted, and perhaps learn to really forgive her in that process.  She was a phenomenal woman in so many, many respects, and in her defense, it was the most wicked of circumstances (i.e. losing a child) that ultimately brought her to that point.  The truth is, I was the most like her.  The mirror I held to her face was more than she could bear.

I know that what she said was partly true.  The irony lies in the fact that any pruning I experienced as a child, came directly from her...so for her to make this statement acknowledges that A) she didn’t exactly finish the job, and B) that she forgets that she could have but instead made a choice to not in her implied accusation to the parties actually responsible for me…and perhaps, to stay on track with the metaphor, she could have chosen to also look into the idea building a garden fence and gate.

So, I was born to a couple that ultimately didn’t have the structure necessary to raise a healthy child.  Not to say that they were not productive humans….but remember…hurt people, hurt people.  My mother was always trying to out run, Hitler (i.e. “Mother”) and social expectations. My father was always trying to prove he could do anything despite certain handicaps he would have preferred to keep secret.  At some point, I will also explain a whole lot more about them in this process of using the world to purge me of my issues. Thanks y’all…btw!  J

My father was killed when I was 1 ½.  My mother had a rough time holding it together under the circumstances.  I spent a lot of time with my grandmother when I was small and “cute”….like a dolly with amazing table manners (remind me to post the story about my choosing as a pre-teen to purposely fail to execute said table manners)…or a trained monkey in heals.  As I got older and my mother claimed some of her decisions back from “Mother” again, I saw less and less of my grandmother.  No one really ever took an initiative powerful enough to ensure I had a proper mental box to exist within past my Grandmother, and I left her box pretty fast when given the opportunity.  I was allowed to come to my own conclusions…and when they didn’t jive with the plans of our Matriarch, her punishment was further isolation….and her neglect became my ally.

Once I could think for myself, and teenage angst came into full fruition, it was a constant power struggle to be near family gatherings.  My new ideas were not welcome.  Any suggestion at a new way of doing things evoked the immediate response of “that is not the way things were done by decent people”…without so much as a consideration of my evidence to the contrary.  She was outraged by the people that I wound up making friends with, calling them poor white trash…but then absolutely refused to purchase me the clothing that would have made me appealing to the pretty little rich girls that the unaccepted “geek” girls called “The Snob Squad”. I was in a weird position of having no proper family structure, but also being blessed enough to excel in academics despite, and making friends with some very smart girls that I still know a select few of to this very day.  My grandmother was full of strange contradictions in her struggle to encompass the social issues of my 1980’s grade-school situation.  If she only knew that all those little girls with the silver spoons wound up just as messed up, if not more so than I, by the end of the 1990’s.

Every cruel twist of the knife my grandmother would time with precision became the force I used as rebellion fuel.  I clung to anything and everything she hated…at first I think unconsciously, and maybe with a little help from my equally rebellious mom, it grew into a full-fledged burden and I became aware of it.  After all, the result of my exile from her favor was being alone in the jungle.  Mom was not around.  I was the little girl smarter parents either forbade their children from playing with or just insisted that I come to their house instead of their kid staying the night at mine, with only one exception being my best friend whose mom partied with mine…go figure.  We reflect today in awe that we made it out of there…that whole neighborhood/childhood thing.  We, quite literally, grew up without parental supervision of any real consequence…and she had 2 little brothers that we were watching!

I could go on and on about “what happened then???”  Unfortunately, I have already pinpointed what it was that led to my having no box, so it would just be a bunch of stuff about my grandmother (which I fully intend to explore later) or about all the dumb stuff that happened subsequently (again, future posts a plenty), and not so much really pertaining to the catalyst leading to my realizations that A) there are many different boxes in which one could be trapped, and B) that because I knew this, I would be able to choose precisely which one I wanted, and furthermore, C) that I could choose not to live in a box AT ALL!

I can tell you this: I went through a lot of different boxes at first!  I was entirely too afraid to stare at myself in the mirror unboxed…at first.  One must condition themselves for the exposure.  But, I find that no matter which box you choose to hide in, made of whatever you want to make it out of (like every living thing on Earth is carbon based, it is important to note that boxes are ignorance based), time and wear will always find a way to wear holes in those silly boxes.  And it really is like living in the dark, because when that light of knowledge breaks through those holes, “it burns us, precious, it burns us!”

So, I finally went boxless after my separation from my ex.  The one I had been hiding in with him finally fell apart.  After scrambling to clean up the mess, I went on a long walkabout to think about if I want another box or not.  I have still not decided on my new box…or if I really want one.  I admit, new boxes are so comfortable.  I just don’t have the luxury of a box that I can fit all of THIS into anymore.  I guess I have just become too big for my own boxes. J

I could not have shed my box without my friends, especially one in particular who helped lead with his eyes when mine were swollen shut.  I will never forget what they did for me and I will always be grateful. That I still have people who will claim to know me has kept me going for quite some time!  It is they who love me that have made this endeavor of mine possible.  Thank you!

Lingonberry Love

A favorite of the North, lingonberries (Vaccinium Vitis-idaea) are Alaska’s version of the Thanksgiving cranberry (Vaccinium Oxycoccus), which is best known for lending itself to the formulation of those horrid cans of gelatinous muck that scar the mind of many a socio-economically challenged child....or those with lazy moms.  Growing up with access to the woods, I quickly learned that the most beautiful qualities of any berry are never to be found in a can...but, let’s be fair... I feel that way about just about every food on Earth.

Now, I get that one does not have to hail from the great State of Alaska to be familiar with Our Mother’s annual berry phenomenon.  The North-Eastern US and Canada boast one heck of a crop of those Vaccinium Oxycoccus strains, and one of my favorite reasons to visit Oregon as a child was to enjoy a good portion of their most abundant members of the bramble family, their lovely blackberries.  

I will just admit now that as an Alaskan, I am blessed with a great diversity and quality of wild berries to choose from, and since I was small, it has been an annual tradition to crawl around on the tundra (or in some cases the jungle) on all-fours collecting all we could carry.  

Most berries of which people are familiar, such as the blueberry, currant, and high-bush varieties of cranberry, are also of the genus Vaccinium.  Raspberries, while a wildly popular berry, belong to that aforementioned bramble family along with blackberries, marionberries, black raspberries, golden raspberries, thimbleberries, salmonberries, and I am sure I am missing a few hybridized versions.  In all this berry-mania, the lingonberry is clearly just not spoken of much, despite being the dominant berry shrub in much of interior Alaska.

Specifically in regards to lingonberries, Wikipedia (which is only a credible source for SOME types of information....specifically nothing politically charged) states:

"The berries collected in the wilder are a popular fruit in northern, central and eastern Europe, notably in Nordic countries, the Baltic states, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Romania, Russia, and Ukraine."

You can read the whole citation here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaccinium_vitis-idaea

So, with the exception of a recently realized industry for them in the Pacific Northwest, specifically in Oregon, this whole lingonberry thing seems to be a very European practice.  Those of you with Scandinavian heritage might not have realized that the cranberries (mostly of the Oxycoccus subtype) in all those old holiday recipes originated with lingonberries prior to your ancestors move to North America.  Well, I guess you could call Alaska the Scandinavia of North America then, eh?  (A shout out to our Lingonberry-loving neighbors...)

My favorite way to pick them is prior to the frost so that my fingers do not get frozen nor stained.  The berries, in my opinion, are best munched upon when still kind of tart and pulpy…as opposed to the squishy, feety option that dominates the frozen woods of the late fall.  The nice thing is that the lingonberries will wait the longest for you to get out there, so you can spend time on more cold-sensitive berries until later in the fall.  

Lingonberries love a reasonably sparse, moist, spruce-dominated forest with a scattering of birch trees.  When you notice a mossy type of forest floor, you are on the right track.  Look for waxy oval leaves on little vines about 4 – 9 inches tall with red berries in bunches of 3 to 6 berries to a bunch.  Each berry has an X where the flower fell off.  Sometimes the berries get so dark a burgundy (usually with a lot of sun) that they are almost black.  I have noted that they tend to like features in the woods that direct more water and let more sun reach them, like knolls, path sides, and overhangs.

Something to note when picking lingonberries is their similarity in description to that of the Bearberry (Arctostaphylos Urva Ursi).   They also have waxy leaves and red berries and grow in thick mats…often near lingonberry bushes!  The key to recognition of this non-poisonous, but none-the-less undesirable (unless you wish to use it as a medicinal herb...but, that’s another blog post) imposter, is noting the way that they creep together in thick, distinctly flatter mats, have a much lighter green color and teardrop shape to the leaves, and how the lighter red or pink berries appear singular instead of in bunches.  Once you make the connection visually, you will be able to spot them from a distance.

Recently, I was privileged to join friends up North at a mining camp as the official transport of a crew member.  As Alaska is a HUGE state, this meant I did a whole lot of driving.  On a drive up where I was alone, I stopped a few places along the highway in the interior.  Once you get an understanding of the terrain types in Alaska it becomes pretty easy to spot key locations prone to berries.  I found a few places with my keen berry sniffer that I was able to fill 4-quart containers with berries the size of marbles in less than an hour.  Needless to say, I finally reached camp late into the night…damp, dirty, twigs and fallen leaves stuck in my pony tail…looking much like a tornado victim.  But I had LOTS of berries!

When I returned home, I immediately realized the folly of berry picking that I conveniently forget every single year; which is that now someone has to stand around and clean all these things!  Fortunately for lingonberries, when harvested prior to that frost date, they are much easier to clean than blueberries.

My method for cleaning them up is pretty straight forward.  I lay a towel (I have actually designated a “berry towel” so that stains are not an issue) out on the largest work surface I have.  I then fill a giant steel baker’s mixing bowl with lukewarm water, dump in enough of the floating little berries until the level is almost at full, or there is no water left, which ever happens first.  

Once soaked, place the berries by the handful on the towel.  As the berries fall off of the hand on to the towel, much of the debris sticks to wet hands, so it is good to rinse the hands after dropping the berries prior to continuing.  You don't want to overload your towel, for fear that they might not fully dry and leave the debris.

As the berries dry off, the remaining debris sticks to the wet towel, making it easy to pick up handfuls, examine to find any remaining particles, and then stick them in the chosen freezing receptacle. For larger batches intended for a batch purpose, I like to vacuum seal into the sizes needed for the intended purpose.  Others I like to keep in resealable freezer bags for quick access to a handful for my fruit shakes or baking.

So, I will leave you with what I found myself thinking while processing a batch of berries once:

Like anything else we touch, we lend it a bit of us; our electrons, hence our energy.  It is evident in how they take some of the heat from our hands, which you can feel as you place them, clean and dried, in the bag.

Nothing is quiet like the flavor that is enhanced with a little bit of our divine heat…our blood, our sweat, and our tears.  Very much like the realization I came to when learning to create masterpiece meals from whole quality ingredients, in this process of cleaning and sorting these little jewels, I further developed the understanding of the tangible benefits we lose when separating ourselves from involvement in our food sources and its preparation.  Think about the lab rat and his daily ration vs the field mouse that can survive and evolve through some of the worst of nature’s wrath.

I often come up with some of the craziest crap when I am doing something mindless, like walking on a treadmill, or processing thousands and thousands of berries.  I guess the mind solves queries when given enough idle time.

Happy carpet-creeping!  

The Most Interesting Person He Knows????

Ok...ha ha! Someone I know said to me...."You are like the Dos Equis guy....except a chick" (nevermind his sensitivity issues)....which at first I took in jest. But then he went on and said, "No, no...all joking aside. You are really the most interesting person I know." 

Hmmmm... So. I guess we are going to find out right now. This will be my first blog post. As it turns out...I DO have a whole bunch to ramble about on a whole bunch of different topics. I have lived an extraordinary life, by most people's standards, and I guess that makes me obligated to put my thoughts out into the digital ether. God help us all.

You are welcome to refute my claim that I have something tangible to say...and you can arm yourself for said challenge by stalking my Facebook page:  My Profile  

But I promise you, it is really a waste of valuable time on Earth...just sayin'. So...I commit today...here and now, to trump this guy: 

  LOL!!! Talk soon people.