"Me Too"

Last night was another best night of our life. Once again one of our free spirited children made us proud of them again.  Our eldest is in a rock group "Tanith." You can follow them on Facebook.  We knew our Marine has spent countless hours practicing and playing his guitar, he is a perfectionist.  Classical guitar was his beginning that moved on to more and more. As life would have it he met a group of fellow musicians and together they formed this group "Tanith" lead by Russ Tippins.

Russ Tippins is a master guitarist and it was a privilege to be so close to him and watch him expertly play the guitar.  The other band members were superb and the night went swimmingly. Each musician giving a stellar performance, it was a night to remember once again.  To think our son was on a stage doing this, so proud of his accomplishments.  We would be proud of him no matter what he did, he's just that kind of guy.  You gotta love him. Following his dream, making it happen.

Good, good, kind, talented band and friends. Thankful to finally meet them.

The opening concert was last night in Philadelphia, PA.  Tonight they are in Cleveland, Ohio.  we went to the opening concert and met his girlfriend, the band, and their fans. Among the crowd was a friend who does the catering for "Wrestlemania."  She appeared with food for "Tanith" when I was introduced...  I liked that she cared for the band and brought food for them all. 

The venue was full of loud talking fans and the music made it impossible to carry on a lengthy conversation so when a lull in the room occurred I quickly, in my usual direct way, asked her a series of questions to get an idea of her.

I asked her, "What is your story? Are you single, married, gay, have children, or not?"
Her first response was my favorite response I have heard in a long time.

She said,"I'm all of those in my heart, but I'm single with a boyfriend. I know that sounds crazy but I travel a lot for my business..."

I liked her immediately.  Very charming, warm and kind, with a true love of serving others.
She had me at, "I'm all of those things in my heart..."

I decided then, "Me too!"

Their next concert is in Brooklyn , NY this Sunday, hope to see you there. (You can buy their 45 and tee shirts, at the venue.)

"I Refuse To Join Any Club That Would Have Me As A Member!'

The generation before ours, I think they're called grandparents, would be familiar with Groucho Marx and his shenanigans and funny one liners, this is one of them. I long ago gave up on joining groups of any kind because I was sure to disappoint someone in the group, not me, but someone who would through conversations let me know I was not living up to the expectations of the group.

First time I really noticed it was in church as a child.  I did not believe in things through blind faith and when questioned by the minister, "Why? You must! First yo believe and then you see." I answered, "I've believed a long time, ever since I was born and I'm not seeing results, so I quit this church, unless you can provide proof."  He admitted he could not, so I quit that church. I disappointed my mother.

Then I joined a Biblical Research Ministry for 14 years and although I went against the tide often and was reprimanded often, I hung in there all the way to the top.  When my husband was commanded to get me under control, he exclaimed, "Why? I married her because she was out of control! I like it."  The top proved to be dishonest and deceitful.  Leaders knowingly were lying to the people, I was unfortunate enough to speak of the lies to leaders, thinking naively that they wanted to change if they knew, and they wanted me to hush up. I did not, we left that ministry.

I tried to join a coffee meet and greet when I moved here and the women complained and spoke of the trouble with men.  I tire of this frivolous convo and left this Delmar group. I actually like men a lot.

I joined an art group that had art teachers to teach technique from time to time at the meetings. Although I enjoyed learning new techniques I always went to my natural instincts as an artist and finished the piece that looked nothing like the intended project.  When my teacher asked me to sand the entire piece down and begin again, I refused.  Other students wanted the teacher to teach them how to do the piece like mine, the teacher responded,"That is natural talent, I can't teach that."  I left that group.

Children came and I tried to socialize with mothers of children the same age as my youngest, now that the older two were in kindergarten and first grade. I had a few hours and thought a gym with toddlers would be fun for our littlest guy.  He had lots of energy. I though a gym would be a good place for him to run it out while we played together. The exercise play class was "Mommy & Me."  After three classes the teacher pulled me aside and said she was elected the spokesperson of the Delmar group and told me, "The other mothers do not like that you let your son run around the track without holding your hand like we do, and he is distracting to the other mothers and their children, so we want to ask you to leave the class. I will refund the money."  I told her,"This is a gym, my son is not touching anyone or in anyway stopping the other mothers and their children from running around the track, this is ridiculous. You can keep your money, I'll leave."

I began to realize I could have more fun with our children doing things with them myself and so we did. We kayaked, we cooked, we camped out, we rode bikes, we sailed, we canoed, we hiked, we ran in the woods and up mountain trails, we skied, we waded in creeks and caught insects and tadpoles to study and release, we fished, we body surfed, we sat around a campfire, swam in our own pool, jumped on a trampoline, played sports, visited playgrounds with monkey bars, climbed trees, picked apples, picked strawberries, played at the beach, tapped maple trees and made maple syrup, built dioramas, became scout leaders, just lived life, we had fun.

The latest group I decided to join last year, was a meditation group in Delmar. I contacted the group leader for directions and times.  I picked a time and just as quick the leader said,"Don't be late! We will start without you, we close the doors, you will not come in, and if you are late more than once, you will no longer be able to come to our group!"  I said, "Nevermind, I can see from your temperament in this one conversation, the group has a lot more meditation to practice to catch up with me.  I'm more peaceful now than you.  I withdraw my application, I'm out. Thank you for your time, good-bye."

My mother-in-law use to call the Delmar women, "The Delmar Matrons. They have enough money to be better off than the average Joe but not enough to be really wealthy.  So they live with the division of others as "the haves and the have nots."  My mother-in-law was a hoot!

Never did I intend to upset or disrupt anyone or anything. So now with a laugh in the wind and the fun I have every day being happy, just being me, I read this quote by Groucho Marx. It resonated with me and I begin to think, "You know he's right! If a group wants me to join, I best not. That can be my first clue it will not work out! I can save wasted time by not joining anything anymore. Being in the human race is enough."

Thankful and happy to be here. The universe must have a plan for me, I have discovered it is not to join any groups. I'm Ok with that, actually I prefer it.  🙏

Jackfruit Pulled Bar-b-cue

Christmas we celebrated a birthday with lasagna from a great italian restaurant. To also give the vegans in our family a dinner the same night we found a restaurant that had vegan choices on the menu.  I ordered a Jackfruit pulled barbecue sandwich and a veggie burger.  It was delicious! I looked to buy jackfruit locally to no avail and ordered jackfruit online.  Today I made toasted coconut rice with jackfruit barbecue. It is delicious. I'm making coleslaw tonight to add to the dinner. The southerner in me loves coleslaw and barbecue.

Just thought I'd share for anyone out there wanting to eat more vegetables and less meat. Yes it does taste like pulled pork sorta.

 I chose to chop my jackfruit in a small blender and add to the sauteed onions and garlic with avocado oil in fry pan, last add sauce. The secret is using a great tasting barbecue sauce of your choice.

Bon appetit! Vegan dishes can be delicious if you find the right textures and seasonings.
Thankful to have found jackfruit and look forward to other recipes  to make with it.

Pudd'NHead Wilson

Whenever I clear out my office or go through the bookcase or boxes of books the children have left behind to keep and store, I get happily stuck reading one.  Today it was Pudd'Nhead Wilson.  I read Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in the original narrative to our children when they were in elementary school. I remember it was challenging to read the words of the southern country characters regardless whether it was an uneducated slave jargon or southern accent. The kids laughed as I would read and then I would explain what I just read.

Perhaps this is why I found Pudd'Nhead Wilson among the books in this box, maybe that original reading sparked further for our son. Either way I did enjoy reading it today.  One thing I was pleased to see was that Samuel Clemens does recognize the soft effect of a female in harsh situations to soothe a man's mind. Maybe it is because I'm sensitive to this and look for the two sexes to be good for one another in everything I witness.

Mark Twain is one and the same as Samuel Clemens. He does the greatest writing about slavery in early America and the conversations of people.  The incidents he tells of the cruelty to slaves intertwined with his storyline always bring a tear to my eye.  Horrible that "Christian" folks could inflict such injustice to the subservient population...but then I have lived and seen this is true of human nature everywhere today.  Bible thumping in one hand, interpreting the verses to justify their own actions of selfishness that cause another to suffer as they sit in the pew every Sunday. We have all seen this one time or another. 

It takes a kind heart and strong constitution to bear up and move on when such wrongdoings have been forced upon you.  And the Negros seem to have an unfathomable will to survive and do move on as one has to in life. 

Scene after scene described in the book has a mistaken judgment of another's character based on each person's own core values. Many times the good hearted one naively thinks the scorched conscious of another is better than it actually is, and suffers the consequences of the mistake. (Wisdom and boundaries come with experience to protect one's self.)

What we are beginning to understand is that suffering inflicted upon others by us, began first by inflicted suffering upon ourselves.  The same goes for kindness, kind to self, kind to others.

Thankful to be aware of this and now working to rid myself and the world from further harm. If peace is to be, let it begin with me.

Cattails the "Supermarket of the Swamp"

In my first apartment in Carrboro, NC, my mother helped me decorate and furnish it.  I was into cinder block shelves with painted glossy black boards that housed my stereo and speakers. Mom had a very large old antique wine bottle the size of a plastic 5 gallon water container, that she brought me to stand in a lonely corner, with cattails in it. I can't remember if she picked them or I did but I do remember I thought it was soooo coool!

Now I read in The Lost Ways by Claude Davis that in pioneer days 1700s that cattails are one of the most versatile plants, you can eat them, use them for medicinal purposes, fuel for the fire, pickles and pancakes, make baskets, vests, and the tufts of silky hairs were used for bedding pillows and lining baby papoose.  The best part these plants can be found in all four seasons throughout most of the Western Hemisphere worldwide wherever there is a source of water.

Yes pioneer people but did you know these make an excellent yet cool decoration for this hip single girl living out in the world in her first apartment in the 1970s?

Will I try the cattail casserole, rice, or pickles? Maybe...

I believe I will ask Sweetheart to walk the farm with me  this spring and show me edible plants around here, You never know if a famine is coming and it is good to be able to survive off the land.

Thankful to know cattails are edible.

Coffee Enemas? What?

Dr. Kelly Brogan a psychiatrist and nutrition coach with more degrees than I can list (You can google her) has after years of conventional MD practices discovered alternative medicine and is changing her prescription to patients. She now addresses the diet first and helps people to get off psychotropic meds. She wants to rid labeling patients with mental illness.  She focuses on relieving depression through radical adherence to her suggested detox and diet change for life.

Kelly has a book  A Mind of Your Own that addresses taking control of your mind through diet, daily meditation, and a grateful attitude. Sound familiar?  She also suggest "coffee enemas" to rid gut of unwanted parasites and detox the colon and liver.  I have never heard of coffee enemas, have you?

White sugar is a major "NO!" Zero tolerance of thinking about eating it forever after.  She prescribes NO GRAINS, again zero tolerance, vegetables are good, and she says organic grass fed red beef good, poultry and fish are OK 3-5 times a week. Lots of purified water, no alcohol, no caffeine, (except up the backside in an enema) and other diet tips.

If you want to be free from pharmaceuticals, bipolar, mental illness, depression, and anxiety you will follow her recommendations strictly.  Her practice is in NYC and her patients are going to her as a last resort before seriously considering suicide to escape the drugs, the noise in their heads, their mood swings, and lack of control of their mind. Wow!

Traditional medicine warns of coffee enemas having no clinical proof of detoxing or having any positive effects yet Dr. Brogan prescribes them for lifting mood swings and depression. Again, you decide what you do and what you believe. Frankly I was surprised she was not vegan.  As she shares in her YouTube video interviews, there is a tweaking to the diet she prescribes to each patient as every body is different.  She also shares that anyone can do their own research, read her book, and put together your own diet plan that works for you, you don't need to go see her in NYC.

Another eye opener, a medical doctor that is putting your health back into your hands to get optimal health through disciplined choices in your foods. There is that word again daily discipline.  You control your thoughts, your actions, your meditation, your life. 

I will be following her blog and YouTube channel to get good natural healing information and to see how much flack she is going to get from Ivy League college educated peers.  This is going to be a reality show worth following for the next years.

She healed herself from a chronic disease that she learned in med school she would be managing with drugs for the rest of her life through her diet.  She speaks from the heart and has first hand personal experience of the success of the strict diet she follows.

Many roads to the top of the mountain I have always said, here is another you may want to investigate.  You know what resonates with you, you will find the answer.

Thank you Dr. Brogan for staring in the face of conventional psychiatry and saying, there must be a better way, a more natural way, and finding a way.  I love positive rebels! Open minds and open hearts go hand in hand.

Tolstoy Opening Quote

"All happy families  are alike, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." ~Leo Tolstoy

Our son is reading Anna Karenina, and I was reading a book by Paypal founder Peter Theil, Zero to One, (Notes on Start up businesses)  Peter referenced this quote in his book. 

This quote is interpreted differently by the readers of it. 

In the broader sense I agree, happy families are supportive of one another and their differences, and in the same experience I see unhappy families are not supportive of individual opinions that differ from family traditions and culture.  This broader view of unhappy families does not have a different cause but yes, each has a different reason for the unhappiness.

How do you interpret this quote?

What I know for sure, no matter what kind of family you come from, acceptance of yourself, confidence to move in the direction of your dream with a thankful attitude every day will take you there with daily discipline to take actions in that direction and the flexibility to change approach as needed.  The problem for many is we do not have a clear picture of what we want, figure that out and get going. Once that is clear 98% of our work is done, now move!

Thankful for books on every subject in the world to take our pick.  Don't see the exact book you want? Then write it! I am doing that now.