Autumn Pleasures

Having taken another long walk today with my faithful canine companions, I was struck by all of the different varieties of beauty that met my eyes. Right out of the door, into a very foggy morning, there were a number of exquisite spider webs in my immediate line of vision. Up the hill a few blocks is a yard that has juniper spires set close together. Every year at this time I look for the spider webs that are clustered there. In the fog, the webs seem amplified for my enjoyment. Other examples include the broad spectrum of leaf colors that will be gone once the next storm featuring wind occurs. Though, because of our extraordinary summer this year, and the fact that the mild weather has hung on longer than we could have possibly hoped, I saw a lemon-yellow azalea in full bloom on my way back down the hill to home. I am also still enjoying the roses that continue to bloom, as well as the many fabulous varieties of dahlias that seem to be defying the encroachment of fall.  I am reminded that while autumn provides a splendor of color and texture, which is a banquet for the eyes, it is very fleeting. So many reasons to look around for beauty that can be found in so many places, and made by so many creatures/processes. I look forward to the bright sparkle of frost that will be coming on a cold, clear, winter day. My walking companions will be anxious to participate in looking around whether beauty is on display or not. They stop to sniff so many scents, pleasant to me or not, along the way, and this must be facilitated. That is the way of dogs. 

Walking with dogs

After a long hiatus, I am back to share my perspective of Fall weather in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, and whatever else has come to mind. I am a dog-walker and we walk through our neighborhood a few times a week, varying our route at times to see different streets, yards, and colors. Fall being a very colorful time of year, along with the other seasons, but with different dominating colors. What's not to like about crimson, bright yellows and oranges, greens and browns, and their variegated cousins? I have found that color helps me to cope with life's challenges so I try to look for, and appreciate it everywhere. 

Another situation springs to mind when thinking about my walks with our very active, and sometimes maniacal dogs, and that is the workers that I see while I am out walking. As most of us know, many of the developments I walk through are those built by one contractor, and clustered into covenanted sections of streets. The general landscaping in these developments are maintained commercially, and they keep the parking strips and common areas mowed, pruned, and cleaned up. Many, if not most, of the companies that maintain these developments are staffed by people who are from ethnic backgrounds that are different from my own. Why do I mention this? Or, why is it noteworthy? It is because I make a habit of nodding or saying "Good Morning" to anyone I meet on my walks. If I am passing another walker, I can usually speak my greeting. If someone is across the street and passing me, I try to make eye-contact, and at least nod and smile. When I pass the workers who are maintaining the landscaping, I am almost never able to catch an eye. I keep trying to establish eye-contact while we are passing, but in general to no avail. Again why is this noteworthy? I suspect that it is because these are people who feel subjugated into a lower class that does not get acknowledged. As a reader of historical fiction, I have gained the impression that 'servants' or 'domestic workers' are to be neither seen or heard when encountered. It seems to me that we have continued this practice with anyone who works in a service capacity. I see  this as an excellent example marginalization; it is not new. 

Economically, the service sector is a major employer today, and will represent more and more companies and jobs going forward. Having worked in the service sector myself for many years, I know first-hand how people seem to look through you when encountered. It is not a comfortable experience. Why is it easier to ignore our fellow humans than to acknowledge them? It is a sad and scary thought that we humans have not evolved beyond this type of 'us' and 'them' such that everyone who is human is 'us', and worthy of our greetings and acknowledgement. I suspect that until we do evolve past marginalization of our own species, war and conflict will dominate the human experience. 

All about Trash, with a capital 'T'

Some people 'Dance[ing] with Stars', while I Walk with Maniacs. Walking with Maniacs describes my exercise regime with my two canine walking partners. The magnitude of the unbridled enthusiasm that they bring to the activity can almost be too much for me to handle, thus the designation of 'Maniacs'. 

While we are out walking, we (I) endeavor to pick up the trash that is ever-present on whatever walk route we choose. Today, having set out on a walk, I began to pick up the ubiquitous trash, while noticing that the trash I picked up two days ago, had been replaced with a new supply. It is my practice to not stray into anyone's yard (personal space), or the blackberry bushes that line much of the walk routes we frequent, which prevents me doing a thorough and comprehensive clean up. Today, I was unable to avoid feeling overwhelmed by the magnitude of accumulated garbage. Why is it that we have so little regard for our surroundings that we cannot take the most minimal time and effort needed to appropriately dispose of wrappers, cans/bottles, papers, etc. while waiting for the bus, walking to the mail box, or even in our own yards? 

Another major source of ecological fouling is the accumulation of old vehicles, such as cars, boats, campers, and trucks. This practice of abandonment not only represents eye sores, but also facilitates the leaching of heavy metals into the surrounding soil and ground water over time, amongst other toxicity opportunities. I know of one yard in particular (we all know, or may be, an offender) where a car was parked in the driveway very nearly 30 years ago, and has not been moved since. Old and disintegrating vehicles are everywhere, despite the pleas from charities to facilitate their removal. How hard can it be? It just takes a phone call, or maybe not even that if you are ever logged onto the Internet. 

What to do? Everyone, pick up the trash in your own yard/domestic space, and take the initiative to pick up trash that presents itself on your way to the car, to the garbage can, to the bus stop, to name a few mitigating opportunities. Recycle what you pick up, so that it can be processed to be used again. Build awareness in your social circle to help others become trash collectors too. 

To me, it is very disheartening to allow the awareness of garbage accumulation everywhere, various yards, sidewalks, ditches, storm drains, and blackberry bushes to name a representative sample, to seep into my consciousness. This is where humor or at least silliness can take the edge off the overwhelming nature of the sheer quantity of trash needing to be picked up and disposed of appropriately. My choice of silliness for this situation is to recall "The Cat In The Hat" (Dr. Suess) wherein: "this mess is so big, and so deep, and so tall, we can not pick it up, there is no way at all.", and when the Cat came back in with his clean-up machine saying "I always pick up all my playthings, and so, I will show you another good trick that I know!". The Cat's machinery featured four hands set about the pick up. 

The take-home message is that many hands make short work of a big job. Let's clean it up! 

The Tough Cooks to Cope

In the last year or so, I have found myself cooking when feeling vulnerable emotionally, and communicated my cooking choices here. Today, I am not cooking to cope perse, but because I love to love my family and friends through wonderful food. I have had my eye on an apricot scone recipe for some time now, and decided that today was the day to make them.

Also, in need of cleaning out my refrigerator without throwing food away I will be making a turkey chowder recipe that will help to feed my family without waste. In particular, I am planning to use the few slices of bacon, mushrooms, celery, carrots, and turkey, along with wild rice and leftover gravy, before they begin to spoil.

There is such comfort for me (aka The Tough) in cooking delicious and wholesome food for my family/friends that I like to indulge regularly in this pursuit. Cooking to cope has provided me with an outlet for distress as well as the calming that comes from focusing on a recipe such that it will produce wonderful food. I highly recommend 'Cooking to Cope' for anyone who loves to cook real food. 

There is a distinction to be made here when it comes to 'real food'. Have you ever looked at the weekly grocery store ads and noticed how much food there is being sold that does not really qualify as something to eat that will nourish and provide energy for a body? The unbelievable prevalence of processed food in every area of a grocery store is, in my opinion as well as throughout the medical community, responsible for many maladies such as obesity and some autoimmune conditions, and a general state of malnourishment. If one or more of the ingredients on a food label is as long as your arm, it is probably not food and your body may not know how to break it down. Artificial flavors and colors are at the top of the list of food-products to avoid for me when I am shopping. Food for thought! 

CBS: Watch the Casey Anthony Case on your iPhone? I think not!

What do I see when I log in to my home page this morning? The above-referenced headline from CBS: Watch the Casey Anthony Case on your iPhone. It might be that I am in the midst of the post-sinus-surgery-crankies, but..... somehow I doubt it. If anyone has time to spend watching a trial on an iPhone, keeping in mind the size of the iPhone screen, they have far too much time on their hands. I am somewhat familiar with the case, as everyone in the western hemisphere with any electronic device must be, and me from logging into my home page, it is yet another desperate and unbalanced woman, in desperate trouble, for the whole world to see. What would possess anyone not connected to the case to voyeuristically log in and watch? What is it about American society that we cannot help but consume time watching misery for others when it pales in comparison to those fighting for their lives across the world, from the 'safety' of our iPhones? Those in straitened circumstances need our attention and compassion much more than anyone from the outside of the Anthony Case can command. And, with many of our troops around the world in peril, they need our immediate and constant attention and compassion as well as energy and intelligence applied to get them home. The only excuse I can imagine from CBS, is that it sells advertising, This is hardly an excuse, but it is a reason. What it says about our societal values is far more disturbing than the headline suggests. 

Introducing Dot!

Introducing Dot! Dot is an outlier data point, and with that comes a different perspective on anything, and potentially everything. Dictionary .com defines an outlier as: "[a] data point on a graph or in a set of results that is very much bigger or smaller than the next nearest data point."

During my brief sojourn as an experimental scientist, I was regularly confronted by Dot, and had to explain Dot if possible. Dot as an entity is, almost by definition, an irritant and something that must be explained empirically whether as an anomaly, or true data point that is part of a societal trend, or any other kind of data set. Over time I have begun to see Dot differently, and suggest that the view from that standpoint could be both valuable and instructive. I look forward to considering questions, data sets, and current events from Dot's perspective, and hope you will too.  

Eminent Persons and their sex lives

Is anyone else absolutely sick to death about learning of other peoples' sex lives and indiscretions? I feel confident that I am not alone in my irritation at having my sphere of life and activity besmirched by the sordid details of the sex lives of others. There is a solution to my irritation over these events of course, which is to dial down every media source that would befoul their sites and/or airways with such topics. I used to be a news-maniac, continuously seeking out news about current affairs (not the sordid variety) both local and not, and could never have anticipated that I would run away from news in general. As someone who works primarily from home, and who relies on radio and online news sources, I have sequestered myself from the commercial news media to a great extent. I now feel that I need to further withdraw from sources that will, and also those that might, report on such stories as those featuring Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Arnold Schwarzenegger, John Edwards, and the like (not leaving out the semi-distant escapades of Bill Clinton, that have relegated him to a quiet corner of world affairs that his brain-power could have so easily served from a much more significant platform. I wonder if he feels marginalized by his inability to control his behavior?). It may be that I will organize my online news array into the following categories: 

Will report on something smutty (100% chance of seeing something distasteful): DO NOT click on anything!

May report on something smutty: Proceed with caution

Might report on something smutty: Still a risk, but not a significant one

No news at all: I have a bag over my head while working on the computer to avoid seeing anything distasteful 

I am also an avid listener of my local NPR station, mostly for company, but also for headline news. Even NPR has and does report on breaking smutty news stories such as the one wherein a congressman of some variety (House or Senate) photographed his private part(s) and uploaded said pictures onto YouTube. I ask you! How many of us want to hear about that? Why is it that the wealthy and/or powerful (I suspect that they go together) have to misbehave to such an extent, such that we are all bombarded with their private, but not any more!, behavior. 

My appeal to the news media: I know that scandals, and especially those related to sex, sell ads on which your income is based. Aren't you sick to death of it too? Can't you dial it down a bit? Those of us who are very interested in keeping up with local, regional, national, and global news, would be very grateful to be able to avoid learning about someone who has exposed himself on the world stage for international critique. I am appealing to all of your best instincts that do not include anything sordid. Please!