"You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism. "
Graves at Arlington National Cemetery (Photo is in the Public Domain)
Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday which occurs every year on the final Monday of May and is usually celebrated with the first picnic or BBQ of the summer, often neglecting or forgetting the real reason for the holiday. However, there are still many small towns and cities across the country that have local parades to honor those who gave their lives in military service, and fly the United States flag in profusion up and down the streets.
The small front yard of our county courthouse is stacked with rows and rows of American flags, each with a cross bearing the name, unit and date of a man or woman who died in service. We also have a parade.
Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the Union and Confederate soldiers who died in the Civil War. By the 20th century, Memorial Day had been extended to honor all Americans who have died while in the military service.
Memorial Day is not to be confused with Veterans Day; Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving, while Veterans Day celebrates the service of ALL U.S. military veterans, living or dead.
Tradition On Memorial Day the flag of the United States is raised briskly to the top of the staff and then solemnly lowered to the half-staff position, where it remains only until noon. It is then raised to full-staff for the remainder of the day.
The half-staff position remembers the more than one million men and women who gave their lives in service of their country. At noon their memory is raised by the living, who resolve not to let their sacrifice be in vain, but to rise up in their stead and continue the fight for liberty and justice for all.
Recent History On June 28, 1968, the Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which moved four holidays, including Memorial Day, from their traditional dates to a specified Monday in order to create a convenient three-day weekend. The change moved Memorial Day from its traditional May 30 date to the last Monday in May. The law took effect at the federal level in 1971. After some initial confusion and unwillingness to comply, all 50 states adopted Congress' change of date within a few years.
The VFW stated in a 2002 Memorial Day Address: "Changing the date merely to create three-day weekends has undermined the very meaning of the day. No doubt, this has contributed a lot to the general public's nonchalant observance of Memorial Day."
No planets struck on 12-12-2012, but let us hope the other predictions of 12-12-12 opening the door to a thousand years of Peace does indeed come to pass.
The description Shakespeare used to describe what happens at the time of Christmas celebration causes me to hope the same "hallowed and gracious" time will apply for a thousand years.
The bird of dawning singeth all night long;
And then, they say, no spirit can walk abroad;
The nights are wholesome; then no planets strike,
No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm,
So hallowed and so gracious is the time.
Hamlet, 1.1.157
Wishing All my Readers a lovely holiday, whatever your religious beliefs...
This is a gentle, touching and inspiring movie called "The Man Who Planted Trees", and I encourage you to fix a cup of herbal tea (or a glass of wine), and make the time to and sit back and enjoy watching it. The video is beautifully drawn in what appears to be hand drawn pastel charcoals; it is narrated by Christopher Plummer. Written by Jean Giono, this popular story of inspiration and hope was originally published in 1954 in Vogue as "The Man Who Planted Hope and Grew Happiness."
The Man Who Planted Trees tells the story of Elzeard Bouffier, a man who, after his son and wife die, spends his life reforesting miles of barren land in southern France. He patiently plants and nurtures a forest of thousands of trees, single-handedly transforming his arid surroundings into a thriving oasis. Undeterred by two World Wars, and without any thought of personal reward, the shepherd tirelessly sows his seeds and acorns with the greatest care. As if by magic, a landscape that seemed condemned grows green again. A film of great beauty and hope, this story is a remarkable parable for all ages and an inspiring testament to the power of one person.
There's an interesting story about the importance of trees in our world, "Why Trees Matter" published in the New York Times.
Excerpt:
"What we do know...
suggests that what trees do is essential though often not obvious. Decades ago,
Katsuhiko Matsunaga, a marine chemist at Hokkaido University in Japan,
discovered that when tree leaves decompose, they leach acids into the ocean
that help fertilize plankton. When plankton thrive, so does the rest of the
food chain. In a campaign called Forests Are Lovers of the Sea, fishermen have
replanted forests along coasts and rivers to bring back fish and oyster stocks.
And they have returned.
Trees are nature’s water
filters, capable of cleaning up the most toxic wastes, including explosives,
solvents and organic wastes, largely through a dense community of microbes
around the tree’s roots that clean water in exchange for nutrients, a process
known as phytoremediation. Tree leaves also filter air pollution. A 2008 study
by researchers at Columbia University found that more trees in urban
neighborhoods correlate with a lower incidence of asthma.
Trees also release vast clouds of beneficial chemicals. On a large scale, some of these aerosols appear to help regulate the climate; others are anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and anti-viral. We need to learn much more about the role these chemicals play in nature. One of these substances, taxane, from the Pacific yew tree, has become a powerful treatment for breast and other cancers. Aspirin’s active ingredient comes from willows.
Trees are greatly underutilized as an eco-technology. “Working trees” could absorb some of the excess phosphorus and nitrogen that run off farm fields and help heal the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. In Africa, millions of acres of parched land have been reclaimed through strategic tree growth.
Trees are also the planet’s heat shield. They keep the concrete and asphalt of cities and suburbs 10 or more degrees cooler and protect our skin from the sun’s harsh UV rays. The Texas Department of Forestry has estimated that the die-off of shade trees will cost Texans hundreds of millions of dollars more for air-conditioning. Trees, of course, sequester carbon, a greenhouse gas that makes the planet warmer. A study by the Carnegie Institution for Science also found that water vapor from forests lowers ambient temperatures."
I can't think of a better way to celebrate the coming New Year than with gratitude to those who helped set my Path.
If I had to pick any one thing that pointed me in the direction I try to walk, it would have to be my exposure to the work of Helen and Scott Nearing, back in the early 1970's via their books published by Rodale Press. There was no internet back then and information was difficult to find, but once I heard of them, I read everything I could by (and about) these 2 remarkable people who promoted self-sufficiency and sustainability.
Who were Helen and Scott Nearing?
The Nearing were two of America's most inspirational practitioners
of simple, frugal and purposeful living. In 1932, at the height of the
Great Depression, Helen and Scott Nearing moved from their small
apartment in New York City to a dilapidated farmhouse on 65 acres in
Vermont. For over 20 years, they created fertile, organic gardens,
hand-crafted stone buildings, and a practice of living simply and
sustainably on the land. In 1952, they moved to the Maine coast, where
they later built their last stone home.
Through their 60 years of living on the land in rural New England,
their commitment to social and economic justice, their numerous books
and articles, and the time they shared with thousands of visitors to
their homestead, the Nearings embodied a philosophy that has come to be
recognized as a centerpiece of America's "Back to the Land" and "Simple
Living" movements. (Source)
Their best known books (those they wrote together) are Living the Good Life (1954) and Continuing the Good Life (1979). The first of these is often credited with being a major spur to the U.S. back-to-the-land movement that began in the late 1960s.
Before they moved back to the land in Vermont in 1932, Scott Nearing had been a Professor of Economics at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business, and Helen Nearing had been trained as a classical violinist.
I was (and remain) fascinated, first by their technique for building walls with movable forms, concrete, and rocks from their property, and later by their walled garden with the sunken passive solar greenhouse that provided food all year even in the coldest winters of the NE USA. Precursors to Eliot Coleman, in my mind.
I now realize I must have absorbed some of their views on corporatism, as I continue to rail against Monsanto et al.
Here's a short clip on the Nearings. The last scene was apparently filmed after they were much older and no longer living on their farm. (Just mentioning that so you do not mistake their suburban-looking home as being the one at the farm.)
For
my Pagan friends, the Winter Solstice has passed but I trust your
celebrations will help bring us all a fruitful spring planting leading
to a bountiful harvest;
For
my Jewish friends, wishing you wonderful celebrations for the remaining
3 days of Hanukkah; may your lights continue to burn brightly;
and for my Christian friends, Merry Christmas,and may His Light bring us all Peace.
(If I have missed your religious group it is only out of not-knowing on my part that you celebrate this time of the year.)
My favorite song at Chrismastime: All Through the Night
Though not a Christmas song when the music was first published in 1784, this Welsh tune has survived for over 225 years. Harold Boulton wrote the 'Christmas' lyrics to it sometime around 1900.
Sleep my child and peace attend thee, All through the night Guardian angels God will send thee, All through the night Soft the drowsy hours are creeping Hill and vale in slumber steeping, I my loving vigil keeping All through the night.
Angels watching ever round thee All through the night In thy slumbers close surround thee All through the night They will of all fears disarm thee, No forebodings should alarm thee, They will let no peril harm thee All through the night.
Wishing everyone a peace-filled and joy-filled holiday!
Christmas is Celebration, and Celebrations are Instinct in the Heart!
The Christmas Celebration to me means sharing the abundance we have been given. Some of us may not have much materially, but we can celebrate with the gift of an open heart, and share the wonderment all around us. There is the wonderment that grows from tiny seeds, whether they are the seeds of love and inspiration, or the miracle of "seeds" that grow to produce our children and loved ones who nourish our hearts... or the seeds that grow the animals, fruit and vegetables that nourish our bodies.
These are the everyday miracles we have been given, and we celebrate them. I like to celebrate by sharing the gifts of food treats, but the best is sharing a meal and conversation around a table of congenial companions.
MFK Fisher summed it up nicely: "Dining
partners, regardless of gender, social standing, or the years they have
lived, should be chosen for their ability to eat -- and drink! -- with
the right mixture of abandon and restraint.
They should be able, no, eager, to sit for hours over a meal of soup and wine and cheese, as well as one of 20 fabulous courses.
Then, with good friends of such attributes, and good food on the board. and good wine in the pitcher, we may well ask,"When shall we live, if not now?"
I can think of no better way to celebrate the day than being with friends and family, sharing good food.
"Christmas IS celebration, and celebration is instinct in the heart. With gift and feast, with red ribbon and fresh green bough, with the sound of music and merriment, we commend the day– oasis in the long landscape of the common.
This Christmas mend a quarrel.
Seek out a forgotten friend.
Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust.
Write a love letter.
Encourage youth.
Show your loyalty in word and deed.
Keep a promise.
Find the time.
Forego a grudge.
Forgive an enemy.
Listen.
Apologize if you were wrong.
Try to understand.
Flout envy.
Take up arms against malice.
Examine your demands on others.
Be kind; be gentle.
Appreciate.
Laugh a little.
Laugh a little more.
Express your gratitude.
Cry out against complacency.
Welcome a stranger.
Gladden the heart of a child.
Take pleasure in the wonder and beauty of the earth.
Speak your Love.
Speak it again.
Speak it once again."
Source: a long-ago bit I copied from either a Life or Look magazine about 1960...
No posts from me until after the long(er) holiday weekend... I'll be back sometime next week, after my semi-annual visit for medical tests at UVa. up in Charlottesville. (There will be a couple of "filler" posts while I'm away. Hopefully they will be interesting.)
Today marks two years of posting on this blog. In that time, it has grown from a very few followers who are mostly old friends who just supported my initial efforts, to now over sixty followers... and that number does not include the readers who follow with an RSS feed. (I have no way of knowing how many follow in that manner.)
Page views have grown from a handful a week, to nearly 200 per day... that number also does not include RSS feed page views. Viewers come from all over the world
I must say that I am extremely pleased, esp. considering that as of late 2009 there were over 126 million blogs, and growing!
Folks have asked if I get any remuneration from my blog. I do not. I consider writing my blog as "paying it forward" for all the help, instruction and ideas that people have sent my way throughout my lifetime.
If anyone gets just a little help, a little more understanding of something, some encouragement or even some inspiration from my blog, it's just icing on the cake!
Several weeks back I posted about drying Thompson Seedless Grapes for sultanas to go into my step-father's Holiday Cordial recipe. I did start the cordial but somehow forgot to post it.
There are many variations of this recipe online, but I have tried to do mine just from memory. My step-father has been dead over 20 years, and apparently my mother never wrote down his recipe, either... or at least I haven't found it.
Boerenjongens
1 pound sultanas
1 pound rock crystal candy
1 fifth brandy
Place sultanas and rock candy in a jar with a tight-fitting lid. Pour the brandy over the sultanas and candy. Cover, and let it sit undisturbed for at least 2 months. Just before you are ready to serve some, gently stir it a bit. Ladle into cordial glasses to serve.
Use some of the sultanas in the liquid as a sauce for ham. Use some of it in the core of apples for a flavorful baked apple. Yum!
Notes: I only made half the amount listed in the recipe because I don't drink.I started mine in the large jar shown above only because the strings of the rock crystal candy were too tall for a smaller jar. The candy dissolved in 2-3 days and I fished out the strings the crystals were grown on, and transferred the contents to a smaller jar with much less airspace.
I have not made this in many, many years, but I thought it would be nice to serve some during the holidays in memory of my mother and step-father.
Yesterday, Thursday July 22, 2010 at 12:39:12 pm, this blog celebrated its 10,000th view! The viewer was from Beachwood, New Jersey, and although there is no 'real' prize, I offer my heartfelt Thanks and Congratulations!
This blog was started on May 15, 2009, and I feel quite honored to have had over 10,000 views in not much over one year, considering I do no personal pleading to read my blog. Some came here by word of mouth, some by a search engine, and some by mere happenstance. Since I do not accept paid ads, I generally do not rank high on search engine results, except by a specific topic or phrase, so I am doubly grateful that you arrived here!
Some of those 10,000 views are repeat views by 'Followers' whether anonymous or with a screen name, and I laud your interest and loyalty. A few of you actually 'talk' to me via Comments or by email, and you are what keeps me posting. Thank You, One and All.
Mardi Gras is famous for 'Throws'... the act of throwing beads from the parade floats to the onlookers. It's a time-honored tradition started in the early 1870's by the Twelfth Night Revelers.
Some historians theorize that the tradition has roots in a pagan post-winter ritual, during which lucky peasants who'd survived the cold months celebrated by throwing milled grain into the fields—an offering of gratitude to the deity (or deities) who had given them enough food to last.
Tongue-in-cheek: I have heard it said that geologists say the heavy weight of beads from Mardi Gras stored over many years in the attics of houses in New Orleans is what sunk the houses below sea level!
Waiting with anticipation for the next float...
Even Parade Marshall's like Kevin Costner get to throw!
Beads ready-to-throw...
Some throws go wide of the mark and end up hanging in the trees...
Welcome to the day before Fat Tuesday, aka Mardi Gras!!
For some of us, all Tuesdays are Fat, but the holiday known as Fat Tuesday (the English translation of the French 'Mardi Gras') is a special day of over-indulgence and celebration which has spread in popularity regardless of religion. Fat Tuesday is the last day of eating rich foods before the ritual Christian Lenten fasting season which begins the next day, Ash Wednesday. The traditional purpose of Lent was to prepare the Believer for the celebration of the Resurrection by means of self-denial, penitence and prayer for 40 days before Easter. The traditional 40 days excludes Sundays which were/are mini-feast days, and early Catholics followed the church rules closely.
Fasting rules were originally very strict.Today, the fasting during Lent varies. Some people fast all day and eat only a simple evening meal without meat or alcohol. Certain Orthodox Churches restrict all animal foods like meat, chicken, fish, eggs and dairy. And some folks just eliminate ('give up') certain things for Lent, like chocolate or a favorite pastime.
The pre-Lenten celebrations have grown in popularity worldwide, largely due to Mardi Gras in New Orleans and the Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, but the carnival atmosphere is pagan in origin. (I'll cover Mardi Gras in another post.)
Some believe the pre-Lenten celebrations may have originally had practical purposes too, as food stored for the winter was subject to spoilage after a time. To consume what was in danger of spoiling, they held big feasts prior to moving into the lean days before new crops could be grown and harvested.
Fat Tuesday is also called Shrove Tuesday, and Pancake Day. (The word shrove is the past tense of the English verb shrive, which means to obtain absolution for one's sins by way of confession and doing penance.) The custom of pancakes came about as a means of using up the rich foods like eggs, milk and sugar before Lent; many cultures around the world have their own rendition of sweet delights for Fat Tuesday.
Add the chicken back to the pan, heat thoroughly, and ladle some into a crepe. Fold it over or roll it, and dress with more of the sauce. Serve with a fresh green salad and steamed broccoli with a splash of lemon. Voila! Pancakes!!
Welcome to more tidbits about Mardi Gras! I know all eyes are on focused on the Winter Olympics opening today... but frankly, I'm sick of looking at all the white stuff (snow) all around me, with more on the way.Looks like even "N'awlins" might be cold this year for the celebration.
The ladders shown above are a means of seeing above the crowds during the 56 or more parades. Of course, the ladders are also a bone of contention because they block the view of anyone behind them.
There is a LOT to Mardi Gras, far too much for one post! The phrase Mardi Gras, when translated from French, literally mean Fat Tuesday, the last day of indulging in certain foods before the Lenten fasting season begins the following day, which is Ash Wednesday.
This year (2010) Mardi Gras falls on Tuesday February 16, but the celebrations we have come to know as Mardi Gras actually begin Friday, February 5th and run through Fat Tuesday, February 16. The celebration in New Orleans is so large that now there are 56 parades scheduled during this time!
I'll post a bit about some of the interesting traditions and history later next week, and then another on Fat Tuesday (with a recipe). It's a fascinating time of revelry and tradition in New Orleans, and this post is merely to let you know it has begun!
Super Bowl Sunday is the second biggest eating day of the year, barely lagging behind Thanksgiving. There is ONE big difference, though... the sheer volume of snack food consumed. In fact, the average arm-chair quarterback will consume roughly 1200 calories and 50 grams of fat from snacks alone... not counting the 'real' meals of the day. You'd have to run an hour and 45 minutes to burn it off.
Here's what the American Institute of Food Distribution says for consumption on that day:
Nearly 9 million pounds of tortilla chips 8 million pounds of popcorn 29 million pounds of potato chips An estimated 2+ million pizza's 450 million chicken wings, with Utah and Louisiana eating the most (makes me wonder where all the legs go?)
But there's a bright spot or two in the junk food consumption:
8 million pounds of avocados will be used to make guacamole And I have no doubts tomatoes will do equally well, even if only there to support the guacamole or become salsa!
