Friday Fear Fest (Boca Raton, FL)

Despite our fascination of  creepy monsters and the bogeyman , the  Halloween celebration began as a purification.  Halloween is short for “All Hallows (All Holy) Evening”, the night that precedes All Saint’s Day (November 1st). The lore states that the Saints call forth all unhealed spirits so they can be blessed and released.  So while we are fascinated with the theatrical aspect of Halloween, let us not forget its roots.  If you have any monsters lurking in your closet or grotesque memories that stalk you in the middle of the night, this is the time of the year to let them go!  Life could get creepier; we have an election a day away.

Boos and Brews (Palm Beach Gardens, FL) October 30, 2010

Red Rose (Diane’s Garden October 2010)

I read Michael Pollan’s The Botany of Desire-A Plant’s Eye View of the World  a few years back and was fascinated by his take on the relationship between people and plants. Pollan tells the story of four familiar plant species that are deeply woven into the fabric of our lives and illustrates how each of those species evolved to satisfy our basic yearnings for sweetness (the apple), beauty (the tulip), pleasure (cannabis) and sustenance (the potato).  And as we benefited from these plants, the plants, in the grand co-evolutionary scheme, have done well by us. The sweetness of apples, for example, induced the early Americans (Johnny Appleseed) to spread the species and gave the tree a whole new continent in which to blossom. 

Pollan’s story on the tulip (beauty) and the financial craze of tulip mania has always made me view a flower from a different perspective.  As Pollan states, “some perfectly good flowers simply are what they are, singular and, if not completely fixed in their identity, capable of ringing only a few simple changes on it; hue, say, or petal count. You can prod it all you want, select and cross and reengineer it, but there’s only so much a coneflower or a lotus is ever going to do”.   

However, the rose, orchid, and tulip are capable of prodigies and reinventing themselves again and again to suit every change in weather and landscape.  And in the co-evolutionary scheme of life and human’s desire for beauty and fragrance, the rose has evolved into over 100 species in a variety of colors.   And who benefits? 

If you have a chance, pick up Pollan’s book.  I promise you that the next time you are deadheading a rose bush,  you will think of the bumble bee and you will think of Pollan; he makes you challenge your basic understanding of the natural world.    

Every other week I have the pleasure of picking up at a specific location (close to my home) my bounty of veggies and fruits through a local organic buying club.  It consists of a group of people who share a common goal to save money on quality healthy foods.   www.Anniesbuyingclub.com 

After my pick up, it is a surprise and an education in identifying the different types of vegetables such as Lacinato Dino Black Kale and fruits such as a pluot.  The next challenge is to find a recipe that works with the ingredients on hand.  I look forward to these bi-weekly pick ups because cooking is a way for me to get in the “zen” and dine with friends and family.  

The buying club has also been an amazing way for me to broaden my exposure to the vast array of flavors, colors and textures in produce outside my local supermarket aisle.  On some weeks, it takes me time (and maybe a phone call) to discern exactly what I receive.  This week I was perplexed by a large fennel bulb.  But, all in all, it has been a wonderful experience in food preparation and my palate is certainly enjoying the new genre of vegetables and fruits. 

Tonight corn and spinach will take the back seat to leek soup and sautéed kale.  So how do you clean leeks–gratis the internet!  So if you live in Florida, check out Annie’s or if you reside outside the state look into a local buying club.  It is healthy, cost-effective and fun!

1. To prepare leeks, cut off and discard the dark green parts that are tough. Or you can wash and use them for stock-making.

2. Trim off the little beards at the bottom.

3. Take a chef’s knife and make a horizontal slice lengthwise. Don’t cut through the end, where the beard was. Rotate the leek, and make another lengthwise slice, creating a cross-hatch pattern if looking at it from the end.

4. Run the leeks under cold water, or better yet, swirl them around in a basin of water to remove any grit.

Before you give up on football, you need to go to your local community center and watch all ages and all sizes play to win on Saturdays.  They learn to play as a team and winning as a team is a great motivator of performance. The spirit, the will to win, and the will to excel are the things that endure. These qualities are so much more important than the events that occur.  Thank you, Vince Lombardi. 

You understand when you attend.  Dedication, focus, discipline, respect, passion, contribution and collaboration are in action all around you from the water carrier to the linemen to the coach and team players.  And thanks to my very dear friends, I was able to watch their son and his team experience one more “mercy rule”.  The families, cheerleaders and fans make it a better experience than a college or NFL match.  My eye is on No.16.  

 Chandler Holroyd, No. 16 , Jupiter Mustang, in white.  You rock!

Jupiter Mustangs play the Fort Pierce Greyhounds (Saturday, October 9, 2010)

The mercy rule, also well known by the slightly less polite term slaughter rule (or, less commonly, knockout rule and skunk rule), brings a sports event to an early end when one team has a very large and presumably insurmountable lead over the other team. It is called the mercy rule because it spares the losing team the humiliation of suffering a more formal loss, and denies the winning team the satisfaction thereof.

Way to go, Jupiter Mustangs!

Matthew Stoll, Owner and Professional Guide at Flying Fish (Denver, CO) and Rick.

Fly fishing is an ancient angling method to catch fish with artificial lures as distinct from live or dead bait.  It is a peaceful alternative to hiking, biking or golfing and the Colorado rivers are treasure chests for anglers.  Packed with brown and rainbow trout and cutthroats, it is fun, peaceful and you experience the famed gold water streams of Colorado.  They mastered it!

Blue River, CO 2010

Winner of the Annual Shell Art Fair –My Sweetheart!

It is a three step process. 

Step 1:  Go to beach and collect shells.

Step 2:

Organize shells by color, texture and style.

Step 3:  Create.

“I like to let the light in.”–Richard Ryabik

I have the pleasure on some weekends to have a play date with one of my favorite 6-year olds, Ava Hasson, who adores arts and crafts and couples her artistic talent with a wild imagination.   Whether we are playing charades (for children) or pulling out her paint set, Ava’s creative talent quickly surfaces. Ava’s brush stroke is clean and uninhibited and if you ask her to paint a butterfly she takes it to the next step and delivers something very special–a flower and a caterpillar.  Last week, we played charades.  It was Ava’s turn and she stood tall and resolute with arms and legs open in a x-shape.  Everyone spoke out–“tree”, “fence”, “stop sign” with no success.  So Ava laid her body on the floor with arms and legs open in a x-shape again and gave us a hint–” I am at the bottom of the ocean”.  Her Mom, of course, had the aha moment.  So my dear little “Starfish”, I look forward to our next play date.

I wholeheartedly agree with what Picasso famously said, “every child is an artist.  The problem is to how to remain an artist when [we] grow up. “

It is Week Four in Training .  Rick and I don our gis and head to the “dojo” to study karate.  They say karate is mental and spiritual training that teaches courtesy, cooperation and patience.  The necessary traits to help us function in society.  But like everything we do in life, the most fascinating part is the people you meet along the way. 

The senseis “our teachers” are incredibly talented and quick.  We are taught skills in punching, sparring, kick boxing and snap kicking.  Our senseis are riddled with tattoos on their arms and chests and you cannot help but stare in fascination and wonder. There is a tribal feel among black belts and a culture we are just beginning to understand.

We arrive and chant the Seibukai Dojo Kun (student creed) that we will practice good manners at all times, cultivate a peaceful and harmonious mind, remain humble and devote ourselves to improving our minds, bodies and spirit. After the creed is spoke,  the real work begins for us.  It is a demanding exercise in physical  and mental acuity. 

Jupiter, FL  (September 3, 2010)

It is so clean and so pure.  You even get a sense of right and wrong.  Many lessons can be learned from riding waves like patience and how long you have to wait for what you want.

Do you wait, act or live to regret? No regrets here.