Have you been to the site BlogHer? I just left it, but not before reading the post “From Large to Little: My Tiny House Saga. . . about, yes, tiny houses. I liked what she said, and all the reasons given for opting to live in a tiny house. The woman who wrote the post said she saw a video about tiny houses, and, well, there she is sitting next to hers now; it’s very appealing, isn’t it?.
www.blogher.com
Ecuador
At this time of the year many of us, for different reasons, leave the bright lights and merriment of our own hometown to travel abroad. We go for various reasons: we don’t want to be alone in familiar surroundings, we’re thinking that, at this point in time, we’re not compatible with family, we’re grieving and want to get away, or we simply enjoy the sheer pleasure of traveling. I’ll be going, too, in imagination – to a sweet, small country called Ecuador where celebrations in the streets are happy, lively, and colorful. If you haven’t yet formulated your traveling plans, you might want to consider Ecuador.
I’m reminded of Ecuador for two reasons: I receive information from International Living and lately their focus has been on Ecuador, and I’m in the midst of organizing papers and came across a box filled with memories of five months spent in a beautiful place; a place so enjoyable that it’s perfectly understandable that people from different parts of the world are wanting to buy and live there.
Ecuador’s centuries old buildings and cathedrals have plenty of history. And now I’ll generalize and say that the people are kind and helpful, the hostals are clean and have a nice array of travelers, it’s easy and pleasant to get around (a little knowledge of Spanish is helpful), the food is excellent – north, south, east, west – there’s plenty to admire, fresh fruits and vegetables are plentiful in the large markets, it’s inexpensive, and additionally, this is a chance to buy a Panama hat. If you haven’t read THE PANAMA HAT TRAIL by Tom Miller
I’d like to tell a simple story because it was a sign of how it would be for me in Ecuador – one helpful person after another. In Quito, the capital, I checked out of one hostal for no particular reason other than another was highly recommended. I wandered the unfamiliar streets and wondered where oh where could this place be. Suddenly next to me stood a high school boy. He asked in English if I needed help. That sounded like an offer, and it was too good to refuse. He took my suitcase, and away we went walking and talking right to the door of the lovely mother and son operated hostal. He wouldn’t accept a tip. He said that he wanted to practice speaking English. Very nice, I thought. Though being an American, I’ve yet to understand how people know one when they see one. Quito, the capital, has what many big cities have, its own history, museums you don’t want to miss, historical sites, and culture. The following are a few places to consider:
www.lacasasol.com
www.cafecultura.com
www.magicbeanquito.com
and Hassan’s Cafe, located at Reina Victoria No 24 399 Y Colon, Tel.: (02) 223-2564
You’re probably saying, I’m not going to Ecuador to eat Lebanese food. And I’m saying, Ah, but this is very tasty Lebanese food, and it’s a good chance to mingle with the locals.
Let’s leave the big city of Quito for the beautiful colonial city of Cuenca; we can always return. In Cuenca many of the hostals have wonderful old, big, beckoning courtyards. It’s a joy to walk along the streets and come upon small museums, old and well-used churches, restaurants, markets, the Tomebamba River, etc. and finding history in all of it. it’s a walking city and with a map, quite easy to navigate. One of the places I stayed at was the utterly charming Inca Real. Finding a hostal or hotel is not a problem, or, if staying a while, an apartment for $200-$250/month with kitchen and full bath.
www.hotelincareal.com.ec
A good guidebook and intuition helps when walking along Cuenca’s streets. Eventually Raymipampa Restaurant on the main square will appear just when it’s time to eat. And also El Maiz Restaurante although it’s a little out of the way, is not to be missed,
Now for a hair-raising bus ride from Cuenca south to Loja and then Vilcabamba. It’s worth the bus ride because it’s a chance to see the land and the people in a different way, and that’s all I’m saying. Loja is a good stopover for the night. Time to get acquainted with this interesting old city, and find a place to stay, and enjoy the evening before leaving for Vilcabamba tomorrow to savor the mountains. It’s tomorrow already? To the beautiful mountains by taxi or bus. Perhaps staying at Le Rendez-vous Hostal owned and operated by a couple from France who built it after touring South America and deciding to make Vilcabamba their home. Time to hear about what’s happening in Vilcabamba from Serge and Isabelle. Or check out other places to rest and revive; what makes one person happy, doesn’t necessarily make another. – a soft mattress, a hard one, maybe a hammock; it’s all there waiting.
www.rendezvousecuador.com
So much to see, the coast, the city of Guayaquil, the Galapagos, the Amazon, and north to Ibarra, Otavalo, Cotacachi, etc. Ah, yes, another time, perhaps.
* * * * * * *
The pleasure in traveling consists of the obstacles, the fatigue, and even the danger. What charm can anyone find in an excursion when he is always sure of reaching his destination, of having horses ready waiting for him, a soft bed, an excellent supper, and all the eases and comfort he can enjoy in his own home! One of the great misfortunes of modern life is the want of any sudden surprise, and the absence of all adventures. Everything is so well arranged.
– Theophila Gautier, WANDERINGS IN SPAIN
thanksgiving day
Now seems a good time to prepare for the thanksgiving part of the day, and have it be a real awareness of gratitude. We all should have the specially prepared food down pat with all the help from magazines, cookbooks, etc. The food of: roast turkey (or, if we’re in the south, deep-fried turkey), the kind of gravy and stuffing we want to eat at least once a month, cranberry sauce, mashed or roasted sweet or white potatoes, green beans, or brussel sprouts, or collard greens, warmed bread/rolls, a drink for toasting, and then there’s the dessert, with tea or a special kind of coffee and, oh yes, perhaps a few drops of Amaretto in it.
Truthfully, I don’t usually remember to say a thank you before meals, and when I do I’m aware that’s it’s done quickly, and not as thoughtfully as it should be. So one recent morning I decided to say a proper thank you for my breakfast which consisted of Gaia chia in a glass of water, and later coffee, and toasted bread with butter and jam. The interesting part is that once I started with the thank you I couldn’t stop. Never did I suspect that so many were involved in this simple breakfast.
The coffee, Organic Fair Trade Shade Grown Ethiopioan was purchased at Trader Joe’s. I began thinking of the people who plant the organic coffee beans (my knowledge is limited; I could only imagine), and carefully supervise it, the best beans are considered, coffee is transported by truck to the marketplace, negotiations, purchasing, packaging, the traveling to selected stores (what does all that take?), trucks arrive at stores, coffee is stored, or placed on shelves by the employees. Then we, the customers, arrive, and pay the cashier. It’s bagged, and off we go. And that’s only the coffee.
Then I noticed the Wedgewood cup and saucer, a gift that came from Japan, the plate from Indonesia, the knife, the wheat sandwich bread from Metropolitan Bakery in Philadelphia, the jam from France, the butter from Iceland, the cinnamon sticks for the coffee from Viet Nam, the French Press, the toaster. How many people were involved before this simple breakfast found its way to my table?
It’s not necessary to say thank you to everyone involved, of course, – the Creator is the important One. Though I discovered that thoroughness has it’s own reward, and sitting quietly for a one-time thorough thank you brought a heightened sense of awareness to what those words mean. And after all these years, on this Thanksgiving Day I’ll finally be able to say a heartfelt thank you.
I want to wish you all an enjoyable, full-of-laughter, satisfying Thanksgiving Day. And where ever you find yourself, whomever you’re with, and whatever you’re eating, enjoy thoroughly.
are we alive yet?
For the people who are lounging on a beach soaking up the sun sipping a favorite hot day drink, well, I’ll just say that you’re missing the delightful season of autumn. The leaves are falling and carpeting the sidewalk. The many that are on the trees have turned from green to red, gold, orange, and yellow. Pumpkins still sit where they were placed in October. Soup is the order of the day. The sun is playing hide and seek. Thank you leaves for brightening the day.
“Your wildest adventures can happen
without ever leaving home.”
from the book THE WAY OF THE WANDERER by David Yeadon
Lounging on a beautiful beach, looking at the sparkling water, swimming in the sparkling water, jumping into the waves, eating avocados for lunch (they’re so good for us), walking along the beach at sunrise and sunset, having the pleasure of being in a completely different environment, conversing with newly-made friends, visiting new sites is not too shabby a day either. Come to think of it, I want it all.
“Walk down
as many roads
as possible.”
– Phil Cousineau
* * * * * * *
The real voyage of discovery consists not in
seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.
– Marcel Proust
Most people have that fantasy of catching the
train that whistles in the night.
-Willie Nelson
People say that what we are all seeking is a
meaning for life. I don’t think this is what we’re really
seeking. I think what we’re seeking is an experience
of being alive.
– Joseph Campbell, THE POWER OF MYTH
from the book Vagabonding by Rolf Potts
controversy? or choices, changes, teachings
Before I clicked on, “Empty Spam,” a few words caught my eye, and I had to smile. They were: “Some of the things you say are controversial. . . .” Controversial: “clash of opposing views.”
But . . . opposite views seem a part of life, and help us to sort things out, so to speak. Most of what’s on this blog is light and sort of simple; I like simple. The words that inspire me over and over are: beauty, harmony, love, wisdom, joy, forgiveness, happy, compassion, understanding, fun, elegance, right action, change, laughter, courage, abundance and success (these last two words mean different things to different people). And the Divine. Controversial? – just choices to be made, changes taking place, teachings to ponder.
It often seems, however, that whenever we think we’ve found the “right” teaching from an “expert,” turn around and they’ll always be another “right” teaching” from a different “expert” saying the opposite of what we now hold to be true. I used to find this disconcerting, because it happened a lot. Now I understand that there’s room for many kinds of teachings because there are many kinds of people. And if we’re evolving the way we’re supposed to be, we might need to look around for something that will take us to the next step on our journey. If we stay at the same place, always thinking the same way, how will we ever find the next step?
There’s not just one mountain, one ocean, one kind of animal, one human face looking like all the others, etc. It would be intolerably boring if everything was the same. When we open our eyes really wide we’ll see that change is the spice of life. Many of us think that if we don’t rock our boat we’ll be secure and snug in our own little corner of the world. The funny thing is that when it’s time to evolve, our Higher Self will rock our boat until we fall out. (are you laughing yet?) Does that sound awful? I know, but in the long run it can be an energizing experience if we don’t resist. And quite possibly, after a time, we’ll say thank you for the change.
Choices, changes, teachings – we’re blessed; we have the ability to innately know what we need at any given time – if only we would stay quiet for a while, learn to listen and trust what the within is trying to tell us, and then hone the power within until we become the “expert” in our own life.
No controversy there, right?
It’s time to hit the road 🙂 What a lovely day – may the day be all you want it to be.
* * * * * * *
There is another world and it is within this one.
– Paul Eluard
Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.
– Rumi (Coleman Barks, translator)
The music that ushered in the cosmos plays on,
inside us and around us.
– Brian Swimme
How can there be redemption and resurrection unless there
has been great sorrow? And isn’t struggle and rising
the real work of our lives?
– Mary Oliver
Work of the sight is done . . .
Now do heart work
On the pictures within you.
– Rainer Maria Rilke
Which of the two powers is able to raise men to
the highest sphere, love or music? . . .
I think we may say, that while love can give us no idea of
music, music can realize the idea of love. But why separate
one from the other? The soul soars on the wings of both.
– Hector Berlioz
pesky little creatures treated the natural way
When I was in Boquete, Panama a friend I’d met there took me to visit a woman who produced the most luscious raspberries I’d ever seen. We visited her garden, and then went into her large kitchen where jellies, jams, and sauces were everywhere, ready for the marketplace. This is the way she kept her raspberries from being eaten by pesky-little creatures: She had a spray bottle, and in it was some soap (what kind of soap I don’t know), and in that bottle she also put hot spices. That made all the difference. I remembered the raspberry woman in Panama when I began clearing notes from a folder and read: “A spray to repel garden insects can be made from ground red pepper pods and water. It’s sprayed on the plants to keep pepper-hating insects at bay.”
from the book, HOT STUFF by Jessica B. Harris
This year I was forced to figure out how to keep a mouse at bay. I still shiver thinking about it. After researching, I went shopping for peppermint oil, whole cloves, ammonia, cayenne pepper flakes, and Bounce sheets. I used everything on the list. The Bounce sheets were placed here, there, and everywhere. I put whole cloves and cayenne pepper flakes in little cheesecloth-type bags and hung them here, there, and everywhere. Ammonia* and peppermint oil was poured on small cosmetic cotton pads and put into plastic caps and placed, well, you know where. Thankfully I was scheduled to leave for a week. I admit that I wasn’t too keen on returning because my imagination was entirely focused on a mouse dancing around my apartment after nibbling on chocolate.
*toxic – not recommended.
I wish I’d had the presence of mind to write down the website address whose owner so generously gave all that information. It worked! It worked! And whoever you are, thank you from the bottom of my scared-of-mice heart. How I wish I could say I wasn’t scared. I’m working on it though.
“Readers of the 1888 Farmer’s and Housekeeper’s Cyclopedia sprinkled cayenne pepper in nooks and crannies to keep ants away. This one really works; I’ve tried it with squirrels that took over a summer cottage.”
from the book, HOT STUFF by Jessica B. Harris
One more thing about cayene pepper: “More recently, a book on natural beauty cures published in the French West Indies suggested using red bird peppers to prevent hair from falling. Five of the small chiles are left to macerate in two cups of oil. The oil is then massaged into the scalp.”
from the book, HOT STUFF by Jessica B. Harris
David Wolfe writes about hot peppers and hair loss in his book, THE SUNFOOD DIET SUCCESS SYSTEM. He wrote that caution must be used when applying pepper oil to the scalp as it can burn if not done properly, and, of course, no one wants the experience of hot pepper oil in one’s eye. In the book that I have he explains the why of hair loss on pages 484-485.
www.sunfood.com
Do you agree that we live in a fascinating world?
Let’s cook
What to cook? What about pasta, onions, and mashed sweet potatoes, sprinkled with spices, salt, pepper, and olive oil or coconut oil?
First the planning: This dish easily lends itself to an increase or decrease of ingredients, it depends on your tastes. As long as the penne is dressed with enough cayenne pepper, Celtic salt (or another good quality salt), pepper, organic spices, a good quality olive oil or coconut oil, it should be a delicious meal.
The  ingredients:
1 lb. organic Penne
2 or 3 large sweet potatoes
1 T. diced ginger
2 or 3 large organic onions, halved lengthwise, then sliced
1 T. garlic, chopped
cayenne pepper
turmeric, cumin, cardamon
olive oil, or coconut oil
Boil enough water for penne.
Put the thinly-sliced sweet potatoes in a medium-sized pot and cover the bottom with water. Add chopped ginger and gently simmer until soft. Check on them a few times. Stir during the cooking, also check that there’s enough water. When cooked mash them in the pot along with the ginger. Set aside.
In the meantime, add penne to the boiled water, and boil according to directions.
Heat at least two tablespoons of olive oil or coconut oil, and saute the two sliced large onions slowly. When transparent add the chopped garlic and a few shakes, or more, depending on taste, of turmeric, cumin, and cardamon, continue to cook until nicely browned. Then add a few shakes of salt and pepper. Mix the onion mixture with the penne, cayenne pepper, and olive oil or coconut oil. Then add the mashed sweet potatoes, along with a few shakes of salt and pepper, more or less depending on taste, and mix very well.
Serve and enjoy.
Last week I prepared this in Richmond for Alicia and Michael. They liked it, and asked if I would please prepare it again the next evening. I said, “Why not?”
Have an extraordinary day!
hybrid foods
When I go into Whole Foods and see the words, “seedless strawberries” and “seedless grapes” and “seedless watermelons” and “seedless raisins” etc. I wonder what exactly is going on with the altering of our food. Those “hybrid foods” are full of unnatural sugars, chemicals, and pesticides. They have no nutritional worth. The people who have taken it upon themselves to alter our foods are, shall we say (it’s important here to use the right words), a greedy bunch. The Creator made these perfect foods to nourish living creatures. Those who are mindlessly tampering with Earth’s bounty to make themselves rich are serving no one, not even themselves. Eventually, the greedy ones will have to pay the piper for thinking that the Earth is theirs to do with as they please.
This morning I picked up the book, Agartha by Meredith Lady Young and read the passage:
“While the use of chemicals has forced larger production, it is hollow production, for there is no integrity in this kind of bloom or grain. It exists without the permission of the plant. The plant is forced to produce-not allowed to produce-and herein lies the difference. Because violation of plants by this force-feeding method actually shortens its life cycle and eliminates any joy in the production process. Nature’s usefulness as a continuing food source is becoming diminished. The food which is produced is filled with the artificial, negative aspects of creation and lacks the overriding positive energy infused in the natural growing cycle. Even the water is becoming so acidic and filled with pollutants that basic water replenishment is no longer possible. How can health be produced from plants which are prevented from having a proper relationship with the essential elements which provide for joyful and complete growth? How is man to know that the planet suffers if he is deaf to any perceptual interchange?”
Agartha was published in 1984. I can only imagine what the greedy ones have done with our food since then.
Is there anyone who understands how the greedy ones can put money before living beings? Life is short, living at the expense of others is risky. Maybe they don’t believe in an afterlife, or in karma. Maybe they’re wrong. Maybe we need to find a way to set them straight so that Planet Earth will thrive once again. Does anyone have any ideas?
* * * * * * *
Greediness, an excessive, extreme desire for something, often more than one’s proper share.
www.dictionary.com
The fall is a great time to curl up with a book…
Publisher’s Weekly has released their list of “Best Books of 2011”
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/best-books/2011/top-10#book/book-1
I can’t think of a better source to find great books to delve into. There’s a great variety to choose from like the historical non-fiction of “Catherine the Great” by Robert K. Massie, to modern fiction like, “The Marriage Plot” by Jeffrey Eugenides.
I really enjoyed Tina Fey’s autobiography “Bossypants,” which is on the list. And, I can’t wait to get my hands on “There but for the” by Ali Smith.
Enjoy!
alan cohen
Have you read a book, any book, by Alan Cohen? If not, I’m thinking that this coming weekend is as good a time as any to acquaint yourself with him, and the often lighthearted and interesting way he has of writing. Let’s see, The Dragon Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, A Deep Breath of Life, and How Good Can It Get? are just three of the wonderful choices available.
I think his writings have a touch of grace, and that what he wants to impart to the reader is done seemingly without effort, and oftentimes with humor. Although, after all is said and done, it’s obvious that the humor allows for the thoughts to seep into the readers mind and slowly hit home without us being aware that that’s what’s happening.
Are you going away this weekend? If so, you might want to tuck an Alan Cohen book into your suitcase. Staying put this weekend? Take it to a cafe or a park. Working this weekend? Yours would be a nice soothing break if you could relax and read a few pages from one of his books – whichever one calls to you.
www.alancohen.com
May tomorrow be an extraordinary day for you.