Spirulina, turmeric, cinnamon and adventure

I'm halfway through yet another change in my exercise intensity, and despite the myriad of issues going on inside my head, I have to say that the body is doing much better. I've been feeling more energetic and sleeping better for awhile, so I thought I'd look back on my health journal to see what might have caused it. Now, this is far from scientific -- just has to do with what's happening in my own body -- but the first time I noted that I was feeling better was November 10, which was two days after I began taking what has become a daily 'green drink'. It's basis is powdered spirulina, to which I add turmeric and cinnamon  for their own health benefits. Nothing else changed, although I did up my Vitamin C allotment considerably that day, also. But two days later I had the energy and interest to begin exercising, and the body is responding with good energy every day. Take it for what you will. I don't get enough green veggies in my diet, despite having some in the garden, so I needed these carotenes. (note: Chinese or cassia cinnamon is toxic so do your research and take small amounts. Most grocery store cinnamon is cassia, because it's cheaper. True Ceylon cinnamon is harder to find, pricier, but better for your health)

Back to the exercise changes -- remember when I second-guessed that Greg would have had me focus the workout on one muscle group, if I wanted to do it 6 days per week? I didn't think I had enough equipment or knew enough exercises to do that, so for two weeks I repeated my 3x week routine to make the 6 days. But, a little Google research showed me all kinds of new exercises to add to the existing routines, so now it's 30 minutes of push/chest, then push/triceps, then pull/back, then pull/biceps, then legs, then shoulders. This is the 3rd day, and I can only repeat -- it ain't easy! Not that I want it to be or expected it to be. Oddly enough, I'm not feeling as sore as I thought I would on the muscles I've used so far -- just twinges here and there. This old body is surprisingly strong, for its age and flab.

I read an article this morning that pretty much sums up what's eating me mentally.  This guy retired, got fat and unhealthy and bored, decided to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. Seriously. Now he does extreme sports all over the world. The whole article is worth reading, but this paragraph sums up exactly how I feel:

“I lasted about a year and then got really depressed,” he told NBC News. “I was 50 pounds overweight, I smoked cigars, I probably drank too much. I needed a challenge, a whole lifestyle change.” 

I'm not 50 pounds overweight, I don't smoke anything and I don't drink much, but I need the lifestyle change. Big differences between me and this guy: he's 10 years younger and he has the money to chase dreams like this. Now, I wouldn't want to do what he's doing. I'm not quite that extreme. But I'd love to chase around the world riding a bike or hiking here and there, exploring the world. Since I don't have the money to do that, I need a lifestyle change that can be done on my meager budget -- or one that also includes an income of some kind.

So now I get to walk to the library, add to the exercise time for the day. Happy day, y'all!

Adventure calls...

I've been undergoing some kind of personal crisis of the emotional sort over the past few months, if not longer. It's hard to tell just when these kinds of things begin, because we often don't really notice them until they gain some strength. I think it's fair to say that this one began last December at Bhavana, when all kinds of stuff was coming up and I eventually reached a point where I could no longer keep the crap to myself and let it rise to the surface at the wrong moment thereby harming others, which of course goes against every precept in Buddhism, thereby adding even more crap to what was already surging up. Instead of staying to deal with it in meditation, I chose to run, and life hasn't been the same since.

I expect that in the end, this may be a good thing, depending upon how I eventually find a way to deal with it. About a month ago my monthly newsletter arrived from one of my favorite sages, Dr. Mary Ann Iyer.  The topic was change, and she has this on her blog Living in Harmony on September 5,but I somehow didn't read it as meaningful to me at the time. Shows how much difference a month or two can make! It's too long to copy and paste here but I'll synopsize and use a few quotes. 

She talks about the butterfly story: "when a caterpillar hides itself in a chrysalis to metamorph into a butterfly, it decomposes completely.  From this soup of apparently random cells come progenitor cells, called imaginal cells, which find one another in such a way that a new cohesive pattern is formed.  A butterfly.  In the cosmos is contained the plan – the blue print – for this new form to take shape." She goes on to say that "the original caterpillar cells put up a fight.  There is some initial struggle when the newly christened imaginal cells reach out to find one another in that soup.  Some are killed in this battle.  Eventually,  they do coalesce, and that which is to be does emerge...."  and then later..... "I imagine personal and societal change must surely follow this same pattern.  If you are experiencing discord and turmoil in your life; if you know change needs to happen but you feel yourself clinging to some outmoded past, give your imaginal cells a boost."  

Often, so I'm told, a Buddhist meditator experiences much the same thing before attaining some kind of seriously wonderful breakthrough. So, I've been convinced for months that this is a temporary crisis that is leading up to good things, once the change occurs. I also know from experience that I generally have to fall really low during this struggle before the pendulum will begin to swing upwards once more. I'm not there yet -- although I'm headed there, certainly.  So, that's been the state of my mind for almost a year now, and you should be very thankful you're not living inside my mind! It's not fun, and yet I can see the soup and the struggle for those new imaginal cells to win through, and I know that everything changes.  Everything. Eventually.

So, all of that is to say that part of what I'm figuring out through all this is that I'm healthy enough to live another 20 years, and that I really don't look forward to that unless some kind of major change happens in my life. I cannot think of living -- surviving, really -- for 20 more years with the life I have, where the major highlight of any given day is a book to read and a few TV shows to watch.  There has to be more, and lately I've been thinking that maybe that something more has to do with another adventure of some kind. I can't be more specific because I don't know any more than that. Last night I watched a documentary on the Appalachian Trail which, of course, brought up the desire once more to hike it. All if it. It could be done -- I have time to get in shape and I think the body would  hold up. Not so sure about holding up emotionally. Let's face it, I had a hard time with the daily ups and downs and hills and cold and such at the Hermitage for two weeks. Can I get myself psyched enough to do this? Plus, I no longer have any backpacking gear, and probably couldn't afford to buy any. I'd sure love to see some of the places on the Georgia section again -- tears popped up more than once during the film, because I love that Trail with some kind of weird emotional attachment. I spent almost 10 years of my life being a caretaker for part of it, and hiking all of the Georgia section many times over, often alone. In fact, I took two 5-day hikes alone to do both the northern and southern portions.

But is this the real adventure that is calling me? Traveling by bike is almost equally of interest. But I can't do either of these full time for the next 20 years, let's face it. Either would change my life in more ways than one (judging from the experience of my 2-month solo bike ride through the Colorado Rockies in 1983), and yet both would be temporary adventures. What then? What is the long-term change that needs to happen? Moving to Mexico? Still on the table, but seemingly out of the question financially. Asheville? Beaufort? But, I'm reminded that just moving isn't the answer -- I'd still just be reading books and watching TV, unless there's a bigger change.

I don't have any answers. Just lots of questions. And once more, be thankful that you're not inside what passes for my mind during all this questioning. It never stops.

It's all about the food.....

Thanksgiving morning, Yosemite. Pretty cool! (From the webcam)

Actually, it's all about the wait for the moment. The chicken is in the oven roasting away, the sweet potato souffle and cornbread dressing are waiting in the wings to be cooked once the chicken comes out.  Leeks and rosemary, garlic and lemon are in and under the chicken in its roasting pot. Life is good.

I spent some time this morning wondering why I go to the effort of making even a pseudo Thanksgiving dinner every year, since I'm not much for celebrating holidays. I decided that for me, it's really all about the food, and I'm guessing I'm not alone in that.  Thanksgiving is a perfect excuse to cook things I wouldn't ordinarily cook and eat things that inspire more than a little guilt. Actually, no guilt at all at the moment, since it's only once a year. And I did my workout already this morning. So now, I can just wait, enjoy the luscious aromas, think about the things I have to be thankful for in my life, relax and read a book to the tune of some righteous jazz on the radio (from Seattle).

I don't have to be alone -- had a couple of invitations from relatives -- but in my old age I simply don't enjoy going out amongst crowds of people I don't know at all or barely know, and try to make conversation with them when we don't have much in common. I like them, the ones I know. I like them a lot and have fond childhood memories of times with them. But the ones I know make up about 1% and I just don't do well with conversational chit chat. Never have, and at this age, probably never will. Get me in a crowd of people and I shrink off into a corner somewhere and suffer through, wondering when I can graciously make my exit. Why bother? It's no fun for me, and not fair for the other people involved. I've been alone for so long I guess I've learned to like it, maybe even have become something of a hermit. I expect my early life as an only child in a nomadic family didn't do much to make me anything but a loner.

I'm reminded of something one of the women who passed through the Hermitage in California while I was there in July said. She headed off for her kuti after lunch somewhat apologetic, but commented something to the effect that 'I guess none of us are people-people, or we wouldn't  be here'. I'd never thought of it that way, but recognized that she was right. I like people just fine, but in small doses.

It doesn't help matters that I absolutely hate this time of year.  Christmas carols at Kroger a week ago. Nothing but 'buy this' ads on TV (no, I don't have a TV but the same ads run online during the shows I watch). My birthday a month from today. I won't be a happy camper anytime between now and the first of the year unless I can stay away from as much of the fuss as possible. That's one reason -- maybe the main reason -- I think about going away to a Buddhist center for the last two weeks of December. I enjoy the centers and the meditation and teachings any time of the year, but this time of year it's an escape from the constant commercialism and....... well. Enough said. No need to rant any further.

Hope y'all have a happy thanksgiving, wherever you are and whatever that means to you.

The body feels worked

I've survived my first week of intense exercise. Whew!

I think I mentioned once that I was tired of Curves, wanted more. Last week I surprised some long-unused muscles with a couple of very light workouts, just to wake things up, start off slowly. Then, I devised a particularly masochistic plan. Nine or ten years ago when I lived in Corvallis I joined a local private health club and began working out daily, following the plan offered by the trainer employed by the club. Eventually, I wanted to do more, and eventually made friends with a weightlifter who tended to follow the same schedule I did, daily. Greg was 50-something then, had been into weight lifting and body building most of his life, plus he was a fount of information on nutrition and had garnered plenty of physiology from various scientists at OSU who were clients of his. He'd also recently acquired a personal trainer license. He liked to help people who were interested, and I learned everything I know on the subject from him. At some point I asked and he wrote up a workout program for me, quite different from what you'll get from the basic gym or health club.

Weight lifters don't follow one set of exercises over and over, day after day, the way most gyms tell you to do. Instead of trying to work all muscles every day, or several times a week, they focus on one or two muscle groups during every workout. He set me up with a good schedule of that type, meant to be done 3 times per week. It's a tough schedule. In fact, when I moved to Eugene and joined Gold's Gym, the trainer there took a look at it and exclaimed "You're doing all that?". I was, and I've stayed with that same basic set over the years, even when I was a member at the fancy DAC in Eugene, with really good equipment and trainers. Machines and specifics have varied, but the concept has stayed the same. Day 1, chest and triceps; day 2, back and biceps, day 3, legs and shoulders. I do some abs every day. 

What makes it different this time is that instead of doing it on a 3-times-per-week basis, I decided to do it 6 times per week. And I had to adjust to what I have available to use: my 5# and 12# dumbbells, and an exercise band. I can do a decent job of working all muscles with that. I'm using the 5 pounders a tad more than I used to, and the 12 pounders a tad less, but that'll change with time. Greg used to tell me 'weight doesn't matter'. He just wanted me to 'finish pretty', which meant finishing the sets in good form, not struggling with too much weight. So, I do a lot more reps with the smaller weights, for now. The muscles still get three days of rest between workouts, which should be enough. Now, I know Greg would tell me to focus on only one muscle group in each of those 6 days, instead of doing it this way, but since I'm limited by equipment, this will work. And trust me, the difference in age between 61 and 70 matters!

After a week, I feel good. The body feels worked,  but not sore. Those Curves workouts did help, they were just limited and rather inconvenient. My appetite has definitely increased! I guess that's not surprising, since those stressed muscles want plenty of protein to rebuild and grow. I expect that'll taper off, as time goes by and the body adjusts. And I'm definitely looking forward to a day 'off' tomorrow.

Other than that, and trying to stay warm, not much is happening around here. And that's not all bad.

From summer netting to winter frost

I think summer has officially left this part of Georgia, as of today. I know, officially it left awhile back, but we've had a beautiful fall that was summer-like. Warm. Sunny. Dry. Nice. No surprise seeing it end today -- it's been in the weather forecast for the last week or more. Still doesn't mean I have to like it....

As a result -- I went out just now and transformed the greens bed from it's summer netting to its winter frostgard -- supposed to get down to freezing in a couple of nights, so I thought I might as well be proactive, even though the plants are all cold tolerant.

I also hung out three suet cakes for the birds yesterday, although I expect it'll take them a couple of days to find them. It generally does. This year, I put one on that wooden clothesline support, so I'll be able to watch them better. The others are way in the back, under the trees, for a little protection.

I tore out all the mustard plants yesterday. I just don't like it! It has a hairy, almost spiny texture, which doesn't make it fun to handle or to eat raw in a salad. And I don't like the taste. Not sure why I planted it again this year, other than that I had the seeds. The lettuce, kale and chard are terrific, however. And the leeks are doing well. Garlic is up and growing like gangbusters -- no cover needed, as it's plenty hardy.

Mexico is looking better every day! Still -- it's rainy and cold in Eugene, so it could be worse. Lousy day for a football game! Not that the Ducks fans will care or notice. They're a hardy bunch, particularly when well-fortified from tailgate parties and hip flasks. Particularly when the Ducks are winning.

Speaking of rain in Oregon -- can you believe this photo is from a webcam? I stumbled across it quite by accident this morning. It almost looks like a painting, probably because of the mist. This is Silver Falls, not far from Salem.

And no, I don't regret leaving Oregon. But I sure don't mind being reminded how beautiful it is.

My latest food addiction

I love Mexican food -- real Mexican food, as opposed to the more Americanized versions available at chain restaurants where everything tastes pretty much the same. Good, but not inspired.

When I was in Bucerias, MX about 5 years ago, the American owners of the little hotel where I stayed sent me to their favorite breakfast place on my last morning there, and told me what to order. Tiny place, lots of cop cars outside (apparently also a favorite of the local gendarmes), patrons a good combination of locals and tourists. I cannot remember the name of the dish I ordered, but it was eggs cooked in a really hot sauce -- your choice of red or green sauce. After I ordered it, a man who I assume was the manager came to me and asked if that was really what I wanted, as if  he wasn't sure I knew what to expect. Guess not a lot of gringas order that dish. I assured him I wanted it and when it arrived, it was delicious, and yes, the sauce was rather spicy, but I love spicy foods. Naturally, refried beans were also on the plate.

Lately, as part of trying to seriously cut back the cost of food, I've been cooking and eating a lot of pinto beans, which thankfully I really like. One morning a week or so ago I decided to semi-replicate the above breakfast, although without the hot red sauce because I've never seen anything in the stores that would fit the bill, other than possibly enchilada sauce. But, home cooking in Mexico is the same as home cooking in this country -- you use what you have and experiment.

Now, I'm just addicted to this, although I don't have it every day because I'm also trying to cut back on eggs. Since it's cool here in the mornings now, I turn my oven on low, put the dish in there to heat. Then, I take pintos I've cooked, toss them into a skillet with a little sunflower oil, make good use of an old-fashioned potato masher and in mere moments I have refried beans. I try to get the egg to come from another skillet at the right time, but don't stress over it since it all goes back into the oven anyway. The red sauce is a jarred casera salsa that works, but isn't right. A few more moments in the oven to melt the cheese and heat the refrigerated salsa, and it's ready to eat. I don't always use cheese, and don't use much of it ever. Sometimes I even have it for lunch or dinner. Yum.

I've got the stuff to make a real Mexican sauce, courtesy of my online 'friend' Rolly, at his wonderful website. Maybe I'll try it today, see how it works. I'll be using a combination of the salsa recipes on this page, to get a smooth sauce that also has some good heat to it. These recipes are the real deal -- from his landlady, I believe it is, in Lerdo, MX. Maybe I'll post photos of my own experiment with this sauce. Juggling the peppers to get the right amount of heat will be the big test.

The birds will like it better

Another change in the garden....

This is the second time I've had to move the birdbath in order to see it. First, it was put in the center of the young rosemary and lavender, but in due time the rosemary took over. So, I moved it back by the blueberries, but now the rosemary has once again grown so tall that I couldn't see the birdbath from the house. It seemed easier to just move it, and the birds will probably like it better here anyway, where they can have a good view of creeping predators. I did it right this time (imagine that!). Took a level out there so both the base and bowl are actually level, or at least mostly so. Still need to move those perennials.

You can't see it, but the garlic is coming up quickly and strongly in the left rear bed, and the greens are doing just great in the left front bed. In fact, I need to harvest some of those soon before they get out of hand. The white cover on the right is over the compost bed, to keep it warmer during the winter. And, that's covered with chicken wire to keep critters from digging at the cloth. Everything is covered with chicken wire or netting, to keep the cats out. I dug up lots of weeds from the walkways on Sunday, but you'd never know it from this photo. Obviously, still lots more to be done.

That's it for excitement today.

My neighbor calls it a groundhog...

I first noticed this guy last summer -- or was it spring?

I think he was a good bit smaller then, but wouldn't swear to it. Don't know if he was an orphan or what, but for some reason this critter, which I believe my neighbor calls a groundhog, has made his home under the house of the neighbor on the other side. These entrance holes are under the back stoop/stairs. I haven't seen him there for awhile, thought he'd moved on. Looks to me like he's taking a snooze in the warm sunshine. I saw him (or one of his kin) out in that neighbor's backyard yesterday, looking for food. There's an old apple tree back there that nobody makes use of, so the apples fall and these critters always enjoy that bounty. They apparently nest in the tangle of trees and brush that separate our back yards from those of the neighbors on the next street. Pretty good detail for full zoom, hand-held, cropped and enlarged! Sometimes I like that camera.

Life is slow and dull around here. Cold night last night, but the sun is warming the house nicely and that seems to be a pattern we can expect for awhile. I'm good with that.

Saturday doin's

Look fast -- all that shine will be gone by morning.  I gave the car one of its usual twice yearly washes this morning. The bugs on the front have been bothering me. Remnants of my 3 weeks in South Georgia and coastal South Carolina, the things made the front of the car look pitted and ugly. Now it's all nice and silver again. You'll have to take my word for that because I was flat out too lazy to walk off the porch and take a photo from the front. That would have required shoes.

Aside from that, I've spent time today making a variation of the winter squash soup with lemongrass and coconut milk that I learned to love last winter at Bhavana. This is probably the 4th time I've made it since I returned from that trip. This time, instead of winter squash I used sweet potatoes, because it just sounds good, and will use almond milk instead of coconut milk. He'd made it with almond milk at Bhavana, and it was unbelievably delicious. However, I think I also made another discovery today for added flavor. The stock for the soup has all kinds of spices and herbs and savory stuff like onions and garlic and ginger and cinnamon, plus trimmings from the squash/potatoes. Usually, I do what the recipe directs: let it simmer for 30 minutes, then use it. Today, I opted to just let it simmer for awhile, maybe an hour or so beyond the time when all the stuff was put in, so all those flavors could seriously cook out into the stock, and having just tasted the broth as the soup is cooking, I can tell it made a big difference. Yummy. With almond milk still waiting in the wings. I'd offer up the recipe, but it's a lot of words and I'm too lazy. And, for the first time I now understand the descriptions I'd heard of the wonderful scent of lemongrass. What I've bought in the past didn't have much of a scent -- probably because it had been harvested long before I ever saw it. This time, I harvested some from my own pots, for the first time, and the smell was indeed wonderful as I cut it up. No doubt, that's also adding to the flavor of that broth in a new way. I'm looking forward to dinner, for a taste.

About done, I'd say. Now the question is, to puree or not to puree. Recipe says puree, but at Bhavana they left the squash pieces whole, and it was super. Milk gets added after it's pureed, if I go that far. Or before serving, if I don't puree. Aside from being delicious, this soup is super healthy, filled with nutrition and highly anti-inflammatory. About 10 cloves of garlic, a big piece of fresh ginger (about 3 inches long), 2 jalapeno peppers, plus the other goodies. And fresh lime juice at the very end.

Postscript: pureeing won! And it tastes wonderful. I think I like this variation.

Transitions

Little by little, winter is creeping in upon us. Not in major ways, despite the little cold spell that's passing through at the moment, but in smaller ones. This morning I lowered the storm windows, raised the upper sash in the back room. Left the kitchen window open, since I'm not yet ready to close the house up completely. Some warmer weather will return, surely, before frost hits.

Out in the garden.....

The results of my work over the past couple of weeks -- all four beds cleaned of weeds and/or summer plants, fertilized, planted or made ready for planting or..... read on. There's plenty of more work to be done out here, but my energy is pretty much limited each day, so progress is slow.

Things are rather dull, I'm afraid, but it's all in transition, one way or another. Yesterday I pulled all of the basil plants and the tomato from the bed on the front right, trimmed the thyme and lemon thyme way back. The bed on the front left has little greens seedlings and a few leftover (but still good) leek plants. The winter frost-gard cover is waiting in the wings to cover the hoops when needed. The left rear is ready, waiting to be planted with garlic again. I wasn't going to plant garlic because I felt I would likely not be here to harvest it, but then who knows -- so I'll plant it anyway.

The right rear -- to be left vacant but with a twist. After years of piling kitchen waste in bins far in the rear, I've decided upon a layering compost experiment in this last bed. Dug all the weeds out, have started dumping my indoor compost into that bed one small hole at a time, covering it, moving on to another hole each time, and letting nature take its course. The earthworms and other soil critters should love it. Basically, it'll be one giant worm bed. And I won't have to walk so far or work so hard to a) dump the compost bin in the first place and b) make use of the resultant compost if I desire to do so next spring. The process can be rotated from bed to bed each year, if I'm here to do it.

This lone echinacea plant keeps putting forth new buds and blooms, making a welcome but somewhat incongruous sight amidst all the colorless surroundings. I have a vague idea of moving these perennials into the center of this bed soon, then transplanting some oregano and chives from beneath the runaway rosemary and eventually turning this into a strict herb bed, surrounding the perennials.

Winter also means that I'm going to start needing to think about bringing these lemongrass plants inside during the cold weather.  Where to put them, what to put them on for drainage, and such stuff.  I plan to harvest some of them soon -- but they'll just grow back.

So -- tis a bit of a dreary day here, inside and out. I was planning to attend my monthly half-day meditation session but had to cancel because I just don't feel so hot. That makes two months I've missed (last time because I was out of town). These are some of the only friends I have that are close by, and it would have been good to see them.