The Sun Coming Down from the Trees

Years ago - on an annual fall foliage camping trip - we got up at dawn because it was too cold to stay in the tents any longer. As we built the fire to cook breakfast - someone noticed the sunlight in the tops of the trees. It looked so warm compared to where we were at the forest floor - still in deep shade. And the description of what was happening became “the sun coming down from the trees.” We all watched as the light made its way down the trees and anticipating the day warming up.

I caught the same time of morning behind my house this week. The tree tops were glowing with the reflected light of dawn - much more colorful that the washed out light later in the morning that reached all the way to the forest floor.

On that cold morning almost 40 years ago - we bundled up, had a hot breakfast and took a hike. We still have some of the prints of sumac seed pods from that morning!

Waiting for Snow

The forecast was for snow - but instead we continued under heavy clouds and mists in the same pattern as the past few days.

There is too much brown in the outdoor scenes - bare tree branches and dried hydrangea flowers.

The tuffs of green grass are a bit of relief and the colors of the shelf fungus on the oak stump provide some relief.

And then - I check the pots left on the deck from the summer and discover that both pots of parsley are surviving!

Still - I would enjoy a big snow….one that would keep me at home for a few days, give me a physical task (shoveling the driveway), and change the scenery through the window to a white wonderland.

The Joy of Free Courses

Years after college, I am still in the mood to start classes in September and January. The rhythm of the school year is evidently one that will last all my life.

It is easier now than ever before to study at your own pace and without traveling to a university. Courses are offered using all kinds media - videos, forums, simulations, readings. And many are free. In some cases, formal credit for the course is offered upon completion.

Coursera is my favorite for free online courses with 212 courses that are freely available. I have enrolled in 3 courses that will start up this month; it’s such a thrill to have a richness of topics from which to choose. I found it challenging to choose just three! I’m signed up for:

The Modern World: Global History since 1760

Science from Superheroes to Global Warming

Critical Thinking in Global Challenges

I’ve already selected another that will start in February (Aboriginal Worldviews and Education) and one in April (Nutrition, Health, and Lifestyles: Issues and Insights).

Clearing ‘Stuff’ - January

Over time - we fill the available space in our homes with ‘stuff.’ Moving to a new house or apartment is a forcing function to clear out what is not needed. But what happens if you live in the same place for a very long time. Having lived in the same house for almost 20 years, I’ve had the luxury of putting off the task of getting rid of things. There is plenty of room to just let it accumulate.

One of my goals in 2013 is to develop more discipline when it comes to stuff. I am planning to do a monthly post to document my progress on this year long project. It is not quite the forcing function that moving would provide but (hopefully) will be enough of a reminder to keep focused.

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What have I accomplished so far? 

• To start off - I’ve selected an unused corner of the dining room and started a pile to donate or freecycle when I accumulate enough.
• There are some old pictures that were bought to match a particular color scheme that no longer exists. The glass is broken in one. They all go into the pile.
• The pile grew as I put away some Christmas decorations. There are some that are just not worth keeping for next year.
• There are some books I’ve finished reading and won’t reference again. I’m switching more and more to ebooks, but I’ll be drawing down on my pile of physical books over the next year and most will go in the pile after.
• We have an incredible number of address labels from charitable solicitations…and we create relatively little snail mail these days. I reduced the pile rather dramatically into the paper recycle. 

Of course - the really hard things are still to come: boxes of keepsakes mixed with flyers and brochures and wilted flowers. It takes time and thinking to go through them. I am more conscious now that most reminders of travels and events are in digital form.  

Low Sodium Diet Journey - Part 4

Canned soups are notoriously high in sodium. With a little planning, soups can remain a quick and low sodium meal. Here are a few tips: 

• Start with a low sodium broth. I’ve found some cartooned broths (vegetable, chicken, beef) that are low sodium - but there are alternatives to consider like
  • ‘No Salt Added’ diced tomatoes
  • A watery smoothy of veggies previously frozen just before they went bad (i.e. never throw away wilted lettuce or carrots that have gotten too dry - freeze them until you make soup!)
  • A strong tea
  • Keep in mind that spices other than salt are welcome. There are a variety of ‘no salt’ blends too try. Some not traditional seasonings - like orange zest (make it yourself if you eat oranges!). Always keep garlic cloves on hand for soups.
  • Total up the sodium of your ingredients to make sure the finished soup will still be low sodium. Meat, dairy, and some vegetables (like mushrooms and celery) will all add sodium.
  • Sauté vegetables like onions, carrots, and celery prior to adding the broth and softer ingredients.
  • Putting whole grains in soups avoids the sodium of eating them as breads. My favorites are buckwheat groats and quinoa.
  • Always have homecooked beans (i.e. cooked without salt) beans in the freezer. They are a quick addition to just about any soup.
  • Sometimes leftovers can be turned into soup. For example - if you make low sodium spaghetti sauce, then make a tomato soup (add water and seasoning to taste, heat, sprinkle with parsley and stir in a dollop of sour cream). Or for leftover stir fry chicken with onion and peppers, add a veggie broth with seasons and buckwheat groats or quinoa. 

Previous Low Sodium Diet Journey posts are here.

Celebrating 40 Years

My husband and I are celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary this month. The actual day is not that important. It is not the anniversary of the wedding we value…it is the 40 years we’ve had so far and the prospect of the years to come. I am savoring the little celebrations all month long. 

• The being home again after being away for almost 6 weeks
• The cut flowers on the table
• The savoring of Christmas decorations as they are put away
• The seasonably cold and unseasonably warm days - particularly the sunny ones
• The sunrises
• My husband finally recovering from a bad cold (or maybe it was the flu)
• Planning a ‘spring break’ trip 

The best of it all is realizing that we both made a very good decision 40 years ago!

Gleanings of the Week Ending January 12, 2013

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles I read this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Mexican Hot Chocolate - yum. My variation of this uses hot tea to replace half the milk and stevia instead of the agave. I make it by the (large) cup…and haven’t quite got up the courage to add the cayenne.

Beautiful and Dramatic Thunderhead Clouds - my favorite is the Jason Clark one with the orange of sunset…lightning…and barbed wire in the foreground

12 tips to clean up, de-clutter and revamp your home - from Marlo Thomas. I’m going to try the grapefruit and salt idea for cleaning my bathtub and shower

Interlocking Origami Stars and Prisms by Byriah Loper

Moving through waters of human attention - Apollo Robbins…pickpocket and illusionist

Modern Parenting May Hinder Brain Development - new is not always better

Top Four Reasons Why Diets Fail - Inadequate sleep is one of the 4!

A Very, Very, Very Delicate Balance - rocks balanced by Michael Grab (watch the video)

Slices of Life, circa 1872 - some of the work referred to in the article that was published by Christian Wilhelm Braune in the 1870s is available on the Internet Archive here

Medallion Snowflakes - you don’t have to be a child to enjoy this little project

Alstroemeria

There is so little color outdoors in the Maryland winter that I sometimes give in and buy a bouquet of flowers along with my groceries. My favorite is probably alstroemeria. They have a relatively long vase-life (longer than roses).

I put them in a vase on the table and inevitably try macro shorts. The petal markings and venation are easy to capture.

And now I am thinking about whether I want to try planting some in garden in the spring. It may be a bit too cold to leave them in the ground over the winter here in Maryland so I may plant them in pots that I can easily bring indoors.

January 2013 Sunrise

It is easy to capture the sunrise in January because I am already up and about at sunrise. The one in this post was taken at 7:15 AM yesterday from my front porch. The only negative was the temperature; it was in the low 20s so I got the picture I wanted and retreated to the warmth indoors.

Dawn is an every day celebration….the overcoming of night….another day full of potential…the return of color to the world.

Around our (Maryland) Yard in January 2013

The temperature was in the 20s on the morning I walked around our yard this month. There was still frost on the ground - coating the hardest of weeds that are green (lower left). The cairn of rock and shells (upper right) has been knocked over by foraging deer; I left the toppled pieces for another day. Most of the seeds from the onion have scattered (upper left) and the seed casings are tattered. Surprisingly the tulip poplar (middle left) seems full of the dried remnants of flowers and seeds from last spring. The trunk of our oak tree (bottom right) has smooth areas from its younger self.

Winter is the starkest of seasons. Every color that breaks the monotony of browns is appreciated: the blue of the sky, the green of a weed, the white of an old shell. Now, as I write this post, I am looking at the maple from my window and noticing a little movement of the branches from a breeze and am glad I am in the warmth of the indoors.

Low Sodium Diet Journey - Part 1

How hard is it to consume 2 grams or less of sodium per day? I started out thinking it would be difficult when a low sodium diet was recommended for one of my family members but it has been easier than I anticipated. This is the first post in a series that documents our family’s ‘learning experience.’ 

• Keep a running total of sodium consumption each day at the beginning. The purpose is to develop a good sense of the sodium content in various foods. Make changes to your normal diet so that it is easy to stay under the 2,000 mg per day goal.
• Use labels on packaging or the internet to get sodium amounts (per serving) for foods. I like http://nutritiondata.self.com/ - a clip of the screen from that site for ‘celery’ is below. Celery is one of the higher sodium vegetables.

• Experiment with no-salt blends (like Mrs. Dash) in lieu of salt. My favorite Mrs. Dash blend is Caribbean Citrus.
• ‘Hint of Salt’ crackers are tasty. We’ve tried Triscuit, Wheat Thins, and Ritz. Keep the portion size in mind!
• Generally - processed foods are high in sodium because they have a lot of added salt. Read labels carefully. Bottles salad dressings and ready-to-eat meats are almost always very high; develop alternatives for these in your diet.
• Buy salt free (i.e. 0 sodium) versions of products like butter/margarine and peanut butter. These are products that are available in most grocery stores. The flavor will be different but is often quite acceptable and even appealing.

Roses and Rosemary

Usually ferns or baby’s breath is used in the filler around long stem roses. My sister recently chose to buy flowers that completed the color of the roses and then trimmed the rosemary plant in the garden to add extra greenery. It looked great and adding the rosemary smell to that of the roses was very appealing as well! Rosemary is now on my list to plant in my garden in the spring.

I am babying the rosemary I kept in a pot on my deck through last summer…so I might be able to just plant it as soon as the weather warms enough in Maryland.