Cousin Frank Does it Again!

Yes, he's still running. This time in Seattle for the Rock and Roll Marathon this past weekend.

Here I am on my butt with a broken ankle, can't walk, can't drive and he's up there running for .... how many miles? Boggles the mind. I am going to be happy to walk again.

He started out in San Francisco last year, I think to see if he could do it and got hooked on running. Now it's a regular part of his life.
He looks great, don't you think? Well, he always did. Handsome guy and great dancer! In high school when we wanted to go somewhere that needed a 'date', we would go together. We used to belong to a square dance club because we both liked to dance so much. And we always went roller-skating together. It was cool then (yes, it was a long time ago.)

X number of years ago, he and I took a car trip to Vancouver and brought my dog Gypsy. We camped out and cooked outside on a fire (well, we tried to.) We took the ferry to Victoria Island and hitch-hiked into town. Two elderly ladies picked us up and were so excited to meet us. They insisted that we come to their house for tea. And it was the ultimate English tea experience. Outside in their lovely garden with scones and all. Then they took us into town. They worried we would get stranded and invited us to return and stay if we did.

On the route up north, we stopped in Seattle and visited our cousin Elsie and her husband Paul.

It was a free-wheeling trip by two 20 somethings. We had a great time.

Hey Frank, wanna go to Morocco with me? How about next year?

Plug and Play? In Whose Universe?

My Mayan Hieroglyph Class started last night at the local Junior College. When I first proposed the class the staff at the Community Education office suggested I wait until the Fall, because Summer enrollment is not good and I might be disappointed. The minimum was set at 12 and I got 24, so I am happy about that. One staff member told me many classes were cancelled.

The so-called 'plug and play' computer system was a joke. We just could not connect my laptop to the overhead projector and finally had to use the files on my thumb drive on their system. Unfortunately, the software they had was older than mine and did not support various elements of the newest Power Point and so about 25% of my presentation was either lost or non-functional. I have been working on this for 6 months, so you know how disappointed I was. I couldn't believe that a classroom in the Computer Science Building on campus would have old software and shoddy equipment. Welcome to the budget crunch. I looked longingly at the old-fashioned overhead projector I had requested, wishing I had brought those old transparencies I had made years ago for this class. They would have worked! Next time....

I think the class was successful since the students voted for no break and I had to tell them to leave 10 minutes after the class was to have ended. They were really into it. So glad. I have students who seem to be in their teens (they are probably 30 - but they look young to me LOL) and others maybe in their 80s. A real cross section.

I am still on crutches so I had to teach from a wheelchair. Who said they have made things accessible? It was damn hard to teach a class from a chair, because you can only reach up a foot or so on the blackboard and you have to sit at a strange angle since the chair is in the way. Heaven forbid you have too much pain to twist around like that! There are plenty of special seats and tables for the students, but.... what about disabled instructors?

I have learned a lot about what the disabled have to go through and from now on, I will never take my body for granted. When my two feet both hit the ground together again, I am going to celebrate. I have one week to go, but I'm not sure I'll be able to walk again right away. My foot looks like dead fish and it might take a little physical therapy to wake it up again.

Am I ranting? Sounds like it. But I was so upset by the end of class I couldn't relax for a couple hours afterwards. I am a bit of a perfectionist and control freak (no one who has ever seen the inside of my house would think that, but just ask my friend Steve.) I want everything to run smoothly when I'm teaching a class and if it doesn't, it feels like a nightmare. For me, last night was a nightmare. But the fact that they didn't want a break and had to be told to go home, says a lot about what the students thought.

Someone asked me if they could get a CD of the class. Well, that was my original plan. To make them all CDs as part of their materials package, but when I really got into doing the slide show, and saw that I was going to have 200+ slides, I decided not to do it. But, wouldn't you know it, like a drunk on a binge, my ego blurted out. I told them that had been the plan. NOW WHAT? Does that mean I have to do it? I could just give them an edited version. I could sell them one. Although the school said I couldn't, instructors in this program are always peddling their books and CDs. Today I can't think about it, but we will see.

The Value of Friends

As you have probably figured out by now, I have not been very actively blogging for awhile. One thing and another. Getting ready to teach a class on Mayan Hieroglyphs at Santa Rosa Junior College this summer is one thing that is taking a lot of time.

My new blog on 2012 and reading everything I can on 2012 is taking a lot of time too.

Then I broke my right ankle and cannot walk or drive for a couple of months. I find myself tired just trying to take care of the basics. If not for my friends, I wouldn't even have any food. Someone comes over every couple of days to help me around the house and bring food.

But today, I looked at my BlogCatalog account and found that I had gotten an award from one of my friends in Turkey! That made me really feel good. Thank you Aprill!
Her blog: ShiningDay http://sunshine.blogsever.com/

I haven't yet written about my trip to Turkey in 2005, but it was wonderful. When the economy recovers (if it ever does), I want to go back. I have friends there that I can stay with - in Izmir.

So now it's my turn to pass on the award. Drum roll please.....
The winners are:

Seanymph at Mermaids Treasures http://mermaidstreasures.blogspot.com/
Jackie at Herbs 'n Oils http://herbs-n-oils.blogspot.com/
BetterSpines http://betterspines.com
My gypsygoods http://mygypsygoods.blogspot.com/
EJ Cooksey Halloween For Kids http://halloweenforkids.blogspot.com/
Daisy the Curly Cat http://daisythecurlycat.blogspot.com/
Maitri's Heart... Living in The Moment with Loving-Kindness, Compassion, and Grace...
http://www.magicandmomentsatdragonflycottage.com

If you want to pass it on, here are the 'rules'

1. Put the logo on your blog
2. Add a link to the person who awarded you
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs
4. Add links to those blogs on yours
5. Leave a message for your nominees on their blog

Can Do No More - At Least For Awhile

Well I guess it's back to blogging for awhile. I had gotten so busy with 'my life' lately, that I have not had much time for blogging, but all that changed Friday. I was in Calistoga at a Plant Spirit Healing training, when I slipped and fell and broke my right ankle.

Won't be able to drive for at least a month and have to go around on crutches. Barely was able to get up the brick walk way to my house and had to go up the steps on my butt. Now that I am inside, where I live like a pack rat, it's a real obstacle course. I was planning to begin a major spring cleaning this week. Oh well.

It's survival mode. I live alone so there is no one to help me. I open cans of soup, put them in the microwave, then have to stand there to eat them because I don't have any place to sit down in my tiny kitchen and I can't carry soup and hobble on crutches at the same time.

I am really learning how hard it is for people who live like this all the time. As the nurse in the ER said, "this is only temporary lady. You will recover." Yes and at the same time it is really hard not to fall into self-pity. He was not sympathetic at all.

I have not paid my health insurance premium in three months because money has been so tight and I had to pay property taxes recently. Before I let the ambulance take me in I tried to talk to the hospital (no names) to see if I am still covered and they gave me the run around. "Yes, you are still covered, but you must pay now or your coverage will go back to March." Huh? I was nearly hysterical with pain and she actually repeated the same words three times as I tried to get a clear answer. I know they must treat you in the ER, but I can't pay a huge bill if it comes.

I am a total wuss when it comes to pain. I already feel quite burdened psychologically by the suffering of the world. Most people I know are very depressed these days and so am I. This is one more thing I have to deal with.

But today, stuck in bed, raining outside, freezing inside, I got back to my blogs and realize I have all the time in the world to play around with the computer, because there is nothing else I CAN DO at this time. It is a great way to spend time. So you will be hearing from me more often.

Sometimes You Just Have to Jump Ship Before It Sinks!

One more thing. Due to the economic crisis, Sonoma County is trying to cut back. There will be a series of meetings to get feedback about areas where there could be reductions or complete cuts. Apparently, whether to get rid of the Master Gardener Program in this county or not is being discussed. While it is an off shoot of the University of California Cooperative Extension, each county in the State has to contribute to the financial support of the program locally.

I have been in the program for three years now. I feel that we could be of much more value to the community than we are, but we are constrained by the rules of the program itself. A few years ago, I wanted to do library presentations on the 'crops of the Americas' motivated by a new stamp put out by the Postal Service. The talk would have been about the significance of five plants domesticated in the New World and was to include recipes and foods to sample (prepared by me). I was told I could say nothing about recipes, let alone let people sample. We could not advise how to use anything. A talk about herbs was strictly about growing them, not what they were for - you could say rosemary is often used as a culinary herb, but no more. Well, this totally turned me off and I decided not to proceed at all.

Lately, during the book club meeting where we discussed "The End of Food" (see below), some of us expressed the frustration we feel that while we have been specially trained to provide information to the public, there are so many constraints that we are in fact, ineffectual. Many of us agreed that we must be proactive is assisting the public in growing their own food and making healthier food choices. Many people don't eat fresh vegetables because they have no idea how to prepare them. There was talk of forming our own group outside of the official one that would get more hands-on.

If the MG program is disbanded in this county, I guess that might free us up to do what we want. Of course, we will not have the benefit of all the support we get from the program, nor the access we have to the public via the county fair, farmers' markets, and other events where we volunteer.

So Now it's the End of Food Too?

I took time away from reading the 2012 books to read one for my Master Gardener reading group. The End of Food is one of those books that will change your way of thinking. And yes, it's a bit depressing. But if you're paying attention at all, you know. Paul Roberts, the author, knows what he's writing about. A must-read for anyone interested in sustainability, food safety, globalism and the power of multi-national corporations.

One thing I learned that was very interesting and useful is that our bodies are designed to live through periods of feast and famine. For most of the time that humans have lived on this planet, we have not had food available all the time. There could be months when there was barely enough to keep us alive. So our bodies adapted to that condition and have not yet adapted to food being around 24/7 (at least in the 'developed' world). When we had plenty, we ate. Whatever fat we put on we were going to need for the famine period.

Our bodies are designed to store and hold on to fat, even if the fat is in excess, because the expectation is that we will use it up. Unfortunately (?) we never have a famine period (most of us). This is one reason why obesity is on the rise. Only a few years ago, an obese person was rare. Now, they are the rule, not the exception. You look around and almost everyone is over-weight to some degree. As many people are obese in the world as are starving. Both are problems. Roberts says there is no way to lose weight just by changing the diet. You must get more exercise. Your life must get much more active. In this culture of push buttons, remotes, cars, and instant gratification, that is not going to happen.

The focus of the book is primarily on the commodification of food. Food as thing. Food as source of income. How multi-national corporations control both the supply and the demand. How they pay for the best display areas in supermarkets, force other smaller companies out by making more and more products, and always seek the cheapest ingredients, no matter what the quality.

The other major revelation came in regards to E.coli and salmonella. Apparently these are considered 'natural' and uncontrollable in the food supply. Thus the consumer is expected to provide the 'kill step' that is, cooking, in order to control it. It is not feasible for the corporations who provide the food to the store to do this. So..... does that mean that if you get sick or die because of these bacterial pathogens, it's your own fault? Because you ate it? Or didn't cook it long enough? According to this book, there is salmonella in most meat you get at the store. Is this a case of 'let the buyer beware'? I know that the FDA is way under-staffed and that these days we import food from all over the world, but hey! wait a minute! It makes me not want to buy anything from the supermarket again.

Roberts says that the whole system is at risk of total collapse. Growers are maxing out, fertilizers and pesticides are maxing out. Transportation costs, marketing, advertising, the whole system as it exists is ready to fall apart. It is completely unsustainable and any and all changes in weather, economics, politics, energy etc. make its demise imminent. He does mention that farmers' markets, locally grown and distributed food are very important, but cannot be relied on to serve the majority of people. Over-population and high levels of energy consumption contribute the most to the problems.

The most inspiring part of the book was, for me, that last couple of pages. He says that another thing we can do, no matter where the ingredients come from, it to take back control over this part of our lives by preparing our own meals and eating them with other people.

"Food has, for better or for worse, served for millennia as a sort of umbilical link between us and the physical, natural realm. By diminishing this link between consumption and production, we have allowed ourselves to drift away from the real world, and to understand less, and to care less about its functions and condition."

As an anthropologist and a person who grew up in a bi-cultural home, I can attest to the significance of food to culture. Ask anyone from a traditional culture the importance food has and they will probably look at you like you're nuts. Even at the heart of Catholicism, there is a meal. The Mass is a celebration of the Last Supper where one eats and drinks of the body of Christ. Even the U.S. holidays, which are not that holy anymore, are centered around food. What would you eat on Thanksgiving if not turkey? (I once had a nut-based turkey substitute at a friend's house and I can tell you, it was not the same).

If you have ever lived or travelled for long in another country, you know that what you miss most is your favorite food. I used to dream about food and shopping at Safeway when I was in the Peace Corps in Zaire. I was not starving, but they just didn't have food I was used to. I remember to this day, returning to the States and going to a restaurant and having a piece of cheesecake. I can still see and taste it to this day and that was over 30 years ago. I really enjoyed it.

I highly recommend the book. Informative but not much fun. Provides incentive to start growing your own food whenever possible and buying from small local farmers even if it is more expensive.

The Kite-Runner - Great Movie

As you know, I don't have T.V. here where I live, so my major entertainment from the outside world is the radio (limited reception) and Netflix. I tend to see films later than most people, but I have a huge selection to choose from.

Recently I saw "The Kite Runner", an incredibly sensitive film about Afghan-Americans and the history of Afghanistan for the last 30 years or so. The film is realistic and informative, showing just a little about how much life has changed in Afghanistan in the past 30 years. It's enough to reveal how little we know about the how the current fundamentalism in Muslim countries is both radical and unwelcome by most of those whom it affects. Most countries where the faith is primarily Islam, have been modernizing just as all other countries. The radical fundamentalism that has been rising up is reactionary and militant.

This morning on the radio, someone finally said that we have been under the control of a coup in this country for the past 8 years. If we did not have a strong tradition of 'democracy' and an established term limit for 'rulers', we would still be under the control of that coup. In a sense, we are. They have run off with our money, ruined our economy and our reputation in the world and they are all somewhere now having a ball with our retirement funds while we are hanging on by our fingernails.

We were almost taken over by fundamentalists too. 'Christian' ones. To my understanding, Muslim fundamentalists are no more Muslim than Christian ones are Christian. Yes, I am saying that neither actually follows their prophet nor their book of revelation. Their agendas are private, political and economic. In a sense, they use so-called tradition to justify the most despicable practices of 'modernism'. As the film shows, the leaders of the fundamentalist movement in Afghanistan committed the most heinous crimes against children, while exacting draconian punishments from the public for far lesser crimes. Our recent fundamentalist regime tortured, killed and terrorized thousands, instilling fear in all of us. They violated the Constitution, committed crimes against humanity and got away with it all (so far). In other countries they have a harder time controlling tyrants and preventing them from taking over permanently.

This film tells the story of two boys who grow up together in Kabul before the Soviet invasion. While class separates them, as children they live as brothers. When the Soviets invade, the upper class child is able to escape to America, while the servant remains and suffers the fate of so many others.

The film shows how Afghan-Americans have created their own sub-culture in America, as have so

many other ethnic groups in this country. This was especially interesting to me, because they have a large community in one of the towns I lived in as a child. In fact, the majority of Afghan-Americans in this country live in or around that town. What a difference from when I lived there! It was somewhat 'red-neck' when I lived there. The Mexican-American farm-workers were barely tolerated, let alone Afghans! Good to know that things have changed since then.

For some reason, since I was a child, I have always wanted to go to Afghanistan. So far, I have not had the opportunity to go and the way things are looking, I may never be able to. But then, who knows.

There are scenes from all over the SF Bay Area. So it had a familiar feel to it. While it is always challenging to watch a film with subtitles, the fact that the movie uses the Afghan language makes it more realistic. I highly recommend this film to anyone who wants to understand more about what people are dealing with and want to expand their preconceptions.