Old Men And Disrupted Sleep

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Old Men And Disrupted Sleep

Old men pee in the middle of the night,
Oh yes, and go mad. That, too.
There is no kingly howling to their visit to the loo.
Just a shuffle, groping for a light, then back to bed.
Perchance to dream, but probably not.
A fleeting thought escapes: Is this it?
Is this all there is to life?
A turn into the pillows carries them back to a land of sleep
Where daughters never betray them and
Glory fills the mountains with the sound of their name.
Souls grow weary of this mortal coil that binds.
Time to slip off that thread, hopefully, without too much madness.


–Leslie Anneliese 

 

Poetry And Creativity

This poem was born out of an on-line chat with fellow meditators on the topic of waking up in the middle of the night. I offer it with a bow to the powerful poem, Old Men Go Mad At Night, written by Tennessee Williams in 1972 with references to Shakespeare and King Lear.

 
“Old men go mad at night
but are not Lears”
— Tennessee Williams
 
 

Belaying Pins And Pirates

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Belaying Pins Are A Beauteous Thing

Part of the fun of pirate festivals and days set aside to talk like a pirate is the exploration into history and discovering the details of how life had meaning in another era. 

As a reminder, an illustrious day draws nigh on 19 September. Yes, our fun-loving, swashbuckling, Talk Like A Pirate Day. Be sure to mark your calendar.

Talking like a pirate expands into wearing the clothing and accoutrements of a pirate or any other sort of character who frequented the lives of pirates and lived in the late 1700s.

A Cast Of Characters

If you attend any pirate festival you'll find pirates, of course, but also those who chased them such as The Royal Navy. Amongst the crowd will also be lurking innkeepers, barmaids, aristocracy and townsfolk. Many people research the time period and know a great deal about its details.

Choosing your time travel outfit needs care and preparation. Participants aim for authenticity. At the Northern California Pirate Festival a few years back, I discovered an important part of any pirate's outfit, the belaying pin. 

A local woodworker artisan had on display gorgeous belaying pins he had created from various woods. The photo above was from his tent at the festival. He was happy to share with me some stories behind belaying pins.

Belaying Pins On A Sailing Ship

Belaying pins are not just a bit of folklore. They are an integral part of a sailing ship as shown in this photo by Bruno Girin. They secure the many ropes of the ship's rigging which is connected to the sails. When you need to release the ropes quickly, rather than taking time to unwind them, you simply pull out the belaying pin and the ropes are set free.

 
“A belaying pin is a device used on traditional sailing vessels to secure lines. Their function on modern vessels has been replaced by cleats, but they are still used, particularly on larger sailing ships.

A belaying pin is a solid wood or metal bar with a curved top portion and cylindrical shaft. It is inserted into a hole in a wooden pintail, which usually runs along the inside of the bulwarks (although free-standing pintails are also used). This means that if a line needs to be released in a hurry, the belaying pin can be lifted out, releasing the line.”
 

The rope line is guided under and behind the base of the pin, then around the top in a figure-8 pattern until at least four turns are completed.

Belaying pins are also used to provide increased friction to control a line by taking a single round-turn and one or more "S" turns around the pin. Thus, it effectively belays the line. Donald Launer sings the praises of belaying pins in his article in the magazine Good Old Boat. 

Belaying pins are usually made from a dense hardwood that can withstand the wet and salty elements found aboard a ship at sea. In the photo below, you can see this ship taking on water. Since they are located throughout a sailing ship, belaying pins are readily accessible to sailors which leads us to their other not-so-benign uses.

Belaying Pins As Weapons

Belaying pins had numerous uses including:

 
“As improvised weapons and means of discipline on both military and civilian ships. They were sometimes used to force conscripts onto a ship.
Belaying pins were also used in battle when other weapons were not available.”
 

In a romantic historical novel about Christopher Columbus entitled Columbus, author Rafael Sabatini described the use of a belaying pin in battle in the hands of his character Colon.

 
“Colon stood alone to stem the rush, armed with an iron belaying pin which he had plucked from the rack.
Colon swung the belaying pin , and the Irishman went down with a broken head...
In a moment the waist of the caravel was a scene of raging battle. Colon’s belaying pin smashed the arm of Gomez as that broken hidalgo was brandishing a knife, and it sent another of his assailants rolling in the scuppers.
Colon turned his belaying pin into a projectile, and hurled it into the mass of the assailants...”
— Columbus, by Rafael Sabatini
 

Belaying Pins And Pirates

Pirates also made use of belaying pins as an improvised weapon. Local ordinances banned sailors from carrying swords and pistols when they came ashore. Weapons had to remain on the ship. Well, being pirates with reputations to maintain for getting into skirmishes, they hedged their bets by tucking a spare belaying pin in their belts when they went tavern hopping.

Every true pirate needs a good belaying pin. Proper etiquette indicates that you wear it tucked in your belt on your back. It's in easy reach so you can pull it out should a scuffle present itself.

Arrgggh, as they say. A little self-protection.

Treasure Island And Belaying Pins

In the 1934 movie of Treasure Island, based on the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, Long John Silver knocks Ben Gunn over the head with a belaying pin before escaping off the Hispaniola.

In the 1972 Treasure Island movie version, members of Long John Silver's company take over the Hispaniola after arming themselves with belaying pins and incapacitating Redruth by throwing one at his head. (Reference: The Pirate Primer, by George Choundas.)

Making History Come Alive

When you study history or participate in Talk Like A Pirate Day, it is a chance to get in touch with past events, expanding our knowledge of history.  We expand our awareness of past and present and get in touch with different people who have influenced our times.

For any history buff, learning the details of life in another era brings delight. It's intriguing to imagine how others have lived in other times.

(A little disclaimer: in no way does this post support using belaying pins as a weapon or for harm. This is about discovering and exploring history, not making it happen again in reality.)

Could I interest you in a belaying pin, me matey?

 

Treats From A Farmers Market

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Buy Local, Eat Fresh

Getting your food at the farmers market is a treat, especially when it is the Davis Farmers Market in California where the bounty and variety delight both young and old. I explored this market that is connected to the bread basket of America before. In this post, I explore some of its specific delectable treats.

Raw Local Honey

Local beekeepers bring their raw honey to the market and taste-testing is encouraged. One of my favorites is the lavender honey shown in the photo above. Pure Honey comes from this beekeeper called Henry's Bullfrog Bees.

Being able to taste the honey made from different flowers is an education in itself. It's remarkable how different flowers create a strong variation in the taste and color of the honey. The wonders of nature.

 
“Where a bee collects its nectar determines the characteristics of honey such as the color, flavor, and composition.”
— Pure Honey
 

Buying local honey is important to help sustain small beekeepers. Our environment also benefits from a variety of beekeepers, not just the mass producers. Most studies say it is a myth that eating honey will help with your allergies, but don't let that stop you from enjoying it in your tea or on toast and in your baking. 

Honey is natural and considered harmless for adults and there is nothing to fear from raw honey. But pediatricians strongly caution against feeding honey to children under 1 year old. Children's digestive tracts aren't fully developed until after that age.

 
 

Farm Fresh Eggs

One of my favorite foods at the market is the fresh eggs from Vega Farms. I was first made aware of their double-yolk goodness when I overheard someone asking for a dozen of double-yolks. What? As far as I'm concerned, the yolks are the best part, right? 

Double-yolk eggs are a treat available only at the market, because eggs sold in grocery stores and the co-op are limited to single yolk. You want to plan an early arrival for these gems, because they sell out. 

The egg vendor knows I always get the double-yolk eggs. If she's not too busy with customers, we exchange a few words together. It adds a personal connection to the food shopping experience.

 
 

Connecting With The Vendors

Going to the same market on a regular basis has the added benefit of connecting with the vendors. I love having a face and a background with the product I'm buying. An added benefit is that the sellers often share good information about their products. For example, he'll tell you how to cook squash blossoms.

Here they are: squash blossoms for sale. The vendor clued me in that when the blossoms are available, people will queue before 8 a.m. (when the market opens) so as not to miss them. As you can imagine, it's a limited quantity and a short season, so people don't want to miss out. You won't be finding these in your supermarket.

Organic Cheese

Happy cows make happy milk and this is the case for our local Nicosio Valley Cheese Company and their pasture-based cows. I discovered one of their cheeses when I first started going to the market four years ago. 

The cheese is called Foggy Morning and it is, by far, a favorite of ours. The name alone inspires the imagination, especially for a fog-lover like me. It's a young cheese with a soft, creamy texture and it's refreshing in your mouth. Pair it with sliced, lightly salted heirloom tomatoes and you will satisfy any gourmet palate.

When the cheese vendor sees me coming, she reaches for a Foggy Morning. She knows that's what I always buy. This particular cheese is so popular, I have to make sure to get there early before it sells out.

 
“Foggy Morning is our American Cheese Society award-winning fresh cheese, it’s soft with a very subtle tang. Excellent on its own or paired with either savory or sweet accompaniments. ”
— Nicosio Valley Cheese
 
 
 

Buying at the farmers market brings me closer to the origins of my food. What a joy it was to share in their good news that our delicious Foggy Morning won a blue ribbon from the American Cheese Society Convention.

 
“We are proud to announce we received 3 awards at last weeks American Cheese Society Convention! We won Blue for our Foggy Morning and Red for our Loma Alta and San Geronimo!”
— Nicasio Valley Cheese
 

Are you able to shop local where you live?

 

Back To School With Crunchy Granola

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Time For Back To School

The dog days of summer are slipping behind us, but the cooler days of autumn have yet to return. Hot summer days linger in every corner, air conditioners hum at full force. 

We tumble down the slippery slopes of summer into fall as we prepare for back to school. We're anxious to wear our new fall clothes, but it's still too hot for wool plaid skirts and saddle shoes.

Time to organize our books, bags and school lunches.

The office supply store beckons. The thrill of the search for pencils, pens and notebooks calls to us.

Surely we need  another notebook. Especially a pretty one like this. Maybe this one over here is more functional. Oooh, look at this pretty paper.

La Rentrée

In France, it's called la Rentrée, (the return, beginning of the school year). The French return home from their August month of vacation and re-enter their work-a-day lives. Children head back to school.

Paris is notoriously empty during August as everyone skedaddles to their favorite vacation spot. I like the expression, la Rentrée, because it embraces everyone getting back into the saddle of work, school, and daily life.

Back to school in the U.S. specifically targets students starting school again, but in truth, we're all caught up in it as we buckle down to another work year.

Getting to work takes longer as traffic increases with children shuttled to school. Waiting behind the school bus, we dream of the summer vacations that are behind us.

Organizing Meals For Back To School

Wholesome, homemade food sustains us in our busy endeavors. King Arthur Flour offers a wonderful recipe for Crunchy Granola. Sweetened with maple syrup, it makes a tasty, healthy breakfast with yogurt and fruit. It's also a mid-day treat, just as it is, for snacking. Pack some in a small container to add to a lunch box.

I'd been meaning to make my own granola for awhile. I can report without hesitation that this recipe is delicious.

Here's a photo of granola on a half sheet pan lined with parchment paper, ready for the oven. If you're making the full recipe, you'll need two half sheet pans. A full recipe makes approximately 18 cups.

Oven temperature is set for 250º F (120º C). The low heat and slow cook seal in the flavors and help protect it from burning. I cooked mine a bit longer than the 90 minutes to ensure the granola was crunchy.

Homemade Granola For Back To School

The freshness of the granola was delightful. Made at home, you can't get any fresher than that. It's easy to gather all the ingredients and what's left over can be saved in the refrigerator or freezer (such as nuts, wheat germ) for future batches.

I added currants to this batch of granola. The tiny bites of sweetness tuck in nicely with the crunchy nuts. I also chopped up some white raisins to help them blend in. The real maple syrup is a splurge that's well worth it. 

I stuck with the sliced almonds, as suggested, because larger almonds could be too crunchy. Since I had walnuts on hand, they were also chopped up with the pecans.

“Chaque rentrée, c’est la même chose. On a, à la fois, trop peur et trop hâte de se retrouver.”
— from the movie, LOL
 
“For each return back to school, it’s the same thing. We are, simultaneously, too scared and too eager to see each other again.”
— translation
 

Enjoy your homemade granola. Here's to a new cycle of learning as we head back to school.

Fading Flowers And Love

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Flowers From Beginning To End

“When you love life totally, how can you avoid death?

You have to love death also.

When you love a flower deeply, you love its withering away also.

When you love a woman deeply, you love her getting old also, you one day love her death also. That is part of her life, part of woman.

Old age has not happened from the outside, it has come from the inside. The beautiful face has become wrinkled now – you love those wrinkles also, they are part of your woman.

You love a man and his hair has grown white – you love those hairs also. They have not happened from the outside; they are not accidents.

Life is unfolding and now the black hair has disappeared and the gray hair has come. You don’t reject the gray hairs, you love them, they are a part of the man.

Then your man becomes old, becomes weak – you love that too.

Then one day the man or the woman is gone – you love that too. ”
— Osho
 

What better teacher than Nature to capture the essence of birth and death and how love hums at the heart of it all?

Observing nature in my backyard, I decided to photograph the blossoming flowers. I positioned myself to capture their humble beginnings of greenery. Eager buds stretched forth as they pushed their way into the world. Twirling out of a spiral, they opened their petals to become the flower they were meant to be. 

Everyone loves flower buds and blossoms.

As I documented their journey through the lens of my iPhone camera, I began to wonder – why isn’t the entire process considered beautiful?

I came upon this quote by Osho and it captured what I was feeling. He gets to the core of the issue. We can love the entire process from beginning to end. We don't have to be limited only to the parts that our limited minds deem to be pretty.

 Even fading petals have a song to sing, don't they?

See the unfolding of the flowers in these photos:

Here, a flower opens its petals from within a spiral.

 Now the flower opens wide in a blaze of color and a fire burns at its center.

 The petals are shifting past their prime and begin to curl at the edges.

 The flower fades further, petals crumple more.

 The full glory of the flower is gone. One tenacious petal remains attached.

 All the petals are gone. Only the glowing ember of a flower remains.

Love From Beginning To End

As flowers bloom, age and wither, beauty can be seen in all the steps of the process.

Love is at the heart of the journey. A love without judgment of whether they’re at the beginning or the end or how frazzled we look when it’s all over. We tap into natural cycles and the love that connects us all.

In our meditations, we become aware of the conditioning and judgments we place on ourselves regarding what we can or cannot love.

We allowed to love the birth, but not the death. Yet, the dying process is our ultimate journey on Earth. It's not about being in love with death itself, but rather, holding love through the “final” process that awaits all of us.

Davis Farmers Market

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Job Transfer To California

One of the advantages of the new job was that I would not have to dig my car out of winter snow and ice in the cold, black hour of 6:30 a.m.

Six-thirty a.m. in the dead of winter is an hour no civilized person should step out of their bed, much less their house. 

I dreaded those early mornings when I opened my front door and waded into the treacherous black night that had yet to turn into day. You'd tell yourself to watch out for an ice patch, but that slick ice grabbed your ankle and smashed you to the ground faster than you could take a breath. I would be left with a thigh-consuming bruise from hip to knee.

Hobbling into work, I'd only get cold stares from co-workers conveying their annoyance that I wasn't there earlier.

Those icicle days were over. No more bags of salt for icy stairs. No more winter woes of shoveling snow to get to work.

California, here we come.

Davis Farmers Market

California – the land of nuts and fruits. This is an old, tired joke but, truth be known, California really does have an abundance of fruits and nuts that grow here.

I discovered this was another job advantage. I would be living near The Central Valley, one of the world's most productive agricultural regions. More than 230 crops are grown there.

Just 20 miles from home, the Davis farmers market throws its arms open wide to welcome a multitude of food sellers. It's an outdoor market with a covering. It's situated next to a large park if you fancy bringing a blanket for an outdoor picnic. 

The farmers market has existed for over 35 years. The market grew from just three farmers with boxes of produce on the ground, some eggs and loaves of bread to a thriving marketplace that now has a growing number of vendors and fruit and vegetable cultivars. 

 
“The market operates under a pavilion built especially for it with public funds, one of the few of its kind in the state, and it draws 7,000 - 10,000 people each week.”
 

The Davis farmers market is open rain or shine twice a week:
Saturdays from 8 am – 1 pm and Wednesday evenings. 

Fresh And Organic

Nothing beats the taste of fruits and vegetables that were picked only a day or two before you eat them. Flavors burst in your mouth and a long-forgotten sweetness romances the cells of your body. The produce is fresh and vibrant – alive.

I am particularly fond of the organic peaches. Just look at this photo of a ripe peach. 

Organic food decays faster, so you have to plan for it, buying just what you need or tucking it in the refrigerator sooner than you'd expect. In the supermarket, chemicals are used to make the fruit firmer and to make it last longer, but it also contributes to a decrease in taste. 

Seasons Of The Earth

Going to the farmers market put me in touch with how our produce reflects the seasons. In our modern grocery stores, foods are flown in from around the world, creating the illusion that nothing ever goes out of season. It's always spring somewhere.

As a steady market-goer, I learned to sense the pulse of our earth. I watched the produce change and respond as the days darken and then lengthen again. Peaches are simply not available in December. 

At the farmers market, I celebrate the arrival of cherries and peaches and wistfully bid them goodbye when they must go.

The sweetest cherry tomatoes are bright orange and red. They sing their song, then leave. I anticipate their arrival a few weeks before they're ready. When are the cherry tomatoes coming? Wait for it, wait for it, ahhhh, here they are.

Grapes have a late summer timing and their sweet nectar is unlike anything purchased in a grocery store.

In winter, we welcome the citrus crops. I rejoice when asparagus arrives on the scene.

"How much longer will the cherries last?" I ask one of the vendors. 

"Only two more weeks!" he calls out to me.

When we come to the end of a season, I try to plan accordingly and stock up. I can't buy enough to last for the rest of the year, but I can extend the season just a little. For example, I'll cut up fruit and freeze it for future smoothies.

Sometimes I won't be able to get to the market for a week or two and when I return, I've already missed it. A certain fruit or vegetable is gone for the year.

If you visit this part of California, it's well worth a stop at the Davis farmers market.

 

 

Honey Bee Rescue

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Honey Bee Down

So there I was, minding my own business... Well, actually, I wasn't minding my own business.

I was in my backyard checking on the resident garden spiders. I've been watching them and learning by observation, but that's a story for another blog post.

A honey bee was caught in one of the older, tattered spider webs. He struggled to break free as he wiggled his legs against the confining threads. I took a quick look around, it seemed this spider web was abandoned. Or, so I convinced myself.

I understand the law of nature. If a spider already had the honey bee and was munching away, I would lament, "Oh pooh. Score 1 for the spider, 0 for the honey bee. Poor honey bee."

Since there was no spider in sight and none moving in for the kill, I decided to interfere. 

Help Has Arrived

I spied a forlorn leaf and scooped the bee out of the sticky threads. He was pitiful, unable to fly. He could barely walk as he fell this way and that on the leaf.

I remembered the sugar-water-on-a-spoon honey bee remedy that I saw on Pinterest. A way to help a honey bee that was exhausted and far from home. It seemed a little far-fetched, but I pinned it on the off chance it might come in handy.

Now was the moment.

I carried the leaf holding the honey bee back to the house. I briefly thought about bringing him inside, then changed my mind. If he had a sudden recovery and started flying about, we'd have another problem of how to get him back out safely. I set him down on the patio next to my sliding glass door.

I bolted into the kitchen and grabbed my sugar container. I poured a spoonful of sugar in a small bowl, added warm tap water, and stirred to dissolve the granules. I stepped back outside to find my honey bee still lying there. He was constantly falling over as he tried to walk. I maneuvered the spoon in front of him. He held on to its edge. He appeared to take a long drink. Or was he just holding on? Hard for me to tell.

He pushed off from the spoon and staggered about on the patio. He fell into a concrete seam and couldn't get out, I helped him up with the leaf.

Recovery Process

He was still staggering and falling over. I was worried. Perhaps I would simply bear witness to his demise. But then, he started to preen himself, cleaning his little antennae. Surely this was a good sign?

After more cleaning, he lied down, tucked in his tiny wings and bowed his head. I swear he took a nap. I know honey bees sleep, having seen photos of it (on Pinterest again). Maybe he even had a miniature honey bee dream when he gave a tiny jerk.

This had to be encouraging, since I usually saw dead bees with their wings open. On the other hand, maybe he was bowing his head as he prepared to die. 

I waited.

He awakened, legs started moving again. He was stronger, less staggering. Another careful cleaning of his legs and antennae. I wondered if he needed more sugar water and placed the spoon in front of him. Nope, he didn't want it. I retreated with my spoon, watching.

He buzzed his wings. Now it really seemed like a good sign. He walked forward with determination. He buzzed again. Suddenly, he lifted straight up and flew away into the blue sky. 

Honey bee rescue accomplished.

The Smallest Amongst Us

“... mysterious and little known organisms live within walking distance of where you sit.
Splendor awaits in minute proportions.”
— Edward O. Wilson, Biophilia
 

Moral of the story: some things on Pinterest really do work. 

 

The first image is from the fable: The Spider and The Honey Bee