Consider: A Christmas Carol

The annual holiday season is upon us in full force again, and we are constantly bombarded by ads urging us to buy everything under the sun. It doesn’t matter where you turn; they are everywhere. So many of us react by being completely turned off by Christmas, and I admit I’ve been there too, that it makes you wonder how Christmas manages to survive as a viable holiday, let alone many people’s favorite. There has to be more to it than businesses depending on it for most of their annual income, or parents wanting to give stuff to their kids. There has to be something truly special about it, or we would just all give up on it and walk away.

Perhaps a clue may be found in the many Christmas tales entertaining us at this time of year. I have always found Charles Dickens’ story of Ebenezer Scrooge to be quite interesting and one I can apply to my own life. To his way of thinking, Scrooge is a paragon of his society: He is industrious, clean living, and not wasteful. Money seems to be the one thing his society values most, and in that pursuit he has excelled, amassing a rare fortune. He is not a wastrel, nor does he burden society with his upkeep—indeed, there is nothing he despises more than those who are and do. To others he is a mean man, and not in the sense we think of the word today. He is mean, because he is “small,” and not in the sense of stature. He is small-minded because he thinks of and considers no one but himself. He has no sense of generosity and no intention of it, and he truly cares for nobody—not even himself, if he ever took a good look. That is what happens. He is given a revelation as to the true nature of his life and how other people view him.

The lot of most people in England during that time was unenviable. What we mostly see in the televised novels by Jane Austen is the life of privilege enjoyed by the landed gentry written from their point of view (Pride and Prejudice, Emma). Leave it to Dickens to show us the other side in such stories as Oliver Twist and Hard Times. There was a huge gulf between the rich and the poor, and there were many more of the poor. There was such a thing as debtor’s prison where you could be locked up for the smallest crime with no hope of ever getting out. Factories were horrific places of virtual slave labor, and then there were the workhouses. People who owed Scrooge money shook in their boots when he walked by, because they were well aware that he could have had any and all of them packed off to debtor’s prison anytime he wished. They knew how much they owed him, and it wasn’t just money, for which he also charged a hefty fee.

But Dickens’ Christmas Carol  is a story of transformation. Scrooge comes to see the error of his ways, and the best part is that, as he doles out toys and money to those around him, he becomes a happier man who finds a place in the hearts of those same people. Scrooge finally recognizes that all his money has not made him happy. Instead, his mean-spiritedness has cut him off from the one thing that could make him happy: other people, and it is bringing those people into his life and caring about them that transforms him, not the decision to give away his fortune. You cannot buy love.

We all need other people, even loners like me, whose families live far away, who have no children, and who have few friends. As the poet John Donne so accurately put it, “No man is an island complete in himself.”  That is what makes Christmastime so special, because it is this particular time of year that forces each of us to confront our relationship with humanity head on; and we must remember that Jesus commanded us to “Love one another.”  He especially meant those among us who are not so lovable and even our enemies, for as he said, there is no special virtue in loving your friends—anyone can do that.  If Christmas is worth anything at all, it should be in its ability to heal our hearts and the chasms between us by forcing us to look outside ourselves.

Reflections on Sandy

Ever wonder what happened to the New York Doomsday Preppers when Sandy hit? Me too. Actually I haven’t heard zip about them, nor can I find any news about them on Google, but that’s probably good. They were prepared. One thing kept going through my mind as I caught a few glimpses of the HOURS and HOURS of network news coverage of the hurricane: It didn’t look like many of those folks were prepared for a disaster. One word of advice I would give them is to start preparing right now for the next time, because there most certainly will be one.

I suppose if your house was destroyed, you could be forgiven for not having any supplies, but that’s why you have a safe place to stay and store your stuff. By “safe,” I mean a place that no hurricane, tornado, or gang of angry, hungry survivors can breach. You need a stash of food, water, money, fuel for your vehicle, and possibly even some weapons in case you need to defend yourself. And while I’m on the subject, I don’t call pointing a pistol at someone in line at the gas station so you can cut in, “defending yourself,” and I don’t think many other people would either.

I can’t be too judgmental, however, because there are holes in my safety net too. We have plenty of food, but not nearly enough water, money, or fuel put by. Since we live in the shadow of Mt. Rainier, trouble could come at any time, so it would bode well to be really prepared when disaster comes. Regardless of where you live, it will come someday. There is more than enough information out there on what you need to do. Just go to Google or Bing and type in “disaster planning.” Two of the sites you will find are http://www.ready.gov/and FEMA’s site http://www.fema.gov/. Both are excellent.  

Hey, I’m hoping when “the big one” hits, I don’t have to read about MY friends and family on the nightly news! And while you’re at it, plan to have more than you need, so you are in a position to help others when the time comes. You already know your neighbors, family, and friends will all think of you and show up on your doorstep. What will you do? Turn them away?

Are We DONE Yet?

A subjective reflection on the campaign process in the United States:
 

I’m certain I am not alone in looking forward to Election Day this year. I normally don’t discuss my feelings and opinions regarding politics or religion unless asked, but I have to speak out. The election process in this country has got to be one of the most insane, ludicrous, and wasteful activities ever conceived, and I doubt anyone out there will disagree.

It doesn’t matter which “side” you happen to be on; you are bombarded incessantly day and night with the most wretched excesses imaginable. And pretty much all negative. This goes on for years, reaching a fever pitch in the last month—in which time it’s moot with many of us who can now vote by mail. That time and money is totally wasted on reaching US, because we’ve already made our final decisions.

I don’t know how much money, not to mention time has been spent on this height of ridiculousness, but IT HAS GOT TO STOP! Otherwise many more voters will elect not to participate in the process. We just want out, but moving to New Zealand is not an option.

This year I did something I have never done before: I contributed to a campaign, and not just once. What that got me was a daily tab of at least six or more emails, purporting to be from the individuals concerned (but more likely from lower paid surrogates), hounding and begging me for more money. If I didn’t “give $19 more today, we could lose it all.” Hogwash. You got all you’re gonna get from me, so deal with it. Next time you’re only getting a buck.

Yes, I DO care who wins, but will I donate again in the future? Probably not—but not because I don’t care. Triple negative! I’m NOT a millionaire or billionaire with $$$ to write off on my income tax. Chances are I won’t be able to write off any of it, since unless it amounts to more than the benefit I’m allowed from the standard deduction, it won’t matter a whit to my net income. Right now I just want it to be over so I don’t have to listen to any more merde!

(Sigh) ARE we done yet?

Pie

I had to chuckle today when Sam announced to me that pie was back “in” again. He had just looked over the new Journey magazine (published by AAA) that arrived today, and since I was engaged in making a pie for dinner, he felt it was a relevant topic. That pie had ever been “out“ was news to me, but then not being much of a Mainstream type, I don’t keep up on such things.

Pie, as an after dinner dessert or mid-day snack, has always been more popular in my family than cake. In fact, if you took a poll, I’m quite certain most of my relatives would vote for pie by an overwhelming margin, especially the men.

I was fortunate to learn the art of pie baking from a master: my Grandma Rose. When she was yet an unmarried girl, she came out West with her sister Estyle, who had just gotten married and moved to Oregon with her new husband Carl. Carl had gotten a job with the railroad, and so Rose came along with them. She had to earn a living though, and she did it by baking pies. Once she worked as a cook for a rooming house, and the rest of the time she worked as a pie baker at restaurants. After meeting and marrying my Grandfather Lloyd, she continued cooking for him, plus all the cowboys and hired hands at his ranch until they had to sell it and move to town. Then she just cooked for her family and friends, and when I was a little girl, she taught me most of what I know about cooking. Grandma didn’t make a great variety of pies, but those she did were memorable. She never cared much for cream pies, but all manner of fruit pies, pumpkin, and mincemeat pies were her stock in trade, and she was a particular master of lemon meringue.

Sam’s Dad Herb loved lemon meringue pies, too, so I resolved to make one from scratch once when we had invited them over to our new house for dinner. We had just bought a lovely little turn of the century farmhouse, so serving a lemon meringue pie for dessert was to be the piece de resistance. Of course I had never made a lemon meringue pie before, but how hard could it be? As it turned out, more difficult than I thought, and to make a long story short, the pie LOOKED great, but the lemon filling had not set up, so we had lemon soup for dessert! I was mortified. Everyone was very kind, however, and I survived.

As soon as everyone left, I called Grandma in tears, explaining what had happened, and I will never forget her words when I asked her secret to making lemon meringue pie. She replied, “I always use lemon pudding and pie filling—I never make them from scratch.” You could have knocked me over with a feather, I was so shocked.

That was many years ago, and I’ve made lots of lemon meringue pies since—and yes, I always use lemon pudding and pie filling too. Tonight, however, we’re having apple pie, which is by far much easier to make!

An Adventure in My Kitchen

Today I did something I’ve always wanted to do: I made cheese! Yes, it was fun, but before going any further, I must say there were some surprises. I proved the old adage that says things never quite turn out the way you expect. The cheese was great, but making it was an eye-opening experience.

30 some years ago, Sam and I used to have a flock of dairy goats and made cheese—that is, Sam made cheese. I milked goats and cleaned up the mess. The cheese was really good, and we had a bunch of folks back then encouraging us to go into the goat cheese business, but they were largely unaware of the many challenges involved. None of them had any money to invest in our business. We were both busy working full-time jobs and going broke, so we didn’t have any money for the venture, so to make a long story short, we sold the farm, the goats, moved to Seattle and completely did a 180.

Now we are a year away from retirement, looking at how we want to live the rest of our lives, and have bought a small acreage back in Oregon. Unless we want to be totally dependent on Social Security for our income, we need to be able to provide for our own needs and/or find a way to make a living, ergo the interest in making cheese, among other things. I, for one, do not intend to bag groceries at Safeway or end up a Wal-Mart greeter.

I don’t envision a return to the ways we used to do things. For instance, I am not going to return to milking 15-20 goats twice daily for the rest of my life! I have osteoarthritis, so that won’t be happening. I do want to have a couple of decent milkers, however, and my experience tells me that will translate to 2-4 gallons of milk a day. Hmm, what to do with it? Well, we will drink some of it (we LOVE goat milk, admittedly an acquired taste, but other milk tastes so boring in comparison), we can make butter and buttermilk (Yum!), or we can make cheese. Fortunately, goat milk makes great cheese, and you can make all different kinds and age some of it.

For today’s effort, I decided on a simple fresh cheese. As I usually do when embarking on a new project, I researched several books and consulted a few on-line recipes before deciding what to make. I finally chose to make one from Martha Stewart‘s Website: Herbed Fresh Buttermilk Cheese. I pretty much followed her recipe, though I made it from a gallon of whole milk and a quart of lowfat buttermilk, adding dried oregano from my garden and fresh ground black pepper. It’s still draining in the kitchen sink, but I plan on serving it over fresh-sliced sourdough bread for dinner.

The cheese was easy to make, but there was more of a mess than I anticipated—and lots of whey. Yikes, what to do with that? I don’t have any chickens to feed it to these days (they love it), and I ended up with three quarts of whey after making cheese from one gallon of milk! Not a problem, Martha Stewart to the rescue: a video on her Website recommends using it for poaching fish, for example (not that I poach fish often, but I guess I will now) or in soups, so I poured it back into the gallon milk jug to cool off and then froze it in ice cube trays, later putting the cubes into a plastic bag to store in the freezer.

There was also the problem of milk scorched on the bottom of my stainless steel soup pot, but I easily removed that by re-heating the pot and pouring in about ¼ cup of water, so the scorched milk lifted right off (I learned that trick from caring for my cast iron pans for many years). That left only a little bit that I had to scrub off, and then everything but the big pot went into the dishwasher.

So, if you want to try this for yourself, you’ll probably want to follow Martha’s recipe, which calls for only one quart of milk and makes about six ounces of cheese. You might even want to go to her Website, watch the instruction video, and try one of the other variations. What could be nicer on a summer evening than some fresh herb cheese on sourdough French bread with a glass of chilled Chardonnay?


Herbed Fresh Buttermilk Cheese

Yield Makes one 6-ounce round
Serves 4 as a snack with crackers

Ingredients

• 1 quart whole milk
• 1 1/2 cups whole or low-fat buttermilk
• 2 teaspoons coarse salt
• 1 teaspoon dried herbs, such as tarragon, oregano, or basil

Directions

1. Cut out three pieces of cheesecloth into 12-inch squares. Line a colander or medium strainer with all three layers of cheesecloth. Set colander in sink.

2. Combine milk, buttermilk, salt, and herbs in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan, and heat over medium-high heat until mixture has separated into white curds and translucent whey, about 8 minutes. If using lowfat buttermilk, separation occurs at about 180 degrees and the curds will clump together readily. If using whole buttermilk, separation occurs closer to the boiling point, about 212 degrees, and the curds are finer-grained. When using whole buttermilk, let curds and whey stand off heat for about 3 minutes after separation, so the curds cling together and facilitate the straining step.

3. Ladle the contents of the saucepan into the prepared colander. Let the whey drain, 1 to 2 minutes. Lift the four corners of the cheesecloth and gather them together. Gently twist the gathered cloth over the cheese and press out any excess whey.

4. Cheese can be unwrapped immediately and served warm or let stand until cooled to room temperature, about 10 minutes more. To serve a firmer cheese, transfer cheese, in its cloth, to a small flat-bottomed dish or pie plate; refrigerate until cool, about 10 minutes. Unwrap cheese and gently invert onto plate; discard cloth. Tent cheese with plastic wrap and keep refrigerated up to 2 days. Remove from refrigerator and let stand for 10 minutes at room temperature before serving.

Do-It/Raise-It-Yourself: Healthier Food and Relief from High Prices

Sam and I have always been Do-It-Yourself-ers. Growing up during the 50’s and 60’s, and part of the Green Revolution that rose out of the Hippie movement, it felt entirely normal to us: I grew up on a 160-acre ranch backed up by thousands of acres of BLM land up on the mountain, and Sam’s parents owned a small acreage in town, at least half of which was planted in food and flower gardens. Both of us were only two generations off the homestead, so going back to it was easy. As a kid, I had my own horse and learned how to care for chickens, cows, and a garden first hand, by doing it. It was what was expected, since all the womenfolk in my family had gardens and usually at least a few chickens out back, unless they lived in town. Cooking, canning, and caring for animals was what women did; and it’s no joke that I’ve probably forgotten more than most people ever know about raising goats. In fact, the local veterinarian used to tell people to call me when they had a problem, saying that I knew more about goats than he did, though personally, I just don’t think he wanted to be bothered with them.  (Photo above is from Willow Bird Baking's Blog Site).

One basic life lesson I learned as a child was that I could easily make things for myself, rather than buying them in stores. My Grandma Rose taught me nearly everything I know about cooking; and being a professional seamstress, she also taught me to sew, knit, crochet, and do embroidery. I made most of the clothes I wore to school during high school and college. I’m embarrassed to say that I haven’t done that for a while, though I’ve made some unusual items through the years, including quarter sheets for my horses and my own riding breeches. I’ve knitted sweaters and shawls, crocheted ponchos, and made felted bags. This year I bought a small loom and am learning to weave. 

Now Sam and I are planning a return to that lifestyle, with retirement slightly more than a year away. We just bought land in Northeastern Oregon with plenty of space for chickens, goats, and horses. If we want fish for dinner, there is a river full of hungry trout half a mile from our front doorstep. We will not only enjoy eating them, but we will have the fun of catching them as well—loads better than going to the supermarket and fresher too. Of course, you have to take the time to do it, and it won’t be so easy to run to the store, since the closest grocery is 30 miles away. I will need to accustom myself to running to the pantry or the root cellar instead and making staple items for myself. I will need to figure out how much of any one thing we need to have on hand for a year: My own tomato sauce, homemade butter and cheese, fresh greens, and maybe even my own catsup. Sounds like a challenge, but fun. Then again, it may not BE so fun when I’m pitting the 20^th quart of cherries and my fingers are all stained brown (tsk, tsk, so much for my manicure) or milking the goats during a howling blizzard (we must face reality), but it will be healthier and immensely more satisfying. I distinctly remember my Mom leading me to her pantry one year and proudly displaying all the preserves, pickles, and sauerkraut she’d laid by for the winter, and I look forward to doing something like that myself.

Since I’ve baked my own sourdough bread for many years, rather than buying it, I became curious about making some other things I routinely buy, such as bran flakes or pasta. Yes, you CAN make them yourself, and I’m excited about giving it a try. And, have you noticed the sky high price of food lately? Well, DUH! All that processing and packaging, not to mention hauling the bags and packages of everything thousands of miles all over the country (or the world) costs a fortune, especially since the price of gasoline and diesel fuel is going through the roof. And I’m not going to get into the use of additives and preservatives in food other than to say that they probably aren’t good for you, so why not leave them out unless they need to be there? I’m talking things such as salt, sugar, or Vitamin C here. Yes, salt and sugar are used to preserve food, not just to flavor it, but you can probably do without the sodium glutamate and benzoate. If it’s a chemical, and you don’t know what it is, it’s suspect.

Fortunately, if you have a connection to the Internet, you can easily find recipes and learn how to do or make nearly anything imaginable, so learning how to make flake cereal was literally only a click away. I also found a cookbook called The Homemade Pantry by Alana Cernita, that I saw advertised on Green Peace’s On Earth Website ( http://www.onearth.org/blog/everything-tastes-better-homemade ). In it are recipes for 101 things you buy at the store, including such things as toaster pastries and marshmallows. It’s available in soft cover and on Kindle (I downloaded the Kindle one for $13.99; the paperback is available from Amazon for $16.49: http://www.amazon.com/The-Homemade-Pantry-Buying-ebook/dp/B007EEJCX6/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2  ). While you’re at it, watch her video on YouTube.com for making toaster pastries, and no, I will not make any money from mentioning her book or videos!

R.I.P. Carol Charles

Sometimes life has a way of kicking you in the head. Times like today, when I learned my friend Carol had suddenly passed away. I last spoke to her about three or four weeks ago, regarding a lunch date that had been postponed several times for one reason or another since the first of the year, and she seemed fine. Not feeling well, but nothing earth-shaking—or so it seemed at the time. She was going to call me when she felt better. I had intended to call her this week to see how she was doing, but somehow something else always intervened, so I didn’t.

Now today I can’t call her. It’s too late, and my friend and I will never share time together ever again. I’m still in shock, I guess, and there are so many things I wish I had said. You truly never know when your time will be up, and as St. Nicholas (the second spirit to visit on Christmas Eve) tells Ebenezer in the movie Scrooge!, “Suddenly you’re not there anymore.”

I feel at such a loss for words trying to say what’s on my mind.  How do you? The best thing about Carol was that she cared. She genuinely cared about the people around her, and knowing her made a difference in their lives. She was kind when she didn’t have to be, and she reached out to people (me among them) who probably would not have reached out to her. She did the little things that count so much, like bringing over lunch when I felt too sick to go out. I miss her, and I will be missing her for a very long time, because she made me a better person simply because I knew her. It’s the highest praise I can think of. Rest in Peace, my dear friend. You are missed!


ON THE SUDDEN LOSS OF A FRIEND

I meant to call you
All last week,
And even the week before,
But somehow I always ended up
Busy
Or sidetracked.
Then, this morning Sam came home
And said,
“I’ve got a shock for you.”
I couldn’t imagine what
He would tell me—
Certainly anything about you
Could not have been farther
From my mind.

We never got our last lunch date,
And there were so many things
I could have said
About how wonderful you are.
I can’t remember you
Except smiling and laughing,
And you were the kindest person
I knew.
You were the one who
Took me to chemo
And held my hand when I cried.
You were the first one
To ask for a copy of my book,
And you never cared
If there was dog hair on my floors.

You were the best, my friend,
And I will miss you.

Doomsday Preppers

While I’ve never been a fan of reality TV in any form, I recently began watching the National Geographic Channel’s newest program, "Doomsday Preppers." Having known a few fringe folk in my time, I thought it might be interesting, as well as entertaining, to see what people are doing out there. I’ve seen four episodes so far, and I have to say that it’s better than I expected. At the same time, I would never go out and buy it, nor will I probably watch any reruns.

There is much to consider when you ponder all the disaster scenarios paraded past us on a daily basis: collapse of the energy grid, collapse of the economic system, eruption of the Yellowstone super volcano, a polar shift, runaway inflation, world-wide pandemic, electro-magnetic pulse, etc. In addition, there are local disasters, such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, chemical spills, or floods that we know will happen sooner or later. Yes, there are people making plans to survive them all. Here are some interesting statistics from the program: 25% of Americans have made no emergency plans whatsoever, yet 20% have some sort of emergency plan. Where am I? Well, I’ve thought about some of these things but not really done anything yet. Sam is more prepared than I am, because I KNOW he has a plan, though we are behind the ball in terms of acting on what we need to do. You may be asking yourself, “Do I really need to do anything?” Consider this: According to the United Nations, this past year was the most expensive in recorded history ($380 billion), thanks to the earthquakes in New Zealand and Japan.http://money.msn.com/business-news/article.aspx?feed=AP&date=20120306&id=14858342

Think about it. DO you have an emergency evacuation plan? How would you survive? You’d better have a good supply of non-perishable food laid by and be able to protect it, yourself, and your family. You’d also best be prepared to live off the land and able to scrounge up whatever you needed when your food runs out. Can you hunt? What would you do for food if everyone else was hunting and/or fishing and the resources were exhausted? Can you forage? Could you eat a rat—or a kitty cat—if you had to? Can you defend yourself beyond shooting a gun? CAN you shoot a gun, use a knife, or other personal self defense method, such as jiu jitsu or karate? Are you physically fit? Will your neighbors be a help, a hindrance, or a threat? Are you building a network with neighbors or church members, for example, so you can help each other survive, or will you be a lone wolf? All of a sudden, there is a great deal to consider, isn’t there?

Some of the folks on TV have come up with interesting solutions, and I admire their dedication and tenacity, though a few seem kind of flaky. At the same time I must say that any TRUE doomsday prepper would never go on TV and give away his plan. NEVER. Secrecy is a big part of success (which was actually mentioned during the fourth episode), and the less people who know about your plans, the better. I would especially not show off my huge stash of guns and ammo or the stockpile of liquor. Tsk, tsk!

Personally, I can’t see myself living on MRE’s for any length of time, if only because I’ve heard they weren’t very good, though it would probably be a good idea to have a few around. I also can’t see myself cooking up fabulous gourmet meals from powdered, dehydrated food while hunkered down in my bunker. Canned and dehydrated food I’ve put up myself would no doubt taste better than MRE’s, plus I know what is in it, but when your main concern is filling your stomach with something in order to stay alive, taste is probably not the highest priority. I certainly plan on continuing to garden and growing and preserving what food I am able, but I have no illusions that my garden would be safe. If ever the “**** hits the fan,” I am sure lots of other people will be crawling over my back fence trying to help themselves to my food!

One thing is certain; disaster preparedness is not something that can be done overnight. It takes a good deal of thought, work, and an investment of time and money to become a reality. And, once you have the three-day supplies in your bug-out bag, you need to consider the best way to proceed once you are in the situation. For example, when Mt. Rainier blows, what are you going to do? Is it really a good idea to jump in your car and head for the freeway and Eastern Washington if the other million people who live here are doing the same thing? Hmm, you might want to consider “bugging in” and waiting for things to settle, rather than sitting in a freeway parking lot with lots of panicked people. And if, for example, you plan to head for Mexico, be sure you have enough gas to get there and a place to stay when you arrive.

For some very useful information, check out www.preparedness.com/, www.ready.gov/, and www.72hours.org/. 

What Can't You Live Without?

A couple of months ago I happened to read an article posted in one of the daily news Emails I receive from Scientific American Magazine. The gist of the article was a listing of replies to the author’s question, what technology is so essential that you cannot live without it? Unfortunately, I long since deleted the above-mentioned Email, so I’m unable to offer it up as a reference, but it stuck with me, and I felt compelled to write about it myself.

To my surprise (as well as the Email’s author), many people replied that they could not live without their iPhones , iPads, or Facebook. At first I didn’t know what to make of that, and then I must admit that I became really furious. My reaction to all this was, “Give me a break—you can’t live without your freaking iPhone?” Now I know that many people are addicted to their smart phones and can’t be parted from them for more than 30 seconds without going into withdrawal; however, smart phones are not essential for existence. Personally, I believe that we’d all be better off if every single one of them was instantly vaporized. And Facebook? Please, NOBODY NEEDS Facebook in order to live.

One thing that brought home the utter ridiculousness of the above was the power outage we suffered during the recent ice storm. Do you want to know what I cannot live without? ELECTRICITY! During the four days Sam and I were without power, it was 40-some degrees inside our house.We had no heat and no hot water—oh, we did light a fire in the fireplace a couple of times, but we did not try roasting any weenies or making S’mores. We also could boil water and cook on the propane burner attached to our gas barbecue outside on the patio, but it was a bit cold to stand outside for extended periods of time. For light we had two kerosene lamps and a couple of high intensity flashlights—woo hoo! I felt like I was living in a nightmare, and thank God we work at a hospital, because we were able to shower and buy hot meals there when we were scheduled to work.

Another thing I cannot live without is PAPER. Imagine what our society would be like if we had none. There would be no books, no letters, no bills, no business cards, no statements, no posters, no paper towels, no toilet paper, no cardboard etc. Life would grind to a screeching halt without paper. We use it in every aspect of our lives and in a million different ways, and we aren’t even aware of most of them. The digital revolution has not reduced the need for paper any more than the computer revolution did. Yes, we can buy books and magazines on DVD or download them to our e-Readers, but the majority of people still want good old paper books, magazines, and newspapers that they can hold in their own two hands—books that actually belong to them, not licenses they cannot pass along or sell to someone else. And have you noticed that many of the digital books and magazines cost just as much as the paper ones? Hmm, somebody’s making a bundle off that.

What about BALLPOINT PENS? Yes, I know I could go more basic here, back to pencils, but I haven’t used a pencil in years—have you? When I write, it’s either with a pen or composing at the computer, and a computer or phone isn’t really useful for writing much of what we use pens for: writing notes to ourselves or others, signing checks or legal documents, writing personal letters or thank you notes (yes a few of us still write them). Many authors categorically state that they cannot enter into the creative process and write, unless they can physically put pen to paper, and many of these same folks completely freeze up if called upon to compose at the computer. Like anything else, it’s a learned skill.

And, global warming aside, who would want to live without the INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE? Can you imagine what it would be like if we all had to walk or ride horses everywhere? Street sanitation would take on an entirely different complexion, considering that there would be literally tons of horse manure that would need to be moved and disposed of every day. I don’t even want to think about it, and I own horses! Instead of the 10 minutes it takes me to get to work now, it would take me an hour to walk the same 3.5 miles. At least I wouldn’t have to worry about parking. Taking the horse would be faster, except I’d have to spend time tacking up to ride or take a buggy, and when I arrived I’d need a stable to care for my horse and/or buggy while I was at work or visiting the doctor’s office. Looking at things that way makes it obvious that we as a society can’t realistically return to the horse and buggy days, though walking more often would be good for most of us.

I’m certain I could think of a few more items indispensable to my existence, if I put my mind to it (my laptop?), but I think I’ve made my point. Yes, I own a smart phone. I have a Facebook account. I do not have an iPad or eReader. Living without these things might prove inconvenient, but I think most people would survive.

On Resolutions

This year, instead of making resolutions, I thought I would try a new tack and call them “goals.” Sounds more positive and affirming, don’t you think? Besides, I’ve never been a big fan of resolutions. You go into them with your jaw set and two strikes against you—sort of a “do it or die” type of approach. Goals already sound more attainable.

I stayed up and watched TV for a while a few nights back, since I wasn’t scheduled to work, and I happened to catch Jimmy Fallon’s Late Night show (the one Conan O’Brian used to host). Jimmy began the hour with a bit about New Year’s Resolutions, specifically regarding weight loss, since so many people resolve to get in shape. The Emcee (sorry, I don’t know his name) said he dressed in baggy clothes so everyone would think he’d lost weight—in fact, he had even bought a really huge pair of pants and hung them up on his living room wall. People who saw them were really impressed and always said, “Great Job!” congratulating him on his weight loss. Jimmy piped up just then saying, “But you’ve never worn those, have you?” Well, he hadn’t, of course!

Jimmy then did a “Pro and Con” segment where one of the suggestions was instead of resolving to lose 100 lb., you should have an attainable goal, such as gaining 100 lb. I don’t know about you, but I could probably do that if I put my mind to it.

Like many people, I could stand to be in better shape, but I’m not trying the baggy clothes trick! I aim to begin with a goal of walking on the trail in the morning after work three times a week. Once I can do that, I can increase it to every day. The weather ought to be nicer by then, and I could add in working with my horses afterward. I have to work up to riding them gradually anyway, since I was off with my shoulder injury last year and haven’t been riding this winter. First I will work one of them on the lunge line every day (I have two horses, so I won’t start out doing BOTH of them every day). Then, after a couple of weeks, we can go for short rides in the arena and work up to rides on the trail. That will do nicely to get me back in shape, and I will have fun doing it. When it comes to exercise, you stand a much better chance of being successful if you do something you enjoy. While pumping iron can be fun, I hate aerobics, therefore the walking and riding horses or bikes—those things I DO like.

Another goal is to take treats to work more often, for instance tonight I brought a bag of homemade snicker doodle cookies for my co-workers to snack on. I enjoy baking, so I felt I could do my part on that. I could bring in something at least once every week or so. That is do-able, and if I take them all to work I won’t end up eating them myself.

On the home front, my biggest goal is to keep up with the dog hair my German Shepherd dog Roxi seems to lose by the hatful every day. I swear that dog should be bald, but she manages to stay a fur ball and still shed like there is no tomorrow. I found her comb when cleaning for Christmas and will begin by using it on her in the mornings. Hopefully she will learn to stand still one of these days. Combing out her fur will go a long way, because one day just last week I combed off enough hair to make a whole new dog the size of a Shih Tzu, and I tire of seeing big clouds of fur rolling aimlessly across the floor. The Evening Magazine show on KING 5 recently ran a segment (originally filmed in 1996) about people who save pet hair and then have it made into yarn and usable items. I loved what one gentleman said: “It seems only fair that after a lifetime of paying their bills and cleaning up after them that they should contribute a useful item for your home. It beats stuffing them and putting them on the mantle.” Oh, I have to agree, and besides, I would cry every time I looked at my stuffed cat or dog! One woman had an afghan made from her golden retriever’s hair and the gentleman I quoted above had a sweater made from his cat’s fur. You CAN remove the dog smell, they tell me, so perhaps one day I will have a Roxi lap robe.

I will be planting my new garden soon too. One goal is to only grow things we will actually eat. I don’t think I will grow zucchini anymore, because most of them went to the chickens or the compost heap the past two years. I also want to buy seeds from Seed Savers, instead of the local hardware store, and try to set aside some of my own to use next year. That sounds like a fun project.

I can’t end, of course, without having some craft-type goals. Anyone who does hand work knows how easy it is to stockpile many more projects than you can realistically make, so one goal is to make some of them this year. I have already started knitting a sweater I can wear to work when it’s finished. Also, I doubt my yarn stash is larger than the average hand knitter’s, but I do hope to use up some of it. I subscribe to a number of magazines and daily Emails, and one suggestion they made is to try a new craft this coming year. That might be difficult, since I already know how to do most things, plus I’m generally strapped for time to do everything I want to do. I’ve always wanted to learn to weave, so maybe I’ll try my hand at that. I’ve even subscribed to Handwoven magazine for the past two years, despite the fact that I can’t read the patterns yet. I could use up some of my stash that way, too.

Perhaps my final goal should be getting organized so I can find the time to do everything? I seem to waste a certain amount of time every day, so if I were more organized, I could be more productive. Maybe I could finish one or two of the novels I’ve been working on and get them published? It took some time to organize and format the book of poetry I published last year, even though most of the poems had been done for some time, so that seems a worthy goal too. One thing is certain: I only have 24 hours a day, just like everyone else, and there are fewer of them as each day goes by.