Horsing Around

Ian is going horespacking for 10 days this summer with his Boy Scout troop at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. This looks to be one of the coolest adventure trips, and I am sooooo jealous. We thought both of us would go 2 years ago, when the trip was coed because the troop was partnering with a Venture Scout troop, the only coed youth program in the Boy Scouts of America. But Ian didn’t meet the age qualification, so we were shut out. This year, his troop is partnering with another boy scout troop, and they don’t need female chaperones. So Ian - lucky dog - is going, and I’m staying home.

In any event, they’ve begun training with horses to prepare for the trek. Sunday was the first training session. I’m chaperoning in order to learn as much as I can….because next time I’m going along!! And if not, I’m taking myself to a dude ranch or something.

Here are some photos from the Sunday session. We groomed and saddled Jersey, Cody, Diesel, and Chico. They were sooooo cool. I can understand why my friend Barbara rides regularly. I’m already looking forward to our next session.

Diesel is the painted quarter horse with blue eyes. Chico is the dark brown horse  

This is Molly, the crazy barn dog. She was a lot of fun, too. And posed beautifully for this photo…hot dog!

 

April 28 Superstars

So ok, I’ll admit it…Saturday, April 28 was my birthday. Those of you who have had the misfortune of asking me how old I am, you know what I always say, “I’m old enough to know better and too young to give it up just yet!” So you do the math…

I decided to see what sort of company I keep on such a momentous day. Here’s what I found. It’s an interesting list…from royalty, great leaders and politicians to an evil self-appointed dictator…a great engineer, a great author, great entertainers…and, I’m proud to say, some really gorgeous, smart, accomplished women!

It Takes Guts and Nyaminyami

Here is a slideshow of Ian bungi jumping at Victoria Falls last August.  Six months have gone by since that jump. Ian still says his palms sweat whenever he thinks about it. But I’m very proud that he did it. I know it was scary. Just take a look at the shot of the bridge from a distance. But, getting up there and setting aside your fear to reach out for something you want is exactly what No Guts is all about.

 

  Here is an excerpt from my original No Guts site about this experience…The Victoria Falls Bridge connects Zambia and Zimbabwe and stands 111 meters or 120+ yards above the Zambezi River just below Victoria Falls. It is home to the second highest bungi jump in the world behind the one at Bloukrans River in South Africa. We were on our way to Knysna from Oudtshoorn the week before when our guide abruptly pulled into the park at the Bloukrans river gorge and asked the boys if they wanted to jump.

We all felt a little road weary. The detour on narrow mountain passes around mudslides and flooded roads was seemingly interminable. But at the guide’s words, the boys were immediately sitting at attention. So we stopped the van, got out, and checked out the view. See the photo of the Bloukrans bridge in the album…pretty impressive, eh?

Our guide goaded the boys with the fact that Bloukrans is the highest commercial jump in the world. This bridge is 216 meters or 240 yards above the river and features a 7 second free fall.  First, they were eager. But as we studied the bridge the bravado began to fade and hesitation set in. So they decided to wait until we got to Victoria Falls, where the jump is about half the height, and it’s still the second highest jump in the world.

So the day arrived. We landed in Zambia, and this time there was no hesitation. We immediately proceeded to the hotel’s activity center to book bungi jump appointments. Armed with our passports and an exit visa, we passed through Zambian border check and boldly set foot on the bridge. 

After being weighed and measured the boys were suited up with harnesses. And each in their turn took that leap of faith…Five…Four…Three…Two…One…Bungi!!!!

I tip my hat to each of them. It took a lot of guts. The were scared out of their wits, but they didn’t let that stop them…truly living the mantra…no guts, no glory. Of course, it didn’t hurt to have Nyaminyami, the river spirit believed by the Tonga people to be watching over the Zambezi River, keeping a watchful eye. 

Africa 2006

Finally, some photos from my trip to Africa last August.

Accessorize, Accessorize, Accessorize

This is one of my favorite photos from Christmas 2006. My 7-year old, identical twin nieces, embellished with several well-chosen apparel accessories, are doing their best Paris Hilton impressions. I have it playing on my screen saver on my home PC, and it makes me chuckle everytime I see it. So I thought I’d share the fun. Happy Friday!

Celebrating the Journey

The Endless Feast passed through Bernardsville, NJ last evening when a former co-worker and friend called me unexpectedly and suggested we meet for a drink. I like those kind of surprise calls especially since we’ve tried and failed to get together many, many times in the 3.5 years since we worked together. Either work or parenting or weather always got in the way.

But the stars and planets just aligned yesterday, and we had a great time catching up at the Bernards Inn. I haven’t been there in years. It’s still as upscale, old guard, and classic as ever although Mike says the restaurant interior has been completely re-done in the last 6 months. And, the service was exceptional.

 As you know, I have a “thing” for baking bread, and I must tell you that Mike and his wife Stephanie are the ones who inspired this hobby-now-turned-lifestyle. Five years ago they invited me to Thanksgiving dinner. I baked a loaf of bread for that occasion and have been baking bread almost every week ever since.

That first loaf, however, is nothing compared to what I bake today. My bread journey has taken me from that first dense loaf with an uninspiring crust to fabulous country-style sourdough breads with a thick flavorful crust and a moist yet airy crumb.

Thanks Mike for the inspiration and for such a delightful evening. I’ll be baking up some bread for you and Stephanie soon to celebrate the move to your new house!

Poetry Update

I just finished updating The Poets’ Notebook if any of you want to follow the meanderings of a poetry club.  We read a number of really cool poems including I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud which is William Wordsworth’s famous poem about daffodils. And the best part about that is that several folks have written parodies of it which were presented as well. And the best parody by far is the Wordsworth Rap done to rap music by the Cumbria Tourism association in England to promote the Lake District which is the landscape that inspired Wordsworth’s poem.

Check it out. Not only is it a catchy rap with a great video, but the rappers have an unmistakeable British accent!

The Ultimate

   I found myself unexpectedly in Poughkeepsie, NY yesterday. What parents won’t do for their kids, right? My cell phone rang around 5 pm on Friday.

 ”Mom, can you drive some of us to the JV ultimate tournament tomorrow?” said this urgent, I-need-an-answer-right-now-this-very-minute voice said to me. “Can we fit 3 kids in our car?”

Sure? No problem there Ian. All those “to-dos” on my list will still be there when I get home…where’s the shoemaker’s helper when you need him/her? And so, at 7:30 AM yesterday I find myself road-tripping to Poughkeepsie with 4 already sweaty teenage boys stuffed like sardines into my little Matrix.

 But it was a glorious spring day…warm, sunny, with a cool breeze. I was happy to let the “to-do’s” for another day. The kids played well, losing their first game by a nose and winning their third game handily.

This was actually my first tournament as a spectator, and it was fun. The game is fast paced as the kids race back and forth across the turf. What’s really cool, is that ultimate frisbee, at least at this level, is a game of honor…no referees, no umpires, no whistles, no over-stimulated ranting parents. The kids referee themselves and, surprisingly, very few disputes over calls or play behavior arose. The focus seemed to be on keeping the game moving and winning by simply outperforming the other team…very refreshing!

And, the day was not complete without a great picnic provided by Grace Pak!! How could we possible do anything without weaving it into The Endless Feast??? Thanks so much for the kimchee and the noodles and the red bean rice. It was delicious!

I’ve included a couple of photos from the game, but my camera is really not up to the challenge for landscape photos such as this.

Inconceivable Violence

Like most everyone, I’ve been following the story of the slain students and faculty at Virginia Tech. It seems like every hour there’s a new sensational, horrific headline. As more and more information comes to light, we see the almost unfathomable extent of this gunman’s mental illness, and we see intimate portraits of the 32 victims and their lives through the eyes of those who knew them best and loved them most. How do you NOT share their profound sadness?

And then on Wednesday I watched a video of NYC Mayor Bloomburg at a press conference for the bi-partisan coalition called Mayors Against Illegal Guns where he said that “30 Americans are murdered EVERY DAY with guns.” And then on Thursday, I picked up my New York Times and saw this headline, “Bombs Rip Through Baghdad, Killing 171.” And I ask, how is it that we DON’T FEEL the same profound sadness for those who experienced violent deaths around the country and the world?

Mayor Bloomberg touched on the issue, and Jon Stewart tried to nail it during his interview with Ali A. Allawi, former Iraq Minister of Defense, on Wednesday evening’s Daily Show. He asked Allawi how the people of Iraq handle the type of carnage on a daily basis that we saw on the Virginia Tech campus on Monday. Allawi answered that the scale of violence in Iraq is “inconceivable.” Iraqis aren’t “handling” it. They don’t have a secure home base from which to grieve and heal. Rather, they are fleeing the country for their own safety.

 Yes, what happened on the Virginia Tech campus is horrible, tragic. We should grieve for these victims and their families. But to Jon Stewart’s point, we should not be so caught up in it that we forget to grieve for victims elsewhere. And to Mayor Bloomberg’s point, we need to take action where and how we can. Would you agree?

Bagels for Non-Believers

Did I ever tell you that I like to bake bread? Well seeing is believing, but tasting is even better. Here are a couple of photos of my most recent bagel bake. These are my very own sourdough bagels.

      

Someone recently asked me why I’d go to the trouble of baking my own bagels when there are two very good bagel shops within 2 miles of my house. Obviously, this person has never tasted one of my bagels!  One taste will make you a believer. 

 If you have tasted one my bagels, leave a comment and let me know what you think.

When Great Trees Fall

Once again we find ourselves grieving for lives lost way too soon and in such a heinous manner. I have no personal connection to Virginia Tech and its students, but I feel the loss nonetheless.

I heard an interview this morning on NPR with Kathleen O’Hara whose son, a college student, was abducted from his dorm room, sexually abused, and murdered. She is a psychoanalyst by profession and in her book A Grief Like No Other,  likens grief to an ocean that we have to cross when we experience loss. I can’t find a link to the interview on NPR yet but you can read more about her here. She talked about the tools that one needs to carry along to complete the “journey.”

My “tools” include consoling words and inspirational thoughts, particularly ones that acknowledge the pain but in the end circle back to hope. My favorite of these is Maya Angelou’s When Great Trees Fall. The world lost many great trees on Monday, April 16.

When great trees fall,
rocks on distant hills shudder,
lions hunker down
in tall grasses,
and even elephants
lumber after safety.

When great trees fall
in forests,
small things recoil into silence,
their senses
eroded beyond fear.

When great souls die,
the air around us becomes
light, rare, sterile.
We breathe, briefly.
Our eyes, briefly,
see with
a hurtful clarity.
Our memory, suddenly sharpened,
examines,
gnaws on kind words
unsaid,
promised walks
never taken.

Great souls die and
our reality, bound to
them, takes leave of us.
Our souls,
dependent upon their
nurture,
now shrink, wizened.
Our minds, formed
and informed by their
radiance,
fall away.
We are not so much maddened
as reduced to the unutterable ignorance
of dark, cold
caves.

And when great souls die,
after a period peace blooms,
slowly and always
irregularly.  Spaces fill
with a kind of
soothing electric vibration.
Our senses, restored, never
to be the same, whisper to us.
They existed.  They existed.
We can be. Be and be
better.  For they existed.

Noah’s Pudding

Last Wednesday was our last Lenten soup supper at Union Village UMC. Dr. Levent Koc, director of the Interfaith Dialog Center of NJ, shared with us some of the history, beliefs, and teachings of Islam. In particular, he brought a sampling of Noah’s Pudding. You can see photos here.

Noah’s Pudding is commonly made by Muslims and Christians in the Middle East to remember God’s mercy on Noah during the great flood.  As the story goes, God was displeased by the sins of his people. He warned Noah that a flood was coming and told him to build an ark and load it with two of every creature. The rains came and covered the land. Days passed. Food became so scarce that starvation seemed imminent.

Noah gathered everyone together and mixed whatever food was left into a delicious meal. The next day, the flood receded, and Noah and his family were saved from the famine.

 Noah’s Pudding is a sweet, thickened mixture of beans, dried fruit, and grains. In Turkey, Dr. Koc’s homeland, it is known as ashura. Christian communities in the Middle East prepare a similar sweet dish called hedik, amah, or qamhiyyi. People cook it and give a cup to each of their neighbors regardless of their religious belief in a gesture of goodwill and peace. Hence, the connection to our lecture series “Let There Be Peace on Earth.”

As you may have guessed, I was intrigued by this dish and just had to try it for myself. Dr. Koc handed out a brochure with a printed recipe that is identical to the one here.  I googled the term and found an almost infinite number of  ways to make this dish. In keeping with the story, I think the best way to prepare this is to rummage through your cupboards and mix together whatever you’ve got handy. Everytime you make it, you’ll have a new surprise.

 Here’s how I made my concoction of Noah’s Pudding:

1 c wheat
1 c dried black-eyed peas
1 c dried chickpeas
1/4 c amaranth or teff
3 T flax seeds, toasted
1 c blanched almonds, halved
1 c cashews
1 c diced apricots
1 c dried sweet cherries
1 c dried mission figs
3 c honey
1 tsp vanilla
cinnamon

Soak the dried black-eyed peas, chick peas, and wheat in water in separate bowls over night. Boil each in separate pots until soft. Combine all together in a large pot and add amaranth, flax seeds, almonds, and cashews. Cover with water. Boil until all ingredients are softened to desired texture. Add apricots, cherries, and honey. Boil at least 15 minutes longer or until mixture becomes thickened slightly.  Stir in vanilla and figs. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Cool and serve.