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#WeekendCoffeeShare Editing Possessions
August 7, 2017
— 1 Comment
stone
If we were having coffee this weekend I would invite you to sit back and overlook the chaos going on in the house. I am in the middle of moving my furniture for a more practical and useful arrangement. I am also still editing all kinds of items for give away. I have a small haul to take to Goodwill tomorrow. I have been lucky in that some of my friends have desired some of the things I no longer cared to keep. This happy situation was enhanced by our city brush and bulky pick-up of larger items curbside. I made good use of it. We could already achieve the goal of parking both of our cars in the garage now if we had to do it. Since there is still much shifting, moving and arranging to do, it is easier with just one car in there.
Some shelves and storage units that had fallen into uses that did not really suit their original design are being moved to places in the house that make much more sense. When I complete the overhaul and elimination I think our space will be much more enjoyable. I know I will be able to find things more easily when I need them. I already can. My office is one of the spots in need of a tidy and clearing. I always feel good and am more productive when my office is clean and free of clutter. I am hoping the muse will move in and inspire like crazy once the office is spic and span. She has been okay lately, but nothing to write home about..I have done a little fiction and some poetry. I did not post every day last week, but such is life. I am leaning more toward poetry this year, and I like the trend. I used to be so factual all the time.
Every week has a different feeling and rhythm. I am settling into my job and my new car. It is still perfect weather for my friend and I to work out in my condo pool 3 times a week from 5-7 am. Soon the water will cool down and in September we will have to move to the jacuzzi. This is my favorite time of year. The summer is fading, but it is still raining a little. The plants are green, and some of the washes are still running. All in all, this has been a healthy rainy season. We had no big destructive storms, but received a good amount of rain in a steady manner.
I am listening to a course on Audible on the history of human gastronomic evolution. It is fascinating. I am learning so many new ways to look at cultures by understanding how food defines civilizations and times in history. We are still constantly evolving, although some might say our food is devolving in America today. I am also listening to Penny Marshall’s autobiography read in her own voice. It is a great story, but the voice of LaVerne telling about youth in the Bronx is also a real treat. It is called My Mother Was Nuts. I highly recommend it even though I have not finished it.
It looks like our hostess Diana has taken a weekend break. She has a new full time teaching job and must need to organize herself. I am sending this on Monday morning, so all the rules have been set aside for the week. Thanks for sharing coffee and your news. Please catch up with the rest of the gang on twitter under #weekendcoffeeshare.
#WeedWednesday Shatter
August 1, 2017
— 1 Comment
One of the concentrates available on the market for medical marijuana patients is called shatter. It is a butane extraction of dried plant material. The solvent butane dissolves and extracts the active ingredients from the plant. After the solvent is evaporated through a distillation process, the product is aged in a vacuum oven to further remove any residual solvent that remains in the product. The highly concentrated shatter can then be used in various ways, including smoking it. It is ready to be absorbed easily by the body in this form, and therefore delivers a fast acting onset. For those who want to smoke very little for maximum benefits, shatter is one way to achieve that goal. A little bit goes a long way.
At our dispensary, Desert Bloom Re-Leaf Center, shatter is available in many strains. The flavor as well as the effects are preserved by this method. The essence of the plant’s active ingredients are harnessed for concentrated use. Start with a single low dose to find out for yourself how best to use shatter for your condition. Your bud tender will assist you in selecting a strain that matches your needs, and show you how to use shatter.
#WeekendCoffeeShare Lazy Muse Edition
July 30, 2017
— 6 Comments
reflection in my pool
If we were having coffee this weekend I would invite you to sip a long glass of iced tea or coffee. The weather is muggy and the ground is muddy. My ambition is active in starts and fits. Last weekend was extremely successful in the possession purge department. I unloaded a big car, loads of fabric, twofold funky floor cleaning machines, and about 300 pounds of glassware. We went to the used book store with our DVD’s, but only a small portion were accepted for trade. The initial phase was exciting because as items left the house, more was revealed that needs to go. I did uncover space in the garage and in some cabinets in the house, but I am not even 10% into the work that I need to do. It is exhilarating to see the empty space appear. It will be even more exciting to clear out the barn and sell the lot across the street. The financial reward will be more than worth the effort. I will perceiver.
With all the extra emphasis on physical things, my muse decided to be lazy and fickle. I wrote very little this week while I settle into my work and commute schedule. I made some excuses about all the “work” I have to do. I admit that this is pure malarkey. My commute is an easy 20 minute straight shot, and my work is fun. Plenty of people go to school full-time and work full-time and get graduate degrees. Surely I can work a tiny part-time job while purging my possessions and still find time to write. I am putting this muse’s nose to the grindstone in the coming weeks. It is better to write something, even if it is not my best work, than to skip too many days. How do you handle your productivity issues? Does your muse just lounge around and refuse to work? Today I am working a shift on Sunday so I can take a full day off for my facial tomorrow. Ms Muse should realize she is living in a very privileged and pampered being, and be more grateful. If I discipline her she just leaves. I can usually squeeze a poem out of her as she exits, but there is no telling when she plans to return. She is a lot like me.
While I fill your iced tea glass, tell me how your life and writing are going. I hope you are feeling more productive than I am now. Are you looking forward to the next season (back to school for some) or treading water? I love summer because I spend so much time in the pool. I don’t really mind the heat because I have a pool at my condo village I can use 24 hours a day. I am very fond of moonlight dips. The water cools off in the middle of September, ending the nighttime enjoyment. Until then I can be found in the deep end, thinking deep thoughts, teaching the muse to swim.
#WeekendCoffeeShare
Please join us each week for #WeekendCoffeeShare, hosted by Diana at Parttimemonsterblog.com. Share your news and catch up with the gang on the weekends here. The feast is moveable and the drinks are all digital and calorie free.
#WeekendCoffeeShare Monsoon Edition
July 15, 2017
— 7 Comments
Sonoran Desert
When it rains it pours in the desert. We finally have our summer rainy season. If we were having coffee this weekend in Tucson you would notice the uptick in humidity, and the relief all the flora is now expressing. The long dry spell is broken. This annual event is met with great rejoicing here, no matter when it arrives. We would all burn in hell without our summer rain. Have a seat, relax, and tell me about your week. We are still up to our ears in dates, so help yourself. For tea, we have every flavor you can imagine. I can serve it up on ice to keep you cool for our chat. What’ll ya have today? I am guzzling white strawberry iced tea..makes me remember spring, when it was not so hot.
If we were having coffee I would tell you about the ironic timing of events in the last week of my life. First I crashed the back of my car and sent it to the shop for repair. This incident kicked off a virtual cascade of related reactions. This is the first insurance claim on a car I have made other than a cracked windshield. I know the insurance company will raise my rates, and I have been thinking that my car no longer suits my lifestyle. With my new job I now have a commute and it would be better to have a more efficient smaller vehicle (for which I will also pay lower insurance premiums). I visited the Prius dealer and picked out my salesman. He is extremely cool, from Senegal. He claims to be able to dance better than all the West Africans in France…we shall see about that!! Moustapha and I will be cooking up the perfect deal for my new vehicle and image. I will be sure to show it to you all when it happens. There is much to study before I make this move.
I had scheduled a light treatment at my dermatologists office before I crashed the car. The treatment to remove precancerous spots from my face requires that I spend a few days in total darkness to recover. I had changed my work schedule accommodate what I call the vampire days. If you have to have your car repaired anyhow it is the perfect time to stay home in the dark. I had a great time yesterday getting rid of things. I have decided that along with my car and a layer of skin on my face I will shed everything I own that no longer thrills me. This process will take some time, but I am determined to finish the job. I feel liberated already by making these decisions.
I was distracted by real life enough to skip two days of writing this week. I started to write a memoir on Monday because the alliteration just works. I wrote a short piece about my father and fishing ( because alliteration rules) I skipped #TeaTuesday because we had a very long meeting plus training at the grow. A doctor presented both an hour of basic cannabis training, required by the state for those of us who hold the dispensary agent license, and a more advanced lecture for the whole staff. Both hours were jam packed with information. The doctor was a good presenter with plenty of science to back everything he said. This job is the bomb. I shot some good footage for #WeedWednesday but did not get the post written this week. Lucky for me nobody really suffers if I skip some days. I only disappoint myself.
Since I discovered that alliteration is such a great way to create an editorial calendar I decided to write fiction of Friday. I chose a familiar real character from my youth and made up a story about her life. I don’t think it qualifies as historical fiction, but I did make a start, so I am pleased with the idea. I know it is corny but #SelfCareSunday, #MemoirMonday, #TeaTuesday, #WeedWednesday, and #FictionFriday make me very happy. I write either fiction or poetry on Thursdays because I enjoy Sue Vincent’s #writephoto prompts. Do you follow a writing schedule or do you just let it flow?
What are you working on now? I think many of you have inspired me to attempt fiction, and I thank you for that. What kind of subjects do you like to cover? Where do you get story ideas? What remedies do your employ for writers’ block? I am curious about your process. Let me pour you another glass of tea and listen. Tell me your news.
#WeekendCoffeeShare
This weekly digital beverage party is hosted by our lovely hostess Diana at parttimemonsterblog. You can join the fun by reading, writing, and commenting here. The group is diverse and witty, and who doesn’t want to visit New Orleans every week?
Cabbage Rolls Again?
July 14, 2017
— 1 Comment
Audrey
She knew from the smell when she opened the front door that her mother was cooking cabbage rolls again. The hallway and the stairwell smelled heavily of cabbage when she came home from school. For her it was the reassurance of a meal to eat, but for others who visited her after school it was foreign. They always asked when they arrived at the landing in front of her upstairs apartment, “What is that smell?” Her parents were both from Poland, and her mother was an excellent cook. She used cabbage almost every day because it was cheap and healthy. Audrey was both proud and ashamed of her heritage and her ethnic diet at home. She wanted to blend in with kids at school who ate much differently than her family. Her mom was really the one with the mad chef skills, but she was ashamed of that cuciferous odor coming from the kitchen all the time.
Her home and the family income were average for the time and the place. Audrey felt that she and almost everyone she knew in school would be classified as “middle class”. There were fewer class distinctions in elementary school than there would be later in life. She had friends, boyfriends, and was popular. In the 1950’s in our tiny town the children were given relative freedom to do as we pleased until dinner time. Friendships that began on the whiffle ball field or in a snow fort would often conclude with an invitation to eat dinner at another kid’s home. Most mothers would consent if an extra child was brought home, but permission had to be granted from the visitor’s parents. In this way we checked out each other’s family dining habits and parental norms. It was a very common practice. She held back from accepting invitations because she did not want to reciprocate. This was the beginning of her social withdrawal.
Now that she is back at home taking care of her parents in their home she wishes she had learned to make stuffed cabbage the way her mom did. She is an adequate cook, but does not know any of her grandparents’ traditional recipes from the old country. She buys frozen foods and prepared packaged meals. A certain amount of guilt consumes her as she spoon feeds frozen corndogs to her mom. She does not understand what her mother is telling her in Polish, and she feels a loss that cannot be recovered.
#WritePhoto Peace Trance
July 6, 2017
— 8 Comments
peaceful paradise
At the most stressful times she could remove herself from the action by calling on her ability to go into a trance. She had been a captive since her early childhood. She can barely remember her own abduction and the long ride down the mountain out of the forrest. They crossed barren plains scarred with the remnants of war to the camp where she remained. She never saw her family again, and was taught a new language, full of harsh sounds and concepts. In her few hours of rest she remained faithful to her tribe’s values, trying to keep the few sacred words of her mother tongue alive in her mind. There was no speaking around in that forbidden language, for the camp was used to erase culture and tribal belief. The process was a special kind of stripping of confidence that left them all exhausted.
Her skill to call down the moon was still in tact. She spent the full moon nights in reverie, practicing the trances and the dances she had been taught as a little girl. She felt her own power grow as her values changed. She knew the secret of taking responsibility. The people brought to the camp were stripped of their identity and culture, then programmed for menial and dehumanizing work. They were hoodwinked into thinking they had no choices in life, that this awful slavery was a punishment for something they had done.
In her meditation she saw the logs in the forest that her grandmother used for an altar. She could pull in every detail of that scene, and even hear the voices of her people chanting to bring her back home. Finally one night in her dream the path to return to her village was revealed. A strong bold figure opened the gates and brought all the people into freedom. She ran quickly up the hill with an unlimited energy she had never had. Her steps were swift and sure as she climbed the last hill. She saw her whole family gathered around the altar, dancing slowly, chanting sweetly. When she awoke and found herself safely snuggled in her own hammock she knew she had been taken on a special dream journey. She ran to her grandmother for an explanation. All her grandmother would say was, “You have been chosen. Now you must choose which path you will use.” She was not sure which one, if any, was real.
#writephoto
This story is a response to the Thursday photo prompt on Sue Vincent’s Echo. Please join each week for poems and stories on a photo theme. It is fascinating to read the different ways writers interpret the picture.
#WeedWednesday Welcome To Arizona
July 4, 2017
— 1 Comment
cannabis
cannabis
cannabis
cannabis
Arizona made medical marijuana legal in November, 2010 by enacting Prop 203, which won by a narrow margin. The health department of the state regulates and licenses dispensaries. The number of dispensary licenses issued is linked to the number of pharmacy licenses in the state. Prop 203 calls for no more than one dispensary license to be granted for every 10 pharmacy permits issued by the Arizona State Board of Pharmacy. As of 2010 when the law was passed, that equates to 124 dispensaries statewide. Patients who live more than 25 miles form a dispensary can apply to have a caregiver grow for them, or be their own caregiver. Many rural areas of the state are more than 25 miles from a dispensary, most of which are concentrated in the urban areas of Phoenix and Tucson.
In Nov 2016 Proposition 205 was defeated by the voters, 51.32% to 48.68%. Had it passed Arizona would have joined the adjoining states of Colorado, Nevada, and California in legalizing recreational marijuana. This makes Arizona a less well-funded state, and creates a tourism draw for the other three. The marijuana tourist tax dollars Arizona turned away will visit Las Vegas and have no remorse.
Canadian firms have started to invest significantly in the AZ market, buying dispensary management companies and making other large investments throughout the state. The cannabis business will grow at a slower rate than our adjoining legal states, but still contribute much to the economy under the current medical law. Most people think it will eventually be legal in all states soon. Investors and consultants are setting themselves up in business within the law and are also preparing for the future. New products and product lines are brought to market and management contracts are being signed. Weed is big business, a growth business. The expanding market will be served in new ways, yet to be discovered. This is an interesting segment to watch. What are the marijuana laws in your state, gentle reader?
cannabis
cannabis
cannabis
#WeekendCoffeeShare Memoir Moments
July 1, 2017
— 8 Comments
raw borscht on ice
If we were having coffee this weekend I would invite you to drink iced tea while enjoying the last of my three blooming jasmine varieties. The yard is again scented with that sweet jasmine flavor that carries well in a breeze. You will want to observe it from the front window while we chat because the heat out there is harsh. Sit back and relax in the air conditioning while I pour your favorite iced tea. I also have two kinds of raw fermented borscht for you, which restores your electrolytes and adds probiotics to your diet. It is like a floating salad suspended in beet juice and kvass. It cools you and helps you keep balance in the heat. I also think it is yummy, but you can decide for yourself. The cucumber and dill will remind you of pickle juice.
If we were having iced tea this week I would tell you I decided to join Audible for a year because the subscription was discounted heavily. For $100 a year I have access to books and podcasts that make my new job a dream. I can do my job and listen to books without distraction. It is a wonderful two birds with one stone situation. I finished the book on biological biodiversity, then knocked off a book about writing by Jeff Goins, and have started The Power of Memoir, by Linda Joy Meyers. This book is inspirational to me because I have studied my family history for years, and written a few very short poems about the ancestors (who were poets themselves). I have wanted to write historical fiction, but never attempted it. Ms Meyers lays out all the steps needed to write a riveting memoir, some of which I have done, like the genealogy research. I was inspired by the book to use my grandmother as the subject this week of my short fiction in response to Sue Vincent’s Thursday prompt. I think I can apply what I am leaning from this generous and well written instruction to my own writing. It can unlock many stories for my future. I recommend the book to all writers, even if you do not plan to write a memoir. She covers technique we all need to remember.
The Power of Memoir
I began my weekly #WeedWednesday feature with a post in the lab at the grow where I work. The short, warm up, educational piece was well received by readers. It is fun and easy to do, and it informs me as well as the audience. There is so much advancement in the science of medical marijuana that I will have much material to cover on this subject. I plan to interview the experts about the plant varieties and all the ways we process the plant to create various therapies. There are new developments all the time, so I doubt that I will ever run out of material for that segment.
How did you spend the week? Have you made progress with your writing, or with your life? Have another glass of tea and fill me in on the details.
#WeekednCoffeeShare
Thanks for joining me today for tea and borscht. Stay cool, and preserve what you still have of your political cool. It looks like it will be needed for a long time in the US. Wishing all the sentient beings everywhere independence and time to savor it. Please visit our hostess, Emily, from Nerd in the Brain for more coffee and news. Read, write, comment, or just drink lots of digital coffee with us every weekend.
#WritePhoto Flights Of Fancy
June 29, 2017
— 15 Comments
flight of fancy
Her troubled mind had conjured up some frightening scenarios. She sat for hours wringing the hands that had once been so productive and accomplished. Her memory played cruel tricks on her as she tried to survive without her husband. Ernie had taken care of certain aspects of life that had always been a mystery to her. Although my grandparents ran a farm together, sharing the heavy work load, my grandmother was in the dark about the family finances. When she became a widow and could no longer stay alone at her farm it had been sold. Her life of relative freedom came to an end. She lived in institutions or at her children’s homes, never really settling. She missed independence even though she could barely manage daily tasks without a great deal of assistance. She disliked the feeling of being a houseguest, or even a child, of her son’s family. She had lost her matriarch status, and had to defer to her daughter-in-law. This life in suburban Pittsburgh was foreign, and cold. She rarely went out, and when she did she was fearful, even with her family. She lost her ability to relax. Anxiety was her only companion.
When the sun set she sat in the back yard in silence. This time to herself was spent every day engaging in bird watching. She had little sensitivity to human emotions, but was tuned into nature like a trance. She could feel the spirits of each bird soaring. Their playful flight brought a rush of feelings from her youth, from her most sorrowful, as well as her brightest times. She could sense that her own spirit was close to a threshold. She sometimes thought her spirit left her body and explored the sky above her for a while. As darkness fell the caregiver arrived to guide her into the building. Her lightness of being vanished as the door closed behind her. Perhaps tomorrow will be the day she finally takes off for eternity. She feels as if she has already spent an eternity here.
#writephoto
This fiction is written in response to this week’s photo prompt from Sue Vincent’s Echo. Join us each week to read, write, or submit your own take on the Thursday prompt.
#WeedWednesday CO2 Extraction
June 28, 2017
— 3 Comments
Welcome to the first edition of cannabis college. I plan to present a short informative post each Wednesday about the current state of development in the science of medical marijuana. Much has changed, and I anticipate more science based therapies will be developed using cannabis in the near future. I work at the Desert Bloom Re-Leaf Dispensary grow, where we grow indoor and outdoor crops. In the lab and kitchen we produce a wide range of products, which is expanding as new products are tested and developed for the patients. I am new on the job, and learning more every day. I know I am curious about all the varieties being grown and the products on the market. I hope to enlighten both myself and the gentle readers in this series on the science behind this growing industry. Patients now have amazing control of dosage and specific medicine for various conditions. I want to find out more about this, and share what I learn with you.
Justin McKenzie is one of our head growers, with years of experience in growing and processing cannabis. He was good enough to join me in the lab to answer some questions about CO2 extraction. This is the beginning process for many end products. Next we will cover butane extraction in the lab, then go to the kitchen to see what happens there. I am very curious about all the new ways to micro dose cuisine.
Juliana in the kitchen
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