mermaidcamp

mermaidcamp

Keeping current in wellness, in and out of the water

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Triberr Rules

July 11, 2013 — 2 Comments


I value my Triberr membership very highly, and love the opportunity to invite the world to join us. I invite artistic Tumblrs to come on over to see how I Tumble in the Artistic Expressions tribe. I have not promoted this arty little place in the world, but hope other expressive folks will drop by with some art to share.  The benefits of Triberr compound themselves daily.  Deep appreciation goes out to Dino, Dan, and Andres for both getting this party started, and improving it all the time.  Thanks for the t shirt. I wear it with pride.

Middle Class as History Lesson

July 10, 2013 — 3 Comments

The vanishing middle class in America is the subject of much discussion. In fact, tonight some of the internet’s finest minds will tweet brilliant ideas in a twitter chat on this subject.  How the advent of technology has reduced the need for big workforces that manufacturing employed in the past is part of our political history and our new economy. Pros and cons can be weighed, but there is nobody who believes our economic policies have not grown a very wealthy upper class with extrme privilege  at the expense of the rest of the population.  Our great divide grows larger each minute providing tax breaks, and a dream environment for big business while poverty grips our children and our elderly.  The new fat cat is fat indeed.  A generation of wealth has been wiped out and shifted to the wealthiest and most powerful of our citizens.

I had the pleasure of meeting Bill Moyers several times when I worked at fancy spas.  He was a spa bunny.   He is more charming in person than I ever imagined, quickly running to the top of my favorite celebrity list.  I learned one time talking with him down in Mexico that his mother was from Texas, like mine.  They both had the same first name, Ruby.  His mom, however, was named Ruby Jewel.  Wow.  Last night on Charlie Rose his interview reminded me of all the reasons I love him, but it also taught me that we were both in Austin when he was working for LBJ and I was protesting LBJ.  It’s like we’re connected.

Free Freedom

July 9, 2013 — 3 Comments

amaryllis

amaryllis

sunflower

sunflower

cactus

cactus

sunflwoer

sunflwoer

ice plant

ice plant

iris

iris

sunflower

sunflower

hollyhock

hollyhock

bee balm

bee balm

sunflowers

sunflowers

Our relative freedom is under our control. We are sometimes the prisoners in our very own jail of procrastination, judgment, and something we call, running around.  We often choose running around our decisions rather than making them, which, by default, makes them.  If we can send armies to fight for freedom in harsh conditions what is stopping us from personally liberating ourselves to feel happy and free?  Here are some places to look for or create more freedom in your life:

  • Decide – No need to be rash, and you can change your mind later, but just do it when you have decisions to make
  • Create – Any act of creation from cooking to sculpture to poetry writing gives us a sense of freedom.  We have made our own.  We do not have to settle for what everyone else has.
  • Move – Sometimes a tragic byproduct of depression or physical discomfort is reluctance to move.  Moving is freedom itself;the more you move and use your body in different ways, the more freedom you feel.  The body responds with greater flexibility and range of motion, which itself feels really good.
  • Choose – Make choices in your daily life to expand the horizon. If you have eaten the same breakfast for years, try something else.  Small changes and personal touches are the essence of freedom. Allow yourself to make new choices for no particular reason. Find your own favorites you have not yet experienced.
  • Allow – Free time is rare and fleeting with the electronic gadgets in hand all day and all night.  Free up some concentrated personal time to be spontaneous and discover new worlds.  Start small and build on this practice.
  • Garden – We may not all be able to grow our own, but visiting gardens and other botanical spaces give us an expansive feeling of being part of nature.  If you put in the hard work it takes to grow some food you like to eat you will be rewarded for those efforts.  Picking your dinner is liberating and empowering.

The Importance of Being Grateful

July 9, 2013 — 9 Comments

Practice defines our reality. We spend our time and energy as if we had no control over them.  We learn what we study and we believe what favors our own superior position in the human crowd.  Nobody survives alone without help from others.  In history we chose the people who prepared our food and sewed our clothing carefully to make the most of the means at our disposal.  We used resources in the same way because they were scarce.  Most individuals were not lavished with great luxury, but if they were lucky they had liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Today we know nothing of the people who prepare our food like products or sew our disposable fashion.  We may have a vague feeling that everything we use was made in China, but that is usually the end of it. Many seek pleasure in acquisition of goods and services just to be piggy.  This general shift in responsibility is sad in a big karmic way because we have essentially eliminated the need for gratitude to those who serve our material needs.  We buy the workers and then discard them like the objects they make for us.

Gratefulness.org is an organization created to enhance gratefulness around the globe in every way.  The offers and courses are imaginative and very helpful.  One can study on line everything from gratitude poetry writing to living the hours like a monastic.  Given the international state of affairs I salute the Gratefulness organization for addressing the main problems right at the root.  If you have not visited these grateful folks and discovered what they are teaching, you are missing an opportunity to be guided to a more grateful state of mind.  Grace is gratitude, gentle reader; don’t leave home without it.

Culinary Weekend in Tucson

July 7, 2013

This was our first time to attend the Iron Chef Tucson competition that is held at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort. We took our dog and spent the night to make a little staycation out of the event. It was  fun, surprisingly popular, and full of variety.  The competition was won for the third year in a row by Ryan Clark.  The trade show and competition brought out all kinds of people interested in cooking and dining.  A good time was had by all, especially the dog, who enjoys hanging out in hotels.

The trade show part of the even included samples, sips, and demos of many kinds of equipment, from knives to fancy stoves.  There were vendors selling Nambe, candy, coffee, and even personal training.  The most interesting thing I learned at the event is that our local food bank operates a culinary school that not only recycles food that would be wasted, but trains low income students to work in the food industry.  This program has allowed the food bank to expand the prepared meals program in the community while training new students.  I am so excited to hear about this.  It has been in existence for 2 years, and this is the first time I have heard of it.  I will follow up with a visit to the school, which is enrolling a new class next week.

One of my favorite vendors who installed a wood burning stove in my home is Val Romero.  He owns Arizona Grill and Hearth.  His company is an excellent source for all things grill, stove, and outdoor kitchen.  My stove is the best upgrade I ever made to my living conditions, and the project was done with the utmost professionalism, and at a good price.  He is a positive person with aloha in his attitude and fair dealing in his spirit.  You will have a good time if you do business with Val.

Teledoc, Is This Obamacare?

July 5, 2013 — 4 Comments

For the first time since I was a child house calls from doctors are available to me. My insurance company just sent me a card to access doctors on the phone for $38 or less per consult. Now they are talking!!!!  They sent me a notice recently to advise me that I may get a rebate under the new health care law, and I need only sit tight and wait for news of said rebate.  Now they sent me cards to allow me to consult doctors without going to a creepy doctor’s office full of cooties.  This is progress.  I have made no attempt to understand how the new laws will work in my case.  I have never taken any prescription drugs, and avoid contact with medical professionals at all costs.  I have received very little in return for my premium payments for the last 12 years. I have no use for most of what they cover.

If this is Obamacare I want more of it.  Nothing makes more sense to me than using our resources much more wisely in the health care business. I set up an account with the insurance company, provide medical history, and then I can request a consult.  I don’t even have to go to  drug store clinic;I just call or Skype.  This is the most rational move I could imagine.  I never trust medical doctors to diagnose correctly, which is essential for a good outcome.  I would be a much happier patient if I had no mandatory wait in a room with a bunch of sick people.  My experiences with my parents’ health care issues left permanent scars on my belief in doctors.  I am very enthusiastic about the idea that Teledoc comes to me on my terms, and if there are pharma salesmen in the house serving tacos to the obese Teledoc office staff I will have no awareness of it.

Flunking Personal Branding, Scribe Archetype

July 5, 2013 — 8 Comments

I have been advised by Vizify that I am failing personal branding by not using my key words. I could not be more thrilled to hear this news. If there is one thing I want to avoid it is personal branding. This word counting cousin of Klout wants to publish yet another profile and share it all over the place.  I have had other analytics of my public content which arrived at the conclusion that I was an expert in mangos.  I am an expert in swimming and aquatic exercise, but am not intending to make all of my content prove that point.

I wanted to be a travel writer long ago when one had to actually get published by someone else.  Now that I can say and do what I like when I like, I prefer to take up more than one subject.  Travel still interests me, but I stay home more than I did when I was an agent in the good old days. I am a scribe, an historian, a reporter with my own beat.  I sometimes write political opinions, but think it would be boring to do that regularly.  I feature my ancestors, one at a time, to show my direct relationship to history.  Botany is a passion, so I often photograph plants to share in this blog.  I try not to create a diary of my life, but to share what I think others want to know. I am scribe at large.

I appreciate the chance to meet others and exchange thoughts and information.  I have been very lucky to make the acquaintance of other family members here who have offered data about our common ancestors.  That has been a happy unintended consequence of writing in public.  Triberr has introduced me to a world of bloggers I enjoy reading as well as posting in my twitter stream.  Our system allows us to syndicate each other through Triberr.  It facilitates the flow of ideas, art, and information.  I am pleased to live in a time that gives us this access to the previously closed world of publishing.  I appreciate every gentle reader who reads, shares, and comments here.  Thank you all  for helping me fail personal branding.

American Beauty

July 4, 2013 — 4 Comments


I do not defend my country right or wrong, but I am proud to be an American. Around the world the people love us for our culture, our style, and our unique energy. We are emulated at least as much as we are dissed. I wish our politics were not so crazy, and our resources were better managed, but I am American. When the government disappoints we have to ask, “Compared to what?”  We have much for which we must remember to be grateful.

My American History, Plymouth to Tucson

July 4, 2013 — 6 Comments

My single Wampanoag ancestor, Quadequina is the only true American in my tribe. My DNA tests out at 96% from the British Isles. My pedigree is what is known in the US as blue blooded.  My ancestors almost all left Europe in the early 1600’s to colonize America.  They had a religious problem with the locals who were freaking out all over Europe in different religious ways.  Suffice it to say the move to Plymouth or Jamestown was done with more than a little religious arrogance.  The locals here had a perfectly adequate religious practice, but the Pilgrims and Virginians were bound to convert and enslave them in an exciting new monotheistic way.  The God who sailed over with the Pilgrims was that angry, vengeful ,all by himself God who just had no patience or tolerance for the beliefs of others.  This God provided for the English on American soil by making sure the king back home had power to scare the beJesus out of any non-believer.

Imagine the dismay of the locals in Massachusetts when they learned that the colonists not only sucked down their erstwhile property and hunting rights, but planned to take more of the same.  King Philip , AKA my great uncle, planned and executed a revolution against the colonists, which is when things got ugly quickly and forever. When I visited Mashpee, the land that was given by the English to the tribe, by arrangement with the King in 1655, I thought I would see the graves of the elders who started Thanksgiving.  I was mighty upset with my Pilgrim ancestors, even though one of them married into the tribe, the group in general was highly rude and creepy.  I saw the graves of the Mayflower passengers, and their church….but not a clue as to the location of Quadequina’s resting place.  Bury my heart at Mashpee.

I learned  much about the way American history has been reconstructed, but I also got to meet some young Wampanoag people who have great pride and are reviving the language.  I became very angry again when I found out the wampum belts that document this history are in England…and the tribe asked them to return the property to Mashpee.  Wampum is a shell currency used to create agreements and make purchases.  The belt was a form of contract used to define, for instance, real estate deals made with Brits.  The state of Rhode Island was purchased with wampum.  I have no power to get the wampum artifacts returned, or change the facts of history.  I just wear the wampum I got on Cape Cod as a reminder of by beloved American tribe.  On behalf of 96% of my blood, I apologize.

Wurst, Weiners, and Weenies

July 3, 2013 — 4 Comments

hot dog

hot dog

Fast food has been known to the Euros for ages. They demand fast food everywhere all the time, but it is local and superb. They are all about the grilled wurst. It s everywhere, grilled outside and served with a piece of bread, but no hot dog bun. This snack/meal is the basic on the go food for German-speaking peeps, including the Swiss. Everywhere you go with Swiss people they end up with a wurst. It is not what I eat, but there are plenty of street foods that I adore.  My favorite dish on earth is vegetarian tandooori schnitzel at Hiltl.  The oldest vegetarian restaurant in Europe is in Zurich, in the heart of  downtown Switzerland; the schnitzel calls to me in my dreams.

How we fell so far from the wurst grilling street vendors to the Wienerschnitzel  chili dog is a sad story of linguistic and culinary decline.  A schnizel is a filet of pork sirloin, and not a hot dog in any way. Wiener refers to Vienna, a culinary hub where I assure you nobody would consider eating the chili dog or our famous canned Vienna sausage.  They just would not do that to their taste buds and bodies.  Beanie Weenies would be scorned as well because food that rides around in a can is simply not fast.  The first ingredient in these alleged fast foods is petroleum, since they are shipped great distances in freezing conditions or heavy packaging.

Ironically, on the most important weenie weekend of the year, 4th of July, I probably pay more for my vegetarian apple smoked sausage which I will eat with organic sauerkraut than most people pay for the meat hot dog, corn dog, or burger.  It too has traveled far in the so called health food supply chain.  I have bought these because I am lazy and have not made my own, which are always better than store bought.  At least when I want a chili dog I make the chili.  Truly taking care of body earth and soul means saying good bye, or at least see you later to processed foods that cost too much to produce.  These well traveled weenies are not good for anyone.  To heal the politics of the nation we need to pass on the used Weiners, and get back to basic whole civilization.