Smiling, he smuggled me an extra-tender ear of buttery sweet corn, which I gnawed to cob in three seconds. Aware I no longer ate human. Rather like a homeless dog. ~ Robert Newton Peck, Cowboy Ghost I can relate. I do love corn on the cob, slathered in butter, lightly salted, heavily peppered. Makes my mouth water […]
For the Love of Corn – Food and Fuel Read More »
In the argot of the cycle world, the Harley is a “hog,” and the outlaw bike is a “chopped hog.” ~Hunter S. Thompson I always thought that Harleys were called “hogs” because compared to other motorcycles, they used a lot of gas. While I’ve seen alternate stories, that isn’t one of them. Here are two
The Origin and Naming of Hogs – Harley Davidson Read More »
Why should I stretch? Does a cheetah stretch before it chases its prey? ~ Ken Griffey, Jr. I’d argue that Mr. Griffey, fast as he was, wasn’t built the same way as the fastest land creature on earth. While humans win at endurance against any other land animal, even Usain Bolt could not beat a
This Will Be A Fast One – About Cheetahs Read More »
The viewer watching the view is also being watched by the view! So every viewer is also a view and every view, a viewer! ~ Mehmet Murat ildan Back in 2022 I tackled an awareness topic, but the focus of What Do You See, Really? was primarily protecting your bubble. For example, be sure to determine
Watch yourself–and Everything Else Read More »
The family farm is the foundation for who we are as a Commonwealth. And for over a century, the family farm in Kentucky has centered around one crop: tobacco. ~Jim Bunning Even if the biggest garden you ever tended was the size of a postage stamp and you only grew tomatoes, you know how much labor
Tobacco & a Different Kind of War Read More »
When I heard about Humpty Dumpty I wondered did he fall or was he pushed? ~ P.D. James It’s a fair question, as we’ll see in a few paragraphs. But before we get to the Stephen King block, here’s a traditional rhyme that’s one of my favorites. Content in brackets provides contemporary adjectives to replace those
Rhymes – Monday’s Child and Others Read More »
It is a narrow mind which cannot look at a subject from various points of view. ~ George Eliot, Middlemarch It has been my experience that when a friend tells me a story, I tend to adopt her–or his–perspective. Whoever was the “bad” guy in the story continues to be the villain in my mind, too.
Looking the Other Way – Perspective Read More »
Caramelization is the sweet dance of sugar under heat, transforming from crystalline to a rich, golden elixir, a testament to the delicate balance between time and temperature. ~Unknown I’ve never made caramel candy myself, but I do confess that I love caramel far more than the ubiquitous chocolate. As I was treating myself to a
Sweet & Salty – Caramel Read More »
Our ancestors are totally essential to our every waking moment, although most of us don’t even have the faintest idea about their lives, their trials, their hardships or challenges. ~Annie Lennox I’m not sure what Ms. Lennox meant by “essential to our every waking moment,” but she is absolutely correct that we don’t know much
Ancestors. The struggle is real. Read More »
Overthinking is the art of creating problems that weren’t even there. ~Anonymous That was certainly not the case in my high school English class. Not for me; not one of my teachers ever accused me of overthinking anything. That, and I was always dead last when it came to figuring out the hidden meanings in
When is a story just a story? Read More »
You’ve done it before and you can do it now. See the positive possibilities. Redirect the substantial energy of your frustration and turn it into positive, effective, unstoppable determination. ~Ralph Marston With all due respect to Mr. Marston, determination takes you only so far. And, no, I’m not talking about the try, try, try again
Done and Not done (Yet) Read More »
Look not mournfully into the past; it comes not back again. Wisely improve the present, it is thine. Go forth to meet the shadowy future without fear and with a manly heart. ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow As mentioned in the recent post on Horatio Spafford, many creatives use their writing as an outlet for their grief.
Life and Lyrics of Longfellow Read More »
Wise men come to see a child of greater wisdom and honor divine. ~ Richelle E. Goodrich In almost every manger I’ve ever viewed, I have seen baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, shepherds, farm animals, and … wise men. How many wise men? Always three. Why do we think there were three–no more, no less? And what
About Those Wise Men Read More »
To all who mourn he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. Isaiah 61:3 All of us have had some sort of emotional pain, some much worse than others. Even those who have dodged gut-wrenching and life-changing losses have certainly observed a friend’s suffering.
To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven. ~Johannes A. Gaertner This will be an abbreviated post because you have a full to-do list ranging from preparing a Thanksgiving feast to consuming said feast to digesting it in a supine position.
Gratitude For the Sake of All That’s Healthy Read More »
Any family tree produces some lemons, some nuts and a few bad apples. ~Unknown If you don’t see the truth in this, your family may be an outlier. Anyway, as with the fruit and vegetable oddities mentioned in my November 7th post, food group classifications can be wildly diverse. And so it is with the
Fascinating Family Trees Read More »
People think dreams aren’t real just because they aren’t made of matter, of particles. Dreams are real. But they are made of viewpoints, of images, of memories and puns and lost hopes. ~ Neil Gaiman I agree with Mr. Gaiman to some extent. Dreams are real; we do have them. Whether they are possible to execute
Dream a Little Dream, But Why? Read More »
Cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a college education. Mark Twain He wasn’t wrong, according to Brittanica. Cauliflower and cabbage are in the same family. Further, cauliflower is considered to be a domesticated version of cabbage. That conjures visions of cabbage heads marauding among the scallions, but I digress. While thousands of families consume what
A Potpourri of Naming Oddities Read More »
I’ve always envied people who sleep easily. Their brains must be cleaner, the floorboards of the skull well swept, all the little monsters closed up in a steamer trunk at the foot of the bed. ~ David Benioff, City of Thieves Generally speaking, I drift off to sleep shortly after my head hits the pillow. But
What Does Sound Have to Do with Sleep? Read More »
God has a plan for all of us, but He expects us to do our share of the work. Minnie Pearl I grew up in a household that loved country music, so I am familiar with Minnie Pearl, her hat with the price tag hanging down, and her HOW-DEE! She was always entertaining and sometimes
How-dee! Lessons from Minnie Pearl Read More »
I was never very picky about accepting only talented or extra-talented people. That was never my priority. It was always to discover if I saw a possibility for improvement. Those are the cases that make you feel that what you are doing is rewarding, when you see the progress the student is making because of
The History & Beauty of Strings Read More »
For fog was merely a cloud that wasn’t too smitten with itself to visit terra firma. ~Jan Karon The most memorable fog bank I recall was also the most terrifying. My daughter and I were driving down I-55 from St. Louis to West Tennessee on a cold December day. We really should have stayed put
Fog – A Thing That Lacks Substance, And Yet … Read More »
Food is everything we are. It’s an extension of nationalist feeling, ethnic feeling, your personal history, your province, your region, your tribe, your grandma. It’s inseparable from those from the get-go. ~ Anthony Bourdain We derive much of who we are from our environment, and what we eat is as much a part of that
Food and Drink in my Sweet Tennessee Read More »
The etymologist finds the deadest words to have been once a brilliant picture. Language is fossil poetry. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson So many topics lack appeal until we gather sufficient detail to capture our attention. As an example, I attended the Indianapolis 500 about 30 years ago. The 50° temps, the near-constant drizzle and the quarter
Phrase Origins, Etymologically Speaking Read More »