What’s your way to start the day?
Years ago, I would gulp a can of cola, grab a donut or four and head out the door. If I had time, stop by the drive-thru grease pit and get a carbo-load of pancakes and fake maple syrup, throw some slabs of fried pig on the side and voila, fatfest.
Great in the old days of 12-16 hour slogs in the shop. Burn those calories like a raging forest fire. The body changes as does the routine.
When I settled into the more sedentary life of writing, burning brain-cells didn’t seem to overcome too many calories. I began to accumulate insulation, slowly layering it up, under my skin. This slowed me down and allowed it to build up faster.
Life in Europe didn’t help the situation. All that fresh bread, scones, crumpets, Dutch pastries…chocolate in everything else, except the beer. I was on my way to becoming a rotund one.
My return to America on the good ship Queen Elizabeth 2 was the crowning touch. I gained about twelve pounds in ten days. Huge breakfast, walk the decks, read, write, lunch, write, nap, tea-time, walk the deck or read, dinner, movie or catch a couple of the Blues groups (it was a "Blues Cruise", 10 days, 18 acts), evening stroll around the deck, then a midnight snack. You get the picture; I was burning about 137 calories and taking in 9,000.
When I got to Tennessee the scale informed me that I was nearly 190 pounds. Which is way too much for my frame. The move to the farm brought that out in a hurry. Out of shape and overweight a doctor put me on a natural diet. It probably saved my life.
Breakfast now is composed of oatmeal and tea. Boring but healthy. OK, I add a few ingredients to the oatmeal. First in is sliced pears or apples. We have pear trees on the farm and I use them fresh when I can, preserved when out of season and frozen in between. Then I throw some peanut butter into the mix, top with dark chocolate chips and add pecans. There are pecan trees here and this year we had a good crop.
The green tea gets raw honey from the local apiary. I haven't used sugar except in an emergency while away from home. There isn't any in the house.
Sounds like I circumvented the doctor, but I’ve lost the weight that I gained and more. I’m now about ten pounds heavier than when I played football in high school.
In my opinion, half the battle is going back to natural foods and getting away from the processed debris sold as food in many fast-fried places.
It’s your body, fill it up any way you want.
Don’t call me when it breaks down.
I only fix cars.
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Monday, September 1, 2008
The Harder You Play, The More You Pay
Trying to start the month off right. Even if this will be a short (for me) post.
A couple of old items on the agenda, which I WILL take care of in the coming month.
The "You Wanna Be In Movies" Series will get wrapped up. Trying to break down the overly long post that is the one day of shooting on the feature film set. It was a long day, so it's a really long post.
My education into the ways of the blogosphere continue. It's a good thing for the Internet that people can make anonymous comments. If they couldn't, about 80-90% of all blogs would dry up and blow away. Anon commentators remind me of hecklers in a crowd. Always wanting to shout out some usually worthless dreck, but hey, not brave enough to get up on the stage and give their name. Don't even begin to lecture me about 'freedom of speech'. The people who believed in it were brave enough to sign their names to the document, when doing so could have meant their death. Yes, this could mean another blog.
The summer is officially over. Getting the farm ready for winter. Which seems to be coming on rapidly this year. An early winter would not be any surprise, but I would like to have a fall season for once. The past few years fall has lasted about two days and then the cold weather slammed down. That's relative of course. I don't have to deal with three feet of snow any more and when we get three inches of snow on the roads...they close the schools! All of you in the Great White North can go ahead and laugh now.
If you are one of the few people who read this blog, I can report that the pear tree was loaded with fruit this year. Some of the biggest pears I've ever seen. So far, I've got about a dozen five gallon buckets of pears off the tree. It was well worth getting up at 4AM to light a fire and keep the tree from icing up during a late freeze. Pear preserves are already on the shelf, right next to the red plum preserves. Need to get some apple trees planted down here. Pecans will be next, they're starting to fall.
Work, an appropriate topic for the day, considering that it's "Labor Day" in the U.S.A. The irony of which is that only rich people or those who have vacation days usually get to take the day off. OK, I know, most businesses are closed and everyone is having a barbecue, congratulating themselves on having a job.
One thing about national holidays in Europe which the US needs to look into copying. When they have a national holiday, they usually close everything. You can't go to the grocery store, mall, etc. Some restaurants will be open, but that's about it. Unfortunately, the trend has been for Europe to copy us. So now they are trying to work everyone, every day of the week, all year long. So much for enjoying life! Take some time out from the greed.
I will be spending more time on my writing in the coming months. It's not easy, but it certainly is much less stress and strain on my body.
During my life, I played hard, got the lumps, scars, broken bones and aches to prove it. All that fun comes with a bill. Which is not covered by medical insurance.
You can't appreciate pleasure, until you've tasted pain. Whether in your body or brain.
It's a comparison thing.
Not avoidable in life. See your doctor, if pain persists.
He'll write you a prescription.
Take as directed.
A couple of old items on the agenda, which I WILL take care of in the coming month.
The "You Wanna Be In Movies" Series will get wrapped up. Trying to break down the overly long post that is the one day of shooting on the feature film set. It was a long day, so it's a really long post.
My education into the ways of the blogosphere continue. It's a good thing for the Internet that people can make anonymous comments. If they couldn't, about 80-90% of all blogs would dry up and blow away. Anon commentators remind me of hecklers in a crowd. Always wanting to shout out some usually worthless dreck, but hey, not brave enough to get up on the stage and give their name. Don't even begin to lecture me about 'freedom of speech'. The people who believed in it were brave enough to sign their names to the document, when doing so could have meant their death. Yes, this could mean another blog.
The summer is officially over. Getting the farm ready for winter. Which seems to be coming on rapidly this year. An early winter would not be any surprise, but I would like to have a fall season for once. The past few years fall has lasted about two days and then the cold weather slammed down. That's relative of course. I don't have to deal with three feet of snow any more and when we get three inches of snow on the roads...they close the schools! All of you in the Great White North can go ahead and laugh now.
If you are one of the few people who read this blog, I can report that the pear tree was loaded with fruit this year. Some of the biggest pears I've ever seen. So far, I've got about a dozen five gallon buckets of pears off the tree. It was well worth getting up at 4AM to light a fire and keep the tree from icing up during a late freeze. Pear preserves are already on the shelf, right next to the red plum preserves. Need to get some apple trees planted down here. Pecans will be next, they're starting to fall.
Work, an appropriate topic for the day, considering that it's "Labor Day" in the U.S.A. The irony of which is that only rich people or those who have vacation days usually get to take the day off. OK, I know, most businesses are closed and everyone is having a barbecue, congratulating themselves on having a job.
One thing about national holidays in Europe which the US needs to look into copying. When they have a national holiday, they usually close everything. You can't go to the grocery store, mall, etc. Some restaurants will be open, but that's about it. Unfortunately, the trend has been for Europe to copy us. So now they are trying to work everyone, every day of the week, all year long. So much for enjoying life! Take some time out from the greed.
I will be spending more time on my writing in the coming months. It's not easy, but it certainly is much less stress and strain on my body.
During my life, I played hard, got the lumps, scars, broken bones and aches to prove it. All that fun comes with a bill. Which is not covered by medical insurance.
You can't appreciate pleasure, until you've tasted pain. Whether in your body or brain.
It's a comparison thing.
Not avoidable in life. See your doctor, if pain persists.
He'll write you a prescription.
Take as directed.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Smoking Pears
It's almost 0800, I've been up for nearly three hours now. We had heavy frost warnings down here, so I set the alarm for 0530. I woke up at 0515 and got out of bed and dressed in the heavy winter coat, watch cap and gloves.
When I went outside, the dogs were surprised to see me. Thor stuck his head out of his insulated dog house, then rested his chin on the frame, watching me prepare the fire. Scoundrel didn't even look out, at least I didn't see him. He's smart enough to know it's too cold to be out. Anyhow, the rabbits won't be feeding for at least another couple of hours, so why get up?
When I moved on the farm, a surprising discovery was the old, gnarled pear tree outside my back door. It was surrounded by a makeshift brick enclosure, which the previous tenant had use to dump all his cigarette butts and other debris. Before I realized that it was pear tree, I almost cut it down with the chainsaw. It didn't look like it would live another year and it's close enough that it would interfere with my building a patio off the back steps.
I cleaned the area around the tree and kept it watered during the long, hot summer. It had a pretty good crop of pears the first summer. Pruned it during the winter. The next year, it produced an excellent crop of pears. I was giving them away to neighbors and family, much more than I could eat. Pints and quarts of pear jam and jelly came back to me. Store bought is convenient and some of it's excellent, but there's no comparison to farm fresh.
The past two years, late frost has killed the buds, just after the blooms fell. The pear preserves stock is gone. My father called the other day, one of his main concerns was whether we would 'lose' the pear tree again this year. There's a huge tree on the other side of the farm, but this one produces the quality pears. That's why I was up at 0515 this morning.
Last night I put the 55 gallon drum under the tree, loaded it with kindling, fresh cut grass from the lawn and some wet wood. Paper from clearing out my desk went into the bottom. Most of you are wondering, 'wet wood'?. Yep, I want smoke and steam when I get this fire going. Gotta keep the frost off the tree.
The fire put off clouds of steam in the predawn light, stars going out overhead as the night faded. Smoke billowed up around the tree, shrouding it in a protective blanket. I let the dogs run, but the rabbits were still snoozing, so they came back in short order. They watched me do some exercises, while I kept tabs on the fire.
When my friends in the city ask why I live out here, it's hard to explain.
Morning grass growing gray-white with frost.
Air still, no wind or noise.
Pink-rose smudge of dawn along the ridge,
like a bud blossoming
into the gold of morning sun.
Draw a deep draught from the ocean of air.
Another fish in the sea of humanity,
swimming in my own, quiet pool.
Let the sharks swim in the cities.
You can't buy this kind of peace.
I look forward to the taste of fresh pears in the fall.
Meanwhile, there's hen fruit in the kitchen and the cast iron skillet's hot. Time for my morning omelet.
May your day be as good as mine!
When I went outside, the dogs were surprised to see me. Thor stuck his head out of his insulated dog house, then rested his chin on the frame, watching me prepare the fire. Scoundrel didn't even look out, at least I didn't see him. He's smart enough to know it's too cold to be out. Anyhow, the rabbits won't be feeding for at least another couple of hours, so why get up?
When I moved on the farm, a surprising discovery was the old, gnarled pear tree outside my back door. It was surrounded by a makeshift brick enclosure, which the previous tenant had use to dump all his cigarette butts and other debris. Before I realized that it was pear tree, I almost cut it down with the chainsaw. It didn't look like it would live another year and it's close enough that it would interfere with my building a patio off the back steps.
I cleaned the area around the tree and kept it watered during the long, hot summer. It had a pretty good crop of pears the first summer. Pruned it during the winter. The next year, it produced an excellent crop of pears. I was giving them away to neighbors and family, much more than I could eat. Pints and quarts of pear jam and jelly came back to me. Store bought is convenient and some of it's excellent, but there's no comparison to farm fresh.
The past two years, late frost has killed the buds, just after the blooms fell. The pear preserves stock is gone. My father called the other day, one of his main concerns was whether we would 'lose' the pear tree again this year. There's a huge tree on the other side of the farm, but this one produces the quality pears. That's why I was up at 0515 this morning.
Last night I put the 55 gallon drum under the tree, loaded it with kindling, fresh cut grass from the lawn and some wet wood. Paper from clearing out my desk went into the bottom. Most of you are wondering, 'wet wood'?. Yep, I want smoke and steam when I get this fire going. Gotta keep the frost off the tree.
The fire put off clouds of steam in the predawn light, stars going out overhead as the night faded. Smoke billowed up around the tree, shrouding it in a protective blanket. I let the dogs run, but the rabbits were still snoozing, so they came back in short order. They watched me do some exercises, while I kept tabs on the fire.
When my friends in the city ask why I live out here, it's hard to explain.
Morning grass growing gray-white with frost.
Air still, no wind or noise.
Pink-rose smudge of dawn along the ridge,
like a bud blossoming
into the gold of morning sun.
Draw a deep draught from the ocean of air.
Another fish in the sea of humanity,
swimming in my own, quiet pool.
Let the sharks swim in the cities.
You can't buy this kind of peace.
I look forward to the taste of fresh pears in the fall.
Meanwhile, there's hen fruit in the kitchen and the cast iron skillet's hot. Time for my morning omelet.
May your day be as good as mine!
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Life, Death and Survival
The previous post is not going to make some people very happy. That's tough, as it's pretty much how things really are in the world.
No matter what you eat, it's usually dead before you get to it. All the vegetarians in the world like to think that they are not killing anything to eat it, but they are just fooling themselves.
All living things eat or consume other living things, the only difference is if it's animal or plant. It's always amazed me how people get upset over those of us who eat venison (deer meat) while they're chewing on a hamburger. You would be surprised how tasty a veni-burger is!
As for the processing of the kill. It doesn't matter how far down the list you are, whether you kill it or someone else does, you're part of the system. You have as much blood on your hands as the butcher. If you didn't place that order for a burger and fries or even a salad, that cow, that potato and all those greens would have lived out their lives...and died anyway.
Just be thankful for them being around to give up their 'lives' for you.
Then, chow down!
No matter what you eat, it's usually dead before you get to it. All the vegetarians in the world like to think that they are not killing anything to eat it, but they are just fooling themselves.
All living things eat or consume other living things, the only difference is if it's animal or plant. It's always amazed me how people get upset over those of us who eat venison (deer meat) while they're chewing on a hamburger. You would be surprised how tasty a veni-burger is!
As for the processing of the kill. It doesn't matter how far down the list you are, whether you kill it or someone else does, you're part of the system. You have as much blood on your hands as the butcher. If you didn't place that order for a burger and fries or even a salad, that cow, that potato and all those greens would have lived out their lives...and died anyway.
Just be thankful for them being around to give up their 'lives' for you.
Then, chow down!
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