Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day, 2011

Stop the presses.....the sun is out! This is big news in the northeast in the middle of February.
The days are long and dark; the snow is dirty and the ice is unforgiving. Right about this time,
I always begin to wonder what the heck I am doing living here. And then, one minute at a time, the days get a little longer, the light begins to shift and we have a couple days in a row above freezing. One day this week, I could smell the salt in the air from the ocean. I am not sure what this means, but it felt hopeful!

The Wellness Challenge continues. I averaged 5655 steps per day my first week. I have to say that the pedometer is a great motivator for me. I love looking at it during the day and thinking about what I have to do to make my number higher. For an exercise delinquent like myself, this is a great new obsession!

I heard a great old song on the radio this week, The Love I Lost by Harold Melvin 
and the Bluenotes. This is from 1973; the era of really good soul/rhythm & blues music. I grew
up on this music, and still today, when I hear it, I am back in Evanston, IL, riding my bike along the lakefront with my sisters. Free, simple, not many worries in my mind. A great feeling....music has the power to do this to us.

Today the sun is out, I feel good and the Egyptian people stood up for what is right.
It is a good day!

Expect good things....

Sunday Morning in February

The Beatles in Chicago, Jan. 2011

I am happily in the midst of the Wellness Challenge and am very interested in how I have just stopped eating eggs and cheese. I am intrigued by this as these were two of my main staples. It is funny how I don't really miss them.  I am eating plenty of food, so I do not feel deprived in any way. Once in a while, I miss salt. I LOVE salt. My sister always says she would like to put a salt lick in her living room! Yesterday, with the delicious white bean/vegetable/sage soup that I made in the crock pot, I ate a LOT of Riceworks Sweet Chili chips. Oh man, they tasted so good! This is a gluten free snack food, which sounds like a good thing.  However, I don't think devouring the entire bag with one other person in a single setting is a good idea!

One of my favorite parts of the Challenge is the pedometer that we were given. This small device clips right onto your waistband and counts the steps you take in a day. It has been suggested that 10,000 steps in a day is a figure to strive towards. On days when I exercise, I am averaging between 6000 and 7000 steps. Yesterday I parked a bit further than I had to from the library and sloshed through some funky, sort-of-slippery sidewalks to get there. I know if I hadn't been using this pedometer, I would not have been motivated to do this. So the Challenge is already working; my thinking and behavior is changing.

On my journey of learning about food, I am foremost interested in the growing of food. Farmers and gardeners earn the highest level of respect from me. They have taken tiny, hard seeds and have nurtured them into delectable, nutritious sustenance for us. It never amazes me, this mysterious way of the world; without it we would not be here. And so, I want to share a stunning photo documentary project that I discovered: The Migrant Project.  Give yourself the time to take a look at this in-depth photo essay. It is full of superb photographs and staggering facts about the lives of migrant workers....the people who bring us much of our food.

Expect good things.....

The Wellness of My Being

Diesel Looking for Jim, 2010

This has been a long, difficult winter. And, it is only the 2nd day of February. Today it was pouring down rain and there was a lot of flooding in the road. As well, the fog was heavy and thick and it made for treacherous driving. Chicago had 2 feet of snow today; I suppose I would rather have the rain.


I started the Wellness Challenge today. Really fantastic that a group of people organized themselves to provide the following to their community: "Founded in 2005 by East Hampton resident Douglas D. Mercer, Wellness Foundation empowers people of the Town of East Hampton — from Sag Harbor to Montauk — on their journey to increased health and happiness."  Their services are free of charge; real community service.

I got my blood work done in time to participate in the Challenge and found out, to my surprise, that my cholesterol is high. A plant-based diet....that is the gist of this program. Lots of vegetables (50% raw/50% cooked), whole grains, fruit and legumes. I actually like to eat a lot of these things anyway. I think the hardest thing for me will be the half & half in my decaf! But hey, I have tried the Silk creamer and it is not that bad. Tonight for dinner I made whole wheat couscous (not really sure that this would be considered whole grain now that I think about it). I broiled tofu in a combination of rice vinegar, low-sodium tamari, ginger and garlic. I steamed broccoli and kale and then sauteed them with orange juice, garlic and red pepper flakes. Not a drop of oil in the entire meal! The meal was a hit and there are left overs for Ned's lunch.


I am avoiding my homework. I just started a class on-line. Part of the class includes having "discussions" on line. I think I might be too old for this. In my experience, a discussion is when two people are in the same room talking, or at least you can hear each other's voices (telephone). But to call snippets back and forth on the internet a "discussion" is really pushing things in my opinion! As I said, I  might be too old for this. 


Expect good things.....