Today, I am a hedonist!

I had to look it up. It said pleasure was an intrinsic good.  I can think of no better way to describe a massage than one hour of true hedonism.  Of course, the pleasure was heightened as my masseuse arrived in a white tutu, long green "hair", and a set of white wings!  Okay, the ultimate hedonism is a massage on Halloween!  When finished, I asked her if she could feel me smiling!  She said no.  I was.  I still am.  Intrinsic.  Pleasurable!  Know you are loved!

The devil is in the details

As I sit here in my well equipped, second floor penthouse kitchen at Hy-vee, watching the smoke from the ethanol plant head south before it can head up, I am reminded that cooking is not so much about cooking as it is about the preparation!  The thirteen people in class tonight will see about one and a half hours of cooking.  To facilitate this time frame, we've been working off and on since 9:00 this morning.  Understand this is NOT a complaint.  It is what I love to do!  And the amazing thing is, I believe it is possible to be too prepared.  Last class, I had everything pre-measured and combined for its intended purpose.  I then proceeded to grab the crumb topping ingredients and try to make pie crust out of them. Didn't work so well!  Tonight, the ingredients await, but there has been NO pre-mixing.  Fool me once....  And I believe tonight will go smoothly, because the devil is obviously pre-occupied...with the wind!  Know you are loved!

That time of the year

Should we turn the heat on?  Should we bundle up?  Heat?  Bundle?

We choose bundle! The tiger Biederlach is 30 years old, and yet one of my favorite fuzzies.  Some how it just feels right!  Find what keeps you warm and know you are loved!

This old house

As I was trying to quietly move from the kitchen to the basement to the kitchen to the front porch to the basement to the kitchen to the front porch, (something about memory and what I was after/and what I forgot to get!), I realized how futile my premise was.  It simply is impossible to move quietly in this house.  As I descended to the basement, the stairs each sang out the burden they were encountering.  As I moved from the kitchen to the front porch, a cacophony of creaks, moans, and groans eminated from the floor boards.  Even the chair announced my presence as I delicately lowered myself into it.  Now this is the point.  You may think I'm complaining.  Not so.  We have been in this house for over 38 years.  With minor adjustments along the way, we have made it ours.  It's comfortable.  It has character.  It's sturdy.  And it's ours.  Cath laughs at me when I frequently sit in the front porch and say "I like our house!"  (Of course that's not the only time she laughs at me!). But I do!  It is a blessing in my advanced years.  And truthfully, it would seem that all the creaks are in the floor boards.  This old house I've had for almost 65 years creaks and groans also!  I think I'll keep them both!  Love where you are, and know in turn you are loved!

29,965

When I started this blog, I truly did it selfishly.  Okay, it was precipitated by a challenge at an AARP workshop, but where else could I say anything I wanted to say and exercise a little literary practice at the same time?  I never expected that my pages would be visited 29,965 times (and hopefully, by the time this is one day old, the magic 30,000 will happen!).  Now granted, that probably (definitely!) doesn't mean that 30,000 people have read what I have to say.  It means they opened the blog.  By mistake?  Out of boredom?  Because you're my friend?  It really doesn't matter.  30,000 is in my estimation worthy of celebrating.  In your honor, I will drink a glass of wine in thanks!  Maybe two.  Maybe there won't be a blog tomorrow?!  If I'm here, there will be!  But for now, you have to know that I am appreciative, and YOU are loved!

philosophical quandry

As I sat waiting for today's inspiration, I held in my hand a smooth, pointed stylus.  I think it was used for scratching things off a Valentine's card last February (who says I don't put things away?).  It had a great feel--smooth and gliding past my fingertips.  I then started to think.  If I had to give up one of my senses, which would it be, and if I had to keep only one of my senses, what would it be?  In sixty-five (almost) years, I've seen a lot, but don't want to quit.  My olfactory senses are directly related to my sense of taste, and we know I wouldn't want to lose those.  Obviously, based on the stylus, my sense of touch is a blessing.  That leaves hearing, and I've seemingly started to lose that.  Couldn't hear music?  Ouch.  Couldn't hear the laughter of a child?  Ouch.  But if I had to lose one....  (I probably would change that on a daily basis.)
Now to the flip side of the coin.  If I had to lose every sense but one, what would it be.  Trick question designed to get to today's point.  The only sense I pray to god I never lose is my sense of humor.  What a difference it makes in my life.  The ability to laugh with others and at myself has more than once retained what little sanity I have.  To put it as succinctly (not exactly one of my traits) as I can, I would quote you the magnet on the refrigerator door.  "Life is too important to be taken seriously."  Psychologically speaking, I think you could say I definitely have come to my senses!  And you are loved!

Rechargable batteries

I have always been enamored with rechargeable batteries.  The very thought that you could use things up. regenerate them and use them again seems almost impossible.  And yet, my camera is working, even though those self-same energy sources were completely depleted only yesterday.  Miraculous!  If it works for batteries, why not for human beings?  And you know what?  It does.  Don't get me wrong. At the end of a long day, I don't plug myself in and recharge.  It happens all day long.  When I have the opportunity to spend time with friends...recharge.  When I remember how lucky I am to have mi esposa...recharge.  When I see someone do something nice for someone else and expect nothing in return...recharge.  When I take time to enjoy the beauty that surrounds us...recharge.  When a former student says thanks...turbo charge!  All I have to do is plug in to my surroundings, and I'm ready to take more pictures.  I understand that rechargeable batteries will eventually lose their ability to regenerate.  When that happens, I'll get new ones.  And when my internal batteries refuse to regenerate, I think I'll probably leave for a while...and come back...I've always wanted to be a standard poodle!  Sleek!  Classy!  But please, no haircuts!  Rejuvenate when you can, and know you are loved!