Archive | Miscellaneous RSS feed for this section
Mouse in the House
It seems no matter where I have lived, when winter comes, I have been plagued with a mouse taking up residence in my house. The stories of me vs. mice are legend. One time in NY, I had left a box of white powder sugar donuts on the kitchen counter. I was in the living [...]
Continue reading...Reflections on a birthday
3. February 2010
Well today marks the entry of another year of living for me. I had to make a visit to the Department of Motor Vehicles to renew my license and photo. They now require like 10 forms of ID to assure them you are a legal resident and not an illegal alien or terrorist. I was [...]
Continue reading...Vanilla’s Fated Lovers
23. January 2010
Today the word vanilla is often used to describe something as plain, boring or maybe even bland. However, the history of vanilla is anything but! Vanilla comes from a tropical orchid and was first cultivated by the pre-Columbian Totonac people of Mexico. Totonac mythology told a story of the goddess Princess Xanat who ran off [...]
Continue reading...Soap…it’s a simple lifesaver
16. January 2010
Today I decided to make a batch of lemongrass soap. While I was stirring the batch I started thinking about the earthquake in Haiti. I could not even begin to imagine what it would be like to lose my home, a friend or family member, or even a limb in an earthquake. As I wondered [...]
Continue reading...The Magi’s Gifts-Part One: Frankincense
13. December 2009
As Christmas approaches I started thinking about two of the gifts presented to the baby Jesus by the Magi: Frankincense and Myrrh. When I was a child, I always wondered what these two mysterious gifts were and why would anyone give these to a baby? Frankincense has been revered since biblical times and was a [...]
Continue reading...
7. February 2010
5 Comments