We went to the quinta on Sunday since Monday was a national holiday; all the orange trees are in bloom and the air is redolent with the fragrance of the flowers. Birds sang, roosters crowed, sheep baaahed, horses neighed, and insects buzzed. Even our favorite toads were out after the sun went down.
Just so this doesn't seem like some kind of earthly paradise--it almost is--we came back with mosquito bites bigger than anything in the whole history of blood. The danged insects could only be heard as they buzzed around our ears deep in the night, but by then it was too late. I'm surprised we didn't find them in the morning, the size of sparrows, staggering around on the floor filled with several liters of blood--our blood.
They shouldn't have been in the house, but there is no way to guard against them during the moments of carelessness when a door is left open--this is what happened, too, as we hauled in the books I mentioned on my last post. We have the Asian mosquitoes, that bite during the day, and the familiar variety, that attack you at night. We spend small fortunes on insect repellent, including what we get for the horses.
A great wind is blowing outside on this first day of spring, which means we are having a change in the weather. The plants in my garden are sprouting--peas and squash for the moment. I love springtime--it's one of the two times a year you can actually sit outdoors comfortably, as long as you have mosquito netting...
martes 20 de marzo de 2012
sábado 17 de marzo de 2012
Springtime, again
Here it is springtime once more, and a long weekend to boot. Everyone is out on the running path again, including Nordic Walking Woman. I hadn't seen her in a long time. My training team gets new shirts soon, although I have promised to hide mine under another shirt when I'm doing spectacularly badly. Either that or I have to print my age in big numbers on my shirts.
Once more, the doves seem to be working up to crashing into my windows, the parrots are so loud you can't be outdoors in peace, the mosquitoes have made a big comeback, and I decided to do some spring cleaning. Having put off going through our medicine cabinet for years, I decided it was high time; there are deposits in pharmacies where you can toss your outdated medications to make sure they aren't re-used or resold. By the time I was through, I was appalled. The cabinet was almost empty, and one of the medications had an expiration date of 1997! This seems to be the week for other old stuff, too. You may know that Encyclopedia Britannica will no longer be published in book form but will now be available on the Internet. Several people think this will make the lovely books a collector's item before long, and today when my husband went to tour a house on a property he just bought, he found a complete set of abandoned Britannica plus a large number of good books in English, all of which are now in his car. We, too, have a set of Britannica including the Children's Britannica and the gorgeous set on the great thinkers. Maybe they will become valuable and our kids can do something with them after we croak. All I can say is, the younger generation needs them. They can't spell or punctuate, and I'm thinking about sending the great thinkers series to the Republicans this year as a political donation. Maybe like a virus or osmosis, something of cognitive processes will seep through to them. God knows they need help. (This is a mere figure of speech, I'm an atheist...)
Ever wondered why liberals don't go bonkers and shoot people like that old deaf drug addict Rush Limbaugh or try to blow up the local NRA chapter?
For anyone looking for a good escape read, there are the Henning Mankell books about Detective Kurt Wallander, and all the Inspector Morse books are good reading too. I made the horrible mistake of reading the last Wallander book first (there was no clue it was the last book when I bought it) only to be stunned with it ending as Wallander sinks into Alzheimer's disease. I've managed to get over the shock by reading the other books, but they are all somewhat dark. What is it about these Swedes who are doing police or suspense novels? The books are excellent but they seem to be profoundly affected by Swedish winter weather.
Next week we are celebrating my husband's 70th birthday with a big bohemian musical party with plenty of food and drink. I have ordered a really nice cake, just the right size to manage to get 70 candles on it. None of this silly business about candles in the shape of a 7 and a 0. Like the birthday card said, there'll be a hot time at the birthday party, especially if you're in the room with the cake. One of my kids suggested we get a blowtorch to light the candles. Otherwise we will need a team of candlelighters in order to get the last ones lit before the first ones have burned to stumps. I think four people are enough to get the job done without setting each other's hair or clothing ablaze.
There was near tragedy today. I spilled coffee all over the breakfast room table and got some on my Kindle!!!! I think it has come through okay, but I'm not sure yet. There are controls on each side of the device to turn the "page", and one side seems to be on the fritz. This is not a problem since the other side works, but maybe after the coffee dries out inside the thing....well, I'll wait and hope for the best.
Once more, the doves seem to be working up to crashing into my windows, the parrots are so loud you can't be outdoors in peace, the mosquitoes have made a big comeback, and I decided to do some spring cleaning. Having put off going through our medicine cabinet for years, I decided it was high time; there are deposits in pharmacies where you can toss your outdated medications to make sure they aren't re-used or resold. By the time I was through, I was appalled. The cabinet was almost empty, and one of the medications had an expiration date of 1997! This seems to be the week for other old stuff, too. You may know that Encyclopedia Britannica will no longer be published in book form but will now be available on the Internet. Several people think this will make the lovely books a collector's item before long, and today when my husband went to tour a house on a property he just bought, he found a complete set of abandoned Britannica plus a large number of good books in English, all of which are now in his car. We, too, have a set of Britannica including the Children's Britannica and the gorgeous set on the great thinkers. Maybe they will become valuable and our kids can do something with them after we croak. All I can say is, the younger generation needs them. They can't spell or punctuate, and I'm thinking about sending the great thinkers series to the Republicans this year as a political donation. Maybe like a virus or osmosis, something of cognitive processes will seep through to them. God knows they need help. (This is a mere figure of speech, I'm an atheist...)
Ever wondered why liberals don't go bonkers and shoot people like that old deaf drug addict Rush Limbaugh or try to blow up the local NRA chapter?
For anyone looking for a good escape read, there are the Henning Mankell books about Detective Kurt Wallander, and all the Inspector Morse books are good reading too. I made the horrible mistake of reading the last Wallander book first (there was no clue it was the last book when I bought it) only to be stunned with it ending as Wallander sinks into Alzheimer's disease. I've managed to get over the shock by reading the other books, but they are all somewhat dark. What is it about these Swedes who are doing police or suspense novels? The books are excellent but they seem to be profoundly affected by Swedish winter weather.
Next week we are celebrating my husband's 70th birthday with a big bohemian musical party with plenty of food and drink. I have ordered a really nice cake, just the right size to manage to get 70 candles on it. None of this silly business about candles in the shape of a 7 and a 0. Like the birthday card said, there'll be a hot time at the birthday party, especially if you're in the room with the cake. One of my kids suggested we get a blowtorch to light the candles. Otherwise we will need a team of candlelighters in order to get the last ones lit before the first ones have burned to stumps. I think four people are enough to get the job done without setting each other's hair or clothing ablaze.
There was near tragedy today. I spilled coffee all over the breakfast room table and got some on my Kindle!!!! I think it has come through okay, but I'm not sure yet. There are controls on each side of the device to turn the "page", and one side seems to be on the fritz. This is not a problem since the other side works, but maybe after the coffee dries out inside the thing....well, I'll wait and hope for the best.
domingo 12 de febrero de 2012
The Nose as Simple Decoration
Lots and lots of people don't like their noses; mine suits me just fine. Yesterday, however, I discovered that it has been nothing more than a decorative item on my face for, oh, say six months or so.
We have had day after day of rain and cold, but I ran anyway until yesterday when I had a headache that had all the earmarks (literally, it would seem..) of a sinus problem, and my ears had been stopped up since my last trip to Querétaro, snapping, crackling, and popping but not opening. Thanks to my husband's nagging and some internal impulse that was yelling "Alright already!!!", I went to the ENT specialist we see--it's more fun in Spanish, he's known as an otorrinolaringólogo--only to discover that whatever could be blocked up in the ENT zone, was. It was so acute that he gave me a wonderful shot that opened up my nose almost within five minutes, and I was shocked to discover what it was like to breathe without opening my mouth.
It was even more of a shock to find out what it was like to sleep without my nose stopping up on the side upon which I was sleeping, forcing me to turn to the other side in order to open up each side by turns. My treatment will last at least a month, and the pills I take at night keep me up, but they keep me up and alert, so maybe I can take a night class somewhere. I can't wait until the weather is decent enough to go for a run just to see if this makes a difference or not. Maybe juiced up with my allergy pills and a big dose of bronchial inhaler, I can increase my distance and speed! Add a cup of coffee to that, and man alive, I may be a contender!
We have had day after day of rain and cold, but I ran anyway until yesterday when I had a headache that had all the earmarks (literally, it would seem..) of a sinus problem, and my ears had been stopped up since my last trip to Querétaro, snapping, crackling, and popping but not opening. Thanks to my husband's nagging and some internal impulse that was yelling "Alright already!!!", I went to the ENT specialist we see--it's more fun in Spanish, he's known as an otorrinolaringólogo--only to discover that whatever could be blocked up in the ENT zone, was. It was so acute that he gave me a wonderful shot that opened up my nose almost within five minutes, and I was shocked to discover what it was like to breathe without opening my mouth.
It was even more of a shock to find out what it was like to sleep without my nose stopping up on the side upon which I was sleeping, forcing me to turn to the other side in order to open up each side by turns. My treatment will last at least a month, and the pills I take at night keep me up, but they keep me up and alert, so maybe I can take a night class somewhere. I can't wait until the weather is decent enough to go for a run just to see if this makes a difference or not. Maybe juiced up with my allergy pills and a big dose of bronchial inhaler, I can increase my distance and speed! Add a cup of coffee to that, and man alive, I may be a contender!
sábado 4 de febrero de 2012
Legal Drugs
Today's unusual news is that I've found a legal, performance-enhancing drug. No, I do not refer to caffeine, although that is certainly part of my repertoire.
It's my asthma inhaler. And no, I have never had an acute attack of asthma, but my allergies have given me what are called hyper-reactive bronchials, sort of a precursor to acute asthma. Many years ago, after going to an allergy clinic in Texas, it was suggested I use an inhaler before exercising, but since my exercising died down to making coffee or brushing the dog, I forgot all about it until yesterday when I used the inhaled medication.
It surprised me that I was even able to trot along a couple of blocks yesterday, after so long a period of feeling like a reheated cadaver, and I decided to walk most of the distance in order not to overdo anything right off the bat. Then this morning after another big puff of the inhaler, I warmed up for a kilometer then ran the second one the whole distance, plus another block or two. No struggling, either. Let's hear it for legal drugs!
It's my asthma inhaler. And no, I have never had an acute attack of asthma, but my allergies have given me what are called hyper-reactive bronchials, sort of a precursor to acute asthma. Many years ago, after going to an allergy clinic in Texas, it was suggested I use an inhaler before exercising, but since my exercising died down to making coffee or brushing the dog, I forgot all about it until yesterday when I used the inhaled medication.
It surprised me that I was even able to trot along a couple of blocks yesterday, after so long a period of feeling like a reheated cadaver, and I decided to walk most of the distance in order not to overdo anything right off the bat. Then this morning after another big puff of the inhaler, I warmed up for a kilometer then ran the second one the whole distance, plus another block or two. No struggling, either. Let's hear it for legal drugs!
viernes 3 de febrero de 2012
Square 2
Well, FINALLY, after weeks of feeling like el crapo, it turns out I have one of the usual intestinal parasites that fly around, and in two days I will have finished with the ghastly medication. The good news was that I felt well enough to hit the park today, thanks be to the Force. I may be beginning yet again, but at least I am not at square one, but square two. Every little bit helps. My rheumatologist prescribed a goal of five days of exercise per week, and this after I told him I was so tired I was shrivelling up like a salted snail. Did I get any sympathy? No!
Some kind of equipment was bought by the largest running club at the park and installed at Narcissists' Corner. They still have the barbells that end in lumps of cement, and the pull-up bars are still the main attraction, but now they have some kind of odd affair the purpose of which seems a mystery. Two pieces of equipment: you stand on a type of floating pedal arrangement, hold on to some bars at shoulder level, and you swing from side to side. Since gravity is doing all the work, I couldn't figure out what the equipment was supposed to be doing. There are always a couple of people swinging away every day at most hours, but no one was using them this morning since it was very early. I looked at the lettering on the things. Apparently the arrangement gives you some kind of massage. Who knows how, but one day when no one catches me, I'll get on one and see if that swinging really does anything.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, my Italian conversation classes consist of the teacher conversing and me trying to patch together enough words to say something. It is unbelievably frustrating because I can read all kinds of things in Italian now, such as the short stories of Leonardo Sciascia, and I can understand someone who speaks fairly slowly, but converse?? It's probably because what the teacher and I talk about is way beyond my current abilities--I don't have enough verb tenses, to begin with. Oh well, maybe if I eat enough homemade pasta a sort of cultural osmosis will occur and I will burst out singing O Sole Mio.
Some kind of equipment was bought by the largest running club at the park and installed at Narcissists' Corner. They still have the barbells that end in lumps of cement, and the pull-up bars are still the main attraction, but now they have some kind of odd affair the purpose of which seems a mystery. Two pieces of equipment: you stand on a type of floating pedal arrangement, hold on to some bars at shoulder level, and you swing from side to side. Since gravity is doing all the work, I couldn't figure out what the equipment was supposed to be doing. There are always a couple of people swinging away every day at most hours, but no one was using them this morning since it was very early. I looked at the lettering on the things. Apparently the arrangement gives you some kind of massage. Who knows how, but one day when no one catches me, I'll get on one and see if that swinging really does anything.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, my Italian conversation classes consist of the teacher conversing and me trying to patch together enough words to say something. It is unbelievably frustrating because I can read all kinds of things in Italian now, such as the short stories of Leonardo Sciascia, and I can understand someone who speaks fairly slowly, but converse?? It's probably because what the teacher and I talk about is way beyond my current abilities--I don't have enough verb tenses, to begin with. Oh well, maybe if I eat enough homemade pasta a sort of cultural osmosis will occur and I will burst out singing O Sole Mio.
viernes 20 de enero de 2012
Italian and Chicken Soup for the Mind
No, this is not going to be one of those treacly, positive-thinking writings that claim to cure what ails ya. I have a recipe for you if you like Mexican food (real Mexican food, not the Taco Bell stuff).
Chicken soup for two:
In a heavy bottomed pan, fry a single whole chicken breast, skin-side down first, until golden. Turn and brown other side. Remove from pan onto a plate.
Saute finely diced carrot, celery, and onion until soft; add diced garlic and fry only until fragrant. Add low sodium chicken broth and the chicken breast. Broth does not have to cover chicken, add enough for soup for two people. Add salt and pepper. Lower heat and simmer covered until chicken is tender.
Meanwhile, toast cumin seed until fragrant and grind in a morter or molcajete (I use a lot because I love it; play it by ear). Chop coriander (also, according to your taste).
When chicken is tender, remove from pot, strain out the vegetables, and return soup to pot. Shred chicken and add to pot, along with coriander and cumin. Add a small dose of chipotle chile powder or canned chipotle, check seasoning again, and heat until simmering. Turn off heat.
Top soup with slices of avocado and shredded Monterrey Jack cheese, and serve with hot tortillas or tostadas. If the soup is to be a whole meal, you can top the tostadas with refried beans and sour cream as well. Delish!
It is possible that some people have a brain capacity for a limited number of languages; my limit seems to be two. Now that I'm trying to add Italian, odd things are happening. Yesterday before my conversation class I went to the store and found myself addressing people with an occasional Italian phrase, but once I sat down with my teacher, after a while I short-circuited and couldn't think in any language at all--no English, no Spanish, even less Italian. As I ground to a halt, the girl took pity on me and carried the conversation herself--good practice for my listening, at least. She seems to think I'm doing well, but compared to what? My dog? And even that is a risky assumption--since I've been using a little Italian with him, he may remember more of the lingo than I do.
My running has also ground to a halt. The weather and barometric pressure changed and put me out of action all week. This may be a losing battle. If I could run five kilometers the way I can run one, I would be down to 35 minutes for a 5K. Ha! The only remedy at the moment is to go off and make a chocolate pound cake.
Chicken soup for two:
In a heavy bottomed pan, fry a single whole chicken breast, skin-side down first, until golden. Turn and brown other side. Remove from pan onto a plate.
Saute finely diced carrot, celery, and onion until soft; add diced garlic and fry only until fragrant. Add low sodium chicken broth and the chicken breast. Broth does not have to cover chicken, add enough for soup for two people. Add salt and pepper. Lower heat and simmer covered until chicken is tender.
Meanwhile, toast cumin seed until fragrant and grind in a morter or molcajete (I use a lot because I love it; play it by ear). Chop coriander (also, according to your taste).
When chicken is tender, remove from pot, strain out the vegetables, and return soup to pot. Shred chicken and add to pot, along with coriander and cumin. Add a small dose of chipotle chile powder or canned chipotle, check seasoning again, and heat until simmering. Turn off heat.
Top soup with slices of avocado and shredded Monterrey Jack cheese, and serve with hot tortillas or tostadas. If the soup is to be a whole meal, you can top the tostadas with refried beans and sour cream as well. Delish!
It is possible that some people have a brain capacity for a limited number of languages; my limit seems to be two. Now that I'm trying to add Italian, odd things are happening. Yesterday before my conversation class I went to the store and found myself addressing people with an occasional Italian phrase, but once I sat down with my teacher, after a while I short-circuited and couldn't think in any language at all--no English, no Spanish, even less Italian. As I ground to a halt, the girl took pity on me and carried the conversation herself--good practice for my listening, at least. She seems to think I'm doing well, but compared to what? My dog? And even that is a risky assumption--since I've been using a little Italian with him, he may remember more of the lingo than I do.
My running has also ground to a halt. The weather and barometric pressure changed and put me out of action all week. This may be a losing battle. If I could run five kilometers the way I can run one, I would be down to 35 minutes for a 5K. Ha! The only remedy at the moment is to go off and make a chocolate pound cake.
sábado 14 de enero de 2012
The Book List
Now that I have spent my little all on books for my Kindle, at least let me recommend some reading that can be found in the usual paper book form also.
For a magnificent and harrowing history of the Sicilician Mafia, right up to the present time, there is "Cosa Nostra: A History of the Sicicilian Mafia" by John Dickie. Well researched and leaving out myths and silliness, it's enough to make the blood run cold--and abundantly.
Also, one of my discoveries is yet another Swedish police-novel writer, very different from Stieg Larsson (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) and the creator of detective Kurt Wallander. There is even a Swedish t.v. series about Wallander. The author is Henning Mankell, and he has written several books about the Wallander character.
"Death in the City of Light" is a fascinating factual account of a serial killer (a doctor) in Nazi-occuppied Paris who spent his time convincing French Jews that he could arrange their escape across the border into free France and onward; after murdering them he took all their possessions.
And don't miss (on a lighter note!) the magnificent biography of Julia Child called "An Appetite for Life" by Noel Riley Fitch. That was one marvelous lady!
We are off to the quinta today, and my back will be put to the test once more. It should be a lot stronger now. Enjoy your weekend, folks.
For a magnificent and harrowing history of the Sicilician Mafia, right up to the present time, there is "Cosa Nostra: A History of the Sicicilian Mafia" by John Dickie. Well researched and leaving out myths and silliness, it's enough to make the blood run cold--and abundantly.
Also, one of my discoveries is yet another Swedish police-novel writer, very different from Stieg Larsson (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) and the creator of detective Kurt Wallander. There is even a Swedish t.v. series about Wallander. The author is Henning Mankell, and he has written several books about the Wallander character.
"Death in the City of Light" is a fascinating factual account of a serial killer (a doctor) in Nazi-occuppied Paris who spent his time convincing French Jews that he could arrange their escape across the border into free France and onward; after murdering them he took all their possessions.
And don't miss (on a lighter note!) the magnificent biography of Julia Child called "An Appetite for Life" by Noel Riley Fitch. That was one marvelous lady!
We are off to the quinta today, and my back will be put to the test once more. It should be a lot stronger now. Enjoy your weekend, folks.
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