THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2006
Beyond the Fields We Know
To enrich the earth I have sowed clover and grass
to grow and die. I have plowed in the seeds
of winter grains and various legumes,
their growth to be plowed in to enrich the earth.
I have stirred into the ground the offal
and the decay of the growth of past seasons
and so mended the earth and made its yield increase.
All this serves the dark. Against the shadow
of veiled possibility my workdays stand
in a most asking light. I am slowly falling
into the fund of things. And yet to serve the earth,
not knowing what I serve, gives a wideness
and a delight to the air, and my days
do not wholly pass. It is the mind’s service,
for when the will fails so do the hands
and one lives at the expense of life.
After death, willing or not, the body serves,
entering the earth. And so what was heaviest
and most mute is at last raised up into song.
Wendell Berry, Enriching the Earth
Source: Beyond the Fields We Know
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2006
Beyond the Fields We Know
Wild Words for a Winter Day
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
At first a small line of inconceivable splendour emerged on the horizon, above which, quickly expanding, the sun appeared in all of his glory, unveiling the whole face of nature, vivifying every colour of the landscape, and sprinkling the dewy earth with glittering light.
Ann Radcliffe
I go to Nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in tune once more.
John Burroughs
Take care of the land, and it will take care of you. Take what you need from the land, but need what you take.
Aboriginal Law
Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.
Rachel Carson
Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you… while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.
John Muir
The woods were made for the hunter of dreams, the brooks for the fishers of song. To the hunters who hunt for gunless game, the stream and the woods belong.
Sam Walter Foss
Source: Beyond the Fields We Know
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2006
Boyd Family – Rob Brezsny’s Astrology Newsletter
YOUR CHALICE
Visualize a chalice—a ceremonial drinking cup. What’s the first image that
comes up for you? Picture it in your mind’s eye. Is it silver? Ceramic?
Plastic? What color? How big is it? Is it long-stemmed or squat? Does it
have a wide, shallow cup or a tall, narrow one, or what? Close your eyes
and spend a moment with this vision before reading on.
*
So you’ve pictured a chalice in your mind’s eye. Here’s an analysis of its
possible meaning: What you envisioned represents your capacity to be
filled up with goodies. It’s a snapshot of your subconscious receptivity to
favors and help and inspiration.
For instance, if you imagined a shallow plastic champagne glass, it
signifies that you may not be well prepared to drink deeply of the elixirs
the universe is conspiring to provide you.
On the other hand, a large-volume, gracefully shaped sterling silver cup
suggests that you’re ready and willing to receive a steady outpouring of
wonders.
A long-stemmed chalice may indicate you’re inclined to be aggressive
about filling your cup. A short, squat stem could mean you’re not feeling
very deserving of having your cup filled.
*
Now here’s the fun part. If you visualized an inadequate chalice, you can
change it. If you pictured a chalice you like, you can add more details to
it.
Take some time to picture a vessel that’s perfectly worth of you. Imprint
it on your imagination. Then, for the next nine days, conjure it up every
morning for five minutes right after you wake up, and every evening for
five minutes before you go to sleep. It will reprogram your subconscious
mind to be ready and willing to accept all the favors and help and
inspiration you need.
That in turn will exert an influence on your surroundings, making it easier
for the world to deliver its favors and help and inspiration.
Source: Boyd Family – Rob Brezsny’s Astrology Newsletter
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2006
Seeking a Stable Weight? Maybe You Should Bring Home the Bacon. – washingtonpost.com
Seeking a Stable Weight? Maybe You Should Bring Home the Bacon.
By Sally Squires
Tuesday, December 5, 2006; HE01Hunger pangs are hard to resist.
So the recent findings that a little extra lean protein at breakfast will last you until lunch could provide the boost to help you maintain your weight during the upcoming holidays — and beyond.
Of all the macronutrients that we eat, “protein blunts your hunger the most and is the most satiating,” notes Wayne Campbell, who leads a team investigating protein at Purdue University’s Campbell Laboratory for Integrative Research in Nutrition, Fitness and Aging.
In October, Campbell and his colleagues reported at the annual meeting of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity that women who added a little lean protein to their breakfast — in this case, a slice of Canadian bacon added to an egg sandwich made with an English muffin — experienced less hunger over the next four hours than those who ate the sandwich sans bacon.
Blood levels of the hunger hormone ghrelin also rose significantly less in women who ate the bacon breakfast.
The Purdue study is just one of a growing number of studies that point to some weight benefits from eating more protein.
In 2005, University of Washington researchers tested the effects of placing 19 slightly overweight people on a low-fat, high-protein dietary regimen to maintain their weight. Participants ate about 30 percent of their daily calories in protein. That’s about twice the average intake of protein and roughly equal to the protein content of the breakfast sandwich in the Purdue study. About half the daily calories came from healthy carbohydrates, including plenty of fruit, vegetables and whole grains, and the rest from fat.
The higher-protein fare made participants feel full — so full that they complained about it, according to David Scott Weigle, professor of medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine and the study’s lead author.
Over the four-month study, participants continued to eat the high-protein food dictated by the researchers. To avoid nutritional boredom, participants also could eat one meal of their choosing and drink up to three alcoholic beverages weekly.
The study found that on the low-fat, high-protein regimen, participants spontaneously cut their daily intake by 441 calories — roughly a quarter of their total calories. Although the goal was weight maintenance, participants lost an average of 11 pounds, including about eight pounds of fat, all while feeling satisfied.
It doesn’t seem to matter what type of protein is eaten as long as it’s lean. So poultry without the skin, fish, vegetable protein such as soybeans, eggs and low-fat or nonfat dairy products are just as good as eating lean cuts of meat.
Nor does it take a lot of protein to see the effects. For healthy people, “an extra three ounces per day is well within the acceptable range,” says Campbell, whose study was funded by the National Pork Board. (If you have Type 2 diabetes or any medical condition that could affect your kidneys, be sure to check with your doctor before boosting protein intake.)
It’s also best if extra protein calories replace other food, rather than add to the total. “So instead of a soda,” Campbell says, “have a glass of milk and you’ll get an extra eight grams of protein.”
Or choose high-protein snacks. Among the options:
· A cup of bean soup with nonfat cheese on top.
· Half a peanut butter sandwich on whole-grain bread.
· Pudding made with skim milk.
· Low-fat string cheese.
· Turkey, beef or salmon jerky.
· Bean dip with veggies.
Source: Seeking a Stable Weight? Maybe You Should Bring Home the Bacon. – washingtonpost.com
After the Rat Race, What Next? – washingtonpost.com
After the Rat Race, What Next?
Experts Say You’ll Want a Plan to Make the Most of Your Retirement YearsBy Jennifer Huget
Special to The Washington Post
Tuesday, December 5, 2006; HE02So you’re about to retire. You’ve got your finances in order and your health care in hand. But have you written a mission statement for your life? Sat down with your spouse and written post-retirement job descriptions? Discovered your retirement path? If not, you’d best get busy.
Now that life expectancies have rocketed up into the 70s and above, many retirees are looking at 20 or more years of post-career living. That time can be happy or hellish, depending in part on the kind of planning you do, according to experts in the hot new field of retirement coaching.
Here are some of their top tips:
Tip #1 What’s Your Line?
Figure out what you’re going to say when people ask you — as they inevitably will — what you do for a living. You can’t call yourself a welder or an astronaut or a barista anymore. It’s important to pin your answer down, the experts say, because it is tightly bound to your sense of identity and social status. Once you’ve figured out what to say (“I’m a full-time granddad!” or “I dabble in watercolors”), practice saying it out loud. Really.
Tip #2 Pick a Path
Nancy Schlossberg, author of “Retire Smart, Retire Happy: Finding Your True Path in Life,” identified six retirement styles that are tied to personality types. Are you a Continuer (wanting to do more of what you’ve been doing, but in a different context), an Adventurer (looking to do something new), a Searcher (taking advantage of this opportunity to finally find your niche), an Easy Glider (content to go with the flow), an Involved Spectator (still in the game but happy not to be a key player), a Retreater (ready to just give up; not a propitious choice), or some combination thereof? Thinking this through opens your eyes to the zillions of possibilities before you, says Schlossberg (clearly a Continuer; the Florida resident is a professor emeritus of the department of counseling and personnel services at the University of Maryland).
Tip #3 Plumb a Passion
Michael Burnham, chief executive of the Memphis-based retirement counseling firm My Next Phase ( http://www.mynextphase.com), notes that for many retirees, playing golf gets old fast. “You need to find some reason for moving forward, a reason to get up in the morning,” he suggests. And once you decide what that passion is — whether it’s writing the Great American Novel, building a Lego replica of Graceland or mentoring a teenager — “test-drive it.” Burnham offers the cautionary tale of a man who set his sights on becoming a writer but who waited until he was retired to put pen to paper. Turns out he didn’t much enjoy writing after all. Whoops.
Tip #4 Sit Down With Your Spouse >
Before retirement, “most of your together time has been weekend time and vacation time,” Burnham says. Now things will be different: “You’re going to end up spending a lot more time together, so you need new rules and roles around the house.” Establishing boundaries is key so you don’t end up getting on each other’s nerves. Burnham suggests sitting down together and writing new job descriptions — including what’s not your job — and spelling out other details, such as whose music gets played when.
Tip #5 Only Connect
Lots of retirees find themselves suddenly lonely, says Cynthia Barnett, creator of a retirement-coaching program called “Re-fire, Don’t Retire: Seven Secrets of Highly Successful Retirees” ( http://www.refiredontretire.com). “If you go back [to your former workplace] to visit, you find you’re not talking the same language anymore.” The best way to find new playmates, she says, is through exploring things you love to do, whether it’s by joining a gardening club or starting an acting troupe.
Tip #6 Seek to Serve
Barnett notes that retirement “is time for service to others. The happiest people in the second half of life are those who have found fulfillment and meaning in their activities. It’s not all about them; they give back to society.” Think of these as your “legacy years” and ask, “What kind of legacy do I really want to leave?” Going on cruises sounds fun, Barnett notes, but “doing things just to keep busy is not meaningful.”
Tip #7 Be Patient
Schlossberg points out that retirement is one of life’s biggest transitions. You can’t expect to adjust overnight. Burnham agrees, adding that you should allow yourself time to mourn the job — and the attendant status — you’ve left behind. “It’s going to take time to restructure your life,” Schlossberg says. “See it as part of your evolving career — it’s a career change.”
Tip #8 Get Started — Now
Barnett, who parlayed her experience as an educator into her retirement career as a coach, says she started planning her retirement a decade before it happened. “Way before you leave [your job], really look at the kind of life you want to live. How healthy do you want to be? Ten years out, start working on your health so you’ll have energy and a strong immune system” when you retire. “Get in touch with whatever spiritual life you want to have. Get to know yourself, who you are, not what you do.” It’s a long, involved process, Barnett advises: Give yourself time.
Yikes. Gotta go make some plans. ?
Comments:health@washpost.com.
Source: After the Rat Race, What Next? – washingtonpost.com
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2006
Gmail – Great Ideas for Made-from-Scratch Gifts
This year, give holiday gifts from your heart—and hands. Our from-scratch project ideas include tasty food gifts (such as chocolate marble bread and personalized coffee blends), creative crafty gifts (like handmade snow globes and teacup votive candles), and kid-friendly gifts (our favorites include candy-cane mice and jingle-bell slippers).
Source: Gmail – Great Ideas for Made-from-Scratch Gifts