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Month: March 2019

PowerBerries

PowerBerries

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Today was an awesome day.

It was the first full day of Spring.

It rained.

But before it rained we may have had the longest stretch of non-precipitation that we have had in a long time.  I was actually able to do some yard work over the weekend and walk across my back yard without sinking.  Today, however I could have used my kayak.

I had the Powerball.

My two Sugar Mountain”Kalinka” Sweetberry Honeysuckle Honeyberry Vitamin Berries Potted Plants that I ordered on Amazon were delivered today.

I started off my day with my protein drink for breakfast as I have done for the last couple of weeks.  It’s made with “milk” made from almonds and cashews and is nondairy.  Well at least that’s what it said in big bold letters at the top of the container.  But the first time I tried it I had to hesitate a bit.  With my first big protein experience in hand and heading for my mouth, I noticed the smaller not so bold letters at the bottom of the carton that admitted it was actually made from almonds, cashews, and pea.  Now there is something about realizing that the beverage you are about to take a big gulp of is made of pea that stops you in mid movement…even if it is pea with an “a”.  After a few moments of thinking rationally through the issue,  down she went.

Then, I mixed my Elderberry with Aronia, Honey and Green Tea Syrup into a glass with eight ounces of water and topped off my almond, cashew, and pea protein drink to complete my morning ritual.

I know,  I am living the dream over here!

Don’t hate.

A few weeks back Kim was researching the benefits of elderberries and ordered a couple of bushes to plant in our yard.

That same weekend we met Kent Marrs of the Village Winery in Waterford, Virginia.  Kent is the owner, winemaker, cider maker, juice maker, syrup maker, self-mocking “snake oil salesman,” and host extraordinaire of the winery that includes a small tasting room off a historic old barn. He is charming, humble, and smart as he has begun to carve out a niche business in producing, promoting, and selling the nutritional and health benefits of the syrups and juices of elderberry and aronia that are alleged to boost immunity, fight cancer, repair organs, and help diabetes. So he has been so successful is his new niche business that he is moving away from wine in a big way.

Kent is very convincing and he has a slew of anecdotal stories from a growing base of loyal customers who swear by his syrups and juices and who now return on a regular basis to restock up on his products and give testimony on why.

On a recent return visit by Kim and I to restock up on our Elderberry, Aronia, Honey, and Green Tea syrup, Kent shared his new venture Honeyberries. Information I found on the internet supports Kent’s excitement saying  “researchers found blue honeysuckle berries to possess the highest content of phenolic acids compared to other berries tested… in summary, the Honeyberry is a nutritional powerhouse!”

Thus the explanation for the delivery of my two Sugar Mountain”Kalinka” Sweetberry Honeysuckle Honeyberry Vitamin Berries Potted Plants from Amazon earlier today.

My honeyberries are going to go head to head with my wife’s elderberries.  We will see who has the bigger immunity.

So on the way home from work I dipped into the grocery store to turn in my winning Powerball ticket, and to pick up some potting soil and some larger pots to replant my new honeyberry bushes.

Like my lottery winnings, my honeyberry plants are currently small (I only matched the Powerball so I let it ride on a couple more for Saturday).

But I am optimistic the future will be bright and will bear fruit.

In the mean time I will drink my liquids made of cashews, almonds, elderberry, aronia and pea; and live this dream.

Who needs the Powerball, I’ve got Powerberries.

 

If you live in Northern Virginia and need something to do on a weekend, take a ride out to Waterford and visit Kent at the Village Winery.  He is very entertaining, interesting to listen to, has a great tasting presentation, and is just fun to hang out with.  And he is very passionate about his berries.

Here is a link to his website

 

Let me know what you think.

Good Shepherd, Feed My Sheep

Good Shepherd, Feed My Sheep

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If you want to get to heaven
Over on the other shore
Stay out of the way of the blood-stained bandit
Oh good shepherd
Feed my sheep

One for Paul
One for Silas
One for to make my heart rejoice
Can’t you hear my lambs are callin’
Oh good shepherd
Feed my sheep

 

I am home alone again.

Kim had to make an unexpected trip to Pennsylvania.

I haven’t written anything in a while.

I haven’t felt like it.

I haven’t had any of that living inspiration that Elizabeth Gilbert introduced in Big Magic and I wrote about a couple/three years ago, alive in me lately.

But since I am home alone again, I thought I would give it a try.

So will just apologize now for whatever comes out later.

 

I kept singing the Jefferson Airplane song Good Shepherd today.  For years I have just assumed it was a cool song written by Grace, Jorma, Paul, and the rest of the gang.  It turns out it has its origins in a 19th century hymn written by a Methodist minister.  Go figure. Makes sense I guess.

Oh Good Shepherd, feed my sheep.  A fitting song for today I suppose.

Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent.

I remember when I was kid, seeing some of my classmates come in to school with ashes on their foreheads, and thinking how mortified I would be if I had to go to school like that (well in true creative non-fiction transparency,  since mortified probably wasn’t in my vocabulary at the time, embarrassed would be more accurate).

I grew up trying everything in my power to avoid embarrassment.

I thought Lent was cool though.  Of course I didn’t understand at the time what Lent was but I always wanted to be able to say “yeah I can’t have that, I gave it up for Lent”  when someone offered me Jiffy Pop or Ovaltine or something like that.

Now I understand better what Lent is. A time beginning with Ash Wednesday and ending just before Easter that represents the forty days that Jesus spent in the Wilderness. He had just been baptized, and then was led into the Wilderness to be humbled, and tested by temptation.

Jesus fasted those forty days.

He gave up food.

He suffered physically to grow spiritually.

As I recall in the 60’s my friends gave up ice cream, candy bars, and chewing gum.  I don’t know that any of them suffered all that much.  But I do understand the lesson to a kid of giving up something important to them, the lesson of sacrifice.  If it needs to start with ice cream, start with ice cream.

I don’t know about you but to me this winter has seemed like a long time in the wilderness.

I don’t do well in the cold anymore, I don’t do well in the darkness, I hate snow, I don’t like having to be on the inside looking out, I don’t like exercising indoors.  I have gained weight.

Kim and I had a brief respite from the winter doldrums with a quick visit to the Florida kids around Valentine’s Day.  And I came through Valentine’s Day unscathed this year by having flowers delivered.   I got some mileage out of that.

And I mean I literally got some mileage out of that because I ordered flowers and used a code that allowed me to earn 1500 miles on my Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards account.  My wife doesn’t know that though.

And we have spent more time with our parents though it’s been too often reminiscent of a busy sports weekend when our kids were younger with one of us going one direction and the other going another.

The good thing about your parents getting older is that you get to see them more often.  The bad thing is that it’s not always a social visit.

This Lent I still haven’t made the commitment to give something up.  Since I have already given up eating meat, eggs, cheese, and everything else that tastes good, I suppose I could give up vegetables…but then I would be fasting.

Maybe I should give up complaining?

Not so fast, someone has to suffer.

I have learned however, life is about sacrifice, we are asked for a lot, we do spend a lot of time in the wilderness, but in our suffering and those times of wandering, our faith grows.

And the conversation I just with my wife on the phone proves that.

Feed my sheep.

Because we need fed.

And I don’t want to give that up.