Who am I? I have a happy little existence with my husband, my large yellow lab & my two kittens. My dog is 100 lbs of bouncy joy. My male cat is addicted to "Greenies", catnip & thinks he's a dog. My female cat looks like a sweet housecat, but is a serial killer.
I took up fencing after I turned 40 & wanted to find a sport that would keep me active and fit into my old age.
I spend my time coaching beginners, training, & working at our vintage autosound business.
Note: Some of my blog entries are only available to my "Blog Buddies". They are either private in nature or about coaching. I make my coaching entries private becuase public entries can be read by the general public. While I never use names, the descriptions of the events can reveal information and I want to respect the privacy of my students. If you would like to be on my list, please PM me and I will add you.
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Snow:
We found mouse guts and fur (regurgitated) on the living room floor this mo...
Today is a beautiful sunny fall day with a little bit of wind. I love this time of year! After running a few errands, I took my dog out for a swim at the beach. There's a dog park there, so he got a chance to get some exercise and socialize.
On the way home I dropped by the grocery store and picked up some food. I was happy to discover that wine grapes were still available (I freeze them for my smoothies). As I travelled through the farm lands, I could see the cranberries being harvested from the highway. I wish I had my camera, as the harvesting is quite beautiful... flooded fields full of red berries floating, ready to be scoped up and bagged. If I feel ambitious, I might go into the bog and pick my own cranberries this year.
Canadian Thanksgiving is next Monday. Usually my sister holds dinner at her house, but she's out of town running a marathon. I'm thinking of hosting a dinner instead. I'm looking forward to it. I usually start with baking bread a few days prior. I tend to be someone who prefers making everything from scratch, as my mother and most of my family does. So everything from cranberry sauce to gravy, to bread etc... is built the day of the meal.
Recently I read someone commenting that Thanksgiving was his favourite holiday as there's no expectations attached to it. It's true. It's a simple harvest meal you share with friends and family. It's about appreciating all the hard work that goes into putting food on the table. Whether it's just about cooking that day, or planting your garden in the spring and nurturing it through the summer, or raising your own livestock.
One of the sad things about today's society, is we have become so far removed from the process. When you are involved in the processed being grateful comes more natural. You feel it most poignantly when you are hunting and you just took an animal's life. The rest, feels very much like the butchering work it is... akin to gardening, baking bread etc... part of a long process.
It's hard to feel grateful to the Butterball Company, French's gravy mix, and Ocean Spray cranberry sauce, and Wonder Bread. It really loses it's meaning doesn't it?
10-07-2008 06:58 PM 
It really loses it's meaning doesn't it?