Get your Ginger on

My wonderful lately has been found in making my own as opposed to buying it. In the last few weeks my focus has been on my homemade ginger ale. Oh so refreshing and so good for you.  It's really very simple to make. It costs less and it's much better for you.  Plus, I don't count regular ginger ale soda as real food. It's stuffed full of unrecognizable ingredients and packed with preservatives. There is one ginger ale on the market that's pretty good - Reeds. But it's so dang sweet it makes me feel ill after just a couple of swigs.  And before we get started, let me just give an BIG thank you to my sister Barb for getting me hooked on this one!


To make my ginger ale, you only need one ingredient - Ginger and of course, access to fresh filtered water. Plus, if you make it yourself, you can control the sugar content, or lack there of.  And you don't have to use this just for ginger ale. It's great to keep in the freezer and pull out when you need a bit of hot tea to settle an upset stomach or nausea. It will also stimulate your digestive system, if you know what I mean and helps alleviate arthritis pain.  Of course, the concentrate could also make a mean martini!  

Here's the simplest recipe of your entire life:

Ingredients:

2 large Ginger Roots

8 cups filtered water

1 lemon (optional)

To make the ginger concentrate:

Remove the skin, use a knife to cut off the pointed edges then peel the skin off.

Grate the peeled ginger

Put the peeled ginger into a sauce pan and add 8 cups filtered water.

Bring the water to a boil, then immediately turn down to a nice simmer.

Simmer for 1 hour and stir occasionally.

Add the juice of one lemon when done simmering.

Pour through a strainer and press on pulp to get remaining liquid out.

Strain one more time.

Put in glass or plastic jars, label and freeze.

To make a ginger ale:

You'll need to experiment here to find your preferred taste for this drink.

Add 2-6 TBSP of ginger concentrate to a tall glass. Like I said before, it's all in the taste preferences of the beholder. Start conservative then add more to taste.

Add 4-6 drops liquid Stevia (be sure you buy real Stevia and not the chemically manufactured version of it)

OR you can add a bit of sugar water but the whole point is to get away from the sugar right? In fact, I'm at the point now, where I don't even like an sweetener in mine.

Add ice and fill the rest of the glass with your favorite selzter/soda water.

Stir and then sit back and start sipping. You'll be amazed at how refreshing it is, not to mention addicting. But at least it's good for you, right?

Cheers!

Dirt Lover

In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.  
~Margaret Atwood

Two days after Spring arrived, it snowed. We awoke to a light dusting really, maybe a couple of inches. By late afternoon the same day, if just arriving on the scene, you'd never have guessed it had snowed. All evidence erased and with it my hope for Spring. 

Now I sit here, one day later, basking in the warm Spring sun. My body has forgotten how intoxicating it can be to have the warmth of the suns rays penetrate my deprived translucent winter skin. I'm drunk with the sun's kiss, stoned to the soul.  I could fall in to eternal bliss right here.

But there's something about the first bona fide spring day that snaps me to my senses. Dirt. I need to get my hands into the dirt. An hour later, I've dug out a bush that did not survive last summer's heat. And into the newly bare earth, I transplanted another bush that had outgrown it's previous locale. Standing back to admire my work, I dusted the dirt from my hands and smiled lovingly at the soil now caked in between my nails.  Garden gloves are standard protocol but today, I claimed to not recall where I stored my gloves as winter arrived so many months back.

Later, a cool chill drew goose bumps on my skin, I bid the sun goodbye as it retreated behind the clouds rolling in. Tomorrow it will rain, as it will the next day and the day after that, all the way through the rest of the week and on through the following weekend. I'm ok with that. The sun was my wonderful in today. It's brief visit will sustain me for a little longer as I glimpse winter's strength waning, it's presence fading a tiny bit with each day. And tonight I will slumber with the aroma of Spring lulling me into a contented sleep.

Happiness Is My Pillow

In order to really enjoy a dog, one doesn't merely try to train him to be semi human. The point of it is to open oneself to the possibility of becoming partly a dog. ~Edward Hoagland

I've often marveled at our dogs abilities to deem the couch and our bed as their preferred places to sleep. They will spend ten minutes building a nest among our covers, destroying the blankets and flinging the couch covers, until a suitable pile has been formed on which they will plop themselves down upon it and be asleep immediately.

One of our dogs has become quite taken with a chair pillow from our garage. If we leave the door to the garage open, he sneaks out there, grabs the pillow, brings it inside and places it wherever he thinks is most comfortable.

Sometimes he prefers the floor

Other times the table will do just fine. 

Usually though the couch works best.

Sometimes posing with the pillow is fun too.

 I've stopped trying to figure this out. He must have his reasons.

Things you should know

Be at peace and see a clear pattern running through your life. Nothing is by chance.


There's some things you should know. I'm all over the place but then again, maybe not. My focus in life is clear. My fervor well anchored and acted upon. Though, on an given day, one of my passions may stand out, my emotional state emphasized. The world will take me by surprise. Disappointment may be an unwelcome guest. Frustration may cross my path. Overwhelming sadness may take up residence, albeit temporary, as it's never allowed to stay long. Uninhibited happiness may rush over me like a rapidly overflowing river whose sandy banks cannot hold back the rush of water. You name it, it has visited. That's what makes my life a crazy pot-marked emotional response to all that goes on around me and in whatever I encounter as I ride the waves of life. I will take a hold of it. Feel it. Turn it around and around and examine it. If it fits, I will put it in my pocket with other life experiences. If it is not my thing, I will let it go. Whether they are treasures, bewildering puzzles or wrotten piles of steaming shit; they each take to me like a sculptor, shaping me like clay, molding me into who I am, who I am becoming, who I will be.

It's true, although I choose with each encounter how I will motivate my self and figure out the conundrums, my response time will vary. It may appear as if I am stuck, suspended in time on a particular issue; or I may revisit it from time to time. Such is my journey in life and one that I have come to take in stride and most of the time embrace.

I was meant to go through the first half of my life conducting it in such a way that one would tend to think of as stumbling onto difficulties and misjudgments. But although it wasn't clear in the beginning, those steps were helping to part the clouds of confusion, assisting me in charting out my life path, whittling away at my vague form. The second half of my life, now, I am emerging with a distinct edge, with an almost qualified inner truth and harmony. I can find my way more quickly back to my center, although I still get lost from time to time in the melodrama and the ever moving pendulum of my moods. I will say this again. This is the second half of my life. The feeling is new, almost honeymoon-like. My stride is not without reserve but I walk with a more confident gait.

Preparation is key if you are going along for the ride. Then again, you may follow with wild abandon. The revelations may stun, render you speechless, make the hair on your arms stand up, tug on your heart strings, give you sensations and awarenesses previously mysterious. I could never provide an agenda because that's the thing with life, with my one wild and crazy life, I never know what is around the bend. This time though, I'm a little more prepared, a little more of an expert. This is the chapter where I build my connections to the universe, open the channels to the spirit world and experience the tilt a whirl of life with skilled practice, well almost, but close enough. These are the things you should know.

New beginnings and closing credits

Much has happened in the past 8 months since we last spoke....

To recap, in April, I was heading for the beach. But what I didn't tell you was that I was going to be meeting my son that I gave up for adoption 22 years ago. I haven't yet found my words for the story of that weekend yet but I can tell you this, my heart is light once again and my life has taken on a whole new meaning.

Once summer arrived, my keyhole garden was in full bloom. Cherry red tomatoes took over once I had harvest three rounds of lettuces and kale. Eventually, I harvested my garlic and a few small onions. As the summer progressed, I found myself with a lighter shade of brown hair filled with golden sun bleached highlights and a fabulous tan.

Just before fall settled in, my sugar and i took the dogs to the beach for a week where we took long leisurely strolls on the sand, shopped daily in town for our food, took mid day naps and cooked outrageous dinners.

With the rainy season upon us, we took it in stride that our Blazer season would be in hiatus due to the NBA strike. Instead, we focused on football with our fingers crossed behind our backs. As luck would have it, on christmas day, our season commenced. Christmas this year was extra special. My parents flew into town to enjoy the first christmas with our whole family together in one place in 15 years!

We rang in the new year with family and close friends with glasses of black cherry champagne, homemade cheese dip, and pulled pork sandwiches.

This new year appears to be all about new beginnings and new found wisdoms. Which brings me to my closing credits... It's time to move on. Obviously, I haven't written a thing since April. But of course, that doesn't mean I've forgotten about you. Indeed not. You've been on my mind.

A change of scenery is in order. A new focus. I guess that's what happens to writers sometimes. Some call it writers block. I call it following the course of my life; rolling with the changes, and being ammenable to switching gears. I'm going to be writing you from a different perspective. Me and my words will be making a new appearance on this blog. I hope you will join me. It's sure to be a fun ride as I let it all hang out while exploring the wonders in life. It's truly been real. May this year be full of blessings and may you always honor the divinity within your self and others.
Warmly,
Sass

Packing Transgressions

Everyone has their own special methods to prepare for a trip away from home. It seems that half the fun of going on a trip, is planning that trip. Especially in our family. Especially when it is a family trip.


Back in the deep dark depths of winter, it came upon me one chilly wintry night, that it was time for a family get together. A trip of some sort. So where to go this year and when? Then I got to thinking. I am the proud owner of one of the rare spring birthdays in our family and this year is going to be a big one. The big 4-0. What better way to spend my birthday than with family. Before proposing it to everyone, I had to have not only a date but also a location and lodging details. With our ever burgeoning families, we were going to need some serious space. Unbelievably, I found a giant beach house that would provide not only a bed, but a room for each couple, complete with a kitchen, game room, beach trail, wireless, laundry and all that.

Now that I had all my details in place, it was time to alert the family to see if they were game. Of course they all were. And this is where the fun begins. Since the actual date of our supposed trip is 4 months into the future, we have plenty of time to discuss and prepare. And although we use the phone a bit in our preparations, most of it is done by emails, long email trails consisting of our humorous and outlandish and inspirational ideas for our retreat. Late night calls will no doubt follow as the date of departure draws near, excited whisperings of plots, plans and ideas hatched while envisioning our weekend away.

One of the most important aspects to any of our trips lies along the lines of food. What are we going to eat? We are a family where food revolves around everything we do, especially family gatherings. In our every day lives, most of us are lucky if we eat one full meal a day and snack through the rest. But for retreat planning, we pay special attention to being sure we have a delectable menu item for each of the days required meal times: breakfast, lunch and dinner. Usually we split up our meals between couples, letting snackers and picky eaters fend for themselves.

Once the food is planned, there is of course another important characteristic to our planning. What will we drink? And I'm not talking milk or juice. What I am getting at is we are a family who value our together time by hydrating ourselves with our specialty alcoholic beverages. And of course, we all have our preferences. Vodka with blue cheese olives. Screamers. Chocolate Martinis. Wine. Gluten Free Beer. Locally brewed beer. Holiday beer. Whiskey and coke. And so on. There is much to plan as we all check our liquor cabinet reserves and wine cellars and we make lists to run stock up before the trip.


Laughably, with this particular trip, there is actually a bedroom for all. But then another string of emails begin, calculating very carefully where everyone should sleep. Or should I say, where everyone would prefer to sleep. All without trying to really say where they want to sleep. Those who seem to think they have toilet issues, believe they should have the master suite with the full bath. Those with kids who sleep lightly believe they should have the farthest bedroom from the late night noise guaranteed to occur. Others want the bedroom with the door that goes out to the deck or the bedroom that faces the ocean with the hot tub inside. With all our spoken preferences, nothing will be for sure until we arrive to our rented house. And there will always be many switches and bargaining going on. Pssst, I'll give you my bottle of wine and put your kids to bed for that room with a full bath!


My family will continue the planning until the moment we all actually arrive at the beach house, yet here's where it gets interesting. Or should I say even more intriguing. We all have our funny little quirks about how we individually prepare to pack for the trip. Some of it could be nature, some could be nuture. Either way, we are all a little nuts about it.


We'll start with myself. If I have weeks to plan or months which is even better, I will organize the shit out of my plans. There will be of course first the budget spreadsheets. How much to save each month. Then the reservations come next - rental car, dog sitter, cat sitter. All those go into my newly created trip spreadsheet. On another tab of my spreadsheet is what to pack, then what to buy for food, what to do a week before the trip, two days before, the day of. Then important dates go on my electronic calendar. As the months, weeks and days pass, I will be checking off my list to do, memorizing everything. I believe this may have been inherited from my dad whose spreadsheets and lists littered countertops before every childhood camping trip. And I suppose this is still how he prepares for trips. My mother is one who plans the meals, prepping, cooking, storing, shopping; ensuring there are snacks for the drive, snacks when we arrive, snacks for any time of the day and drinks to go along with all. My husband packs 10 minutes before we walk out the door. Well, I would too if my significant other had everything else organized the way I do. Geeesh!


One sister has a very special ritual for packing. Not much thought is put into packing until the night before the trip, at which time, they buy a bunch of beer and pizza. They get drunk and pack and then go to bed early (or at least they try to). It seems to work for them except for the minor hangover the next day.


Another sister makes mental notes along with paper notes.  She makes numerous lists, checks the weather forecasts obsessively and researches nearby restaurants.  I would too if I had three kids, two of whom have definite allergies to specific foods and no one wants to leave home without items essential to providing young children with enough to do and enough changes of clothes to match the changes in weather, especially this time of year.


My other sister will most likely fly by the seat of her pants due to her busy schedule and never ending motherly duties.  She'll crack open a bottle of wine late in the evening after the kids are in bed.  Then she'll talk on the phone while she throws her listed items into bags, does last minute loads of laundry.  She'll stay up way too late and then scramble in the morning, racking her brain about what it was that she was going to bring.  She'll most likely pull out of the driveway with her coat stuck in the car door, a kid screaming because he was buckled up in the carseat backwards and it will be only luck that every family member will be accounted for.


Somehow we will all make it to our destination.  Somehow we will make do with what we have packed and laugh at what we have forgotten.  We'll get lost in the joy and chaos of all being together and none of our packing transgressions will matter anymore. 

Memories of Another Way of Being

I have always had a true deep down gut feeling that I chose to be born at this time in history. In addition, I've been told this by several spiritual sources over the years. What escaped me though was why? Why did my starlit soul decide to ride in a human body in this day and age? It's baffled me for years, although it seems I have always known generally why, the specifics always eluded me. They why - I chose to be born so that I would be here for humans transition from clueless wasteful creatures who had forgotten their purpose to humans who have begun to recall their spirituality and connection to all earth's creatures and to the stars beyond their imaginations. Over the years I have seen underground movements form, all seeking wisdom through serving the earth and the great spirit, grow to almost overwhelming masses of people, some scattering the globe. All of whom are working to share the knowledge that was born to them in an effort to turn back the clock and reverse the damage done to the mother earth. But I know my spirit did not come back to earth just to watch, for I could not be satiated with just observing from afar.

I'm am here to experience the end of the world as we know it (isn't that a song?) and in doing so, I can slowly extricate myself from it's long held grip. The fall of complex corporations, money, banks, consumerism, mass sensationalized media, traffic, pollution, chemical agriculture, endless NOISE and so forth; all of these dependent upon the Mother's resources, assumed to be there for the taking. I am here to be with humanity as we learn the old ways again. Those who are healthy, self sufficient in growing food, hunting food and networking for food will survive. Others will lie, cheat and steal and eventually die because the world as they knew it did not require them to think or try to survive.

I suppose for me there is somewhat of a thrill in the will to survive, to rely upon what mother earth can provide. The decaying rope of this current industrialized culture will finally break away and I will be free! I won't have complex yet shallow worries. No mortgage, no owning land (I mean really who really owns land), no having my identity being stolen because a hacker found his way into a multi billion dollar advertising corporation and stole a file. I won't have to ask my sister every year to sit down to a bottle of wine with me and do my taxes. I won't have to worry about a paycheck, what is money worth anyway when the whole system fails, well, it may be good for starting fires to keep warm in the winters..., I won't have to prove myself worthy of insurance, health care or a raise.

So why am I tickled pink at watching the world fall apart? What part of me is so delusional that I must find humor in the tragedy of a grave situation. Well, for one, initially survival after the fall of the world, will be brutal in many ways. Finding good food and clean water will prove to be difficult, especially if the collapse is due to nuclear fallout. Protecting ourselves from those who go crazy and can't handle the forced change will become a way of life. Keeping warm, treating injuries and sickness in the ways of a healer. And so on. I supposed it's because I've known all along that this way of life will not sustain the earth or her creatures. I've been ready all my life for it to go awry. Industrialization has always had a dark looming final chapter that has yet to be read. But many of us still hold memories of another way of being, maybe not in this life, but some of us know that we have lost our connection and that we must re-establish that lost bond if the human society is to survive.

This new emergent society would value Community and I see that it may become more of way of life than just a word. Humans will come together to help each other survive. As years, decades and centuries go by, a new generation of humans will emerge from the destruction. Sort of like the legend of the great flood goes, only a handful of humanity will survive in hopes that the lesson has finally been learned and mistakes of the distant and not so distant past will not be remade. It could be a human fatal flaw though. No matter how many times the earth is destroyed for us or we destroy the earth, we may not learn. Of course, I won't be around to see that part, where humans are once again living as once again in harmony, as the mother earth prefers. But I will be here, at least I hope to be, to assist my fellow human compadres to get through the initial dramatic and dark changes to come, reassuring that there is hope for us. So then that must it, I am here to be a part of the great awakening and the great change, while at the same time knowing with out a doubt that I will soon celebrate my long awaited freedom from the rat race that was not meant for us.

Forces of Nature

Winter was cruel son of a bitch this year.  He knocked Fall from here to kingdom come and took over with brutal force, ravaging us with winds, rains, floods, hail, snow, ice and bitter, bitter cold.  He's having a helluva time trying to continue his nefarious rule over the seasons, but Spring is resisting and steadily gaining control.   For even though Winter's cold is still evident, Spring has managed to poke it's head out just enough to encourage the sleeping trees and dormant bulbs to stir, setting in motion that miraculous thing we call life. Winter may imagine himself to be the more daunting force of nature but Spring is resilient and set in her ways.  She will toss him from the dominion, his tail tucked between his ass cheeks, and a harsh sentence in hand mandating that he stay far, far away until the other seasons have had their analogous time on the throne.  And so it goes, in the kingdom of seasons.

A loving rivarly, maybe

You could say it was bred into me - my love for the Green Bay Packers, that is. If you aren't familiar with the Packers, let's just say, in my own unbiased opinion, they are the best professional football team in the National Football League. My daddy was a cheesehead, my momma was a cheesehead, therefore, my sisters and I became cheeseheads. Even my brother-n-law was born in Green Bay, who, now that I think about it, was welcomed quite enthusiastically and warmly into our family, no questions asked. As soon as a niece or nephew is born, it's a race to start dressing these new little beings into baby Packer outfits during football season.



As it was with our family, so it is with others. However, my husband grew up in a household who yes, spent Sundays worshiping the gods of football but who also sported split allegiances. Papa was not a rolling stone, but he was a lifelong Cleveland Browns fan. Mama, you guessed it, was a Packers fan. But my husband's path was to be colored with black and gold, as he at an early age, declared he was a Pittsburgh Steeler fan. Luckily, when we married, my husband was welcomed with opens arms by my second brother n law who also bleeds Steeler colors.



Through out the early years of our marriage, I sent good vibes to his Steelers in hopes that they would eventually reach the Super Bowl and win it for him, since in his lifetime, the Steelers had been less than mediocre players. Then suddenly, Pittsburgh got better and soon they made it to two super bowls and won each one. As proud and happy I was for my husband's team, I earnestly wished for the impossible - a Packer/Steeler super bowl. I mean, how cool would that be to be going up against the love of my life in the all time sports event. However, for this to happen, my Packers would have to start shaping up.



As the fervor of the 2010 football season was commencing, I said to my honey, that this was the year that my Packers were going to meet his Steelers in the super bowl. As good natured as always, he said it would be cool, but probably unlikely. Yet, now that we are approaching Super Bowl 49, the impossible is happening! The dream has come true! We are matched up against each

other, each of us in gold, but our second team colors run dramatically different. In fact, not only is this once in a lifetime super bowl just a fantasy come true, it is the sports fanatic's idea of the makings of what is being touted as the ultimate match up - and could possibly being the undoing of our families.



This Sunday our alliances will be divided. We will all be holding on to the hopes that our quarter back doesn't get taken out in the first quarter, that we can out run, out defend, out think, out throw each other's opponent. I mean come on, his Steelers have been to the Super Bowl, not once, but twice, in the last few years. He's been able to whoop it up on Super Bowl Sundays and claim his stake in football history. It's time for the Pack to hog the coveted spotlight. So, I'm sorry honey, I love you but we're gonna stomp all ovah your black and gold asss Sunday!

Grocery List for a Happy Life

I am only one, but I am one. I can't do everything, but I can do something. And what I can do, I ought to do. And what I ought to do, by the grace of God, I shall do. ~Edward Everest Hale

We all have dreams right? And just how often do we follow those dreams? Regrettably, we seem to be lacking in follow-through. Too many obstacles appear to stand in the way. ‘What if's’ abound and doubting Thomas' overloads you with disparaging dissuasions. Soon, our dreams are demoted to silly pipe dreams and eventually, as we realize the error of our ways, are consigned to remorseful 'could have beens.’

No way, not me. You won't find me mourning or apologetic for failing to attend to my heart’s desires, which consist of a steady diet of love, kindness and comfort. This so-called grocery list for a happy life isn’t made up of tangible items that can be purchased or collected. However, they definitely can be earned, shared, and most simply, gratifying. Take any human being, for example, and peel away the layers of money, status, material things, heartbreak and baggage. At the core of their being lies the most delicate layer of all. Peer in closely and you will unearth the most humble, barest essentials required for us to flourish: the need for utter kindness and to know love in all its immeasurable bounds.

These innate prerequisites for a happy life may be accessible in us all, but only those of us who choose to share these fundamentals with others in need, can really experience the reality of pursuing our dreams. Whatever your aspirations are for your life, you must make a difference. You must always look for a chance to show compassion and offer a plateful of thoughtfulness, initiating the birth of someone else's dreams. You are part of the universe, along with every plant, animal, human and dirt particle. Every act of goodwill weighs heavily on the scales of humanity. Only when you have done this, can you finally toss those preconceived notions aside, open your heart, and take the first stride towards what makes you happy. It is then that you will find the determination that you can, you will, and you shall make your dreams come true.