SoCS: Things my Parents Said about Possibility, Goats, Food, Wishes and Spit

Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “a phrase you grew up with.” Include in your post a phrase your mom/dad/grandparent/sibling used all the time when you were growing up, or just write whatever inspires you based on that phrase. Enjoy!

I have to start by honoring my father, Jim, who would have been…. 91 on May 2 if he was still in this world. You may have read that my father inspired the title of my blog by telling me when I was 12 years old:

“Nothing is Impossible.”

He was told that by his scoutmaster, probably in the 1940s and passed it on to me in the 1960s. He didn’t make this statement a lot, but the tone of his voice and the state of my impressionable mind made it stick. “Nothing is impossible” became “Anything is possible.”

My dad also said,

“Outstanding!”

I think that was a common military word. It felt good to hear that one. He also said things in what sounded like Korean or Vietnamese (he served as a Marine in both those wars), but I think they were curse words, so I’m not going to try to guess how they might be spelled.

Mom often said,

“Kids are baby goats,”

She said that whenever someone would call children kids. Dad picked that up, too. Sorry, Mom, but I sometimes say kids. Mom also said,

“We don’t throw away food.”

That came from growing up during “The Great Depression.” The other thing mom said a lot was,

“Wish in one hand and spit in the other and see which one gets filled up first.”

There are other versions of that saying which Mom would not want me to share. Still, I think there is some value in wishing as long as we do the footwork to make our wishes come true. Not that we can MAKE them come true every time, but we can manifest our dreams. We can move in the direction of our hopes and dreams, one step as time. Sometimes we manifest something even better!

As I look at that word, manifest, it conjures up all kinds of trash in the stream of consciousness. It’s not a pleasant-sounding word, but it has a powerful meaning. What would be another word that means nurturing dreams into reality? Well, I don’t know. But I know this:

Dreams do come true!

Reading these sayings from my parents, it sounds like my dad was more of a dreamer and my mom was stern. That was not the case at all, at least not on the surface. Dad was practical and hardworking. Mom was more romantic, though dad had his romantic side, too. Just for the record.

I could write a whole other post about goats. Summing it up: Don’t take baby goats away from their mamas.

Mother Esther and Daughter Miracle

Friends Mira and Mary

Brothers Jack and Henry

Goats at the Blueberry Lane Sanctuary

Esther and Delilah came to the sanctuary pregnant. It was the first time they were allowed to keep their babies. I don’t have a good picture of Delilah, but Jack and Henry are her sons. Esther’s daughter was named Miracle, aka Mira, because she was a complete surprise, and her mama is so old.

Happy Mother’s Day to goat mamas, dog mamas, cat mamas, llama mamas and

all the mamas everywhere.

~~~

For more sayings, streams, and rules, visit our most excellent host, Linda G. Hill HERE.

SoCS: Art Inspiration, Vegan Aspirations, Expiration Dates, and a Road Trip

Today’s prompt is from Dan who’s filling in for Linda. You can visit both of them over at the virtual bar at Dan’s blog today. Here’s what Dan came up with:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “inspire/aspire/expire.” Use them in any form you like. Use one, use two or use them all if you want. If you use two, you get bonus points! If you use all three, Cheryl will put your next drink on David’s tab. Enjoy!

I hope to inspire, but more naturally than in the past. Because I like to be inspired, too. In my art folder here on my laptop, I have a folder named, “inspiration.” It has ideas from nature and other people’s art that I want to, not copy, but be inspired by, taking my own spin on them. Clouds inspire me, like this one:

If you know a lot about clouds, you might be able to tell I turned this upside down. Originally it looked like a bird or angel diving down to earth. Turning it upside down makes it a rising mermaid or angel or something. I like rising better than diving, though I do love diving under water. So I’m going to paint it rising, whatever it turns out to be. The head will be different. We’ll see what happens. Do you notice the face near the very top a little to the right of center? It’s kinda eerie/cool. The face seems to be looking over a shoulder or wing.

Aspire. I have aspired to be and do many things. Maybe the best is to aspire to be ourselves. Our true selves, not what others expect. I think of myself as an aspiring vegan, inching closer and inspired by the vegans at the farm where I volunteer. Been doing better on not eating fish. Gave up chicken a couple years ago (the chickens on the farm reinforce that) and stopped eating mammals in my early twenties. Cheese though is sneaky. Dairy productus show up unexpectedly in granola bars or veggie burritoes. Anyway, I’m not perfect, never have been, never will be.

Expiration dates are subjective. My husband will eat (almost) anything that smells okay even if it’s expired. I might go a couple months out from when something was said to expire. Maybe six months. A lot of food is wasted because it’s expired or looks funny, but it’s still good to eat. I’m glad people are starting to rescue and redistribute some of that. I got some free almond butter that had expired at the new food co-op down the road. Almond butter is something I don’t usually buy, because peanut butter is so much less expensive, and there’s something about almonds production that’s a problem, maybe with bees. I don’t remember. But it was a nice gift, the expired almond butter.

My energy level expired Saturday when David drove home from southeastern Connecticut to southeastern NC. He’s a tough guy. Just riding in the truck all those hours was hard on my body. We took the scenic route close to the eastern shore, because it was less traffic and less stress, though more time (15 hours with our stops.) We had considered stopping for the night halfway, but David seems to have an amazing ability to keep going which only inspires me to take a nap or take pictures. Oh, the reason for the trip – we had gone to visit David’s mother who is 86 and doing very well except for some vision problems. (We have all been vaccinated.) She was very happy to see us after five years and told me all about her volunteer work at the elementary school when her kids were little. I’m going to write another post about that sometime – about how she helped start a kindergarten, school library, and got things done as a mama bear back in the 1960s. But that’s enough for now. Here are some photos from our trip. I hope to stay home for a while.

• 

  Windmills in NC

• 

  Somewhere on the east coast

• 

• 

  Abandoned house in Rhode Island

• 

  Nice view in Connecticut

• 

  Chesapeake Bay Bridge

• 

• 

  Chesapeake Bay

• 

  Same windmills heading home

~~~

Happy October!

For more streams of consciousness visit Linda’s blog HERE. Be sure to look for Dan’s contribution at “No Facilities” in the comments.

Good News Tuesday: Helpers, Food Choices, and Peace at the Ocean

Seeking Balance One Tuesday at a Time

Helpers During Hurricane Dorian

Airbnb has activated their “open home policy” listing houses that are free during the hurricane in Florida and surrounding states. From my GoodNewsletter, here’s the link.

Airlines like Delta are waiving pet-in-cabin and baggage fees for hurricane evacuees and capping fees for flights out of Florida and other states. If you and your pets are evacuating the area, consider this opportunity and keep your pets safe.

Chella Phillips rescued 97 dogs in the Bahamas. They’re all at her house. She manages The Voiceless Dogs of Nassau, Bahamas.

…

Food Choices for the Environment

A survey commissioned by Sweet Earth Foods and conducted by OnePoll found that of the 57% of millennials who follow a special diet 44% do so because it’s better for the environment and 37% because it’s more ethical. It’s the environment that I want to focus on today, though ethics plays a large part in my own diet. Consuming a more plant-based diet is better for the environment for at least two reasons. One is that it takes less land and less energy to grow crops than it does to raise and process animals for food. The other reason is that rainforest destruction is often committed to make room for beef cattle.  I don’t know why they only surveyed millennials. Anyone can move toward a more plant-based diet. Eating local is better for the environment, too and something I want to work on. You can read more about the survey in this article from The Good News Network.

…

Israelis and Palestinians at the Ocean

Some Palestinians who live less than an hour away from the ocean have never seen it. That’s because they need a permit to travel across the Israeli military border. So, for the last four years, Robby Berman, with help from fellow Israelis, has been organizing trips to bring Palestinian families to the beach at Tel Aviv. Think about this: We are all made up mostly of water, so it makes sense that sharing this experience with the ocean helps create friendship and peace.

…

Got good news?

Please share in the comments!

WATWB: Pay What You Can Grocery Store

Toronto has a Pay What You Can Grocery Store! Chef Jagger Gordon and his volunteer team “rescue” food that would otherwise thrown away.  When the store, Feed it Forward, has leftovers, the volunteers take it to the street to distribute.  Imagine if every city had a Pay What You Can grocery store!

#WATWB is a monthly blogfest promoting positive efforts around the world.

For details, please visit:

https://www.damyantiwrites.com/we-are-the-world-blogfest/

Thank you to our cohosts:  Shilpa Garg, Dan Antion, Mary Giese, Simon Falk , Damyanti Biswas.

My “Dangerous” Yet Healthy Banana Bread Peanut Butter Bars

Our prompt for today’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “dough/d’oh.” Linda said, “Use one, use both, use ’em any way you like. Enjoy!”

Okay. Here goes. I’ve had plenty of d’oh moments if I’m reading that right. Too many to count. I’d rather talk/write about dough. If you take the u and the h out, you’ve got dog. I write about dogs a lot, because I love dogs. Know what else I love, besides dogs and trees? Cookie dough. It’s one of my favorite things. Raw cookie dough is better to me than cookies baked, unless they’re warm and doughy.

Right now, if I were to eat cookie dough, it would have to be vegan since I’m being vegan for lent. Doing pretty well on that most of the time. I have to read labels though since a lot of things have milk or eggs. I was going to buy some granola that said, “May contain  milk or eggs.” What does that mean? Then there are times when I don’t want to read the label, but we won’t go there.

Do you like to experiment with food? I’ve been experimenting with what to do with very ripe bananas. I’ve created a recipe except I haven’t written it down and don’t measure. That’s the experimenting part. I mash up a ripe banana or two and add peanut butter (crunchy) and almond milk if I have it, sometimes apple sauce, and mix all this together. Then I add in flour (sprinkling baking powder and baking soda on top of the flour and mixing that on the surface and/or oatmeal. Raisins might be good in there. Hmmmm. I add the flour and/or oatmeal until I like the consistency.  Am I forgetting something? Who cares? I don’t think so, but you could add any kind of fruit. Then I bake it. Yesterday it turned out like very moist banana bread brownies, and I got this idea to put peanut butter in between two brownies. I guess they’re more like bars than brownies because there’s no chocolate. Though I have used cocoa before, but then I can’t give any to the spoiled dogs. Anyway, so they turned out like banana bread peanut butter bars. And they were really good! My husband said they were dangerous (as in dangerously good.) Not exactly dough, but batter I suppose. That’s where my stream of consciousness flows.

JoAnna’s Banana Bread Peanut Butter Bars

 

If you want to join in the fun Stream of Consciousness Saturday or learn more about it, visit Linda Hill at:

https://lindaghill.com/2019/03/29/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-march-30-19/

Here are the rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing (typos can be fixed), and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. I will post the prompt here on my blog every Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The,’” or will simply be a single word to get you started.

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours. Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read all of them! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later or go to the previous week by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.

8. Have fun!

Are You Going to Eat That?

You stopped eating! That means you’re done. My turn!

I’m not done eating, Doodle.  I’m looking at the computer.

But you stopped! You must be full. I’m starving. Give me the rest!

People don’t eat like dogs. We take our time.

Maybe that’s because you never been starving. I thought I was going to die in the before time.

You’re okay now, Doodle. David says you’re getting fat.

Bowooooo!  No way! Are you going to eat that or not?

I’m still eating. Be patient.

You’re staring at that thing like there’s food in there. You’re gonna save me some right? You have to. That’s the deal.

I’ll save you some Doodle. I always do.

Because I’m a good dog.

Yeah, right. Okay.

Save me all of it. And let me lick the bowl.

Just a minute. See, I’m eating.

Well, why are you taking so long? Just give me a bite.

You know you’re not supposed to eat from the table. I’m almost done.

Don’t let Mary have any. I’m the best dog. See, I’m in my room. I’m waiting.

Marigold’s sleeping. I guess you can have the rest in your room.

In my room! Yes! See, I”m sitting. I’m good!

Okay, Doodle, here you go. Clean it up good.

Yes! Yes!

_________________________

My step dog, Doodle, was rescued from the streets of starvation nine years ago by my husband David. When she watches me eat, her eyes shift back and forth from my food to my face. She does the same thing looking at the dog biscuits on top of the refrigerator when she thinks it’s time for a “cookie.” (Yes, I know she’s spoiled.) She loves people, but being obsessed with food, she is competitive with other dogs. Her coon hound baying is so loud, it can even wake up Marigold the mutt who is 16 and practically deaf.

If you like dogs, you’ll find a pack of ’em (including Doodle and Mary) in my book,

Trust the Timing, A Memoir of Finding Love Again.

Did I hear the refrigerator door open?

This post was inspired by Mary Melange and her talk with Ziva:

https://maryjmelange.wordpress.com/2018/05/19/socs-miss-downtrodden/

#WATWB : Soup Bar offers Pay What You Can Meals

So much food is wasted, yet many people are hungry.  Jagger Gordon, a chef in Toronto, is turning these two problems into a blessing of abundance. He receives donations of food that would have been thrown away and makes nutritious soups for people who pay what they can. He has been helped by a program called, “Feed it Forward.” Using this model, we can feed everyone.

 

This post is part of the “We are the World Blog Fest.” For more information, or to join in, visit:   http://www.damyantiwrites.com/we-are-the-world-blogfest/

Good New Tuesday: Giving Food Away

We don’t have to waste food. This company sets an example that all companies can follow.

 

Three ways to avoid throwing food away:

1. Eat it before it goes bad.
2. Give it away while it’s still good.
3. Compost it.  (Now, if we could just recycle all those plastic containers!)

Got good news?

Please share in the comments or link back here, whether it’s global, local, or personal!

 

 

How Not to Waste Food: Eat Leftovers, Compost, Share with Dogs

Today’s Stream of Consciousness prompt was: “food”

If I hadn’t written about my efforts to be a vegetarian just a few days ago, I would have written about that…..

Do you know how much food is wasted in the US? A lot!

My mother used to say, “We don’t throw away food.” She grew up in the depression and didn’t throw away much. But sometime, when it has mold on it, you do need to throw it away, unless of course you can compost it. We keep our compost in the freezer until it piles up enough to carry it out to the composter.

Having dogs also helps us not to waste food. And we eat a lot of leftovers. Sometime we can make a whole meal of leftovers, two meals even. A thin friend of mine told me that she felt like when she ate too much, it was wasting food, so it’s the same as throwing it away. I don’t know. But it got me thinking about how maybe I don’t need to eat something just to keep it from going to waste when I’ve already had enough. But I still don’t like to throw it away if it’s usable, meaning eatable.

My husband’s dogs, who are now my dogs, my step dogs, will eat just about anything, including kale, broccoli, carrots, apples and bananas. My little mutt has started to eat some of those things, too, since her step sisters seem to enjoy their raw veggies so much. But when we toss her the kale, or a piece of raw carrot, she mouths it and then looks at us like, what is this? This is not food.

Yet, for humans, it is food, unlike things like potato chips and candy – food like products, right? Except that last night, I had some potato chips for the first time in a very long time, and they were good, sort of, not wholesome, yeah, they didn’t taste like food. Okay, so I won’t do that again for a very long time. I hope. Because it’s true what they say about weight gain and getting older. It’s not mandatory to gain weight as we age, but it does seem to be a trend. And then there are those people who get thinner as they get older.

But back to food. I’d really like to eat mostly what God made, through nature, for us to eat to be healthy. We are blessed and lucky to have so many choices in the modern world. But I do like dark chocolate, and that is not made by God/nature. Cocoa beans are though. I don’t recall ever having a cocoa bean. I think it’s about time. Because beans are good for you. And I want to eat food that’s good for me. I want to eat to live, not live to eat.

If you’d like to join in the banquet of Saturday’s Stream of Consciousness, visit:

http://lindaghill.com/2016/02/26/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-feb-2716/

Here are the rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The’,” or simply a single word to get your started.

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours.  Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.

8. Have fun!

Simple Therapy

Many years ago, one of my clients told me another client said my therapy consisted of two things: Deep Breathing and Making Lists. That was an oversimplification of course, but sometimes we get in a rut. I incorporated more active listening, which by itself can be therapeutic, with other therapies, broadening my cognitive-behavioral work.

Still, breathing techniques can be helpful in times of stress:

https://joannesilvia.wordpress.com/2014/08/12/remembering-to-breathe/

Our ever-available breath can help us accept the things we cannot change or even give us courage to change the things we can. Have you ever taken a deep breath right before going into a challenging situation?

Making lists can also help us change the things we can. Lists help us organize and prioritize. List making gives me clarity when my thoughts are all over the place.

Here are a few of my favorite lists:

Things to do today. Ideally this should not be a long list, but if it is, be sure to prioritize.

1. Go to work √
2. Call Dad’s doctor √
3. Schedule Vet appointment √
4. Drink lots of water.  (needs work)

Things I’m NOT doing today.

1.  I’m not taking down the Christmas Tree,
2.  I’m not worrying about when to take down the Christmas tree. (Maybe I’ll put valentines on it.)

Things I want to accomplish this week/month/year. Be specific and realistic.

1.  Spend 1/2 hour a week sketching
2.  Spend at least 4 hours a month painting, and
3.  Paint at least one picture that explores ideas for my book cover.

Things I’ve accomplished. Your list is likely a longer than you think.

1. Graduated from  college
2. Got two extraordinary kids through high school
3. Worked on forgiveness
4. Painted the bathroom

Qualities I am was looking for in a partner.

( Be careful what you wish for. “Must Love Dogs” landed me quite a pack.)

 

Things I’m not going to consume:

1. sodas, except an occasional diet soda

( This list has gotten shorter over the years.)

Foods I will only eat on my birthday, and holidays, ………or when I’ve had a really hard day,……or on some one else’s birthday. Or special occasions.  And only in moderation!

1. cake
2. potato chips
3. Ice cream
4. cookies

Things I’m going to consume more often:

1. Green Leafy veggies: kale, collards, arugula……
2.  Water
3. Foods with Indian Spices
4. Quinoa (still figuring out what to do with this)

Ways to say no:

1. Maybe later. NO.
2. No thanks,
3. Been there, done that, don’t want the headache.
4. Sorry. I’m allergic to that.

Ways to stall for time:

1. Let me think about it.
2. I’ll have to get back to you about that.
3. I have to check my schedule.
4. I have to go to the bathroom!

Things I’m going to buy with my income tax return:

1. Put all of it  some of it on the principle of my mortgage.
2. Buy something for the house that will make life easier.
3. Go to the movies.

Things I want to do when I retire:

1. Write more.
2. Paint more.
3. Read more.
4. Teach kids (or adults) to read, write and paint.
5. Putter in the back yard.
6. Take a walk every day.
7. Visit Yosemite, then head north!
   

Things I like about myself:

1. Honesty
2. Open Minded
3. Artistic
4. Conscientious
5. Natural
6. Always Learning

That felt pretty therapeutic to me.

Do you like to make lists?