Saturday Morning Walkers - December 7, 2008

Hi everyone!

We had a twist on our Saturday morning meeting yesterday - we met for coffee before walking (I'm assuming a walk followed - hmmm.....) Chris and I were both sorry we had to leave Jan, Laila and Mary early but it was good to catch up and we had a special, short visit from Jackie and Keith. Felt like old times!

Barb was out in San Diego this weekend for a holiday get-together with her amazing book group. They have been together for more than 30 years - a few have moved away but they try to get together at least once a year and even include spouses/partners. I think that is so great!

All our love and good energy go out to Cass and her family - Cass' mom passed away on Thursday, December 4 - her illness was brief and Cass was able to be with her mom during those last days in hospice.

Book Report:

Laila is reading a travel memoir - Shadow of the Silk Road by Colin Thubron.
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. In his latest absorbing travel epic, Thubron (In Siberia; Mirror to Damascus) follows the course—or at least the general drift—of the ancient network of trade routes that connected central China with the Mediterranean Coast, traversing along the way several former Soviet republics, war-torn Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey. The author travels third-class all the way, in crowded, stifling railroad cars and rattle-trap buses and cars, staying at crummy inns or farmers' houses, subject to shakedowns by border guards and constant harassment—even quarantine—by health officials hunting the SARS virus. Physically, these often monotonously arid, hilly regions of Central Asia tend to go by in a swirl of dun-colored landscapes studded with Buddha shrines in varying states of repair or ruin, but Thubron's poetic eye still teases out gorgeous subtleties in the panorama. Certain themes also color his offbeat encounters with locals—most of them want to get the hell out of Central Asia—but again he susses out the infinite variety of ordinary misery. The conduit by which an entire continent exchanged its commodities, cultures and peoples—Thubron finds traces of Roman legionaries and mummies of Celtic tribesmen in western China—the Silk Road becomes for him an evocative metaphor for the mingling of experiences and influences that is the essence of travel.

Chris mentioned a book that she is planning to read and I heard a radio interview with the author, Sheila Weller - Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon--and the Journey of a Generation
From Publishers Weekly
Weller's cultural history of the titans of women in rock in the 1970s details the artistic, sexual and symbolic twists and turns of Carole King, Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon in careful, loving detail. Susan Ericksen reads like one of the girls, picking up from Weller's tone and sounding like a woman of the era, besotted with the music and with the sense of boundaries being broken and glass ceilings smashed. While Ericksen occasionally slips, pronouncing words incorrectly and stumbling over unwieldy sentences, her performance is, for the most part, very solid. Weller's book is ambitious and wide-ranging, but Ericksen keeps its story tight and engaging

Website/Blog of the Week - this is a blog site from a group that Jexy is involved with at Jacob's school - the blog is called The Beanstalk Blog - A Food and Garden Blog for Odyssey Charter School. http://ocsbeanstalk.blogspot.com/ - This is all part of an effort to transform the school lunch program at the school as well as educate the staff and students about healthy food choices. The site will have articles and recipes - there's even a gift item perfect for a stocking stuffer available on the site.

Podcast of the Week - The Economist - http://podcast.com/show/65239/


Vocabulary Word of the Week - suggested by Gaye - wisdom
From Wikipedia:
Wisdom is knowledge, understanding, experience, discretion, and intuitive understanding, along a capacity to apply these qualities well towards finding solutions to problems. It is the judicious and purposeful application of knowledge that is valued in society. To some extent the terms wisdom and intelligence have similar and overlapping meanings. The status of wisdom or prudence as a virtue is recognized in cultural, philosophical and religious sources.

Cooking and Dining Report - Jack was away most of the week so my kitchen and I have been on vacation.

I did cook dinner tonight and this was a Roast Chicken with Bacon with recipe from the Williams Sonoma catalog - http://www.foodchannel.com/recipes/1353-roasted-chickens-with-bacon - wow - this was fantastic - made a gravy using demi-glace - we loved it!

Quote of the Week - from George Bernard Shaw

"There are two disappointments in life. Not getting what you want and getting it" This line appeared in Chapter 7 of Jack Kornfield's A Path With Heart. In this section on the grasping and wanting mind, Kornfield elaborates, saying ".....peace comes not from fulfilling our wants but from the moment that dissatisfacion ends. When wanting is filled, there comes a moment of satisfaction, not from the pleasure but from stopping of grasping."

Have a good week!

Love,

Susan