Every once in a while a coincidence will happen that makes you wonder about who exactly has his hand on the tiller of the universe. Back in 2006, Kim and I were meeting some friends for dinner at a restaurant on the upper east side of Manhattan. Neither of us frequented the area, but Kim had an orthopedic appointment nearby. In fact, I noted that I had last been in that same area in 2005…
In the work I do around the house and grounds, sometimes I do something, plant something or build something that perfectly suits the spot. But that only happens some of the time. As much of a planner as I like to consider myself, when it comes to the gardens, I admittedly follow a more whimsical and random approach. There is planning involved in execution, but not so much in overall design. I tend to get…
Burning Man is an annual experimental community and arts event held in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, which is in the remote northwestern part of the state. It has evolved from a small beach gathering into one of the world’s most distinctive cultural phenomena. Burning Man began in 1986, when Larry Harvey and Jerry James spontaneously built and burned an 8-foot wooden man on Baker Beach in San Francisco. The event was inspired by Harvey processing…
Georgie Porgie is a classic English nursery rhyme that goes like this: Georgie Porgie, pudding and pie, Kissed the girls and made them cry. When the boys came out to play, Georgie Porgie ran away. The origins of the rhyme are a bit murky, but it’s been around since at least the 19th century. There are various theories about who “Georgie Porgie” might have been based on. Some suggest it referred to King George I.…
Fingernails serve several important functions that were crucial for our ancestors and remain useful today. Given that our sense of touch mostly happens through our fingers, its only logical that they are very sensitive and have lots of nerve endings. Nails shield the sensitive fingertips and the underlying bone from injury and trauma. The nail bed underneath is rich in nerve endings and blood vessels, and nails act as a protective plate. Nails provide crucial…
I think its fair to say that we are all eating more chicken than ever these days. Protein consumption has been rising significantly in recent years. Chicken provides 7.2% of total protein intake in the United States. To put this in broader context: chicken accounts for 13.9% of animal protein consumed in the US , making it the dominant meat choice. Americans consume about 102.6 pounds of chicken per capita annually, and poultry accounted for…
Today I am going for my semi-annual doctor’s visit for a check-up. The general state of my health is good (I know its not “excellent” and I find myself debating if its just “good” or “very good” in the five level rating system the questionnaire asks). In fact, it’s much better than it was six months ago, which is before I lost twenty pounds, solved my edema problem and started wearing compression socks every day.…
It has quite suddenly become that time of year again when season has passed from summer to fall and the autumnal equinox is upon us. The equinox occurs twice a year when day and night are approximately equal in length across the globe. As we all learned in grade school Earth Science, the Vernal (Spring) Equinox occurs around March 20-21 in the Northern Hemisphere and the Autumnal (Fall) Equinox occurs around September 22-23 in the…
Yesterday I was on a ride out to the eastern part of the county to an area called Sunrise Highway. It is in the Laguna Mountains near the Mexican border and defines the line between the western and eastern parts of San Diego with the Carizzo Valley to the east that runs down towards the Salton Sea. The high plains basin of Lake Cuyamaca and the ridge line to the east of that are some…
The Ocotillo (Fouquieria Splendens) is one of the most distinctive and fascinating desert plants of the American Southwest. Kim and I (especially Kim) have been very fond of the plant for a dozen years, since we started exploring our desert surroundings. Our friend Natasha is crazy about the Joshua Tree (Yucca Brevifolia) a native Agave that grows in the Mojave Desert just east of here and is both the state plant of Nevada and is…