All Things Bright and Colorful

FALL! or should I say Autumn is still crisp in the air! "Fall" discovered us not long ago, but it was only recently that I began to notice the bright and bold colors popping out against the neutral landscape. I love vivid colors, especially those of the changing seasons. Northern California does not wear these gorgeous pigments as well as the East, yet we display the rich shades in the rolling hills of vineyards.
First things that come to mind when I think of fall: The crisp delicate leaves crunching underfoot (not to mention jumping in a big pile), scented candles, and apples! Pumpkin-flavored foods!!!! Pumpkin butter, pumpkin soup, pumpkin-spice latte, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pancakes (a la Trader Joes!)..... As you can see I would much rather spend my time thinking about food than clothes ;-) Nevertheless, this is the time when you roll out those plastic bins, unlatch the cedar hope chest, and take out those sweaters and colorful scarves to match! Yay! Oh, and get ready for the festive spirit, Christmas is around the corner....

Inspiration

In celebration of Earth Day, a gift from our Creator.

Even though explorers unveiled the far corners of this earth many years ago, we still have much to discover for ourselves. Yet society built up civilization to the point of encapsulating ourselves from being out in nature! Therefore we are spending less and less time out in God's green earth. I am saddened that the closest some people come to the great outdoors is watching Planet Earth!
For starters, we could all benefit to get outside once a day and exercise wether it be a quick jog or a stroll through the park. OR plant a garden! I just started a square foot garden this month as the rainy season came to a close.
With all this northern california rain, last week I felt compelled to soak in the remnants of the late afternoon sun. Even though my kitchen sink was piled with dishes, I felt it necessary to get outside and feel the warming natural rays. Thus I ventured outside our manicured property and strolled down the paved road. All I could hear were the sounds of nature in harmony with the golden afternoon which was mostly unadulterated with the extraneous city noises. With my long skirt on I wishfully longed to hear one of Dario Marianelli's piano obbligatos from Pride & Prejudice. It reminded me of a quote that read, "the trouble with life is there's no background music". Yet being a musician, I suppose I could make my own music and then there'd be no trouble at all.
A few yards down I came across a middle-aged gentleman sitting outside the gate of a neighbor's vineyard. He was concentrating on a very small notepad. After striking up a conversation, I asked him if he was writing poetry. He responded that he was indeed creating a poem for his newborn granddaughter after finding inspiration from all the wildflowers. I wished him God's blessing and walked away reflecting on how easy it is for us to find inspiration from the things we see around us. I truly believe God created much of earth's beauty for our enjoyment and pleasure.
"God is love," is written upon every opening bud, every spire of springing grass...the delicately tinted flowers....the lofty tress of the forest-all testify to the tender, fatherly care of our God, and to His desire to make His children happy (SC p.10). Think about it...the first home he gave to man and wife was a garden! Through each blossom, each mountain peak, God is drawing us in. He's calling us to worship Him and rest in Him not only on Earth Day, 1 day a week (His holy sabbath day), but everyday! What better way to spend time with our Creator than to spend time in his creation? Just like the stranger by the gate, God's creation certainly has inspired an ample quantity of paintings, literature, and music. Many notable artists who respected and submitted to God, let Him plant the seed of inspiration that sparked their creative drive. If only we would turn back to the true source of nature, the giver of life, and acknowledge Him not only as King of the universe, but Lord of our hearts, and keep his law in our hearts. Ps 119: 11,34. He already has done so much for us. What can we give Him in return?

After the Rain...

First rain of the season and already the air is full of fresh aroma. My grandparents and I drove down the streets of Temecula this evening after a mexicana dinner and I stuck my head partially out the window inhaling the smells of wet pavement, wild sage, damp sycamore maples, and a hint of eucalyptus. I felt like a hound dog with his nose sky high trying to suck in all the many new and curious smells of the world in one breath. Even though Temecula was once the proverbial agrarian town of the golden era, the California housing boom in the 1990's did not completely stifle the natural fragrance of the land. The eucalyptus was a nice surprise. Some of my favorite smells I have discovered include lemon grass, lavender, basil, and of course eucalyptus. I love how we were created with five senses! I find it enthralling that one can have a multi-sensorial experience. Just imagine. You are walking along the shoreline barefoot. You feel the cold wet sand give way to your footsteps as you feel the frigid wind whispering by your ear, which turns into shrill whistles. You see the golden rays melting against the sky at twilight and the white foamy water reaching up to grab hold of the dripping sandcastle that is now turning into a gothic cathedral. The air smells clean and crisp and the faint taste of salt is upon your lips. Wouldn't life be dull without all these avenues of feeling? After the rain falls, the earth is cleansed, freshness is restored, and new life springs up. With all the crime, hatred, and ugliness in the world....Life, to me, is still beautiful. Vita bella.

Kindred Spirits

"True friends are always together in spirit." ~ Anne of Green Gables
I have discovered that I am starting to have an affinity for early mornings...although I am still coming out of my night-owl phase. Early mornings remind me of parts of Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea especially those scenic moments were you get a glimpse of the morning mist settling in beautiful rural Canada. I have often identified myself with the fiery/feisty redhead. Anne's character was opinionated, mischievous, stubborn, adventurous, kind, intelligent, loyal, and a hopeless romantic. In the TV/book series, Anne loved using the word kindred spirit when referring to her closest friends or those she felt a connection with. As a young girl I always wanted to have a best friend like Diana and spend many adventurous days in a gorgeous setting such as Prince Edward Island. I am blessed though. I have many friends whom I consider to be kindred spirits! I consider some of my best days spent with friends and family. Our family recently had company over for a dinner. I was delighted to help prepare the evening menu and I also carved out a watermelon to use as a punchbowl. After dinner we all gathered around telling jokes and then settled in the music room to play music together. I love that. I consider fellow musicians as kindred spirits. Someone I can summon and thus utilize their musical gifts is quite rare these days. Fortunately I have many friends and family who are just that. Music is such a huge part of my genetic, chemical, & biological make-up. (I plan to wax eloquent on that subject some other time). Growing up in a small town I had many friends but only few kindred spirits. I felt at times that no one really understood me because I was teased about liking Shakespeare and at times attempted to talk in a British accent (hey I like Monty python OK?!). I also felt that outside of my own family, I was probably one of the few people who felt emotionally invested in music. Yes, I admit some of my first CDs I ever bought as a teenie-bopper were from the vacuous Spice Girls and N'Sync (go justin timberlake....not!) but I have always adored listening to and playing classical music. In fact I'm listening to Beethoven's Pastorale Symphony right now! I consider a kindred spirit as someone who loves to travel and also have a grand ole' adventure. My parents, my church family, & Carnegie Hall via Dr. Rittenhouse have sponsored many of my excursions around the world to which I am indebted. I think my first big trip outside the country was to Ecuador in 2000 (sorry Mexico and Canada don't count as "BIG" trips). Other then that I've been on music tours to Great Britain, Africa, and several mission trips to other parts of the globe. The friends I have made from those experiences have stayed with me even to this day! Last month I was in Haiti helping out the impoverished through medical work, orphanage work, construction, & evangelistic meetings. We had such a great group and we all worked really well together...very supportive of one another. I definitely felt a connection with more than one person on that trip...which from past mission experiences is unusual for me. Singing hymns together in the tap-taps was such a joy, that for me, that spiritually musical experience strengthened our bond.
*Friendships and relationships in Christ seem to be more authentic, more fundamental, and frankly just better than friendships out of Christ. My friendships run deeper-much deeper with my Christian friends because we share a love for the Savior, for His word, and for His people. As kindred spirits, we share a basic world view...this is not dry uniformity but a genuine unity, unity in Christ.
During morning worships in Haiti while we were praying, singing, and fellowshipping, I sincerely felt the presence of the Holy Spirit. I believe that as we grow through God's grace on the path to the straight and narrow, we can truly have a wonderful and meaningful worship experience that not only we can share with the Holy Spirit, but with our kindred spirits. It's a Wonderful Life!
*Asscherick D., Walking the Walk: The Christian Life

All Things Trader Joe's

Over the past several months, I have slowly discovered that I am more of a pescetarian than an omnivore. The progression by eliminating meat started off with red-meat particularly beef. I have tried pork a few times in the past plus lobster, lamb, crab, rabbit, shrimp, deer, calamari, squid, octopus, termites, buffalo, lemon ants, and a fat white larva in the amazon in 2000. I think the hardest thing to get over has been chicken. It all goes back not to the "other white meat" but that "other white meat". Why do you hear the phrase "it tastes like chicken" all over the place? I'm sure that at one time or another I used that saying as well (certainly not with the little fat grub because it tasted like coconut, but the aftertaste made me think twice....chicle anyone?).
Praise the LORD for Trader Joe's.....I have always been his biggest fan. You know why? Because shopping malls are for girls (you will notice if there is ever a place to sit down in a mall the men occupy those benches) and arcades are for boys, but Trader Joe's was made for me! I think I am one of those girls (just like in Julie & Julia) who get super excited when shopping for food. Eating = Passion so I have to be extra careful with what I eat. When I was visiting family in Ecuador this past June, one of my aunties asked me how I can stay so thin? I told her "Easy, I eat plenty of low calorie, nutrient DENSE food!" I said, as I stuffed my face with a huge plate of lettuce, beets, chickpeas, carrots, cucumbers, radish, olives, mini-potatoes, and broccoli topped off with olive oil and lemon juice. Look...if you want to lose weight and you want to do it by eating plenty of raw foods and salads...please don't POUR on the ranch dressing like one of my father's former obese employees. That will add tremendously to the calories. If you choose to ignore my advice, then you can stay ignorant. If you choose to be aware of the fact that bottled dressings have tons of fatty calories and still continue to consume them....well that's your choice too. I simply tell it like it is....and I eat it too (but not those heavy salad dressings)!
I went to Trader Joe's the other day with my dear friend Lina and I purchased some dark chocolate fruit & nut trail mix, dried apricots, Mediterranean pasta salad mix, and fresh tofu spring rolls (the kind with that translucent flat noodle covering). I have to keep eating during the day because of my meteoric metabolism (hey I'm not braggin' God gave me that so I want to treat it right). I can't remember when I first laid my eyes on T. Joes but i'm pretty sure I discovered him on the east coast where we first met. Love at first sight, er...taste. Oh, and have you tried his powerberries!? Heavens! I have never tasted such dark-chocolatey-covered bliss! Choices, choices, choices. Well you can have your pasty-white-frosting-covered-empty-calorie cake and eat it too. I'll have my TJ's

A New Day with No Cheese

I am considering becoming a vegan because I discovered this year that I have some degree of lactose intolerance. Last night I was at my friend Lina's house and I brought over some organic red beets, green beans, goat cheese, basil, and dressing for dinner. We also had boiled potatoes (no, she's not Irish, but Russian, yes) and I of course wanted to add more cheese to my potatoes....making it rudimentary mashed potatoes. I also included tofu cream cheese for good measure. Then my dearest friend enticed me to Trader Joe's Chocolate Ice Cream Bon Bons. How could I resist anything with that unmistakable label? Not possible with this chica....anyways I had more than my fair share (so I thought) and then we crashed on the couch to discuss our desires for future nursing career goals and where to take an artsy photography class. You know, not the boring class that only teaches you the basics, but one that also lets you explore the world through a fish-eye lens and how to capture that ethereal golden light that illuminates the subject. So back to the cheese of the matter, this morning I woke up to the rumble-tumble of my intestines. Oh for the love of Dairy! Brie, Roquefort, Pol le Veq, Port Salut, Savoy Aire, Saint Paulin, Carrier de lest, Brest Bleu, Bruson....Camenbert, perhaps? It's a bit runny sir....
My dear father played the part of John Cleese in Monty Python's "The Cheese Shop" for a church talent show once upon a time and when he took us to and from school he would play the recording over and over in his Jaguar S-type (he absolutely loathed that British make-of-a-car) therefore I too memorized his part, although I must admit I did not know how to spell half of those Parisian cheeses mentioned.
But brie has always been my favoritest cheese. Alas...I must give this up too if I go on a dairy strike. Oh cruel irony!