MJ's Moderation

Farmer's Market Veggies

The selection is always overwhelming at the Saturday morning farmer's market around Capitol Square in Madison, Wisconsin. This vendor had a variety of gorgeous looking produce on his tables.

Conveniently, this post fits in nicely with City Daily Photo's September Theme Day of "Open Air Markets."

City of the Big Shoulders

We drove down to Chicago last weekend to see our son, Seth. He won a trip through his work (top regional sales!) and flew in from Phoenix for a 4-day visit. Saturday afternoon was the only free time he had and the weather was ideal: blue skies, sunny and warm, but not too humid.  And talk about people!  The streets were teeming with them, walking, skating, biking, site-seeing, and shopping.  We stopped at a great little restaurant called the "Gage" - right across from Grant Park on Michigan Ave. and had a delightful lunch together.  We sat near the front windows with a super vantage point for people-watching! Afterward, we wandered past the Art Institute of Chicago (our favorite), through the park, and enjoyed browsing an art show on the green. Next was a stroll down to Lake Michigan to watch the sailboats, and then back again through Millennium Park.  All around us the skyline was such an interesting backdrop. I love the architecture in this city.

A perfect day - but much too short, as then we had to say our good-byes and be on our way.  We'll see Seth again in October when he flies back home to Milwaukee for a GB Packers game.  We'll be back down to Chicago, that toddlin' town, any other time the opportunity presents itself.

The Power of the Pyramids

The Mormon/Latter Day Saints (LDS) Conference Center, located to the north of Temple Square in Salt Lake City, was completed in April of 2000. The auditorium in the Conference Center seats 21,000. The building is constructed of granite from the same quarry which provided the granite for the Temple. A semi-annual world general conference is held at the headquarters of the LDS Church at Temple Square and includes music by the famous Mormon Tabernacle Choir in the auditorium. 

The builders decided that the roof should not be wasted space, and so designed a rooftop garden with pathways that meander throughout trees, native flowers, and other plantings. A guided tour of the center offers an elevator ride to the roof where you'll have a great view of the city and the mountains beyond.  The pyramid shapes are actually atrium windows channeling natural light into the building below.

"Faith...

...is an island in the setting sun.  But Proof is the bottom line for everyone." ~ Paul Simon

Black Caps!

 

Tiny, juicy little black raspberries, also known as "black-caps" around these parts, grow wild along the edge of many of our woodland hiking trails. This year was a bumper crop! They do best in dappled sunlight on the edge of trails, woods, and often along railroad tracks. They can tolerate dry conditions, however, too much sun causes the small compact berries to dry up quickly. On the other hand, too much shade and moisture prevent abundant flowering in the spring and/or compromised flower buds.

Black-caps usually form in little cluster of 5 berries, with the center one ripening first, followed by the others within a day or so.  By the way, black-caps, raspberries, and blackberries are all distant cousins of the rose family.  Thorns are their give-away family trait.

Big Blue Ball

Nik loves to play ball. Mostly with those bright yellow tennis balls, because they are soft and just the right size for her mouth, but any kind of ball will do. We'll throw it and she will eagerly chase and retrieve it - trotting back to us and dropping it at our feet to play again.  However, this big blue plastic ball blew into our yard a while back during a windy storm and she was intrigued! She spent most of her time pushing it with her nose (like a seal!) and trying to get her mouth around it, to no avail.  Eventually, her sharp teeth punctured it and that was the end of the big blue ball. :-)

What's that smell?

The past few springs while walking Nik, either on the rural back roads near our house, or up on the wooded hiking trails, I've noticed a lovely fragrance wafting in the air.  It usually makes me stop and take notice.  Where is it coming from? I scan the brush for something that could be emitting that beautiful smell.  Is it wild rosehips?  Nope, none to be seen.  Is it the wild geraniums?  Nope, none of those nearby, either.  Violets? Nope - they are long gone. Frustrated, I would continue my walk, never solving the puzzle.  Yet, this year, it was overwhelming. It's floral, fruity, almost *grapey* and...wait, that's it!  


I've looked past the hundreds of wild grape vines winding up through the trees and along the trails for years, never paying much attention to them until fall, when their bountiful purple berries begged to be picked. Yet, suddenly I realized, their lacy, pale green, & nearly invisible flowers are some of the most fragrant around.  The season of their allure is short. Within a day or two, the mini-petals are gone and tiny green grapes have taken their place.

Disturbing Yet Hypnotic

Sort of Tim Burton goes for Baroque: Animusic. (QuickTime)

Or - visit this link and scroll to #3 (Resonant Chamber).

I just saw this on our Public TV station (Ch. 36 WMVT) as a time filler between shows. Fascinating. So that's where our donation dollars go.

This is just wrong.

Fancy Feast Elegant Medleys:  "Restaurant-inspired cat food"??

Tempting florentines, delightful souffles, sumptuous shredded fare.  I'm sorry, but none of my personal restaurant inspirations have ever been shredded...except maybe that Bar-B-Que down in North Carolina, but that was the antithesis of elegant.

You know the world is going to hell in a handbasket when a single can of catfood is more expensive than a can of regular tuna.  Not to mention that it probably offers more nutritional value and is safer than much of the food residents in any third-world country have available on a daily basis. (Notwithstanding the recent pet food recall of tainted wheat product fillers in many canned petfoods.  Fortunately this recall did not include Phoebe's beloved Fancy Feast fodder.)

It all started when she was a kitten. We began buying her the standard canned 9-Lives to mix in her meds.  After awhile, we began to add a little dollop to her daily dose of Purina One dry cat-crunchies.  She naturally loved it.

But 9-Lives turned out to be the gateway substance leading to the more powerful draw of Fancy Feast. F2 is the least stinky brand that we've found of canned cat food, but stinky enough to evoke excitement to her mealtime. [One dramatic can of tuna/salmon blend actually offered up what appeared to be an eyeball. HELL-O!] The problem was that near the end of the can, even covered with foil in the fridge, it began to dry out and lose it's appeal. She would either refuse to eat it - or eat it and 20 minutes later hork up a big gullet-track. [aka Dog Snack!]

As an experiment we tried the pricier F2 "Elegant Medley" and found the contents stayed fresher and moister longer, hence we could use the whole can.  However, now she has begun to turn her nose up a the regular F2.  She's spoiled.  Or as Cesar Millan would say, WE have spoiled her. Whatever.

Anyhoo -- I've started to feel guilty for buying it when so many people in this world go hungry. To assuage my guilt, I've been buying extra PEOPLE food to put in the local food pantry collection barrel at our grocery store each week.  It's may not solve the problem, but every little bit helps.

Number One Pet Peeve

Per Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary:
FREE (free) - Pronunciation: 'frE; Function: adjective

Having a scope not restricted by qualification; not obstructed or impeded; having no trade restrictions; made, done, or given voluntarily or spontaneously; not subject to restriction or official control; not costing or charging anything.

OK, FREE means -- not costing anything. It means I don't have to buy something to get something for "nothing".... Dammit!

I hate the misuse of this word in today's advertising media. "Buy one, get one free." No, that simply means, buy TWO for the price of ONE. Because they aren't going to give you the second one "free" without your purchase of the first one. So, make no mistake, there is nothing FREE happening in those ads.  Is this not false advertising? My sensibilities are SO offended. ACK!