Prayer as Art as Prayer

Saturday is usually our chore and errand day but today we decided to make it a “date day.”  The cleaning, laundry and grocery shopping will get done eventually.   Today was a day to enjoy the beautiful weather and each other.   We rode the DART train which gave Weber a break from the stress of driving in Dallas.   Imagine my surprise when I ran into one of my students on the train!

We headed downtown to the Asian Arts Center where the monks from the Drepung Loseling Monastery are creating a sand mandala.  This is an annual event, one that I have wanted to see for several years but never have.  It was amazing!

The monks spend a week creating this intricate mandala (sacred circle) by carefully and prayerfully tapping tiny grains of colored sand onto a pattern of chalked lines.  I believe that this mandala was started and Monday and is to be finished tonight.  In a ceremony tomorrow, the sand that is this beautiful circle will be swept up and dispersed into a local waterway.  What took many men a week to create will be erased in minutes and carried away by the water.  This ritual is symbolic of the Buddhist precept of impermanence.  We should be fully present and live into the now because in an instant this moment will be gone forever.

As is usually the case with both museum exhibits I was sure that photography would not be allowed so I did not take my camera.  Imagine my surprise when I overheard someone ask the docent if photography was allowed and he said, “Yes, but with no flash.”  In that moment I was disappointed that I did not have my camera and excited that the camera on my phone has the potential for taking decent pictures.  In a recent interview Annie Leibovitz was asked what kind of camera she preferred.  She said that she has become quite fond of the camera on her iPhone.  If its good enough for her, its good enough for me.  So, all of the photos in this post were taken on my phone and have not been edited.  Somehow editing them seemed contradictory to living into the moment.

The monk is holding the tool used to place the sand.  It is a  hollow cone.  The sand is filled from the widest end.  The smaller end has a tiny opening.  To apply the sand, the monk taps the cone causing small amounts of the sand to be released.  

This is part of the altar that stands near the mandala.  In the last picture you can see that  a  picture of the Dalai Lama is placed in the center.

The mandala

The pots of colored sand

The chalk lines showing the parts of that mandala still to be completed.

The tools used.  At the top are the cones that are filled with sand.  There are also compasses, a few pots of sand and pillows that are used to rest their non-drawing hand. 

This is my favorite picture.
"Prayer becomes art becomes prayer."

Through prayer the monks create these magnificent pieces of art.  Witnessing it draws us into prayer.

After being enveloped by the power and beauty of the mandala and its creation, we boarded the train and travelled a few stops to a movie theater that is showing the movie Bully.  This is not a movie that one “enjoys” but is a good movie.  There is no mystery as to what it is about; its title says it all.  This documentary looks at how widespread bullying is in schools and its devastating effects on children, their families, schools and communities.  Sadly, bullying is an epidemic that no researchers are investing time, energy or money into finding a cure.  This task is falling to the families of those children who have succumbed to bullies and taken their own lives.

Bully was far from the romantic comedy that often becomes a date movie however, I am glad that we saw it together.  As educators, it is our job to do the best we can to keep each of our students safe from physical and emotional bullying.  This may not be easy but it is necessary.  Every student, teacher and administrator has a moral responsibility to commit to reducing bullying in our schools.  If we can slow the spread of this awful dis-ease in our schools perhaps we can then keep it from spreading to our workplaces, highways and other public places.  

Despite the seriousness of the movie, we had a fun day.  Every now and then it is healthy to break from the normal routine.  Weber and I needed to do that today.  

One Cannot Live By Bread Alone

One also needs a cat!

We shared a simple Easter meal for nine at our house. Simple means that we had black bean soup, chicken tortilla soup, a fresh green salad and warm homemade bread. That is about all we could muster after our Holy Week and Easter obligations at church.

The weather turned dismal about the time everyone was on their way here. This delayed their arrival by a while. I tried to have everything ready so that we could eat as soon as they arrived. I set the table, got out the butter and salad dressing, and arranged all of the serving necessities. Apparently I made a few miscalculations.

I thought that I had gotten the bread basket set out and lined with a clean napkin so that as soon as the bread that Weber made came out of the oven, it could b e placed in the basket. Seemingly what I thought was a bread basket is more accurately a cat bed. I don't know how I could have been so confused! Consequently, the bread rested on the bread stone and the cat in the bread basket.

In case you are wondering, by the time we were ready to eat, Frankie was sufficiently rested and had changed venues. And I had changed the napkin in the basket.

March's Five Fabulous Finds

I just realized that I apparently have commitment issues! You may remember that back on the 29th of February, despite having stayed home from school that day because I was really pretty sick, I proclaimed that I was going to start a “regular” post at the end of each month entitled “Five Fabulous Finds.” Well, it is now the third day of April and you may have noticed that the month of March has passed by and I failed to keep my commitment. I have no excuses other than that March marched by and I was seemingly marching to a different drummer and missed that last beat.

In an effort to address my obvious problems with following through with commitments, I am going to try to redeem myself by posting March’s fabulous finds today, Tuesday April 3rd. If I had thought about this on Sunday, which obviously I didn’t, I could have pretended that it was still March and ended the post with a cry of “April Fool!” Oh well, I didn’t do that either.

So, I move forward believing strongly in “better late than never” and promise to do better next time. (Note to self: April has only thirty days, one day less than March, which was three days less than what you needed to accomplish this task.)

March 2012 Five Fabulous Finds

Dr. Seuss

Okay, I realize that Dr. Seuss is not new. And no, I have not just discovered his wonderful works; however, I do discover something new every time I read one of his stories. The truth is that although children are mesmerized by the rhythm and rhyme of Seuss’ silly words and are entertained by the antics of his make-believe characters, the messages in these tales speak to us all. The wisdom of Horton, the Lorax, Yertle the Turtle, Sam, and the host of other Suess creations is timeless. March 2 is Theodor Geisel's (aka. Dr. Seuuss) birthday. That is why he and his works are (were) on my mind this month. If you haven’t read a story by Dr. Seuss recently, you should do so. If there’s not one on your bookshelf, well, there should be; but if there’s not you can make a trip to your local bookstore and take a few moments to, as my older daughter would say, “steal a few words.” If you buy a cup of coffee and maybe a cookie from the bookstore’s cafe they probably won’t get too upset by your stolen words.

TED Talks

TED Talks aren’t new either but they always have something new to offer.

“TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Along with two annual conferences -- the TED Conference in Long Beach and Palm Springs each spring, and the TEDGlobal conference in Edinburgh UK each summer -- TED includes the award-winning TEDTalks video site, the Open Translation Project and TED Conversations, the inspiring TED Fellows and TEDx programs, and the annual TED Prize.”

I am capable, like many of you, of wasting ridiculous amounts of time surfing the Internet. I can window shop, or is that monitor shop? I can read news stories, which often causes me to become angry. I can read food blogs, which causes me to become hungry. I can read other people’s blogs, which causes me to feel guilty because I am not working on my own blog. Or, I can watch TED Talks, which causes me to think. They kindle my own creative energy and optimism about what is truly possible. If the innovators who are found on the TED Talks received as much face time as all of those sorry politicians, this would be a much better world in which to live. Sigh . . . .

Turnips

Turnips are not something that I grew up eating. I heard that people ate them, particularly their greens but I personally never had eaten either the greens or turnips themselves. Despite the fact that my dad is an incredible gardener and grew many of the vegetables that we ate at home, I was sheltered from root vegetables. Remember the beets? Anyway, a few weeks ago we got turnips in our CSA bin. I made Turnip Chips and they were really good! At least I thought so. Using a mandoline, we thinly sliced them. Then tossed them in a little olive oil and sprinkled on a bit of salt, pepper and paprika (you could also use a little cayenne pepper). To cook them, we spread them on a cookie sheet in a single layer and baked them at 425 degrees for 10-12 minutes. There is a fine line between crispy and burnt! They don’t get quite as crispy as potato chips but the taste is awesome. And the cutline “nobody can eat just one” works with turnip chips as well as potato chips. Try ‘em, you’ll like ‘em.

Ms. Bento Lunch Kit

In an effort to eat more healthily and to save money, Weber and I pack and take our lunches to school each day. The biggest obstacle to this was finding the right containers. I don’t like plastic bags. Using them is wasteful and there are some things that just don’t work in a bag. Disposable plastic containers are plentiful, but they too tax our environment. Glass is environmentally a safer solution but not a safer option for me who drops or kicks over my lunch bag quite often. So, I began the search for the “perfect” lunch box. This was much like the search for the “perfect” purse, backpack, briefcase, or knit bag. Many options exist but none has everything that you are looking for. I wanted something that was environmentally friendly, would hold a reasonable lunch, and could be packed neatly and concisely. Is that really too much to ask? I looked in all of the usual suspect retailers around town and was met with nothing but disappointment despite many options, all of which proclaiming to be the perfect lunchtime solution. I then searched Amazon. There too were many less than exciting options. I eventually found this, the Ms. Bento Stainless Steel Lunch Jar. It is the closest thing to the perfect lunch box that I have found. It has four compartments for individual food items that all then stack neatly inside the stainless steel container. And, it comes with its own “spork.” In addition to no more plastic bags thus being environmentally friendly and being a neat and concise way to pack lunch, Ms. Bento has the added bonus of forcing portion control. Only so much will fit in each container and no more. Now I don’t search the drawer of mismatched plastic containers looking for the exact size necessary to hold the amount of leftovers in the fridge, I fill my container. What fits fits and what doesn’t doesn’t. It’s a great system. And for those who need a bigger portion, there is the Mr. Bento. It’s the same idea but the containers hold a little more. Weber uses a Mr. Bento. The Bentos are a little pricy but well worth the cost.

Draw Something

The other day I received a text message from Offspring No. 1 asking if I was playing Draw Something., an online game similar to Pictionary Because I waste spend time reading online news and information, I had seen several articles about this latest online game craze but had not yet succumbed. (I am currently battling an addiction to Temple Run, but as evidence to support that I am indeed on the road to recovery, I did not include this awesome game in this month’s fabulous finds.) I have now given in and downloaded Draw Something. I must clarify that I did not do this because I am a game addict. I did it because my baby asked me to. That isn’t even peer pressure! In all seriousness, I am now playing Draw Something with Brooke because that is how I know she is OK. She is one of those kids that believes whole-heartedly that her cell phone is for her convenience and her convenience only. Therefore it may be days or weeks before she replies to text messages or calls. Unanswered texts like “How’s it going” or “Are you OK?” or “Why are you ignoring me?” are hard on a mother's psyche. However, she is much better about making her next move on Draw Something within a reasonable amount of time. I find great comfort in seeing the message pop up on my phone saying that she has played and that it is now my turn. I know that she is OK and I don’t feel ignored. But admittedly, a phone call would be nice every now and then!

Now I can move into April with a clear conscience!

Just Kinda Cool!

Early-ish this morning I took the dogs, my cup of coffee and my journal out to the back patio to get some fresh air and settle my mind before I committed whole-heartedly to the day. The morning was perfect - not too hot, not too cold, and not raining. I needed this because today had on its agenda a few moderately stressful tasks. I had my pen in hand ready to start writing my Morning Pages (I am a follower of Julia Cameron, author of The Artist's Way and other books that stoke the fires of the artist within.). A singing bird above grabbed my attention and I looked up to see if I could catch a glimpse of this feathered chorister. As my eyes turned skyward I saw this.

For reasons that I can't really explain, I was mesmerized by this pattern in the sky. It's not miraculous; it's not even mysterious. It is the result of contrails, easily explained by science. Nonetheless, I had quite the philosophical discussion with myself about the imagery, symbolism and metaphorical meaning of these three intersecting lines. I could bore you with my thoughts; but instead I will leave you either to wonder why someone can be so easily amused by contrails or to enjoy the magic of the image yourself.

Happy Thursday!

Nothing Beets A Good Friend!

A few weeks ago I wrote about the fact that I had beets that I didn't know how to cook and was fairly sure that I wouldn't like them even if I did know how to cook them. I asked for suggestions from any of you who may have a better relationship with beets than I do.

As is usually the case when I make such pleas, at least one of you always comes through. This time it is a wise friend and student who is offering her insight on just how to best share your dinner table with beets. She brought me a recipe from this cookbook -

- given to her by her Danish mother-in-law when she (my friend and student) married her Danish husband . . .let's just say, a while ago. I suppose that it is fair for such a mother-in-law to assume that an American girl from Dallas, Texas can'y possibly cook well enough for her son. Or, maybe she'd heard about chicken fried steak and cheese grits and feared for his gastric health. Whatever the case, my beets and I now are reaping the benefits of this gift of a cookbook.

The recipe is for Pickled Red Beets. If you like pickled things, it sounds good. The truth is that all pickled things taste pretty much the same. Okay, not pickled pigs feet. All pickled VEGETABLES taste pretty much the same once they are overtaken by sugar and vinegar. The "secret ingredient" in this particular recipe is caraway seeds.

I must admit that though I am grateful for an idea of what to do with my beets, it is some of the culinary techniques offered here that fascinate me the most. Particularly with regard to the cooking the beets before beginning the pickling process.

I love the fact that the cook is instructed to check the doneness of the beets with a knitting needle! The author of this cookbook is a woman after my own heart. Or is she . . .

Are Danish woman instructed to test the doneness of their beets or their cakes with knitting needles because all Danish woman knit?

("Insert knitting needle into center of cake. If it comes out clean, your cake is done though not necessarily your sweater.)

Because cooking beets is simply a distraction to their knitting?

Because it is assumed that they will always have a knitting needle in their hand?

If this is the case, I want to live in Denmark!

I must admit that I haven't tried this recipe yet because my knitting needles have been busy.

However, now that my needles are free, I will move on to trying to make the pickled beets. I might even eat a bite of them.

Five Fabulous Finds

For whatever reason, during this month I have been introduced to several things that I have though were just really cool. Most of them are not new to anyone but me. That’s OK. I thought it would be fun to share my fabulous finds here. Maybe some of you have also led a sheltered life and will find some of these things new and exciting as well.

My original title for this post was “Five Fabulous February Finds”. As I thought about that, I decided that perhaps my fabulous finds should be an ongoing theme. So, on the last day of each month I will post my fabulous finds from that month. For that reason, I had to drop “February” from the title. I deference to this already slighted month, The least I could do was make the first thing on the fabulous finds list alliteration.

Here are February 2012‘s Five Fabulous Finds

Alliteration Alliteration is just fun. It’s fun to read it. It’s fun to write it. And it’s fun to spea. In case its been a while since you have tried your tongue at a tongue twister, here’s one with which to start practicing.

A fly and flea flew into a flue,
said the fly to the flea 'what shall we do?'
'let us fly' said the flea

Fly said the fly 'shall we flee'
so they flew through a flaw in the flue.

(I advise that you not try this under the influence of alcohol or drugs - including cold medicine which is my drug of choice today. Despite my love of alliteration, the combination of all these “f’s” and the dreadfully debilitating cold or flu that I have right now are making it horrendously hard for me to feel the fun.

Currants During February I have developed a fondness for currants. I like raisins, but I don’t like to be surprised by them in baked goods or salads. At the beginning of the month I was trying a new recipe for corn scones that called for currants as the last ingredient to be added. My instinct was to leave them out. What can currants possibly add to this already perfectly good scone? As part of my new found discipline to expand my palette, I used the currants. Much to my surprise, they were really good! Because currants are so much smaller than raisins, they are much less intrusive. I did not hesitate at all to put them in the Zesty Cabbage Salad that I made the other night.

Erasable highlighters I was teaching a fair isle knitting class the other day. The woman seated next to me was using a highlighter to mark off her pattern rows. She turned to me and said, “These are the neatest things! Erasable Highlighters.” I was leery. I took one in my own hand and wrote “skeptical” across my pattern. I flipped the pen over and erased both the skepticism on the page and the skepticism in my mind.

www.101cookbooks.com This has become my current favorite cooking blog. Heidi Swanson creates tasty recipes using wholesome natural ingredients. She is also the author of the cookbook, Super Natural Every Day that I mentioned a few posts back. Many of the new recipes that I have tried in the last month have been hers. I have not yet been disappointed.

Judge Tonya Parker Tonya Parker is a judge in the 116th Civil Court in Dallas. Last week, she told the media that she will not perform any marriages until same-sex couples in Texas are afforded the same choices. The thing that makes Tonya Parker different from most people that take such a stand is that she does not make it impossible for heterosexual couples who come into her court to be married, it is simply that she will not perform the ceremony. She escorts them to the courtroom of a colleague who will happily marry the couple. If only all people with strong moral convictions would use them as a compass for their own lives rather than trying to legislate their morality for all of us. As far as I am concerned, Mit Romney and Rick Santorum never have to have or perform an abortion. That is certainly within their rights. It is not however within their rights to deny abortions to any woman who feels that that is the choice she needs to make for her own mental and or physical health. It is also not their right, or any politician’s right for that matter, to deny any woman access to contraception. It just proves their ignorance and gender bias to assume that woman only take contraceptives so that they can have carefree sex. You guys are clueless! I wish that all those running for public office would learn from the actions and attitudes of Judge Tonya Parker.

"I do not, and would never, impede any person's right to get married. In fact, when people wander into my courtroom, usually while I am presiding over other matters, I direct them to the Judges in the courthouse who do perform marriage ceremonies. If my deputy is not busy, I will even ask him to escort or help these individuals find another Judge who performs the ceremonies. I do this because I believe in the right of people to marry and pursue happiness." - Tonya Parker

Thank you for your service and your example Tonya Parker!

With that, farewell February!

"Iris" the Purple Cow

This is a cow.

This is a purple cow.

This is Iris the purple cow.

She lives in my from yard.

It is possible that she has some unicorn in her gene pool.

This is a purple iris but not a cow.

I suspect that seeing purple cows in your front yard comes from eating mushrooms.