Tagged with Ike

Good Stuff

Cream Deodorant in JarSo I’m back in the (sweltering hot) sticks – at least for a little while.  I’m on Ike Duty for a few days and our first order of business was a trip to Whole Foods in Oklahoma City.  We were there, panting in front of the big, shiny windows when they opened the doors at 8 am, a long list and politically-correct shopping bags in hand.  We picked up, among other wonderful items, some extra virgin coconut oil and a bunch of essential oils so that I could whip up a batch of Somer’s Patented Pit Paste (I added the Patented, just cuz it sounds all snazzy with the extra p-word thrown in) as I’d forgotten to pack my beloved Soapwalla deodorant cream.  It took me all of about 5 minutes to make a small jar of the stuff.  Smells great and looks like something I’d smother in chocolate sauce and eat with a spoon.

Tearoom Delights Guidebook

There was a big pile of mail waiting for me, most of which I converted directly to recyclables, save for a couple of nice things like an issue of VegNews, enough New Yorker magazines to provide reading material for the next 6 months and a wee, wonderful book from Lorna over at Tearoom Delights.  A loyal follower of Lorna’s funny and yummy blog about tea, confections and travels, I needed to have my own copy of her newly-published guide.  One day – who knows – I may be able to put it to practical use!  Anyway, I’m so happy to have it and am really proud of Lorna for her accomplishment.  Word on the street is she’s already begun book number two.  To find out how to get your very own copy, visit Teacups Press.  If you ask nice, she might even sign it, just as she did my copy.

AstigVegan CollageAlso waiting for me was my prize from AstigVegan for bidding on the VSPCA (via Richa at Hobby and More) online auction a few months back.  The ladies at AstigVegan generously donated a gift set and I was determined to snag their neat package of goodies: pili nut cheese (sadly all gone by the time I got home) a canvas bag and a fantastic “cookbooklet” with the top recipes from RG and TJ’s creative site.  They did a great job of putting this ‘let together and I’m thrilled to have it.  I am looking forward to diving into their unusual (at least for this Heinz 57 Variety American) and delicious-sounding Filipino recipes.

Time to get back into the kitchen – how I’ve missed it!  Got a long list of goodies to make before I head back to Utah.

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Running Up & Down The Driveway: WWWP5k

Start/Driveway

Start.

Today I ran up and down my driveway for 3.1 miles as part of the Worldwide WP 5k.  It’s not as mind-numbing as it sounds.  Including the turn-off to the north pasture oil pump and the hill that gently rises to the western treeline and yet another oil pump – along with the jog down to the gate and the gentle curve up to the house – our driveway is approximately .65 miles long.  A complete circuit – as if I were going ’round a track – is about 1.3 miles.  Which means it takes about 2 and 1/3 circuits to complete 3 miles.  It certainly beats the treadmill.

Follow the Dog

Follow the dog.

I’ve nearly given up running on the road near my home.  The scenery is lovely, to be sure.  There’s a nice mix of flat and slope; sun and shade.  And though the speed limit on this winding, rural road is 35, that is regarded as just a suggested rate of speed and apparently considered far too slow for most drivers.  I’d really like to avoid getting nailed by someone who is speeding while texting/talking/munching on something from Sonic/reaching into the back seat, etc.  And I’ve been the unwilling participant of a kind of runner vs. car dodge game a few too many times.  I’ll stick to the treadmill and the driveway, thanks.

Cattle Guard

Go over the first cattle guard. Slippery when wet.

Running up and down the drive is not without its hazards, however.  There are the two cattle guards.  Intimidating under the best of circumstances, but downright treacherous when wet.  There are the deep, muddy ruts left by the oil trucks; the skeins of webs weaved by the fat, orange “night spiders” who during the evening string their sticky strands across the tree-lined part of the driveway.  One doesn’t see them until it’s too late.  Both spider and runner flail arms and scurry away from each other as quickly as possible, thoroughly creeped out.  Parts of the driveway are not actually driveway, but are grass-covered paths – long, tall grass that could and does hide any number of beasties from snakes, skinks, scorpions, salamanders, box turtles and snapping turtles to chiggers and ticks (not to mention industrial-strength burrs).  Part of my pre-run ritual is to spray with insect repellant.  My baseball cap has a deer fly “catcher” on the back.  It works.  (Deer flies are wonderful at helping one achieve PRs, by the way.)

Past the Barn

Go past the barn.

Oil Pump Turnout

Turn right at the first oil pump.

Cattle Guard

Take it slow over the second cattle guard.

Pump Two

Head up to the second oil pump.

Of course the pay-off to all of this peril is the unobstructed views, the fresh air, the sights and sounds of nature that keep me company as I crunch over the gravel: wild turkeys chattering from somewhere in the woods as they prepare to start their day; bluebirds softly calling to each other from the electric lines; a blue heron coming in low over the southern pasture, its destination the pond teeming with tiny frogs and succulent minnows; a brilliant orange sun rising above far off trees, my dog looking back at me with a tongue-lolling grin.  Happy to be in motion.

View from the Top

Enjoy the view.

Driveway Down

Head back down and start all over again.

Finish Line

Cross the finish line.

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Live Like A Dog

Ike SmilingYou know that friend of yours, the one whose enthusiasm seems to know no bounds?  The one who always seems to be happy?  The one who never fails to answer with a big, fat “YES!” when you suggest going somewhere or doing something, doing anything?  That’s our dog, Ike.

Each time we head out the door he greets the outside as if it’s the first time he’s sniffed fresh air and seen blue sky.  He lifts his head to breathe in the scents and races ahead of us, eager to meet what’s coming, to follow trails, to dig, to race through the dead leaves purely for the rattling sound they make as he passes through.

Ike in Motion CollageSometimes Ike runs with such enthusiasm that his hindquarters fishtail to his left.  Unsafe at any speed.

The mere sight of his shiny dog bowl makes him drool uncontrollably.  And this even though he eats the same thing day after day after day.

When we reach down to take a toy or bone from him, he doesn’t growl or bite.  He yields (unless it’s play time) and implores us with his eyes to give back what is his.  If we need to check his paws or belly or ears to pull off a painful burr or a hungry tick, he doesn’t get angry, he gently licks our fingers to let us know that it hurts.

Ike with FrisbeeThe Frisbee is his drug.  He can never get enough.  He would follow it to the ends of the earth.  He is trying with all of his heart to learn to catch it in mid-air, but he is short and not fast enough and the Frisbee soars so high and glides so easily past him.  The failures never dim his determination to catch it.  He tries again and again.

Ike AsleepSleep comes to him with ease; there is no tossing and turning, no early morning hours spent staring up at the ceiling, going over past mistakes and future fears.  He turns over so that his belly is up, exposed, completely vulnerable.  Totally trusting.

Ike lives as if the moments that have slipped into the past have no effect on the moments still to come.

I want to live like Ike.


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