killer belly fat

i am quite taken with this concept

of killer belly fat

heh

shrink shrank shrunked

shrink shrank shrunked

one day i was 5'6" tall and weighed 140 lbs

then i went away and had a bone density test

i came home three inches shorter and six pounds heavier

AARP bulletin sez i must rid myself of belly fat in order to protect my heart

"To lose one pound per week, forgo or burn 500 calories per day. And to battle that killer belly fat, you'll need regular aerobic exercise. You can burn 500 calories and get your aerobic workout done by walking five miles a day."

do the five miles have to be sequential ?

i walk several miles every morning / well there are frequent stops to wait for the little elderly dog

it's all about me yes indeed

resolutions

in the past i have made new years resolutions that were so good i stil keep them

one is always hanging up my coat and the other is always coming to a full stop at a stop sign

heh

this year i resolve to truly and completely let myself go

(in all its glorious ramifications)

new years heave

THROW IT OUT

you dont want it anymore

its gone

past

bin did

happy new year

hmmmmmmmm

now what

on getting to be A Little Old Lady

one shrinks

three inches

huh

howza bout that ?

bone density test

wild ice

From: "Katherine Hunter"
Date: Sun, Jan 13, 2002, 12:42 PM
To: daveworld@3sheep.com
Subject: wild ice

did i tell you about skating on the lake this year ?

after a longish lateish and warmish Indian Summer the temps went
fiercely cold in early December / down to ten degrees and less / to zero
even / with no precipitation at all / no rain / no snow / no nuffin /
and not a cloud in the sky day or night / and no wind / no breeze / no
even a zephyr of delight

perfect conditions for perfect ice / wild ice

i drove out to see the lake / this is Ken's Lake / a man-made basin
scooped out between towering red rock walls / filled with icy waters
rushing down from the mountains above / in summer it is a swimming and
fishing hole and in the winter if we are lucky it is an ice rink / a
wild ice rink

the lake was like glass / a mirror perfectly reflecting the bright blue
sky above

i saw hovering over the lake a faint shadow of my former self / the
former self who yapped and yammered about skating so much that when i
went out last year to skate / all decked out in my nifty mature lady
cashmere skating skirt handknitted sweater / cutsy wootsy / there fore
stepping on the ice led to instant paralysis brought on by the chill
fear of falling down and breaking a hip

at a certain "age" one thinks a bit about smashing a hip

i was so intimidated by the vast expanse of ice that i barely cd kick or
glide much less smile

i dont know how big the lake is / no one seems to know / but it is so
big that if you skate to the other side you become a tiny figure / and
it is so big that hockey can go on over there and figure skating over
here and kids on sleds and dogs and all can go everywhere and sometimes
there is an ice fisherman or two

it is never crowded and such a big sky above

this year at xmas time i hear the ice is skatable / i run a tape through
my head of all the possible falls i will no doubt experience but i know
the fear is my bete noir and must be faced up to

i tried on my skates / the boots felt good / last year i had crashed my
bike and had a twisted foot / the blades are perfect from sharpening
last spring in the east / all i had to fear was fear itself

and then i erased all past skating history / forget about the rink in
maryland where i learned to skate exactly five years ago / where i
discovered it was possible for someone like me to have an ambition after
all (to be a skate guard/smile) and how embarrassing it was to not be
able to skate the lake last year and blah blah / i wd just go with my
skates like i did the first time when i was eight years old and if i can
skate okay and if not / well shoot / so what

the whole time i have been in Moab i nurtured an underlying current of
pondering why am i living in a town with no ice rink just because my
daughter is here and my mother too and it apears to be my life script /
and since the paralytic debacle on Ken's Lake last year i even doubted
my (need want desire) to skate

Doni and Kaki went with me / we took chairs / you have to go on the ice
with a chair to sit on to put on your skates / kaki sez you better wear
your helmet / er / no / but i did bring my mother's / dont laugh /
*walker* for those first unsteady steps and i did use my wrist guards

but !!!!!!!

as soon as i had my skates on i was up and out there / o mi gosh / it
was just like flying

this was absolutely the best ice i have ever skated bar none / not even
the ice specially zammed for Dorothy Hamil that time in Maryland

this ice had not a blip bump bubble ripple or wavelet / just clean clear
through / smoooooooth / s lick / slidey / and at the same time it was
almost "soft" and forgiving

some wild ice is just soooooo hard !!

no rocks either / KZMU our radio station had been admonishing folks not
to throw rocks on the ice to see if is frozen / so there was only one
rock and as soon as an ice fisherman went out with an augur to drill a
hole we knew it was safe at ten inches thick

there was still open water at the east side and the southern end and
here is another cool thing about the ice / when the sun drops down
behind the rim the temperatures lower causing the ice to heave and crack
much like Frost Heaves on the roads in Vermont / so the ice had cracked
majorly and the cracks filled in with fresh clear water and then froze
over again in the night to almost perfect seamlessness / you cd just
skim right over the cracks which varied from an inch wide to three or
four inches wide / of clear sparkling ice in contrast to the solid slab

it was abstract art

and another day you can see through the uppermost layers to a layer
below that had fragmented and then refrozen / you cd see the patterns
rather like tortoise shell / magical

the ice is live / it keeps on changing / it groans and growels when it
heaves and in the still of morning you can sit by the edge and hear the
water underneath gurgling and sloshing and moving about

one night it gently snowed / the lake is out in Spanish Valley and is at
a higher elevation than the town of Moab / there was a light dusting of
snow on the lake / skating on it felt like skating on champagne bubbles

giddiness came right up through my blades / through my boots / into my
feet

these skating days were / are some of the very best days of my life

skating with kaki and doni and dought running with us on the ice / she
loves the ice

a rambunctious gamboling puppy eating all the zucchini cake i brought

the old timer Moabi who came out to what was going on / wdnt put on
their skates until they got out their own augur and drilled a hole /
then put their beer in the ice / i skated with one cuze he sed he didnt
know if he cd stand up / and shoot he is older'n me / he was born in
1924 and was in ww2 / we had a good chat skating / he told me stories of
growing up in Moab and skating in the sluices (sloooz) which is the
wetlands between the town and the Colorado River

then they got their skates and brought back some wood for a fire

and a good time was had by all

Skaterina (starts all over again)

oh did i mention i never fell down / not even once

the Dark Start Regulars

me and Dot and Dought are not the only early morning walkers on the mill creek parkway (the bike path that winds through town)

there are the Dark Start Regulars

there is a pair of women and a trio of women / there is an elderly gent on a bcycle who rings a bell as he comes up behind / there is an elderly couple who also stop to pet Dought / there is Jace who works at the shifty markup (city market) / he carries a flashlight and a big stick

i wonder if he carries the big stick because of the bear

a few years ago i went on a river trip down Desolation Canyon / it was fall of a drought year / there were many warnings of bears / rafters had been attacked in their tents

bear scat sightings were marked on beaches to notify incoming campers

we had dought along to check out campsites before we came ashore / that's when i changed her name from Doubt (not a shadow of a) to Dought / as in courageous resolute and brave / also Scots for cute

well, Doughty across the pond

we saw one bear, a young one, happily bathing, splashing in the river close to shore

later, back in Moab, walking the bike path where it passes the Youth Garden Project i spied an unmistakable pile of bear poo / there was more in the garden too / the bear ate the lettuce

he/she had eaten some fruits / something like loquats / these grow on the only tree in town it is all the way on the other side of Main Street / well there is a tunnel under Main Street so he didnt have to cross over

i more or less expect to see a bear on the bike path sooner or later

we started this Dark Start business in the summer when it is too hot to walk later in the day / i expected to give it up when it got cold / maybe switch to driving up to the slick rock later in the day

but i am hooked on the morning jaunt and gosh, so is everyone else of the Dark Start Regulars / we are all out there every morning / ten degrees today !

brrr

a risky tactic

announcing intentions to NOT do something is a risky tactic

since ones brain does not hear NOTs

which cd just as easily be KNOTS

therefore no more (smile) declarations of intent

::::::::>>>>>>><<<<<<:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

fresh squeezed orange juice with a shot of raspberry flavored B-12 with Folic Acid

abstinence makes the heart grow fonder

oh i feel self righteously better already

of course it is only 7 o'clock in the morning

of day One

heh indeedy

notes on being a Practicing Alcoholic

ohyeah i can answer all those questions on Are You An Alcoholic ? lists

well not the one about job interference / i dont have a job

and not the one where you drink first thing in the morning

that does make one erp

and not good practice for a well rounded Practicing Alcoholic

see there is Managed Moderation / smile

today however i embark on a new phase

someone near and dear to me has given up something near and dear for thirty days

impressed and inspired i decide to give up something near and dear to

Balance Through Contrast you know

in two weeks i will chalk up 72 years of life in this planetary zone / i wd not like to be in the Old Lady Drunk category

can do did

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

say a fond farewell to tomato season 2005

Tomato Sandwiches

in the realm of Eat Art tomato sandwiches reign supreme

homegrown tomatoes on white bread with mayo / um yum

i always have an idea of perfection with certain foods / like the ultimate in tomato sandwiches that i achieved once :

homegrown tomatoes / that is, grown by me and picked when warm with sunshine

homemade bread / yeah / white

homemade mayonnaise

no salt / maybe a little pepper

i also love english style tea sandwiches thin thin thin slices of tomato on thin thin thin slices of white bread the kind with no crusts / mere smear of butter

tomatoes are great source for Vitamin C and is an enhancer for the absorption of iron into the body

let me know if anyone would like some TomatoGarlicJam

one more tomato season

last year i said i hoped to live through one more tomato season

did it !

today i will put the finishing touches on the last of the tomatoes to be canned

the cherry toms and the juliettes (baby plum toms) with copious amounts of roasted garlic completed their mission yesterday as they became lovely pints of tomatogarlicJAM

yum

the rest of the tomatoes will become base for soup or ketchup or gosh whatever comes to mind

it was a good year for tomatoes

and for me

Tao Te Ching

<<<<<>>>>>>

those who talk don't know

those who know don't talk

a few more writers' blocks

#12 :

Do without thinking

Think without doing


#13 :

To know and Be Insouciant

Is a Strange Power

(write on, sister)


and an all purpose suggestion :

when in the mind
all is think
pull the plug
and drain the sink

ends

<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>

wits end
loose end
end of my rope

means justify the ends

writers' block #111

It's okay to do nothing ~~~

someone has to

or nothing would ever get done

...........

no one is watching and

no one is keeping score

i like how ~~~

~~~ my face feels

when i smile

after eating chocolate

rich and delicious

my new weightloss plan is Rich and Delicious

i signed up at ediets / lose ten pounds in five weeks / where you choose the menu plan that suits your needs

you can choose low fat low sodium / vegetarian / blood type / atkins / glycemic index / mediteranean

i considered the possibility that taking five pounds off would be easier / heh / if i followed someone else's idea of a weightloss plan

so far i have done the glycemic index / the blood type (A-) / and the Mediterranean

i fib each week at the weight check in / i say i have lost a pound a week / they like that

aside from learning some new and interesting food possibilitease i have not conscientiously followed any of the eating plans / in fact, they seem wierd / there are days when you eat tuna fish three times / but you should see the Atkins diet / meat times 3

jenny craig model is processed and packaged food / when i chose jenny (after seeing kirstie alley on tv) ediets warned me of its sodium overload / see / i had checked low sodium in the preferences at the beginning

how nice they are looking out for me

here's my new plan : Rich and Delicious

you eat very very tasty yummy foods esp the favorites of your life time but you eat very very tiny amounts and you eat what you have on hand which will be all the stuff you primarily buy or want to buy

example : i love mushrooms and bacon on toast

half a slice of bacon crispy with 2-3 mushrooms sauteed in a little olive oil (yes, skip the butter)
on extremely thin slice of spelt baguette that is not very big around

there ~~

maybe a handful of parsley or cilantro for the green group

and Oh maybe some minced garlic

burp

stay tuned

epiphany of the day

a light goes on

i tell my daugher :

ever since i fainted and had all the tests and made out my will and my medical powers of attorney and other directives i have focused so much on "end of life" issues like getting my affairs in order and not leaving a mess for someone else to tidy up that i have not been having any fun with my toys

it's like

oh i am going to die i better clean out a drawer

she laughs

this morning i am firing the kiln

there is the bottom of a canning jar on top of a tangle of copper wire on top of a couple of pieces of clear glass to complete the glass and wire "sandwich" / leftover bracelet pieces decorate the canning jar bottom

and

toasting Really Rustic 'Routons / the spelt baguetts torn up into pieces / doused with a little spanish olive oil / Real Salt and lemon pepper

into the oven

now ~ two activitease that require watching and timing

no time for drawer cleaning