T-141 : Demographic Horizon

As the years go by I see thresholds being met as I fill out forms on the Internet.  Just the other day I realized that I'm about to cross over into the 45-54 age group.  Luckily I'm getting better with age, like a fine wine.  At least that's what I hear about wine.  I've never tasted it.  I do my fair share of whining, though.  And usually when I hear someone else complaining I ask them if they want some cheese with their whine.  I should probably think of a more tactful way to address that.

T-142 : Garden Commute

Years ago I got in the habit of parking further away from buildings.  I get more exercise, have more peace, and endure less door dings.  Lately I've been parking and walking through the Ricks Gardens on the way to my office.  It's a nice start and finish to my day.

T-143 : Stressed Desserts?

We talked as a family about too much stress in our lives recently.  While it's common to quote the phrase at right, that's a quick-fix mentality.  I'm not opposed to some sweets now and again but here's some tips for how we can handle racked nerves on a more long-term basis with fairly simple diet and exercise tweaks:

1. Oranges
2. Sweet Potatoes
3. Dried Apricots
4. Almonds, Pistachios & Walnuts
5. Turkey
6. Spinach
7. Salmon
8. Avocados
9. Green Vegetables

More stress-busting tips: 

• - Exercise regularly 
• - Eat small meals throughout the day, which will keep your blood sugar stable (when blood sugar is low, mental, physical, and emotional energy decreases, and stress increases).

I wouldn't advocate eating them all, especially if you think they're nasty (like dried apricots)!  But a little here and a little there might go a long way toward peaceful nirvana!  What other tips help you?

Link: http://www.marieclaire.com/health-fitness/advice/reduce-stress-foods

T-144 : Simply Solitary

Yesterday we took advantage of free admission to Yellowstone by day tripping to Old Faithful.  We had lunch in the cafeteria then went on a stroll around the backside.  It's not true that there's a little man behind a tree turning the geyser on and off on a schedule.  At least, if it is true, we didn't see him.  We walked around through the trees looking for the overlook.  By the time we got there we'd missed the eruption.  As we moseyed back down the trail we came upon Solitary Geyser.  It "erupts" every 5-7 minutes but only reaches about 4 feet.  The 2 eruptions we saw only lasted seconds, too.  In fact, the one before this one that we caught on video was less than a split second and made Emily shriek.  I even jumped.  Good times, though.  We made a commitment to get back there again sometime and spend even more time enjoying this treasure that's only a 2 hour drive from our house.  C'mon over and we'll take you there!

T-145 : Harvest Lunicity

Tonight is a Harvest Moon.  I heard about it on the EarthSky 90-second podcast.  They've got better photos than I do on their website but I kind of like the picture here of our corn patch with the moon in the background.  How's your harvest?

T-146 : Déjà vu

It seems like I've written about this before...but...anyway...  I've had the distinct impression multiple times over the past couple of days that I've been experiencing things that I've experienced before.  HowStuffWorks.com reports that:

As much as 70 percent of the population reports having experienced some form of déjà vu. 

Have you?  Do you feel like I've asked you this before?

T-147 : Potato Skies

There's a song by The Fixx called Red Skies.  There's a part of the song where they sing the lyric "...red skies at night..." 4 times in a row with the emphasis coming on each of the different words in the phrase sequentially with each phrase.  I don't know if I'm describing that very well.  The same type of thing happens in the potato song where each of the syllables of the word "potato" are emphasized.  Do you know what I mean?  What's that concept called, syncopating rhythms or something?