STOP - You're Killing Yourself

This day and age is really a study in contrasts. It seems that we value sports figures more than we value educators. We do nothing when politicians lie to us, but we demand justice when a line in a contract between friends is not with "Ts" crossed or the "i'"s dotted. If someone on the road interferes with your travel speed, some turn to road rage, but when a company sells you enough pills to make sure that you are incapable of functioning without these chemicals, you call it "taking care of yourself."
Take any TV commerical by a drug company and the "side effects" are enough to make you ill. While the pill may cure what ails you at the moment, the side effects lately have been coming on stronger than the drugs. They can cause cancer, heart failure and even death. You will not die from what you took the pill for, but the pill itself just might put you to eternal rest.
Our system of checks and balances is also a bit lopsided. We call it murder or suicide if a person dies quickly, such as at their own hand or that of a stranger. But if a perpetrator lets you suffer for a very long time, and you die, then it is not murder, but a natural death. Tobacco companies continue to sell products that eventually will give you cancer or a painful death. They tone their ads to teen-agers because the longer you smoke, you will suffer more in the end but the outcome will still be the same. Your family will not have you as part of the home front - but it wasn't murder. It was your fault as the tobacco attorneys would tell you, because you picked up that smoke and inhaled that blue haze. The truth being that they produced a product that they knew was not a "healthy" product, but they are free to go and harm another person.
If a soldier from our country dies, he is defending his country and it's honor. He is a hero. A soldier from another country is an "attacker" even though we traveled into his land to "defend" what we believe is ours. The citizens of the other country are wrong and our soldier will always be a hero. A play on words, because both deaths are wrong - in the eyes of their families and in the eyes of those who love and care about them. Words are used to justify and place blame.
We slowly place ourselves in harm's way in a multitude of different ways each and every day. We inhale cancer causing chemicals, we poison our systems with additives and supplements in our food supply that have not been adequately checked for future damage in a human body, and we breathe unclean air every day from cars, factories, and other places. Even second hand smoke from smokers is a risk to any person, but we are not calling this murder. We tolerate all these dangers because society does not give it a name that matches what it does. If you picked up a gun and placed it to your head, you would be arrested. If you take a chemically laden box of treats that have enough artificial colors and flavors, preservatives, and assorted laboratory send-offs, you are fine - you are living the American dream.
The point to all this is that we have to take a stand to preserve our own lives and that of everyone else. There is no outrage for the daily assault on health for our children or for adults. We say nothing and the corporate giants continue to produce new and better ways to do us in. Our food is not pure, neither is the air we breathe or the water we drink. The plastic bottles that we carry with our water will cause cancer. The make-up you use may give you skin cancer and so forth, but still people are not offended enough to stand up and demand that changes be made, that profit margins do not include every third person dying from the side effects of new and better drugs - new maybe but better and for whom?
From tobacco giants to automakers, standards must be placed so that unsafe and harmful products are not sold on the open market, and they are not allowed into the hands of our children. That bottle of pills that you take for a cold can be used to get a teenager high. Even that detergent to get clothes cleaner than clean pollutes ground water and lakes.
The solution to this tragedy - is very simple. People, every man, woman, and child, must say "NO" to corporate greed and insensitivity to the lives of those who buy the products they entice us with through fancy commercials and ads in newspapers and magazines. They bombard the air waves so that children demand products that parents know are not quite tested for safety. We throw our hands up in the air when a foreign made product is said to cause harm, but we allow the companies within our borders to infiltrate the sacred boundaries of home and hearth through the very items that we need to live. Our food needs to be safer, our water needs to be cleaner, and our air should be fit to breathe.
Bottom line - if we don't car about ourselves right now and right here, then how can we preach to our children that they should not smoke, take medications that might do more harm than good, and to take a deep breath when they step outside. Something is very wrong here - and the main "wrong" is that we are not doing something. Words - if only we could as a society call a "wrong" exactly what it is - or it will continue to kill us.
Something to think about
©Arleen M. Kaptur March, 2009

Special Occasions Demand Special Gifts

Celebrations are an enjoyable part of life. These special days highlight milestones in a person's life and accomplishment. Whether it is a birthday party, anniversary, or national holiday, taking the time to be part of a "celebration" is a privilege.
Gifts are usually part of any party and they are paramount when it comes to children being the guests of honor. Many people feel that it is the amount that a gift costs that leaves the best impression. While that may be true to some, it has taken a back seat to another manner of showing how much you care and what a person means to you. This new "wave" in today's economy, is simple - it is creativity and inspiration. If you are handy and can paint, sew, knit, or make things out of wood, then you have a store right there at your fingertips. If, you feel that this just isn't you, maybe you just haven't tried it out for size. Personalizing a gift is by far the more meaningful memento of any occasion. Store bought gifts are appreciated, but they soon find their way onto shelves and into boxes. It is that "special something" in a hand-made gift that stands out and is a source of joy and remembrance for a very long time. Hand-made is and always will be heart-made, but if you are a bit unsure of how to begin, then begin with what you can do. Going to tag sales or yard sales is a great way to "shop" for truly wonderful gifts. Keep in mind the interests and even the favorite colors of the person you are shopping for. When you see an object that "is just so" that person, let your creative mind take over and make it a one of a kind find. Embellishing is a fantastic way to begin "making special gifts." You can glue a picture, use sparkles, ribbons, lace, and even fish lures to create a special occasion treasure. With regard to those fishing lures, if you find an "outdoorsy" box or container, placing fishing lures or other sporting items in this special box, then decorating it to "personalize" it is all it takes to become part of this new way of celebrating. Ideas are everywhere and you can visit scrapbooking or crafting stores for supplies such as glitter, paints, and even emblems, monograms, and even insignias. Enhance your special find to fit the person it is going to, and have fun with it as well. Enrich it so that you make a point of just how special this person is and how great it is to be part of their lives.
Cards have always been "greetings" for special occasions and holidays. It seems that e-cards can be fun, but they are not the type of cards you want to store in a "treasure" box and check out once in a while when life just gets in the way, the way it has a tendency to do. Hand-made cards are not suppose to be difficult and only for the artistically inclined. They are choosing a picture or drawing that "means" something, or is symbolic of the occasion, and adding "your" greetings, your special "words" and feelings. When you use e-cards or store bought cards, some total stranger is making the "wish." If you, no matter your expertise at writing, adds a "memory" such as a special event, or meeting to individualize your card, this just adds more feeling to your "card." Photographs are sure-fire choices and even a favorite poem from a book you both might enjoy or even from a favorite movie or trip. It does not have to be "classical literature." It only has to come from the heart.
Gift wraps and ribbons - now here is a great way to add to the beauty of your gift. Wrapping a gift in a newspaper with the special day's headlines (only if they are uplifting), or even with a place mat from a favorite restaurant is first-rate. Ribbons can be plain that you have "added on" to with stickers, or sparkly add ons. They can be twine, lace trim, braid, yarn, or even a chain made from pine needles (great for that sportsman). The point is you match all the "extras" to the person and their interests, likes, and enjoyments.
People are unique and special - each one different. Gifts should follow suit. A gift from a store shelf will go to a lot of different people, but it is the same item to a myriad of personalities. Therefore, the gift is not highlighting the distinctive qualities of the celebrating person. It is a one size fits all instead of one of a kind delight.
Now is the perfect time to rethink gift-giving. It is the best opportunity to shop with meaning instead of wallet power, and to change your store bought gifts into true special day or holiday memories. It doesn't have to take a lot of time or effort, it just has to take quality time in looking for an item, and the effort of making it one of a kind.
Something to think about
©Arleen M. Kaptur March, 2009

Today's Economy is a Business Boom

Money is tight, businesses all over the world are closing their doors and unemployment has hit workers harder now then since the Great Depression. How can this environment be a boom to business? Very simply - if you are the owner, or manager of any business - you can make it work.
There is a quotation by Warren Buffett - It takes 20 years to build a reputation, but only 5 minutes to ruin it. Nothing could be more truthful than this one statement. If your business is based on quality and not quantity, your workers are your source of pride and not only bottom line, and you yourself have a direct hands-on passion for what you do - then recession, depression, or anything in between will be to your advantage.
Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy's Hamburgers was another great example of what true business success is all about. His foundation for his restaurants was a combination of hard work, patience, and above all honesty in all dealings. If you, as the owner or manager, have a strong, passionate commitment to what you produce, the people you serve or sell to, and how you will stand behind every product you put out, then you have success guilded in bright letters for your business. As a business person, you know that the there will always be ways to get out of deals and guarantees, but this does and has lead to doors being chained and business dreams being added to the heap that is quickly piling up and known as America's small business enterprises. However, if you change your way of thinking and instead of knowing all the ways to get out of promises, if you never stop finding ways to save deals, commitments, and guarantees, then your front door to the buying public will be open and the fresh air of new business will flow.
Commitment is the very difference that can make or break a small shop, or a large mega-corporation. Everyone has read about the greed of some CEO's, and the fact that while they basked in the security of finances, their workers' pensions and benefits melted away. However, there have been owners and directors who turned the tables on "bad" business and instead made the headlines for sharing corporate profits with workers when things were tough and gave workers not only the monetary benefits but the moral and ego benefits needed to produce the best products and give the best service. You yourself know that being motivated and assured that what you are doing is the best you can do, taking one step further is the sign of success. If you can get this message across to your workers, you have to believe in it yourself and practice it until it is perfect. What is perfection? It is knowing that after you reach this high step, there can always be a step higher. It is never being satisfied with what is perfect, but letting those that work under you to know that you are grateful for this level of success, but together, and this is the key word, together it can be better and better.
In today's economy, doesn't it make sense to reach out to families that are struggling and give them their money's worth in what they purchase from you, as well as the trust that it takes so very long to build up to. If you continue with your quest to make every customer a return customer - then you have the answer to what ails American businesses today. The key that unlocks the chest of success in your business is that you - together with your workers - not your workers alone while you sit back and bask in their output - will keep that cash register ringing when other businesses and their registers sit silently in the dark. If you can turn first time buyers into returning customers, then that is a feather in your cap. If you can turn returning customers into passing the word about your way of doing business, then you have a gold mine. In this gold mine though, you have to pick up that pick and shovel and work just as hard as you are asking your workers to work. You have to pick up that phone and speak the truth to your customers instead of asking your workers to dance around the truth, but never tell it like it really is. If you have trust, and you let it go because of greed, or wanting to cut corners, then you might as well go and buy that chain and padlock from the hardware store that you trust and that you give repeat business to. Irony - you bet - but the type of irony that keeps you motivated and with your heart in the right place.
No body begrudges a business owner a profit, but if that profit is gotten on the backs of people who shell out hard earned money that is becoming harder to come by, then your profit will blow in the wind and disappear with every economic downturn. However, if you assure your customers that you stand behind that widget you sell, the car repair you just completed, and that they are welcome to ask questions and get answers, then clouds disappear and the sun does come out. If your customers can reach you, and not only your workers, then your place at the top of the business heap is ready and waiting for you. If you can't be bothered to talk to a simple customerbecause you are too busy or too important and you leave it up to only your workers, then the heap you find yourself on will not be to your liking.
It is not rocket science to know that your thoughts and endeavors should be in providing buyers with value and trust. Especially in today's hard times, you will be remembered, and the word spread around will not be anywhere close to what is being said about AIG or other "can never fail" businesses that now find themselves with tin cups and asking for bail-outs. Even the car dealers made offers that were good for the bottom line, but did you ever try to get a bad engine replaced even though there was a warranty and that if certain motors were known for certain problems, did any of the Big Three ever offer to make the difference between a sale and a commitment.
Something to think about
©Arleen M. Kaptur March, 2009

What Color Chemical Are You Having For Dinner Tonight?

There is a commercial on television in which an actress states that "I have this one life and this one body." While this statement is used to sell a medication, it is a truism in itself.
We live in a world that started out with all the basics - fresh green grass, food that was natural and very organic, and families had to make due and find ways to keep healthy, happy, and fed. While advancements have taken place, they have not all been geared to helping each man, woman, and child to be given the pleasure of knowing that all that they put into their bodies is clean, fresh, and not produced in a laboratory under a microscope. The food supply in the United States has always been abundant, but many mega-corporations needed to find a way to make sure that part of this abundance was in the form of cash into their bank accounts. Chemicals, preservatives, and artificial flavors and colors were produced. Following on this premise, every category of the diet was infiltrated by pseudo products that might have smelled like food, tasted like food, but were a far reach from what food is suppose to be. In addition, if you watch or listen to any commercials in the media, the prescription drug products have exploded and you now are told that you need a pill to take before you eat, after you eat, and just before you settle down to sleep because the food that you ate won't let you rest. When you get up, you are told that you have to take a pill to face the day, take another one just in case you might contract a dreaded disease, and then in the evening, that yellow pill in the box will make sure that you are ready to face your life as parent, wife/husband, or Olympic athlete. We are now finding out that well-known athletestook pills so that they could do their sport, and teen-agers feel that drugs are necessary to face peer pressure and even to understand homework. Adults who should know better, take pills that are a rainbow in themselves and there even has to be a cabinet in the kitchen just for the pill bottles.
If you look back a bit, before the world was "recreated" by chemical companies, food was the source of vitamins, minerals and all that was good for you. Vegetables, fruits, and herbs were the ingredients to health and the good life. But somehow all this got confused in the laboratories across the world. There had to be a better way, or in essence, a more profitable way, to eat. Eating was essential no matter the gender, religion or ethnic background of a person. Food was the one item in the human make-up that was a stable and would be around for as long as humans were around. So in came the laboratory workers and you now have aisles in stores filled with cans, bottles, and boxes with ingredients that you can't pronounce, let alone understand. We stopped eating by the seasons and we wanted fresh fruit and exotic vegetables all twelve months of the year. There was need for instant gratification and meals had to be a trip into the twilight zone, but served in nine courses.
Cancer is more prevalent, illnesses are surpassing the abilities of antibiotics and children are facing a multitude of ailments that were never heard of in the past. People are dying by the numbers, but the numbers that get to see another day face quantity of life because the quality is gone. Food is not food any more. They are chemical formulations and treated products that kill insects and weeds, but are suppose to keep people healthy and thriving.
Do you see anything wrong with this situation? If you are a parent, then the truth of what you are eating or serving to your family must become paramount and important once again. Fast food is becoming a quick trip to heart disease and cancer. Food that looks as fresh as a picture in a magazine is shining because of pesticides and herbicides.
What is the answer to this new problem that has arisen in the grocery aisles across the country? One very potent and true way to make your way through the jungle of preservatives and three letter potent ingredients such as BTH, BTT, etc. is to know your food, where it comes from, who grew it, and even take a hand at growing it yourself. Farmer markets are virtual catalogs of fresh ingredients and chemical-free is guaranteed if you do the gardening yourself. While it may take more time or challenge then you really want to put out, then join with groups, neighbors, and organizations and then share in the work, and in the joy of the harvest. Good food is not dead and gone - it is alive and well and just waiting for people to rediscover its goodness, taste, and health appeal.
If you are tired of being tired, and if the sight of hospitals, nursing facilities, and pictures of children, adults, and the elderly wasting away and science not being able to keep the tide of new diseases and maladies at bay, take matters into your own hands. Put on the gloves and fight back. Gardens can be grown in any area from kitchen windows to twenty acre fields. Cities are volunteering areas to be taken over by community gardens and there are farm stores and co-op stores just brimming with vitamins and minerals all courtesy of the sun and the rain. Even commercial buildings and apartment complexes are heading upward with roof tops gardens. Think about food, plan your menu and then find the solution to ridding your mealtime plans of chemically laden and hazardous to your health products. Read labels and go to libraries for more information. However you tackle this deadly crisis of altered food, it will be to your benefit and to the benefit of those you love. Start today and know that all your efforts will be rewarded and that cabinet in the kitchen with the pill bottles could be put to better use.
Something to think about
©Arleen M. Kaptur March, 2009

How Do Children Spell Love?

Children are unique in many ways. From crib to college, they are personalities that are as different as the wild flowers in any field. Just like these blooms, they are the golden beauty of the hand that created them, and the graceful delicate notes of a sonnet. They are just beginning and so the freshness of all they see, do, and say are gems that may need a lot of polishing, but underneath there is always the brilliance of precious jewels and stones that only can come from years of absorbing love, care, and nurturing.
It is a very sad fact that over three billion people go to bed hungryin the world every single night. A fact that is much sadder is that over four billion children go to bed hungry for love, attention, and encouragement. While their physical bodies are growing, their need for more than sustenance seems to expand and encompass their entire existence.
Many parents lament the fact that children just don't listen to them. These parents are positive that their knowledge from facing every day life, getting through hurdles in handling situations such as jobs, careers, and money are far beyond the reach of their offspring, but still children just don't hear what a parent is trying to teach them. The truth of the matter is that children do not really care how much you know or just how smart you are until they know and are sure just how much you care about them and love them. They can sense a parent who feels only the need to be a parent, but not someone who a child can turn to, talk to, or even dream with. I am not saying that parents should be "pals" with their children. They are and always will be the parents, the adults in the home, but children want a confidant, a listener, and someone who loves with no strings and no boundaries. They realize that if you don't love them with open arms no matter what they do, you have to love them with bear hugs for who they are and who they are yet to become. Parents may hate and detest an action, but the child should always be the recipient of unconditional love and always to be allowed to start over and move on.
It may only take the parents' time to eat meals together at least a few times a week, or for one parent to walk to the library with a child and just "listen." It can be taking out some books yourself, as the example of your wanting to nurture reading in your child will then be more of a concrete belief than just "words." If you want your child to follow, words may introduce a concept, but actions will culminate the lesson. While driving, if you don't wear a seatbelt, then the message is not "Put on your seat belt", it will be "Choose the law you wish to obey or the one you would like to ignore." Which lesson then is the one that you are trying to convey?
If you as a parent regard your job as a paycheck from week to week, then the directive that is being given to the child is that work is a chore, it is only an economic means of getting what you really want in life, and you must take a job as only "making time." If this is the message, then the sad fact is that a child sees it as a person's outlook on life determining their output into life. If you only do the minimum to get by, then what you put out will reflect this as your goal. However, if your passion for work or hobby is exuberant and worth pursuing, then the child will follow suit and find challenges and problems only bridges to be crossed and setbacks as small hills to be conquered. Makes quite a difference doesn't it?
However you decide to make your child feel loved and special, know that it is not the amount of money you spend on them, or the elaborate ways you try to communicate, because in the long-run, the bottom line is that children will always spell love as T-I-M-E. This time is spent with you, it is time spent in growing and learning, and together with you, they can grow in both body and character, and they can learn ways to reach the stars, but they will need that map and those directions that only come with TIME, because TIME will always translate into LOVE.
Something to think about
©Arleen M. Kaptur March, 2009

The Power of Profanity

Everyone has heard it and probably a very large number of individuals have used profanity to make a point in a conversation. Does profanity in the business community have an impact or is it a barometer to just how intelligent a client, manager, or CEO is?
Charles Osgood once made a comment on "words." He said "Compared to the spoken word, a picture is a very pitiful thing." Words can be so powerful that they change the course of history and they can and have brought powerful nations down to their knees. It is the choice of words, whether in social or business situations, that tracks the course of the meeting, the evening, or even just a walk through the park. Have you ever gone to eat with your family to an upscale restaurant and the table next to you - an after business meeting get-together of men/women, or other group of adults, that used language that more than emphasized their laughter and their gestures. Did you leave that restaurant refreshed and grateful that you were privvy to such language? Could you honestly say that the conversation at the next table made your night out memorable? It may have if your vocabulary was built around the premise that the harsher the words, the more authority the speaker commands.
Most individuals who have reached the point of being managers or in places of authority in their chosen fields did not get there because they were well-versed in foul language. They moved up the ladder of success because they had a command of the English language that motivated and moved their staff to productivity and to results. At performance meetings between employers and employees, do you actually think that when the subject of how you would advance the company or bring better workmanship to your department that the use of profanity gave you a better score? Why do colleges and higher institutes of learning have English/ grammar, and even public speaking classes but none have Profanity 101 - a class that will better your chances for success in the business world? Point in case, the more advanced your vocabulary, the better handle you have on expressing your needs with words, the use and need for profanity decreases tremendously because you are in control, you have nothing to hide with vulgarity, and it is more important to you to get your point across in a way that motivates and inspires those you are in charge of, whether that be an assembly line, a sales department, or even a branch office.
Profanity does have its place - in the mouths and on the minds of those whose limits of language is to be pitied not copied. In any business setting, vulgar language is a marker of someone who does not have the capacity to lead, but only to the immature level of not being able to control his/her own temper or outbursts and can only use tactics that are not business worthy. Something to think about
©Arleen M. Kaptur March, 2009

A Quilt In Time

There is one item that is not only universal in bringing comfort, warmth and security, but it has gone through the test of time and has come out stronger and more versatile. This generation-enduring gift of making cold nights warm, and worrisome tossing and turning into peace and tranquility - it is a quilt.
Throughout history quilts have been made as a necessity, but that turned into works of art as well as gifts that are treasured and passed on from one generation to another. While their simple components are merely pieces of scrap material and thread, they are woven with the personality of the quilt artist into a time machine of past, present and future. If you ever come across quilts that are torn, soiled, and worn, you can't just toss them away. Just looking at them, you can envision the multitude of "chores" they went through, from keeping a family warm when snow and blizzards blew, but they also provided a welcome mat for picnics near the lake with cooling lemonade served while conversations flourished and friendships became forever. Quilts brought beauty to road-ways as they waved in the breeze while hanging on clotheslines in back yards. They sometimes were endowed with pieces of cloth taken from clothing, or from nostalgic fabric used not only to highlight events in someone's life but to bring back the memory with the colors and feel of the fabric. They have become scrapbooks of family ancestry and walls for play houses when children need a place to read and just dream.
Quilts today are more elaborate than in bygone days, but they still are the messengers of "Happy Anniversary" or "Welcome Baby." They bring banners of "Get Well" or "So Sorry for Your Loss". They make a house of wood and mortar into a home that you want to come back to, no matter how your day went. They are always close by when a "chill" enters a room, or a problem needs a bit of deep thinking. They are a one size fits all, but they are one of a kind and unique. Quilts are the ties that bind, and they are the reminder that home is wherever you are,no matter the miles in between. Whether they are simple in design or fit to hang in a museum, they are "quilts," and in living up to what their mission is, they will always hug a child, or bring solace and comfort to the aged. In fact, they are there to lend themselves to whatever "ails" you, but they can also inspire and bring that certain touch to your decor that just can't be explained. Quilts will never become "old", they will just be given to those who follow and intended for those you love.
Whether you make a quilt for yourself or as a token or gift to someone you know or even someone you may never meet, such as a returning veteran or someone in a care facility due to life just being life, they don't need "words" to express feelings - you can just "know" that whoever made this quilt was giving more than their time - they were giving material and thread that was also woven into their hearts and lives. Each quilt is a warm handshake and a bear hug. It can take the heat of a roaring fire on a winter night, but it can cool and refresh when a nap on a summer afternoon is called for.
Quilts have quite a job ahead of them when they are finished by the crafter, but they also have a legacy of love behind them. Quilts have so many personalities that some-times they are hard to categorize. They can be "crazy" and wild and bring a smile, or they can "patchwork" and hold a life story in their borders. They are always "comforters" but "coverlet" sometimes is all that is needed. The words of description are not the important part, but the "giving" power of all that a quilt brings to someone is all that is needed to convey what words can never do justice. If you make quilts, then you are an artist who knows no boundaries, and if you find an antique quilt, then your pot of gold is overflowing. However, if you receive a quilt, then you are loved. Something to think about ©Arleen M. Kaptur March, 2009

Celebrating Easter Beautifully on a Budget

A headline this morning said that even Easter celebrations are taking a down because of the recession. While money may be tight and jobs are pared down or in short supply, Easter can still be a true celebration - ringing in Spring, putting the Easter Bunny in the spot-light, and making your home the place to be for this honorary day.
If you are like me, mass produced just never made it to my choice for home decor or holiday celebrations. Right now is a great time to go through your attic, basement and garage and hunt up old Easter baskets. You could invite your family members to do the same. You might be surprised when a basket you cherished as a child just might appear again to be used and enjoyed.
Fill your Easter basket with shredded colored paper, such as tissue paper or wrapping paper. In pastel colors, these are more than reasonable in dollar stores and discount stores. If you like to bake, then make rabbit, chicken, or egg shaped cookies that are decorated with royal icing. Fill your basket with these edible delights and while a "few" may disappear on a daily basis, filling them back up should only take a bit of time. Assorted colors of blue, pink, yellow, tan, and purple will brighten any table in your home.
Tag or garage sales are coming alive, and there you can find some very "spring type" fabric and lacy embellishments. Cover pillows in your family room, porch, or living area. They can be as simple as "envelope" type coverings which slip on and off very easily and can be saved from year to year so that when Spring is fast approaching you have pillow covers to blend in with the colors of the season and the Easter holiday.
If you have young people coming to your home for festive entertaining during this time of year, simply take a TV table or other small table and cover it with a fine whitecloth or Easter kitchen terry. Place a tray or large unbreakable platter on top of the covering . Cover the platter with shredded yellow, pink, and light green shredded paper. Using white chocolate, milk chocolate or healthy dark chocolate, take candy molds and fill them with the melted chocolate, cool, and pop them out. Nestle these little bunnies in the "grass" yard you created. Foil covered chocolate Easter eggs, peanut butter eggs, and even sugar cookies made to resemble carrots, and bright Easter eggs can be added to multiply the fun and adventure to your home-made Easter welcome tray. Guests can help themselves as they leave to a goodie or two to take home. With little children, let them pick their favorite after they finish dinner. However, you use this garden of goodies, this will be a token that your guests will remember for years to come.
If you are having an Easter get-together, send your invitations by using "seed" packet envelopes. You can get copies of vintage seed packets on the internet or in the library, in some craft books. Glue the pictures of the seed packets together and form an envelope. Place your invitation inside and hand deliver or mail your invites in pastel colored envelopes that are less than $3.00 for about twenty-five envelopes in a dollar store.
Don't forget to have your digital camera or standard camera ready to take pictures of the Easter Egg hunt in the back yard, the adult egg-toss game, and the fun of your Holiday festivities. After your guests have left, make copies of the pictures and pick up a favorite one for each person at your party. Taking the same vintage pictures of seed packets, glue the picture in the middle, allowing the flowery sides of the pictures to extend about 1/2 to 1", forming a border. Mail these "Thank You For Coming" gifts to family and friends. Keep some for yourself and place these picture perfect Spring items on bookcase shelves, or on the mantel.
When you are serving dinner, place a small-size terra cotta pot that you fill with jelly-beans or even a cloth napkin that you have decorated with sparkles and ribbon. Not only will each place setting items make the table shine with holiday spirit, so will your guests' smiles beam and light up the room.
However you celebrate Easter this year, remember it isn't the amount of money that you spend to make your guests enjoy the day, it is your thoughtfulness and creativity that will make them remember Easter at your house.
Something to think about
©Arleen M. Kaptur March, 2009

A Very Enjoyable Lesson in Life

Gardeners are really very sage and knowledgeable people no matter their skill at the past time that they truly enjoy. It seems that life itself is in that warm soil heated by the rays of a brilliant sun and cooled by gentle breezes that relax, yet invigorate, calm yet bring new enthusiasm, and allow the gardener to reach new heights by stooping low and picking even pesky weeds and dead-heading blossoms.
When you head out to your garden area, it really does not matter the acres, yards, or even feet that is yours to maintain. In fact, it could be containers set on your patio, or a table facing the sun lined with pots of your favorite plants - this is your garden space and it is special indeed. While the place, size, and choice of plants is important to you, there are lessons to be learned and messages to be understood and taken to heart.
Gardens are not only stepping stones to life lessons, they are ladders that raise the playing field and allow inner beauty, sensitivity, and creativity to emerge and help bring about bountiful harvests and succulent food, one of life's necessities. Flowers allow you to take in the aroma of spring mornings, and summer delicacies. It is something as simple as taking a petal from a brilliant rose bloom and placing it in waxed paper and using it as a bookmark. This small gesture is thanks to the patch that adds so much charm and elegance to your day to day living, no matter the cir-cumstances or the voices on the evening news. A garden is your space to stop running and truly take the moment to smell the roses.
Some of the lessons that a garden will allow you to learn and experience is the ability to observe and not just look. You can stop and look at an emerald green pepper, or a magical ear of corn, but do you understand the forces that had to come about in order to produce this perfection of nature? Water could not do it alone, nor the sun. The roots that are hidden by the soil are not forgotten by the plant nor would the plant be there if it's past of seed, soil, and growth were not part of its history. Anyone can pass by and "see" the plants as they reach toward the morning sun, but a gardener cannot put aside the mysteries and the awe of what nature and man together can accomplish.
Understanding comes right along with trowel in hand and fingers that carefully pull the weeds but delicately press the soil around a stem. This understanding is that work is not drudgery and can, in its own right, be enjoyable and pleasurable. The gardener truly understands that learning is an on-going process and it never ends with the season. Plans are truly made in heaven and optimism convinces the flowers, herbs, fruits, and vegetables to give their all. With effort, a dry patch of dirt can be transformed into a living, breathing work of art. Barren is not an option but abundance and overflowing are words that come to life, with a gardener's cup always half full and reaching for more.
If you are gardening for the first time or for the tenth or twentieth season, each page of the calendar year brings new challenges, accomplishments, possibilities, and discoveries. As in life, nothing stays the same and if wind and rain tear down and destroy, the sun, man, and gentle care can cure and rearrange.
Something to think about
©Arleen M. Kaptur March, 2009

A Shopping Trip You Can Be Proud Of

More people are turning to gardening this year than in any other year before. Most will rush to nurseries and plant stores and buy up all the plants their cart can haul - but before you do this, if you were planning on such a venture:
Even the best of nurseries will have plants that are just not feeling too well. Even if all you do is pick plants by their "looks", healthy plants should have roots that are white. If it is alright with the shop you are in, gently lift the plant from the container to check out the root system. If the roots are spiraling around each other and they look like a ball of white yarn, they are rootbound and should be left where they are. These types of plants will dry out very quickly and will just suffocate themselves and produce nothing. If the roots are very very dark in color and appear "matted", then the plant has a rotting problem and it is best to pass these by as well. If the soil just literally falls away from the roots and you have nothing but a straggle of roots, then these plants are immature and will most likely not bloom in the season you have available.
Everyone loves to see the "flower" on the plant because it is usually bright and enticing. However, plants that are already blooming are using much more energy to keep that flower intact and are not putting the energy into the root system. Buying plants with "buds" is the very best buy and check out that root system. You will be well rewarded with fantastic blooms and harvest because the "calories" are going where they should and life is good for this plant.
An A-1 plant that is healthy will have a rich green color, it will be growing upright and it will "fit" the pot in which it is kept. Yellow leaves are not a good sign and this could come from too much water, not enough water, or a disease. One major rule is that you never buy plants with yellow leaves in the main body of the plant. Like humans, plants can become stressed for a lot of different reasons, and yellow leaves are the indicator that this plant need a "plant doctor."
If a plant you fall in love with just wants to lean to one side, it is not only tired, but in any breeze or wind in the outdoors, it will be not be able to hold its head up high and drink in all the goodness of the sunshine and the rain. Another indication that all is not too well with your plant is a powdery mildew that appears on the upper side of the leaves and resembles a grayish white powder. Other sightings such as brown, fuzzy spots are a no-no and gray or brown spotting on leaves or flowers is a call to put this one back on the shelve.
It may seem that all of this would makes you think that not too many plants out there are vital and healthy. Not true at all - in fact, try to shop for your plants in several trips. This gives you the amount of time you need to really examine your plant choices and come home with an armful of healthy stock, instead of a car load of plant hospital patients. In fact, if trees and shrubs are in your planning, even if you wait until late summer, sale prices are in full swing and there is more than ample time to plant and enjoy. This applies to herbs as well. They are quick growers except if you start from seed, which will take a while longer. Another quick tip is to ask your discount store what day the plants arrive - then plan on shopping on that day. Discount stores do not have the time to take tender loving care of their plants and they are often neglected. This way, off the truck, and you have the pick of your choice.
It is guaranteed that after your first trip, you will have all of this down pat. If the plant looks healthy, and the roots are healthy, then you are well on your way. Planning and preparing a garden is only the beginning of a very rewarding venture. It is in the harvest that you can proudly say, "I grew that", and you can be rightfully proud.
Something to think about
©Arleen M. Kaptur

When Greed Grows Up

It seems in the United States recently, we have seen a rash of examples of what happens when the quest for "more", and the growing, almost gnawing need to have it all, regardless of who it just might belong to, paints a picture of how crime takes greed by the hand until it is all grown-up and on its own two feet.
If you take Mr. Madoff and the irreplaceable trust and life hope that so many people had, you have to realize that it may have started small, then the greed grew until it encompassed what everyone else had and then some. From Mr. Madoff himself, to his wife, and their family, there is no doubt in the mind of the country that they knew and were part of the grab for all that was out there, regardless of the hearts and futures that were trashed and discarded. People lost the homes that they retired in, the money that was suppose to last them until they passed on, and a legacy to their family that would include a sense of beauty and peace as they aged. This was turned over into an ugly, almost unbelievable attempt to take from everyone so that "all" belonged only to the Madoff family. When Mrs. Madaff requested that she remain owner of the homes, as well as the bank account, would she have allowed the "victims" the same courtesy? Could they have kept the property they waited their entire lives for, or the funds that were suppose to insure that they could have a "golden" retirement as has always been the end to the perfect American dream. They did not have a choice, cannot be given back what was taken, and their lives have been altered, never to be what they were, let alone what they should have been because of a life spent working and hoping that there was always greener grass as you advanced in years. Mrs. Madoff fears losing this scenario, as do her sons. Sympathy is not forthcoming because the pain of so many was caused by the overwhelming greed of a handful.
AIG, and the other Wall Street mega corporations have done much the same. They wanted to make sure that they not only led the industry in profits, but that if it all came tumbling down, they could still stand up and watch the sun rise. These company CEO's and their counterparts, who are suppose to be intelligent in their fields of choice, knew that the "bubble" that they perpetrated would eventually burst; however, the flak would come to those who only wanted a taste of the dreams their parents told them about as they grew up, or the vision and lessons about keeping your nose to the grindstone so that you are rewarded in the end. The wrong side got rewarded, and those who struggled will have to continue their struggle. Even those who had no part in the mortgage gamble, or the banking bad-decisions, or they never toyed with other people's money, are faced with factory doors chained and locked, food that should be a guarantee of life has become a challenge to pay for, and leading your children to the land of hope and bright futures, will just have to wait.
The white collar crime of "greed" exceeds anyone's vision of what could happen when a handful of individuals make the concerted effort that all is their's and the rest of the nation will just have to adjust and live a lifestyle they only saw in still pictures of the Great Depression. Mrs. Madoff fears losing her jet-setting daily life, the fact that she not only had one home but several, and the choicest of the choice were hers. It was not enough and the pain will undoubtedly be more stinging and unrelenting because sooner or later the faces of the true "victims" are out there as you walk down the street, or sit in the park. The faces of children cold because their jackets are not adequate, the faces of the parents who come out of motel rooms that are made for two people but now house a family, and worse, the faces of an invisible nation that will find trust hard to come by, and belief in a fair system of capitalism as only a pipe hope. They are all out there and there is no street, state, or section of the U.S. that has risen above the tragedy of crime growing up.
It didn't have to happen, but it did. It might have been prevented, but it wasn't. It should teach everyone a lesson, but the pain stands in the way. However you slice the current economy, the loss of billions through the Madoff scam, being mugged in the park seems like just a walk in that same park. What used to be construed as horrendous in behavior has become "typical" on the evening news. Greed is everywhere you look, and whether you try to step around it, or cross the street to avoid it, it is no longer a child's game. It has reached its power, and it needs to be restrained. There will always be victims and there will always be schemers. The balance is in how a nation takes hold of a very bad situation, and when every single individual realizes that no one is above another, nor are they below each other either. They need to walk side by side, and greed will have to wither and die for there is no place for it to hide. We have seen it's face andtherefore it is hunted and will never find peace.
The nation's perception that there are those "who have" and there are those "who have not" must change. While bank account balances will never be equal, respect for the individual and relinquishing the need to suppress so that a person can rise to new heights, must be eradicated. No person can have it all and no person should have nothing. If Mr. Madoff could have lived in a homeless shelter for one day, would he take homes away from those he did? If Mrs. Madoff found herself with no funds for the evening meal, would she remove the prized entree from the tables of all the investors, and claim it as hers? The examples could go on without end, but the sad reality is that when the crime of greed takes over a person, they are truly unrelenting in acquiring what they could never have on their own merits. They take from everyone because they cannot leave anything for anyone else. The drive must be so rigid that if all is not in their grasp, then no one can have it either. Sad when you ponder how some live this type of life, when power, money, and greed have the freedom to grow up.
Something to think about
©Arleen M. Kaptur March, 2009

Blueberries are Definitely Keepers

Personal gardening this year is booming. More and more people are realizing that they can control what additives or chemicals are put into their food supply. Besides the nutritional and health benefits, gardening is just plain fun. The work can be tedious and tiring, but the rewards are in the harvest - you experience a thrill during the "growing" season as your menu plans include "just picked" and couldn't be any fresher fruits, vegetables, and herbs. Home grown flowers adorn your table and even children can pick and enjoy tossing a sun warmed cherry tomato into their mouths, instead of candy or other sugar-laden treats.
There is one fruit that can be grown with a lot of success wherever you might live. In fact, certain varieties can even be grown in containers on a patio, porch, or deck. Blueberries have come into their own because of the beneficial properties they contain. You can find "wild" blueberries in forests and along waysides when you go camping, hiking, or fishing. These are tasty morsels that will get your inspiration headed to pies, tarts, cereal toppers, french toast, etc.
In the local stores, they can run up to $5.00 a pint when the season is early. However, if you freeze your bounty from one year to the next - and they do freeze beautifully - you can feature "blueberries" at your Easter celebrations. If you choose the early or mid-blooming varieties, you will have edible blue-berries quicker, to add to breakfast, dinner, and even picnics.
Blueberries thrive in acidic soil, much like azaleas, and rhododendrons. A quick trick if your soil may not be just perfect, add your used morning coffee grounds to the base of your blueberry plants and you will see them thrive and blossom beautifully. Low bush blueberry plants make excellent and very edible land-scaping plants. They are one of nature's "gorgeous" members - you will be very impressed.
You can purchase your blueberry plants from reliable nurseries or through garden catalogs, but now is the best time to order them. Read the planting instructions carefully, and remember, if you care for your plant, it will last many, many years. They are definitely a "keeper" and will reward your choice with luscious, juicy, deep blue berries that enliven many recipes.
Blueberries are one of the top sources of antioxidants, which are translated into cancer prevention and a reduction in cell damage in your body. It has also been studied as to blueberries being rich sources of anthocyanins that help ward off heart attacks and can even slow macular degeneration. Blueberries contain vitamin C and are about 40 calories for an entire cup of these berries. They taste great, are nature sweetened, and they add lunch bucket enjoyment to carry lunches or even snack choices for car trips and extra energy when you are hiking or walking in your favorite park or forest area.
Blueberries are fun, healthy, and even kids won't turn them down. Fresh off the bush or in a bowl of cereal, you have a berry that delivers what today's families can't find in processed or packaged foods - freshness, easy to grow, and a delight to serve to family and friends.
It's almost blueberry time - what are you waiting for?
Something to think about
©Arleen M. Kaptur March, 2009

Today Is Just the Beginning

It's not a perfect time in history, but it is a "turning" point in life. The situation is world-wide and basically, no matter the country, color, age, or lifestyle, we are all facing a very major change - in some ways for the better.
Here in the United States, we did find out that we don't have to "drive" to the corner for the paper, and that our children can walk to events and school. While saving at the pump, we found a healthy excuse to use our feet and find out just how exhilarating walking with our kids can be. They even enjoyed it which was no surprise. Kids are resilient and they appreciate the "time" not the "method" of getting from here to there.
We now find that the metal box holding the morning newspaper just might become a part of past history as newspapers find readership slowing and advertising money fading away. However, meeting the neighbors and "getting the news" from your area is more pleasant, more personal, and gives you a "heads up" to what is going to affect your area. In the process, you begin to bring together friendships and acquaintances that were "missed" as you sped by with your to-do list in hand every morning.
Now we come to stores closing and major chains locking their doors for the last time. This is sad for the workers but this also eliminates the excuse for that "quick" gift or card that you grabbed, probably never reading it, but knowing it was important only in the fact that you sent it. Not so in today's mindset. Everyone has boxes of "supplies" whether they are sewing, scrapbooking, or just plain a little of this or that. It is a perfect setting for meeting with family, friends, or neighbors and "creating" your own invitations, birthday cards, anniversary remembrances, or even "sunshine" tokens, such as Get Well, and "We are here for you" type of cards. When someone has suffered a major mishap or just let the economy and world situation hit them like a brick wall, going to the mail box and finding a "strange" envelope there is a bright beginning to healing. It is, of course, hand made but so creatively done and signed by the neighborhood, your church, or a group of friends that only knew each other by name but never by heart. Now things are different - meeting for coffee is not "gossip" time but a chance to share and find out how a bit of "give and take" will make children's parties a combined effort and really more fun for the kids. It is welcoming the holidays as "home and family" time and making sure that fun, and togetherness are the active ingredients in your festive undertakings.
It is looking around your home, taking note, and realizing that your pillows on the sofa need a bit of refurbishing and curtain tie-backs that are "seasonal" would give your windows a lift. Don't grab your purse with the charge cards in it, that's a big no-no today. Grab your library card and head out to that impressive building with the walls filled with books. Ideas are between two covers, and pages are just waiting to be turned as innovation and creativity practically grab you by the hand and lead you down a path of "I can do this."
Whether your new found excitement is in gardening (to save on food bills), on sewing (even an apron for when you begin baking again) or scrapbooking (making memories that won't be put on a shelf but in a picture frame or card that will not only highlight an event but give it a lasting, pleasant impression), it is time to use your "natural" resources and make-do, make-new, and make-it-better abilities.
No time is better than now to dust off the cobwebs that may have gathered because "convenience" was easier. It never was quite right and you know it. Hand made or better known as heart-made is the mantra for today and it has so many strings attached to it. There are strings of accomplishment, completion, enjoyment, and togetherness. Not bad for getting up in the morning and realizing that life does go forward and so can you. It is seeing the sunshine and ignoring the storm clouds for a bit. It is looking at your hands and realizing that yes, they are the finest tools this old world ever had - and that yes, you can do it, but you need to get started. Something to think about
©Arleen M. Kaptur March, 2009

Gardening with our Feathered Friends

It's the time of year when everyone just wants to get outside and enjoy some warm weather. Garden catalogs are filled with colorful pictures of plants, trees, and shrubs. Ideas come from all over for landscaping your land to growing that perfect tomato or fragrant rose. Spring is the perfect time to enjoy the many birds that return to your area as they follow the seasons. They make the "outside" more fascinating and they can help you with your gardening chores.
You can have the best of both worlds - a luscious and bountiful garden and a paradise for birds of all species. It may take a bit of extra work, but the rewards, as the saying goes, are priceless.
Hummingbird feeders at both ends of your garden will give you the opportunity to view these tiny creatures as they zoom in and out. So tiny and yet so very busy all day long. If you have a pea trellis in your garden, you will not only attract the hummingbirds because of the white blossoms that are sweet and full of nectar, but other birds will join them. Bluebirds will perch on the trellis and their snack of choice is caterpillars. Their eyes will catch them and they will snatch them up quicker than you can. They get a taste treat and you get rid of some pesty critters.
A compost pile near your garden with attract a myriad of birds that look for bugs. Allowing the "weeds" in your compost pile to grow, especially those that produce seeds will keep the birds healthy and your garden safe as well.
While you may worry about damage from some birds sampling your garden victories, scattering a few "treats" will take care of any worries. Blue jays love peanuts and dropping a few in your garden aisles will satisfy their cravings. If blackbirds or ravens bother your corn stalks, leave some field corn on the outskirts of your garden and that will keep them busy and occupied outside of your garden space.
Other tips to keep birds nearby but your produce safe, use untreated wood for trellis items and wooden cages. Woodpeckers won't peck and other birds prefer trees to test their beaks on. Hallowed out gourds that you grew last year will blend in perfectly in your tomato patch if allowed to hang from a line just above your plants. The gourd will be hidden by the foliage of the plants, and soon the soft sounds of tiny birds will fill the air while you work in your garden. A perching post somewhere in your garden will give birds a perfect place to keep a keen eye over your hard work and eliminate pests for you. These morsels give them the nutrients they need and birds are great workers. They never tire and best of all - you don't have to pay them.
If you have the room in your garden, placing a bird bath in the middle, surrounded by a patch of gravel, sand, or plain soil will allow the birds a bit of relief from the noonday sun and heat, and the sand will keep lice out of their feathers. They are also a bit safer from predators kept out by your garden fence.
After the first hard frost many of us love to "clean up" the garden of the past year's vines, and leaves. If you enjoy birds, don't pull up the plants - this can be done next Spring. Grosbeaks, goldfinches, wrens, and even robins that may stay a bit longer than other birds will enjoy doing the "cleaning" for you. Cardinals, nuthatches, and woodpeckers will also thank you for the winter food supply. Whether it is left over herbs or even a green tomato left in a tomato cage, this will give them food when the snow covers the rest of the land.
Birds, like many of us, are creatures of habit. They know the "good spots" and are just a bit uneasy to try new places. However, they do venture and while they may not flock to your first attempt to attract them, they will find your garden and its added features that you included just for them. After that, you will be on their flight path and will enjoy their beauty, songs, and help for years to come. That's a great way to join with nature and enjoy the great outdoors.
Something to think about
©Arleen M. Kaptur March, 2009

Bringing a Bit of Sunshine Into Recession Cooking

Recession or depression, whatever word you decide to use - it can be daunting to realize that you depended on a whole lot of "quick" foods that may have added dollars to your food budget, but things were better and jobs were not disappearing like snow on a sunlit day. It has happened, and it may continue to happen, but you still have to eat and serve meals to your family or keep yourself nourished if you live alone. It is a matter of economy because medical costs are going through the roof and today it is much cheaper to stay healthy.
Many people are looking to "gardening" as a way to get fresh, and nourishing food with a little bit of elbow grease. Fruits, vegetables and herbs taste "oh so good" when they are just picked and used for dinner. You can't beat the taste of tomatoes that are still warm from the sun, or a cucumber sweet enough to brighten any salad. Adding home-grown basil to dishes gives you a new taste appeal, and parsley will not only dress up your plate, but it is absolutely fantastic fried for a few moments.
You can have a little bit of fun when you do more cooking and that is "dressing" up your family's dinnertime entrees. Even breakfast can be "flowery" when you use candy molds (you can get some great ones at yard sales or tag sales) and press softened butter, margarine, or cream cheese into the mold. Refrigerate to harden, and then pop out your flower, leaf, or whatever design you have chosen. Place a lovely yellow daffodil on top of morning toast and believe me when I say a person's whole day will light up and they will begin their activities with a "sunnier" disposition. It works!
Cherry tomatoes give tomato roses appeal with any meat dish. While all this "creativity" may take a bit more time, you will be the mom who is truly "cool", the neighbor who is asked to help with party plans because of your inspiration, and well, you will look at the anticipating faces at mealtime and know that the job you are doing is rated E for Excellent.
Using a sharp knife, slowly remove the skin of the cherry tomato, starting at the bottom, not the stem end. Remove the skin in one long piece, which forms the petals of your rose. The peel should be about 1/2" in width. The "meat" of the tomato should be inside and start to curl your peel from the bottom, forming a very pleasing red bud rose.
When you serve a sandwich, make a dill pickle fan to dress up the meal. Cut the pickle into slices but do not go completely through. Stop about 1/2" from the end and gently fan out the slices.
Using fruit as a garnish, don't forget that oranges cut in a zigzag mode completely around and through. Gently pull apart and you have two halves of saw-tooth orange beauty to place with a steak or BBQ ribs.
If you serve hot dogs or hamburgers, place the condiments in hollowed out green peppers (use red, yellow, or purple too if they are reasonably priced). Fill these pepper baskets with mustard, ketchup, pickle relish, chopped onions, and tomato salsa. They are colorful and after using, empty the baskets and slice up the peppers. Place in a plastic bag in your refrigerator and use whenever you need some green peppers for fajitas or steak sandwiches. With this one, you win twice.
Taking a cucumber, stripe peel the cucumber (using your vegetable peeler, peel and leave a peel, and peel again and do this completely around your cucumber. Using an ice cream spoon, hollow out the center to remove all the seeds. Using your favorite "filling" such as tuna fish salad, ham salad, etc. spoon the filling into the hollowed out cucumber. Wrap in foil and place in refrigerator for about 30 mins. Just before serving, slice the cucumber into 1/2" slices and place on a bed of lettuce. This salad is very appealing and quite a "treat" for your appetizer choice.
These are just a few examples of using food to make food more interesting, beautiful, and to give every meal a bit of a festive "design". Try your hand at other vegetables and you may just discover how artistic you really are.
Something to think about
©Arleen M. Kaptur
March, 2009

Making "Good" Out of a "Bad" Economy

Lifestyles change with every page of newspaper headlines or a new televised report of stocks falling or companies closing. It's sad and for many it is heartbreaking.
There can be a bright side to every sad disheartening tale but they are sometimes hard to find and still harder to take in. One of the best changes that is occuring because of the economy is a turn around to home-cooked meals, more natural food and less chemically laced ingre-dients. It can even include growing your own fruits, herbs, and vegetables. By sharing the knowledge of how foods started with simple seeds can and do turn into fantastic meal entrees and delectable desserts, you and your family have new inroads into healthy and sustainable eating habits.
Holidays are also getting a "change" when it comes to entertaining, gifts, and decorations. Families are finding out that home-made has and always will be heart-made and that something given that is unique, and one of a kind, not manufactured or mass produced will give lasting memories. A meal served simply but with mouth-watering tastes, colors, and textures can surpass an expensive restaurant experience. How many times have we been disappointed with a meal that we thought would take our breath away and instead just took the dollars out of our wallets? It happens and this does not mean that eating out is a no-no. It only represents the fact that you can, with a little effort and planning, prepare feasts when monetary famine rears its ugly head.
Remember that cookbooks and recipes are maps or guidelines for certain dishes. You can and should include your family's favorites when you prepare a meal. If your family prefers corn to artichokes, make the change if it is appropriate for the dish. Improvise and tuck and trim and you will be delighted with the results. If not, and the family gives you the thumbs-down, then you know from this experience that these ingredients just did not go well together. There is nothing wrong in trying because "tried and true" recipes have evolved from many false starts and "maybe" ingredients, until the final result is a passed down to generations "keeper."
Going to garden shows or nurseries as a family, you will find that the kids enjoy the varieties of vegetable plants and flowering treasures and would consider it more "personal" if you let them pick and choose a few varieties. Their interest will be more in tune because they had input and their choice just may be the stellar star of your own garden show.
In home decor, let the children try their hand at decorations from vacations past or tidbits just lying in boxes collecting dust. If you enjoyed a vacation at the seashore a few years back, those shells may be re-invented to be used as curtain tie-backs, or even glued to a vase or tray. Glass balls from a tourist trap, placed in a clear bowl, can be a colorful and eye-catching mantle piece that reflects colors and rainbow accents. A skirt from a spa venture just never fitted right but was just too good to toss. It can now cover a pillow for porch or deck and its new life will bring back memories once again.
It's all a matter of choosing how to deal with down-turns and making sure that they don't turn your life downward. An old saying of "This too shall pass" is a wonderful mantra, but in the meantime, using your creativity and talent, your inspiration and dedication to trying your hand at new ventures, is the right "recipe" for dealing with anything the economy or this life can throw at you.
Something to think about
©Arleen M. Kaptur March, 2009

Talk Radio - It's Full of Pork

It may be old-fashioned to think that radio was a form of entertainment in days gone by. Today it has become a way to intimidate, threaten, and rally the troops towards hatred, greed, and retaliation.

Under the Bush administration, it would be considered high treason to say anything demeaning against the President or the Vice President for that matter. We were in war and this would never have been allowed. You would find home-land security on your driveway and the SWAT teams on your roof.

We are still at war, but with the new administration, talk-show hosts are asking the listening public to hope and pray that the current administration fails and that cartoons of racial undertones are funny. Some talk show hosts are telling tales of underground move-ments to take back the country and to counter any move from the Democratic Party.

While freedom of speech is presented as a defense to such verbal abuse, we as a people listen, laugh, and find it enjoyable as we head to work or take the kids to school. Consider, how-ever, that the ride to work is probably short-lived as unemploy-ment nears record numbers, courtesy of a former administration who decided that bombs, and artillery was more important than jobs and schools. Some believe that a war makes a land prosperous. This spoken by a lawmaker on national radio and television.
If war was so good for a country, why are we in this deep
recession with the money problems that we currently have to
endure. We have been at war for well over six years, and with
two wars going on at the same time, why are we not in the lap of
luxury and enjoying a bountiful lifestyle?

This type of scenario is morally sick. War kills and destroys, but those "with vision" made profits from no-bid war contracts, supplying guns and ammo, and giving security companies the right to shoot and kill, at their discretion. As a society, we should have hung our heads in shame, but we did the right thing - we decided that "change" was needed and this came in the form of a new administration.

Legislators like Mr. McConnell from Kentucky and Mr. Boehner from Ohio are loud, and vehement as they denounce not only the ideas, but the periods and commas that they believe were missed in a document. In other words, they would be against Santa Claus if he was part of the new administration. This type of "idealism" is harmful and childish. If no new ideas came from the Republican rule for eight years prior, then what makes any idea unacceptable and to be denounced and to make people believe that such ideas are conceived in the back-rooms of demon terror. Talk radio feels that freedom can allow it to create unrest, unjust assumptions, and personal insults towards anyone and everyone who does not toe the line to a single drum beat.
That single drum beat brought pain at the pump, and Wall Street,
car companies, and banking institutions to come with tin cups and
haggard faces to the very people they enjoyed taking advantage of,
in the first place. What goes around, comes around fits this, don't
you think?

No party has or ever will have all the answers, but at least doors are opened and windows are allowing a breath of fresh air. If there is a source of contention, then speak the words, but do it with civility and honor. Mr. Limbaugh fits into neither of these words, and if he is the new voice of the Republican party, then prayers are in order because our young deserve better and an example of such abusive behavior should not be tolerated by parents or adults.

Talk Radio needs to clean house a bit and to ask everyone to hope that the administration will fail is Unamerican. You cannot be an American and fight any new ideas, methods, or department leaders. It is a very short time since the new Administration began, but the loss of an election is no cause for such bitterness and hatred marketing. They had their chance, they failed, and hopefully, they will change their ways. Public input was ignored, the public was closed out of documents and dealings, and money was given, spent and could not be accounted for. I still remember one prominent Treasury official stating, "How could you keep account of billions of dollars?". The public should ask in return "How could you not?". We are in a dire economic situation and to allow Talk Radio, both male and female to denounce, threaten and intimidate is allowing freedom to be turned into tyranny.

Radio is a wonderful invention and should be used for the purpose of informing, and entertaining. It is not informative to hear "hate" preached and it is not entertaining to be told that there are "underground" groups forming to make sure that this country is taken back - ask yourself what this country would be taken back to - war, secret meetings, shredded documents, kick-backs, profits from devastation and death, prisons that caused torture to smear its ugly tar onto an entire nation of decent, and hard working people. Companies abused money they took for jobs they never performed, Wall Street and the banking industry gave the high-five when they knew that the money bubble would burst but they had already put into place their billions in "perks" and "parties." If you want to take the country back - take it to a time when radio was family-oriented and you did not have to cover the ears of your children when the likes of radio jockeys rode their mouths like spoiled, arrogant children who have no control, morals, or pride. Talk Radio - it's time to grow up and do what Radio was intended for.
Something to think about
©Arleen M. Kaptur March, 2009

If We Don't Change - We Lose

Reading the few remaining newspapers that are still printing, getting your news on the internet, or listening to talk radio while in your car - a few ways to find out exactly what is going on in the world around you. We listen but we have a specific agenda in our minds about what really interests us and what will have an impact on our daily lives.
Being part of a world community, sometimes we get so absorbed in our own path that we "hear" what is going on but we really do not take it in or find it something to garner our concern. While every single one of us is human and a citizen of the entire world, so to speak, we usually just meander as to our local, state, and federal news items. If the truth be known, deep inside the recesses of our subconscious mind we have heard about the total and unrelenting abuse of people all over the world by their own governments or by warring factions that want to be their government. Darfur is one example, Mexico is still another, and the Guantanemo abuse story is old news to many of us. However, these atrocities happened, are happening, and while they may not be right there on our doorstep, we can all realize one issue. Cruelty and abhorrent behavior is on the rise and there seems to be no way of stopping it. We are repulsed by the news but we feel helpless and unable to do much about it. The "side effect" of feeling this way is that life loses some of its "special" and important assets, which is one reason why violence thrives and grows.
When a nation cannot feel pity and pain at the death and devastation of people of other ethnic, color, or religious beliefs, then we have given apathy a free reign in our thoughts. This is inherently dangerous to us as individuals and as a society. There is numbness that grows in our hearts and minds and when a child dies from bombs and war, we see it, read it, and it dies somewhere in our soul, because it is not "one of us." Bringing the issue closer to home, we pick and choose our political affiliations and being what they are, when a Republican does what a Democrat just might do but hasn't, they are praised and put up on a pedestal. When it is reversed, the Democrat is verbally stoned and the thought of "tar and feathering" is there but maybe not in so many words. This can be turned around with the Democrat being on top and the Republican battered. It just depends on what side of the aisle you are on.
There is such a very transparent malady that we all see and hear, but many choose not to deal with. We no longer judge issues on their merit, but we decide the outcomes by petty grievances held against a certain party, nationality, or religious sect. We, as a people, have lost our ability to do our homework, regardless of what side we sway towards, and to do what is right because the facts speak for themselves and there is only one right way - the way that will benefit humanity and do the best by those who are suffering. Whether we want to acknowledge Darfur, an Iraqi child killed by misguided rage, or something as close to home as the danger our young people are in. in the battle of drugs and sexual exploitation, we need to stand up as adults, and act as adults. Mexican drug problems have crossed the borders into our country, brutality in violence is astonishing right here and right now, and even harsh outrage against those in our government needs to have the restraints of civility and just actions - not demeaning people of different color, or bank account balances. The rich sometimes feel they have all the answers and they deal with the less fortunate, never knowing what it is like to go to bed hungry or to lose a job and your pride at the same time. They have never experienced it and therefore do not have the right to assert they know the answers. Wall Street cannot take taxpayer dollars and "party" while those who gave stand in long lines for food stamps and unemployment benefits. While their existence is worlds apart from day to day experience, they need to examine, and find solutions that will benefit all and not just a few chosen ones such as their families, relatives, and friends.
The point of all this is that we as human beings need to begin to "walk in someone else's shoes" before we complain that they do not hurt or bind. We need to do less of the "talk the talk" and more of the "lean on me" mind sets. Lately, prominent and highly publicized government officials argue, and denouce each other, no matter the issue. This example to our young is that if you are on one side of the fence, make sure that the rocks and stones you throw are indiscrimately aimed, just so long as they hit a target. It doesn't matter if you know that what the other side is doing is right and is for the good of all, pick up that stick and strike with all your might. In the end, you just might convince yourself right along with all the others you are trying to convince. Power after all is the prize and control is the sought after gold pot at the end of the rainbow.
Civility demands a change in our attitudes, and we must pick our fights against those who kill and brutalize, not those who work toward peaceful negotiations and ways to correct crooked paths. Party affiliations, religious rights, and ethic barriers do not solve problems for the multitide, but they do create a gap that cannot be bridged or water too deep to tread. We were blessed with minds and hearts, and if we don't use them to the best of our abilities, then we have no one to blame when the war comes into our own back yards, and it is our children who learn that "might makes right" and "the bottom line is all that really matters." Those who steal money from others in scams and in bail-outs that were caused by their own greed and inept behavior are thieves and should be treated as such. Rewarding them with perks and allowing them to reside in regal surroundings only teaches everyone that money is the goal and greed is the way to get there. Those who are abusive to children, the elderly or to those who win over them in competitions or campaigns, they are the true "terrorists" and their reign is unacceptable and needs to be overthrown.
Facing issues, using our intelligence, and working so that "all" people live in the best of ways in the best of times is our goal on this planet. There is no color we should see, there is no ethnicity we cannot accept, and there is no religious or party affiliation we can't throw aside and work for unity and freedom. We are not the color of our skin, or the church we were raised in. We are not a government party or a chosen ancestry - we are people and we are "equal" because God did not give up His/Her job just yet. The position is filled and we, while only a small pebble on the beach, we are a vital and vigorous entity that can find solutions and reach across oceans, aisles, and prosperity inequalities. We can, but we have to want to - this is the first step.
Something to think about
©Arleen M. Kaptur March, 2009