trekker

At the end of my earlier post titled America the beautiful I shared that Bryan and his friend Kevin had begun his adventure crossing the High Sierra Trail (HST) from the Sequoias on the West to Mount Whitney on the East. Their expedition was six days of backpacking and one day of rest and travel home. They trekked 75 miles reaching an elevation on Mount Whitney of 14,505 feet. Their journey was safe with decent weather (just a few hours of rain). Along their trek they came across a bear, rattle snake, deer, marmots, and a falling pine cone.

Does this beautiful picture that Kevin took of Precipice Lake below look familiar?

Perhaps this is why. It's a famous Ansel Adams original titled "Frozen Lake and Cliffs."


I had the pleasure and privileged to be the first to see Bryan when he returned home. That evening Jay and I, my parents, and Christina enjoyed a communal pizza dinner (we all had to pitch in, poor pizza delivery guy was given his tip in change) while we listened to Bryan's stories of this great adventure. I must say that he was most animated when he first arrived which blessed me with the best version of his adventure; sorry guys, but lucky me!

Below is a slides show of highlights from their trek. You can also visit Kevin's website at http://kevedge.com/ to view his thoughts on the trek and photo gallery.


Do not follow the path. Go where there is no path to begin the trail. Ashanti Proverb

Super Summer Salads

Thanks for your patience as I work to get posts up about Bryan's recent Mount Whitney adventure and Jay's bi-plane ride. While your waiting, here's some tasty refreshing recipes for those hot summer days.

Recently I explored my cookbooks for some new healthy recipes. This week I ventured to try two new recipes. It's been awhile since I've shared a recipe. Both these salads have been approved with thumbs up!

guacamole salad
I used a shallot in place of the red onion and a few drops of Tabasco in place of the jalapeno peppers. We didn't use all the dressing.

caesar salad with lemon pepper shrimp
I used pre-made croutons from Trader Joes and Girard's Light Caesar Salad Dressing instead of making both from scratch.

a fight for justice

Not long ago I heard on the morning radio about a 4 year old panhandler (Gavin), a resident of the streets of San Francisco and the difficultly city officials are having in their outreach to help the boy and his family.
It's easy to make the presumption that this is NOT a safe environment for a four year old, or any child for that matter. However, the public might not be aware of the many "catch 22's" of our welfare system, that many social workers like myself, face on a daily basis (if they had a social work job!). Since Gavin shows no signs of abuse or neglect (appearing well-fed and healthy) it causes a dilemma for Child Protective Services to intervene in removing the child from his parents to temporary placement. There's speculation that the parents are forcing Gavin to panhandle to obtain increased donations. Attempts have been made to offer services to this family like shelter, place Gavin in school or day care, living with other family, etc..., but they seem to refuse showing that this is how they choose to live.

I got to thinking about Gavin and social services wanting to get him into school. Perhaps it's wrong of me, or I'm just thinking more "outside the box," but I would feel sorry for the teacher. Can you imagine having a student who has been psychologically brainwashed into believing panhandling is appropriate and possibly a child trained to be aggressive or manipulative. Granted there might be times this is appropriate as a means of survival, if there was no alternative help available. However, in a scenario such as this, I would fear for the other parents with children in the same classroom. I would hope that before placing a panhandling child in school, that he/she receives psychotherapy!

To read further details about Gavin check out these articles below:

Dilemma: How to help a 4-year old panhandler

A better plan needed for 4-year old panhandler

Any creative or intelligent suggestions to help solve this dilemma?

Would you canoe in poo?

Not long ago while watching the news, I viewed the most bizarre and yet interesting environmentally friendly story. Many of you might remember making handmade paper during your childhood days; ripping up pieces of used paper, turning it into pulp in the blender, then carefully placing it into the felted mold where you add starch, etc... The people at Sheep Poo Paper in the UK have taken the concept of traditional paper making to a whole new level. Using super-fresh sterilized sheep poo and other by product pulp fibers with the traditional paper making techniques, they are able to produce environmentally friendly paper known as Sheep Poo Paper. They make stationary, wedding invitations (can I just say gross!), photo/art prints, bookmarks, and even air fresheners aka Poo-Pourri. Well, we all know that poo floats, so why not venture to make a canoe? That's exactly what these guys are working on. They have built a canoe frame and have covered it with their Sheep Poo Paper. They're trying to make it seaworthy enough so they can paddle the channel to France. Who would have thought Little Bo Peep's sheep waste would be so useful.To read more about how Sheep Poo Paper is made, products sold, or about the Poo Canoe, visit this link to Sheep Poo Paper.

You'll think differently the next time you flush!

African thunderstorm

Many of you know that music is an important part of our lives. We enjoy the creativity that it can bring. When Jay sent me this video, I had to share it with each of you. The Perpetuum Jazzile is an a cappella jazz choir from Slovenia. They use their hands to create sounds reflecting an African Thunderstorm. I am in awe at how in sync they are. It must have been difficult to obtain that perfect unison. Turn up your volume, click on the link below and enjoy; it's amazing!

African thunderstorm