The Curious Housewife

Looking northwest, Point Lobos Park Looking  northwest, Point Lobos Park On the trail at Big Sur State Park Looking towards the Santa Lucia Range at the top of the trail. Banana slug! Controversy! Could be wild morning glory or a non native invasive monster! I just got back from spending 3 days on the California coast, down in the Big Sur area. Big Sur is south of Monterey and Carmel, maybe about 30 miles or so. I was actually in a little spot called Lucia, about another 20 miles or so away and staying at a monastery! The place is called New Camoldoli Hermitage  and the men who live there are Roman Catholic Monks. They run a retreat/hostel kind of place where people can come to do whatever they wish to do, in silence. It's a spot for religious contemplation of course but also a place where a person can be quiet for awhile. There is no available Internet, no television or radio, and no talking on the grounds. I live in a small rura...

Coachella Recycled Plastic Bags When did shopping become a struggle in decision making? Part of going vegan almost a year and a half ago has been adjusting my buying habits to reflect my evolving morals. Not wanting to eat animals or to exploit them for my own benefit has morphed into trying to do right in a general way; trying to live responsibly in the world at large. It's very difficult because each choice that is made that benefits me also comes at a detriment to some other living creature. It's a real pickle. Most decisions are a mix of good and bad outcomes. For example, when we bought my car a while back, I asked the salesman if the car contained any animal products such as a leather steering wheel. (It does not so that's good.) But, a car runs on gas (we did not buy a hybrid car) and gas is a petroleum product which is a fossil fuel. Burning fossil fuels  harms our environment by contributing to pollution, global warming, and tearing up the landscape (which af...

Mokelumne River as seen from Middle Bar Bridge     New Melones Reservoir, Table Mt hike, Jamestown, CA Table Mt., Jamestown, CA Lake Hogan, CA Indian Warrior Princess, EBMUD trail Valley Springs, CA I haven't done a hiking post in awhile though I have been hiking. Winter and early Spring are the perfect times in my area for lower elevation hiking. The weather is just right for being outside: cool, high 40's to 50's, maybe some sun and clouds but more likely to be overcast. This year it has been particularly rainy so getting outside has been tricky. It pays to have a flexible schedule so that responding to the forecast is easy. The first pic shows an area that I enjoy quite a bit, the Middle Bar section of the Mokelumne River watershed. There are several trails there that are challenging and which afford views of the river and the surrounding hillsides. The next two pics are from Table Mountain in Jamestown, about an hour or so away from me. The ...

Ouroboros Tattoo symbol- Tattoos With Meaning If I were to get a tattoo, it would be some variation of the above image called an ouroboros. An ouroboros has many meanings that reflect a rich heritage of thought. The symbol can be understood in terms such as the infinity of nature, the beginning and end of something, or a circling back to the beginning of a place, thought, or an event. The snake eating its own tale can represent secular and non secular ideas, be culturally specific, and can have both an individual and group oriented meaning. The possibilities for interpretation of the  symbol are endless. (Pun intended!) For my own personal explanation, I see the symbol in terms of the circular nature of things. Through my own experiences I have come to believe that we are never through with things. We never come to the end of a problem or really resolve it for good. The same problem always shows up somewhere down the road, surprising us with its re...

View From Lake Hogan Trail Stand in awe before your creator and all that you see. Know that there is something bigger. Take comfort in that thought and be satisfied.   On Christmas Day we watched a movie. It was The Martian   with Matt Damon. (Yes, I know I am very late to the party. We just don't watch many movies.) It was very entertaining and oddly enough, very moving in a real spiritual sense. I have included a quote from the film here which really struck me. The quote from the movie is Mark Watney's letter to his parents to be delivered by his commander in the event of his death. In the letter he talks about his job, how he loves it and isn't giving up the fight but just preparing for an outcome. It's the last part though that really got me, the part about him dying for something  greater than himself. He accepts this and seems satisfied with the knowledge of what may happen to him. It was a very moving scene. May we all be so composed and content as our end ...

I thought a kind of catch up post might be in order. There are some thoughts that I want to share, in no special order, so let's proceed! Recently, I started making my own bread again. Why did I start making my own bread? Back in October, I took a serious look at the amount of sugar that I was consuming on a daily basis. For my investigation, I initially took a look at both added sugars, (those that I added myself to what I ate and cooked and those that were in prepackaged foods), as well as naturally occurring sugars such as those found in fruits and vegetables. I excluded fresh fruits and vegetables since they are a mainstay of a healthy diet. I looked only at added sugars. I was fairly astonished! Did you know that there are 4 grams of sugar in a teaspoon? Did you further know that the American Heart Association recommends no more than 25 grams of added sugar (6 tsps) for a woman, per day. Let me just say that I was exceeding this amount nearly every day, both wi...

Big Trees State Park As both ends of California burn, as President Trump adds insult to injury with ridiculous threats, and as a red flag warning continues through tonight, I felt a little uplift was needed. Psalm 96:11-13   Revised Standard Version (RSV) Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;      let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it! Then shall all the trees of the wood sing for joy before the  Lord , for he comes,      for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness,      and the peoples with his truth. Have a safe, happy and blessed Monday! Libby