If Challenge (8/16)

Question: If you could enact one law in your country that does not currently exist, what would it be?

Answer: My first thought was to come up with a law that if you drive slow in the fast lane that an alien ship would descend from the skies and blast you out of my driving path, but I think that would be something really hard to enact, and how would we pay for the alien ship and what if I'm the person driving in the fast lane, while going fast but not fast enough for somebody else, would I then get blasted?

I then decided that I would enact a law that could possibly actually have some impact on our country. I would put term limits on Senators, Representatives, and Governors. Part of the reason that the country doesn't change is because we keep electing the same people into office because we are familiar with their name when we go into the voting booth and maybe they haven't done anything uber-controversial so their opponents don't really have much to bring up when time comes to re-elect them. If we don't allow the President to reside in office for longer than 2 terms, I think the same rule should hold for ALL elected offices.

Of course, if I'm going to tackle politics, then I'm going to include a whole bunch of riders in my law that addresses the lobbyists and the donations by corporations and wealthy individuals. I'd like to make this country of the people and by the people and I mean ALL the people not just the ones with deep pockets.

Enough soapbox?

If Challenge (8/15)

Question: If you were invited to join one current musical group, which group would you want to be a member of, and what instrument would you play?

Answer: Simple...Blue Oyster Cult...

And the instrument I would play....Cowbell!!!

 

Happy Birthday, Dad!!

Thanks for being the best dad! You challenge me and celebrate with me and go on adventures with me and can sit and be quiet and read with me. You instruct and guide and help me up when I make mistakes and fall down. I carry you with me where ever I go.

I love you and look forward to many more adventures and quiet moments together.

If Challenge (8/13)

Question: If you had to spend one year alone in the wilderness, where would you go?

Answer: This is very apropos as I am currently reading the book Wild by Cheryl Strayed.

In this book she takes off hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, which goes from Mexico to Washington across the tops of the Sierra and Cascade mountain ranges. She carries everything she needs on her back and just hikes and camps and then comes to little outposts where she has mailed a fresh supply of food. She is doing this hike to 'find' herself. I find it to be really fascinating and sometimes wonder if it is something that I could do. I've also wondered what it would be like to hike the length of the Appalachian Trail. Both trails are well over 2,000 miles (2,663 and 2,200 respectively), and since I am very much not a hiker or camper, I doubt if I would ever do it. Besides, with my luck, I'd get confused and lost (I mean I do that whenever I step outside of a hotel room and turn the wrong direction) that I would end up like the guy (Christopher McCandless) from the book Into the Wild.

But whether I could do it or not isn't really the question. Therefore, I really think taking a year off and hiking along both of these trails would be fun. I mean, each would take probably 6 months for me to complete and the question doesn't say if it has to be a consecutive 12 months, does it? It would have to be somewhere that I could have touch points with civilization as I do not think I could completely live off the land and kill for my survival, but rather, if I could carry food on my back and know that I would be able to refuel periodically (and hopefully stay in a cabin or motel and maybe get a shower once in a while) then I might be up for it.

Is this now on my bucket list? Maybe....

Nature Box - YUM!

I recently signed up to receive a monthly shipment from Nature Box of tasty, healthy, natural foods.

So far I have received the following selections:

• Peanut Butter Nom Noms
• BBQ Kettle Kernels
• South Pacific Plantains (Plantain chips with sea salt)
• Tuscan Summer Mix (Italian-spiced seed, nut and dried fruit mix)
• Mango Almond Bites (Mango and crispy rice squares)
• Guacamole Bites
• Tart & Tangy Fruit Bites
• Cherry Crumble Granola
• Cherry Ganache Granola
• Salsa Spiced Nut Mix

While I have enjoyed all of them, some have been better than others. I could do without the Guacamole Bites, although they would be good actually dipped in guacamole.

The interesting thing, though, is that if I eat junk food (chips, candy, etc.) I will sit and inhale the entire bag of whatever the item is. However, with these "healthy" snacks, I find that I can eat one or two bites and am satiated and don't feel the need to inhale them all at once. I say this is a good thing.

If Challenge (8/12)

Question: If you had to lose one of your five senses, which would you give up?

Answer: Once again, this is a toughy. I've actually talked about this before with my family on some car ride long ago. My first thought was to give up hearing, but now I am rethinking that. I love to listen to music and books on tape and streaming podcasts and all sorts of things, so I think it would be really hard to give up hearing. Of course I also love the sound of silence, but I think constant silence with just the voices in my head would drive me insane. Plus, I'm not certain I would be able to learn sign language at this age.

I KNOW I couldn't give up vision because I read too much and there is the quilting and use of color that requires sight.

That leaves the sense of smell, taste, and touch. Well touch is out because there are so many things that I do that rely on my sense of touch, like feeling for pins when quilting or petting Leo.

We are now down to two...smell and taste, which are intimately entwined. The sense of smell plays a huge part in being able to add to the flavor of so many things. But, if I had to give up one of my senses, I really think it would be either taste or smell. I mean, if I don't really enjoy the flavor of food any longer, would there be the desire to eat as much?

(By the way, I did a search for a picture of a tongue to include in the post to accentuate my choice, but they were really gross and sadly, there are now some tongue images that are burned into my retina that I just not not see now...sigh...maybe giving up my vision wouldn't be so bad after that....)