How Hot Do Fireworks Get?

That is the question I posed today to my dear husband.  He replied, "700 degrees, maybe?"  That sounded incredibly hot, but I wanted to confirm it.  (Not that I don't believe everything that comes out of the man's mouth, I do....) I got on my trusty Google Search Engine.  I was asking because even after almost a week after the 4th, my arm is still hurting where I was hit by an errant firework at our family party.  And the ugliness on my arm makes one want to avert their eyes because if you didn't know what it was, at first glance it looks like some kind of fungus or leprosy eating two holes in my skin.  
    Yep, it seems like I can never get through a summer without some kind of mishap, ruining my summer "look" with some kind of scar, bruise or scrap.  It never fails!  Last summer I sported a slow-healing red scrap on my lower leg as a result of a mishap on my bike.  It just wouldn't go away.  It has finally healed, but now this year I've got another nick on my calf from something (probably shaving) and now this!  I don't anticipate this going away for some time.  I mean, seriously, my darling nephew basically blew two holes in my arm.  We're all joking around as I scrape off the black charred skin, and I'm telling him the inevitable scars will give me something to remind me of him, dear sweet Matthew!  But inside, it's not quite as funny as I let on.  I'm using tea tree oil like crazy, hoping it won't get infected because doctors are to be avoided if possible, since I don't like going to them!  Didn't I just post about a traumatic event that happened to me one summer?  This could get old!  
    Oh, by the way, the result of my Google Search was this:

• Black powder (gunpowder) commonly used in rockets and as a burst charge in aerial shells, burns at temperatures up to 1700^oC.

• Pyrotechnic stars used in rocket headers and shells, if fuelled by a metal powder such as magnesium, can easily burn at temperatures in excess of 2200^oC.

• Flash powders used to make a bright flash and a loud bang, can burn at temperatures above 3000^oC.

Ummm....pretty sure that I got a burn from flash powder used to make a bright flash and loud bang since we were doing aerial fireworks that have just recently been made legal in the state of Utah!  "Can burn at temperatures ABOVE 3000 degrees centigrade"?  Ahh, that's why my skin turned black and there are now two holes.  Got it!  Baby, 700 degrees was quite a low ball figure!  Just saying......

     But being the quintessential optimist that I am, I am telling you that there is always a silver lining in this!  For one thing, I won't be washing my own hair for awhile.  My local hair salon will be seeing a lot more of me so I can get my hair washed, styled and blown out!  (They give great scalp massages too!)  And, I have a whole pack of cute, girly designer band-aids that are just waiting for the perfect wound. I will be injured in style!  So there you go, positive thinking at its best!

I can't wait to get the girly band-aids out.  That WILL be my summer look

Experimentation with Chard!

   If you haven't cooked with Swiss Chard, I suggest you do it this summer!  It's delicious!  Swiss Chard was one of the offerings I picked up on my bi-monthly fruits and veggies co-op visit!  For $16.00 Bountiful Baskets fills a small laundry basket completely full of wonderful fruits and vegetables, some of which I wouldn't automatically think of purchasing at the store!  I love the element of surprise when I pick up my baskets.  I can then use my savvy at stealing recipes from the internet creativity and include it in my menus for the week.  OK, usually I just cook one dish--not in conjunction with an entire meal--and call it good. Who am I kidding?  It's the experimentation that is fun!
    I went to the pick-up spot and noticed this huge green leafy bundle, with bright red stems.  I thought it was rhubarb, but the lady told me that it was Swiss Chard. 

Two baskets for each order--One basket is fruit and the other vegetables.  We fill our own containers with both of these baskets.

I'm embarrassed to say I've never cooked Swiss Chard, but I've always intended to!  The leaves are very thick and don't look like they would taste very good in a salad. 

With a few pointers from the internet, I got started.  First I cut up an onion, 2 carrots, and some garlic.  I sauteed these in some bacon drippings until they were tender.  

 I then added some chicken broth and put in the finely chopped red stalks of the chard.  I cooked these until they were tender and lastly added the leaves and cooked them until they wilted!  I added some crumbled bacon, lemon juice and topped it with Parmesan cheese.  

 The result was amazing!  I felt like a chef indeed!  I absolutely love the subtle zingy taste of the chard.  It would be a great addition to any Italian meal!
    My next conquest is to use two huge butternut squashes in a meal!  Off to the internet I go!

What Almost Happened To Me

   I am impressed with people who have gone through tragic events which have left them disfigured in some way and who still manage to keep optimism and a positive outlook in life!  I can somewhat identify with the prospect of being permanently disfigured because at one time I thought I would be disfigured for life!  
    About 8 years ago, Greg and I were invited to go on an ATV outing with some friends to Little Sahara, located in the Sevier Desert in Western Utah. I had never been on an ATV before, but was excited to learn!  We spent the first night riding around the camp slowly in a group.  I enjoyed doing that and looked forward to the next day of riding in a more extensive area.  The scenery was stark and beautiful at the same time, with sand dunes fanning out as far as I could see!  First thing in the morning, a group was rounded up to go out and I was assigned a helmet and a big monstrosity of a vehicle.  I hurriedly put on the helmet, got on my ATV and took off.  I was a little tentative, being that it was my first ride out of camp and the speed was definitely faster than the night before.  I found myself trying to catch up with the rest of the group.   Then, they totally disappeared over a big sand dune.  Not wanting to be left behind and be lost, I revved up the engine and started straight toward the large sand dune, thinking that the more speed I acquired the better chance I'd have to get over the hill.  Faulty thinking on my part.  Apparently, I didn't catch the steep incline right and the speed must have been waaaay too fast because I hit the rise of the dune and it lurched me forward onto the steel steering shaft.  I would have been OK, if my helmet hadn't gone flying off before my face hit it.  I felt a violent, sharp shooting pain and I knew that I was in trouble.  I started crying and screaming in pain, and frankly, I don't know what I said or did from that time on until I was being taken in the car to the hospital and I really don't feel that I can be responsible!  I know that some time after the accident a friend who was there asked me, "Did you really mean those things you said?"  I told her that I did, but after considering my state of mind and my level of coherence, maybe I said some things that were uncharacteristic of myself!  I just don't know....
     Suffice it to say, my nose was trashed--split wide open and pretty much shattered.  I remember being looked at after arriving at the hospital in Nephi, which was 100 miles away and they just said they couldn't do anything for me.  They called ahead to Provo to notify the plastic surgeon on call that I would be coming in.  When I was rolled into Provo, I remember that it was Dr. Hershie, who I later found out was the premier plastic surgeon in the area.  As was his custom before any operation, he said a prayer over me to bless me and him as we entered into the surgery to repair my annihilated nose.  He did one other thing for me--he put 3 or 4 long Q-Tips saturated with a liquid I wasn't familiar with into the wound where my nose used to be.  Pretty soon, I started feeling really, really calm, even peaceful, yes, even transcendentally happy.  I asked what in the world he had given me to make me feel so wonderful when only a few minutes before I had felt so distraught and in pain.  He informed me that he had just given me liquid LSD!  Crikey!  So that's why people get hooked on drugs!  Wow!  Don't get me wrong, I'd never be a junkie, but to feel like that just once, at that particular time, was a gift!  And so, I got through my initial nose repair.  
       I went through one more surgery and I felt that no matter how many surgeries I had, I'd always look like a freak.  I wondered how I would relate to people, how I would be able to socialize, how other people would perceive me as someone with a severely disfigured face.   Fortunately, Dr. Hershie worked his magic and along with a beautiful priesthood blessing I received at the hands of my home teacher wherein I was promised that no one would be able to tell I had ever been in an accident, I never had to live the life of a person with a disfigurement.  
     But there are those people who do and I am so amazed and in awe of them!  For instance there is a woman who many people know about and who personifies the essence of inner beauty and strength--her name is NieNie!  Have you heard of her?  She's pretty famous around these parts.  She and her husband are plane crash survivors.  She is very generous and shares her story with everyone who cares to know on her blog.  She teaches us all a lot about true love, family, what really matters and beauty on the inside!  
    And I found a story that touched me so much about a 12-year-old boy from the Ukraine who was in his small home when an oil heater exploded.  It killed both of his parents and left him with 2nd and 3rd degree burns over 75 percent of his body.  He probably should have died.  But he survived.  And today, he is here in the U.S. and adopted by wonderful parents and a joy to all who know him.  He is so grateful.  He was able to get new eyelids, a new nose and fingers from what were once his toes.   
     Both of these stories are such great examples of the triumph of the human spirit.  My hat goes off to them and I will continue to thank God for the many blessings I receive each and every day and try to be more service-oriented and compassionate to those around me. 

Moving Rendition of National Anthem

I happened to see the opening ceremony of the NBA Finals Game in Miami, FL.  It piqued my interest about who was singing the National Anthem.  It was Marc Anthony, commonly known as Mr. JLo, Jennifer Lopez's husband with whom she has twins!  I was absolutely blown away by his singing and his stage presence.  So here is a peek for you!  You agree with my critique, yes? 

A Venture Into Long Boarding!

My son, Joseph, invited me to go on an outing with him on the local river trail.  It was about 50 degrees outside, which to us was tropical weather after the cold winter we've had.  So he got on his trusty longboard and I on my bike and off we went.  He says he would be considered average on a longboard, certainly not a "skater" type.  But I think he's really good! 

   I enjoyed watching him glide along the fairly smooth trail, his hands casually shoved into his jean pockets and when there was an occasional bump, he would jump slightly with the board to get over, with as little impact on the board as possible.  We went for about a mile and a half, with me just kind of coasting on the bike and not working up much of a sweat.  In contrast, as we were coming back, I noticed that Joseph was definitely working up a sweat.  I realized that pushing off and gaining momentum on a long board can be quite the anaerobic exercise!  
   Somehow I found myself on the long board and Joseph on the bike.  He was a great instructor,  telling me how to push off and how to line up my feet.  I found out that indeed, it takes a lot of work to push off and obtain a workable speed.  Having some sense of balance is certainly key.  I longed to be as good as my son and be able to glide gracefully along, looking so nonchalant, as if it were effortless.  Unfortunately, my movements were rather choppy and spastic, more akin to an old-time silent picture movie, where all the actors look robotic.  I would obtain a glide for all of  2 feet and find that I needed to once again push for momentum.  I hadn't been doing it for even 10 minutes, and I was sweating like a pig.  And darn those bumps where roots from the trees along the path extend out under the trail and break up the asphalt.  Somehow you need to clear those!  Joseph did so effortlessly, and when he told me to just go over them instead of getting off the board and walk across, I obediently attempted to do just that.  Unfortunately, I was not as successful as Joseph.  My board seemed to catch on the jagged lip of the bump and just stalled out.  I, on the other hand, lurched awkwardly forward, landing in an incredibly awkward and painful position, my left leg twisted under me going one direction and my right leg going in the opposite direction.  Crap!  Not my bad knee, the one I have been babying along for 2 or 3 years now, after a previous, equally awkward fall on the ski slopes.  It has never healed back to its original, healthy state.  Now, here I was, with a re-injury and in my mind, probably more serious.  I lay there on the pavement yelping and crying in misery and Joseph standing there in dismay and concern.  I had the luxury of laying there to collect myself without any passers by.  I would have gotten up quickly just because of embarrassment if anyone had come by!  After a few minutes I got up and dusted myself off, hopped on the bike and off we went. 
    We stopped on the way home to say hello to some horses and when I got off the bike, my leg wouldn't support me and kept buckling under my weight.  Not a good sign!  
    It is the day after the event and I haven't been out of my pj's all day.  I didn't walk the dog and I lounged around in bed reading, after I was served breakfast in bed, which was definitely a perk of the whole unfortunate episode.  Thankfully, I have one more day to recover before the work week begins.  Hopefully nothing got torn and I will be back to full throttle soon!
   But what this is telling me is that my days of reckless abandonment with trying new things may be almost over.  I want to keep the mobility I have and not wreck the great quality of life I enjoy.  I have to think of the consequences more than the immediate gratification I might have when trying fun and exciting physical challenges.  It's rather sad to come to that point and a far cry from when I got on the ski slope for the first time.  (Wow, another story for another time!)  I'm glad that it was with Joseph when the realization arrived.  But never say never!  Even now, I feel the need to prove myself.  I like the board I found above!  Ironically, they are called 'Old Lady Skate Boards'.  I can tell you one thing, I'd rather be the old lady riding the board than the old lady ruining other people's fun, like this lady!    Stay safe!  Live life to the fullest but be wise!

Goodbye February

This month has been quite the month.  It was bitterly cold during the first part of the month, then we had Valentine's Day, then President's Day, the Academy Awards, and now it is over.  Today, it was approaching 50 degrees and the sun was out, so I hauled out my bike and took a beautiful ride on the river trail!  Ah, sun..giver of life!  But as with everything, moderation.  Sadly, the dilemma we are always fighting.  I think that this quote by Max Muller fits today and this month in general, "A flower cannot bloom without sunshine and a man cannot live without love."  So as February leaves us, it is a reminder to me of two things I cannot live too long without--sunshine and love!  And this February, I'm grateful that I have no shortage of either one.  

I've been wanting for a long time to share some of the poems of my late maternal grandmother, Helen MacDonald Livingston.  She was a wonderful woman, whom I adored as a child.  Before she left us, she left behind beautiful writings. Her poetry speaks to me today more than ever.  Here are two of her poems - one about sunshine and one about love!

                Message Of Spring
Have you heard the song of the meadow lark?
Do list(en) to the message it brings!
With the first warm rays of the sun, hark, hark!
Hear it sing.  It is spring, Oh! It's spring.
A message of spring, the meadow lark brings
It pours forth from its liquid throat,
And where 'er it rings there isn't a thing
But what responds to its joyous note.
The sun peeks out a little more to hear,
The sprouts of grass stir beneath the green,
And perhaps the spring herself loses fear
And trips out to greet the rapturous sound.
So list(en) yourself for the meadow lark's song
And list(en) to the message it brings,
And you will be filled before very long, 
with the wonderful sunshine of spring!

             Love's Coming (or Oscar Night 2011)

 Love comes to some in crimson gown
'Neath brilliant lights of dazzeling town,
With blaring bands, and pomp and show
That she has come, she lets all know.

Love comes to some 'neath country trees.
Her step is muffled by the breeze.
I really can't say what she'd wear.
One hardly knows that she is there.

Tho' some would like the love in red,
I'd choose the quiet one instead:
The love that has quaint, quiet ways.
I think it is the love that stays...

But my, aren't these dresses beautiful?

Ice Is Nice (When You Aren't Bulldozed By It!)

We've had some strange and epic weather all around the U.S. this year.  Mainly record-breaking snowfall and flooding!  Utah was comparatively tame in comparison.   But we did have some really cold temperatures in January and the snow fell in abundance. And then this!  On Wednesday, February 16th, high winds with gusts of about 50 miles per hour blowing over Utah Lake, caused the ice to blow to shore and pile up on the dike and over the moat!  Within 5 minutes the ice had piled up 35 - 40 feet high!   It even caused $5,000 damage to a man's vehicle that was parked where the ice was piling up.  At least he got to it before it was totally destroyed.  Read about it here!
Anyway, we took a little time over the President's Day weekend to go take a look for ourselves at what hasn't happened in over 25 years to this area of the lake, according to old-timers.  Here's what we found!  We had a lot of fun climbing around on the ice and it made for some fun shots!

Chunks of ice blown up on the dike

Cars will have to wait until summer to drive on this road

As for me, I hope we've seen the last of the cold weather.  Three months of really cold weather is all I'm good for.  Before too long, I'll be whining about moving to St. George during the winter! 

The First Week

Our first week as full-time parents to my 14-year old son has come and gone.  Let me tell you there were some doozies!  First of all, he eats a ton.  We are not used to cooking so much food!  It's a full breakfast, lunch and dinner. I am so grateful that DH has started to take cooking to the next level and really enjoys it!  His cooking is so much appreciated because I leave for work at 7:30 and come home at 3:30.  I am pretty tired after dealing with 6 or 7 at-risk boys at Independence HS.  We had BLT's for breakfast this morning, the best fried potatoes yesterday morning and banana pancakes the morning before. It was hecka good!!!

Another thing is that Joseph has a lot of catching up to do academically.  He has missed long periods of school for virtually every year of school since kindergarten.  And while he is very intelligent, he doesn't understand some of the math concepts that he should have known in elementary school.  So there is a lot of catch-up to do.  That is another thing that DH has so unselfishly done.  Every single night he has had to help Joseph with his homework and help him to understand what he isn't understanding at school.  This means that first he has to understand the math himself.  (Fortunately, it is only math that seems to be the thing that is giving Joseph the problems.)  So first he is going over it himself to make sure he gets it and then he tries to explain it to Joseph.  One night it took 3 hours to get his homework right. So while Joseph got off to a rocky start and had to be put back in math, he is now starting to turn in his homework and do well on his tests.  I am optimistic that he will be able to catch up!


Apparently in Virginia, where he had been living, Joseph was used to quite a bit of freedom, taking off wherever and whenever he wanted to.  He lived in a very small rural area, with lots of forest and wooded areas.  He and his dog, Shadow, would go exploring a lot.  This cannot happen here, because there is so much to do after school and only so much time to do it in.  One day, Joseph didn't come home.  After an hour, I decided to go looking for him.  I was worried that he had missed the bus and had forgotten our number and had started out walking himself.  I drove around and ended up at the school and patrolled the deserted halls but didn't find him.  I called a couple of other boys' moms to see if they had seen him, but they hadn't.  Finally, after almost two hours, he walked in the house, followed by two boys.  They had gotten off at the other kid's bus stop and had gone to his house, hung out, gone to the second kid's house, hung out, and now they were at our house, ready to see what was here.  So we had a little chat about that.  

He is used to going to bed whenever he wants and so where it should only take him 30 minutes to complete a shower, brush his teeth and get to bed, it takes him up to an hour and a half to get it all done.  We have to stay on top of him constantly to keep him focused and on time.  
I honestly have to say, I couldn't do it if I didn't have DH helping and participating - fully committed and engaged to what we are focusing on:  helping Joseph to succeed this year in school.  But having him here is so wonderful.  He brings such a great spirit to our home.  He is so funny. He is so fresh.  He wants to accomplish things but he needs our loving help and support.  In turn, we need his sweet ways and innocent sense of adventure.  He just loves our dog, Evee.  It gives us a new sense of purpose. I am just tickled pink.  I only hope that it can continue on, but I'm not sure.  It will be mostly up to him if he chooses to stay.  Maybe this routine is too structured for him.  He has been left to do virtually everything on his own his whole life--with no routine, no discipline (except by his older brother--Yikes!), and no stability (always moving around).  I hope that he will like it here and realize that what he can get here is stability, routine, discipline and encouragement.  So far, so good!