Brooke’s Blog

…they canceled Joan of Arcadia after only 2 seasons…

Joan: “It was a total disaster.”

God: “Nothing of value comes without a little struggle. Some of the most beautiful flowers in the world only grow after a forest fire. Literally out of the ashes they blanket the ground with color.”

Joan: “Yeah, but if you made that happen without the fire, people would like you more.”

God: “They’d just find something else to blame me for.”

God: “You can’t control everything, Joan. Turmoil, conflict, chaos; they’re just part of life. Look at any playground. The screaming, the laughter, the tears. Out of that mayhem comes relationships, love, and the simple joy of being surprised by life.”

Joan: “So, more surprises?”

God: “Oh yeah, there’s always more surprises.”

***EDIT***

Mom, what do you think about the Grand Canyon this summer?  We could go down on mules and leave Dad and Andy up above…Andy says he’s afraid of heights, but I think he’s really just a wuss….

Just in case anyone still reads this, I’m trying to decide where we should go for vacation this year. I’d really like to go southwest at some point, but I’d like to rent a jeep and go down into Canyonlands for a few days and I’m not sure we can afford that this summer. So, Andy’s never been to Mesa Verde so we could just go down and do that kind of stuff (plus I’ve been reading a lot of Tony Hillerman lately, so Chaco Canyon could be a fun adventure) and maybe head up north for a day or so, too. Or, we could go to the Dakotas, because I haven’t been there in awhile and Wall is always fun. Or, we could head the other direction to the east coast. Maybe to Niagra Falls, since neither of us has been there. Any other suggestions or votes? Keep in mind we’ll camp at least part of the time, and try to be as cheap as possible the rest.

Not to brag or anything, but the dinner I made up for tonight was pretty good.  I had some “Mediterranean” cheese crumbles in the fridge and some ground pork that I needed to use, so I made Greek  burgers.

1.  Ingredients:
english muffins
1/2 lb. pork (I think turkey would be good for this, too, but I’d add something else, like some cheese or apple juice to make it stick together)
Greek seasoning (find any recipe online to make your own, like I did, or buy some premade)
Mediterranean cheese (the stuff I got on sale was provolone, feta, and parmesan)
Olive salad (whatever you want to add to some chopped up olives - mine was a handful of green olives with pimento, about a quarter of an onion, finely chopped, 2 mashed cloves of garlic, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar)

2.    Toast english muffins.  Mix together pork and about 2 tablespoons of Greek seasoning.  Form into patties (I made 4 small ones).

3.  Wait until your husband finally decides to make his way home, even though you’re super excited to get started on this endeavor.

4.  Cook burgers however you want.  Broil some of the cheese on the bottoms of the muffins, until it’s melty and a little bit brown.

5.  Put the burgers on the cheesy muffin bottoms, top with olive salad (I put more on mine than on Andy’s, since I knew I’d like it more.)

6.  That’s it.  We also had some diced potatoes cooked with olive oil and some more of the Greek seasoning in a cast iron skillet and some steamed California blend (see, Andy does eat green things!).

I’d been thinking of this pretty much all day long, since I didn’t have any inspiration for dinner otherwise and I think it turned out very well.  Hopefully I’ll be able to put it together the same way another time, but chances are I forgot to include something I did that made it good, but feel free to try it too, and let me know if you do anything differently.

Winter food drop spurs wildlife visits
ASSOCIATED PRESS
10/01/2007

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Homeowners in the Ozarks are being warned against leaving food outdoors because of the danger of luring hungry bears onto their property.

In urban areas like Kansas City where there isn’t a danger of bears, residents could see a sharp increase in the number of mice that invade their homes.

A freeze in April and drought in August have stifled the nut, fruit and seed production on many plants and trees, experts say. That means more wildlife than usual will be forced out of fields and into people’s yards looking for food.

“With mice, people better get ready for them this winter,” said Alan Branhagen, horticulture manager at Powell Gardens east of Kansas City. “They’re going to want inside the house because the food crop is so bad.”

In the Ozarks, black bears that typically gorge on acorns to prepare for hibernation will have to look elsewhere for nourishment because the nuts will be scarce. The white oaks that provide food for the bears and other wildlife such as turkeys, squirrels and songbirds, didn’t produce a crop.

On top of that, papaw trees that usually produce a soft fruit that ripens in early autumn and is eaten by many times of wildlife didn’t do so this year.

“We’re probably seeing more animals such as raccoons and possums out and about scavenging for food in the park,” said Conrad Schmitt, director of the Lakeside Nature Center in Kansas City’s Swope Park.

For bird watchers, however, the lack of food in nature could mean a big increase in the number of birds that flock to feeders.

That doesn’t necessarily mean a surge in the most-typical birds that are seen at feeders, said Larry Rizzo, a natural-history biologist for the Missouri Department of Conservation. But there should be more birds such as robins, cedar waxwings, bluebirds and mockingbirds that usually rely heavily on fruits in the winter, he said.

“When you have less food available, birds will push into the feeders quicker than usual,” said Mark McKellar, an ornithologist who operates a feeder supply store and tracks bird trends. “We’re already seeing it this fall.”

Ok, when we were kids, we played with these contraptions, thanks to my Uncle Bob’s brother.  They’re called Sling Wings and until a few weeks ago, I thought everybody had them, but apparently, they weren’t that well known outside of the Poor family.  Anyway, Mom found one in the garage and brought it to me when Rachel came to visit this weekend, so we headed to the park with the dog to show Andy how real kids have fun…here are the results of this outing:

If you look closely, you can see it in flight (it’s yellow…with red, blue, and silver stickers, in case you were wondering).

Me, imitating the Sling Wing.

Rachel.  You use a rubber band to shoot the styrofoam piece like a sling shot.

Andy gives it a try.

Something was funny…

I shot myself and bled…I’m cool like that!

Last, but not least, Edie.

I’ll now take orders…I’m sure Bob will give me the patent…you know you all want some!!