Faith, Knowledge, Trust=Obedience

Temple Square with Salt Lake Temple, Tabernacle, and Conference Center

There are a bunch of posts I want to make on some controversial topics being discussed by members of my church, the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints whose members are commonly called Mormons. Just to be clear I'm a member of the mainstream church, not one of the smaller groups that differ in some crucial ways from the church I give my faith and allegiance to.

I'm a little hesitant to blog on these hot button topics, having seen some pretty emotional and negative responses being experienced by others who are sticking their heads up in the public arena to express their views or share articles and quotes. I'm non-confrontational by nature and not eager to draw vitriolic fire from readers. However, I'm not so worried as I might be, because I don't actually get very many readers or views on this blog, so the chances are pretty low that this will be read by anyone besides a few of my friends and family. Mostly I am writing to get some of my thoughts down in print. and organized.

This post is my foundation post. Touchstones of truth let me look at things I want to understand and evaluate what I'm learning and thinking without drifting away into conclusions that don't line up with what I know is true.

The three touchstones that come to mind immediately are Faith, Knowledge and Trust.

Faith
I believe I was given the gift of faith by my Heavenly Father to help me navigate the perilous waters of differing opinions and beliefs. So far this has been a major thing that has carried me through any thing that I've found hard to understand in the doctrine and practices of my church. Not that I have needed so much, because for me, the doctrines, principles and practices of my church fit together in a harmonious whole that makes sense, feels good, and is bolstered by so many evidences of its truth that I can't deny it.

Knowledge
Over the years I've learned a lot about the church, and I feel like I have a pretty good grounding in the history, beliefs, doctrines and so on. In addition I have personal spiritual experiences and experiences putting the gospel into action in my life that have taught me how God actually interfaces with me personally. I've also witnessed the same things in the lives of others.  Since it is so congruent, it leads to the next element.

Trust
Because of my faith and knowledge I have trust in God. I believe God loves me. I believe he is my father and I am his child. I believe he has a plan for me and for everyone who has ever lived on earth. I believe he is actively interested and involved in the lives of all his children, that he listens to and answers our prayers perfectly. I believe he can do anything he needs to do and knows everything so that he can plan ahead to accomplish his aims and provide blessings and help perfectly.  I believe everyone on earth has access to his help and that he works with all of us according to the circumstances of our lives. I know that he has the time and the means in eternity to fix everything we mess up in this life, that he will correct injustices and that he is the perfect administrator of justice and mercy.

Presidency of the church, President Monson and his counselors at General Conference

Also, since I feel completely confident that my church was organized and authorized by God himself and that the authority and power to act for god is centered in the priesthood of the church, I also trust that the church is led by an actual genuine prophet of God. (And his counselors and the 12 apostles as well). Do I think they're perfect? No. Do I feel like I can trust the official decisions and counsel they give? Yes. Do I think they are good men with character, values and the right motives? Yes.

The Prophet, his counselors and the twelve apostles at the end of a General Conference session.

Soooo...Obedience...
Everything I know and believe leads me to want to be obedient to God and to his authorized representatives on earth. That means commandments and official guidelines. That doesn't mean I am always able to do the right thing. Like everyone, I make lots of mistakes and bad choices and struggle with personal weaknesses. Does that mean I do it blindly, as in "You say jump and I'll ask 'How High?' " Nope, sorry. I am not a mindless robot. I am not brainwashed in any fashion. I have always applied thought, analysis and evaluation to what I've been taught and asked to do or not do. Because of my beliefs, I'll try to obey even when I don't totally understand, but that doesn't mean I don't continue to question and try to get understanding. My attitude is that if I don't understand, God does, and since I can't always fathom his mind or his plan, I can trust that when I do know I will agree with it.

Members raise their hands to indicate support of the leaders and officers of the church

Bottom line, it is so cool to have that foundation that lets me go forward even when I don't understand everything and know that there are some things I can absolutely count on. So when I explore some of the things that others in and out of the church are questioning and the things they think are true, as well as things I myself wonder about, I have a way I can evaluate what is being said against my own understanding of what is true. Do I think I know all truth and can figure every question out? Of course not. But whatever I can't resolve will go on my mental 'for future consideration' shelf. I suspend needing to know right now and trust I will understand someday, maybe before I die, but certainly after I die.

Next post I'll start exploring and discussing some of the issues I've been looking at. 

Why Breastfed Babies are Smarter-it's not the Milk, it's the Mama!

An article in the Deseret News Mormon Times, Family section from March 23rd 2014 discusses a recent study on why Breastfed Babies are statistically more likely to be reading ready by age 4. The study concluded that it had nothing to do with anything in the breast milk itself, but it does have something to do with who it is that chooses to breastfeed. 
 

Daughter in law Sara, a dedicated breastfeeding mom with baby number four

The conclusions were drawn from national data collected between 2001-2007 of 7,000 kids followed from birth to 5 years of age. Interactions between mothers and children were observed and videotaped. What they found was that the mothers choosing breastfeeding were more likely to interact with their children in ways that enhanced their intellectual development. 
 

Daughter Elizabeth, another dedicated breastfeeding mom with her nursing toddler

It turns out that mothers who breastfed 3 months and beyond tended to be better educated and more likely to read to their children daily. It seems that these moms were more likely to research best practices for raising children which convinced them to breastfeed for extended periods and helped them learn good parenting skills. Significantly, less educated breastfeeding moms did not have children with academic advancements.
The better educated breastfeeding mothers observed were more tuned in to their children's emotional cues. The researchers found that "being attentive to a child's emotional cues and reading consistently with the child could make a difference of 2-3 months in brain development in children by age 4 when they are entering preschool."  They also point out that better educated mothers were more informed parents and had fewer obstacles to the type of parenting that produced the positive results. The article didn't discuss at all why better educated non-breastfeeding moms didn't also have children with advanced readiness. I wonder if the breastfeeding moms were with their children for greater amounts of time and had more opportunities to interact effectively with them. It is easier for bottle fed babies to be cared for by others.
 

Sara with her fifth breastfed baby, reads with her oldest-a book he made at school

One expert reviewer of the study said that the children in the study who were breastfed for at least 6 months did better than others because they also "experienced the most optimal parenting practices" That's why they were reading-ready at 4 years she said. 

The connection between reading to children and optimal reading readiness  is not a new discovery. Years ago I read conclusions of research that listed several factors in the home that give children the best start to becoming good readers. I used to promote these factors in my parent newsletters when I taught preschool.

The critical behaviors are:
1. Read daily to children. (Nothing wrong with reading several times daily!)
2. Have lots of books available for children in the home. I love public libraries.

3. Read a lot yourself so children see you reading.

My son and his wife reading at a big family gathering while the children play in the spray and play and others of us visit with each other

In the study the observations of mothers reading to children who turned out to be be developmentally advanced showed that they were following their babies' cues as they read, lingering where the baby/child showed interest and interacting with the child about the book rather than plowing through it just reading out loud. "The responsive, supportive moms reacted to (the child's) gestures and expressions and that turned out to be very important to cognitive development."

The really good news about this is that anyone can read to children and interact responsively in the process. So bottle feeding moms, dads, grandparents, caregivers, even older siblings can do the same thing if they are aware of how to do it and why. Higher education isn't a prerequisite either. Any motivated parent, relative or care-giver can educate themselves from multiple sources and be the same kind of engaged and savvy nurturer as the well educated breastfeeding mothers identified in this study. 

Interestingly, the study indicates this interactive daily reading should start by nine months of age, so don't wait until they are walking and talking to start reading to them every day!

Turkey Stuffing Recipe

Here it is, the recipe everyone wants me to bring to our holidaydinners...
 
Turkey Stuffing

1-1   1/8 cups butter

1-2    

¾ cup chopped onions

4 ½ quarts bead squares (18 cups)  you can use regular white bread, or deli bread, but they will cook down and make a softer stuffing. French bread works better, but my preference is a substantial Italian bread,  round loaf (best) or long oval loaf, something with a solid springy feeling,  I don’t like to use sourdough bread.

½ cup finely diced celery

1 ½ teaspoons Poultry seasoning

½ cup chopped parsley or 2 Tbs dried parsley

¼ teaspoon ground pepper

1 Teaspoon salt

Heat butter in large deep kettle and sauté onions and celery until onions are tender

Stir in seasonings and add bread cubes a quart at a time and stir to coat with butter mixture.

Stir thoroughly until cubes are evenly coated and mixed with the butter mixture.  This also serves to heat the bread.

Turn off the burner and transfer the stuffing into a 13X9 pan or use to stuff the turkey. 

If cooking in a pan, drizzle with about a cup of  pan juices from the cooked turkey or commercial chicken broth.

Cover pan with foil and put in 350 degree oven for 20 minutes, then remove foil and continue baking 20-30 minutes or until tops of bread cubes are toasty crisp and browned. 

Chicken Stuffing-This turns out almost the same as the turkey stuffing but makes a smaller amount

1 ½ quarts bread cubes

½ tsp poultry seasoning or dried thyme, marjoram or sage

1 tsp celery seeds           1/8 tsp pepper                ½ tsp salt

½ cup butter       ¼ cup minced onion       3 tbsp chopped parsley or 1 tbsp dried parsley

Wow, not sure where this is, but this is what it's like living in the Pacific Northwest, plant life is unstoppable and fills in every space not actively kept clear in some way.

Peaceability-Part 2

In my last post I started a topic from Richard and Linda Eyre's column in the Deseret News supplement, Mormon Times. They define Peaceability further as 'Essentially the opposite of anger, losing one's temper, impatience and irritation.'

There are a lot of ways to be un-peacable, such as the things described in this quote. I would add also, sulking and holding a grudge, put-downs, criticism, and what I've heard called 'stirring the pot' where someone is doing things to get other folks upset about a third person, or to get someone else upset...'Mommy he's LOOKING at me!'

This doesn't mean we have to eliminate negative emotions and go around intoning a mantra with an invisible halo floating over our heads. We will still have negative emotions, but being peacable will mean that we will control those negative emotions and keep them from hurting another person.

How can we accomplish this? First we need to decide that a peaceful, calm atmosphere in our homes is something we value enough to make a priority. That atmosphere won't happen without our committment and effort.  Children feel more secure in a calm atmosphere. A calm home is one that is not puctuated with angry and irritated outbursts. Valuing peace and the control of temper helps us create a home atmosphere of calmness. The foundation of this is love. We love our family (yes, I know, there are times when we could cheerfully pitch those loved ones out the door and lock it, at least for awhile..but underneath we do still love the aggravating little critters-or big ones, if we include our spouse!)

If love is the foundation, understanding is the key (go ahead, unlock the door and let them back in..) You are less likely to lose your temper when you are trying to understand. It makes a difference if we stop to try to find out why someone is causing a problem before we break out into temper mode.

 For example, I once suspected one of my children had stolen some money from a sibling. The money even had a mark on it that his brother recognized. He steadfastly denied doing it and insisted a kid on the bus (whose name he couldn't remember) had given him the five dollar bill. Knowing how much he loved shopping for new toys, I suspected the temptation had been too much for him, so I started talking about how hard it is not to have enough money to buy things with and how we don't like to admit doing something wrong and the like. As I talked and questioned him gently, saying things like, "I can see how you might wish you had more money", he said, "Well, I 90% remember getting it from my friend and I 10% remember taking it from my brother..." He tested my reaction with these statements, and as I continued to express understanding of being tempted to take things and then lie about it, his percentages changed 10 percent at a time until he got to 90% remembering taking it. We then talked about ways he could get money for things he wanted to buy without taking it and what he needed to do to make things right-returning the money with an apology. One nice thing, his math skills were really solid!

This was so much more peacable than the inquisitions and punishments I used at other times when the children wouldn't admit to wrongdoing. A side note to that is that children who feel secure and understood are less likely to lie about wrongdoing.

This applies to all kinds of situations. Be curious before dealing with or reacting to a problem.
Like:
Why did she come home so cranky from school today? (Could something have happened today?)
Why does he always take his shoes off?  (Are they too small or uncomfortable in some way?)
Why is she cranky and not eating anything at dinner? (Could be she's sick)

Usually we will ask the person why, but many times children don't know why and we have to do detective work to figure out the causes and possible solutions for behaviors. One of my daugthers discovered her son was having difficulties with many things because of a sensory integration issue. She was able to be more patient when she knew why he was contrary about so many things. He was suffering discomforts that weren't obvious and that he didn't have the language to express.

The Eyres tell us that 'Calmness and Peacability are values because they help others as well as ourselves to feel better and to function better."  They add that they are also contagious qualities. The more we are able to be calm and peaceful, even under stress, the  more they are 'caught' by others around us, especially our children!

Teaching Children Values-Peaceability Part One

I want to do a series of posts discussing the column Linda and Richard Eyre write for the Deseret News Mormon Times section. They are doing a series on teaching values to children featuring a different value every month. I thought it would be worthwhile to share highlights of these articles with some commentary from my own thoughts and experience. I would love for any readers to add discussion and thoughts of their own.

They say, "These 12 values will be universal values that all parents everywhere accept and wish to teach to their children. They are values that unite us as families, yet they are anything but easy to teach to our children.

Those of us, (me included) who had the chance to participate in a year of the Eyre's Joy School program for parent run home preschool programs, know that their program is based on monthly themes teaching values, Joy being one of them. They have a lot of experience with this, including with their own large family.

The material they share is drawn from their number one New York Times best-selling book, "Teaching Your Children Values.  For online content from the Eyers on this series go to www.valuesparenting.com and click on 'Value of the month'.

The Value they started with in September was Peaceability. They define Peaceability in one word: 'Calmness'. "It is peacefulness, serenity and the tendency to try to accommodate rather than argue. Peacability is the understanding that differences are seldom resolved through conflict and that meanness in others is an indication of their problem or insecurity and thus their need for your understanding. It is the ability to understand how others feel rather than simply reacting to them.'

I love this definition. If we can raise peaceable children into peaceable adults, that is a contribution to their happiness and a positive impact on those who associate with them in any way.

As just a personal disclaimer to this description I want to say that while it is worthwhile to be peaceable in our interactions at all times, when we are being mistreated being peaceable should not mean that we are obligated to allow ourselves to continue to be mistreated. There are peaceable ways to set and enforce boundaries with any kind of abuse. We might understand the abuser's feelings, but that does not mean we have to allow ourselves to be harmed in any way. In reality, those with a controlling, abusive nature act out of their thoughts and values, not their feelings. That is one reason that teaching Peaceability as a value is so important. Anyone who really values Peaceability will not be abusive towards others.

For the next post, Ways of being 'un-peaceable', and some benefits of teaching and modeling Peaceability

Hearst Castle

We had a great time visiting Hearst Castle on our quick spring break weekend trip to California. We went just to tour Hearst castle, which we've set out to do twice before on longer trips and then balked at the price or the lack of available tours that we wanted to take. Last summer we were there on Labor Day weekend and discovered that making reservations is the way to go to actually get to tour.

What made this time even better was that since we were going just for the castle, it didn't make sense to miss anything, so we took all three daytime tours. That ran up the cost higher than touring the Biltmore mansion, but we felt like we got our money's worth.

We started Friday morning, and after a few stops, (like to see Sara and the kids and drop some things off) we got down to some serious driving and made it to Red Bluff by 8:30pm. Besides reading and napping, I made some use of my time by downloading as many batches of indexing as they would let me and working offline on my little net book on indexing pages of the 1940 census. That doesn't use a lot of power, so the net book was good for as many hours as I could stand to do it. At night before sleeping I used the hotel Internet connection to submit my finished batches and download more in their places. By the time we got home I'd done over 700 names!

We got up early Saturday morning and south to the coast and San Simeon where the castle is. It is north of LA and south of Monterey on the rugged coastline that includes Big Sur. We got there around lunch time and ate and got into our motel, then headed over to the visitor's center. Along the way, shortly before reaching San Simeon I was amazed to see several zebras clustered together, grazing on a hillside. Harry thought I'd mistaken something else for zebras, but there isn't anything you can mistake for a zebra!  Later we heard on tour that there were still zebras grazing the ranch with the cattle, left over from when Hearst used to have all kinds of zoo animals there. So there!

We had reservations for the Grand Rooms Tour at four pm and got to the visitor's center in plenty of time to have a pastry before heading up on our designated bus. Rather than describing, I'll share a few photos:

Front door, embellished with European stonework.

Main Room where guests gathered to visit for Happy Hour



The dining room, the only place meals were served

Hearst called his estate "The ranch at San Simeon" He decided he was too old to keep camping in tents here as he had done since childhood and decided to 'build a little something' so he could visit more comfortably.







He still considered it a camp, even with the lavish surroundings and insisted on general informality. The dishes were his mother's pattern of willow ware stoneware and the ketchup and mustard were served in their jars on the table as they were when he used to camp there.

The billiards room, like every other room, was decorated with beautiful tapestries, art objects, and contained a hundreds of years old ceiling taken from a grand house in Europe. The walls and doorways featured middle eastern tiles.

After seeing the rooms where guests relaxed after dinner with their smokes, we finished up in the full sized theatre where Hearst showed first run movies to his guests, who were comfortable seated in overstuffed armchairs.  We watched a short film of home movies taken of guests enjoying the estate, 'back in the day'.   Next post, The Grounds and gardens.

So Yummy I just had to share

The other night I pulled out whatever veggies I had on hand to put together as a stir fry with some sliced barbecued beef leftover from one of Harry's efforts on his new pellet fed grill. The result was so colorful and fresh, and tasted so good, I just had to grab the camera and make a record of it. This is the start with the veggies, a package of Birdseye stir fry I got free with a coupon, mushrooms and fresh red bell pepper. I'm sauteeing in a little high oleic safflower oil.

Here I'm adding the meat.

Finishing off with a cup of brown rice and some teriyaki sauce, since the rice and meat were pre-cooked and the veggies were either frozen or quick cooking, this went together really fast. There were no leftovers.

Food can be soooo fun!

I saw this, and thought it looked like a lot of fun. I don't do this kind of thing ever, and I really admire those creative women out there that come up with stuff like this.

Hunger Games

We saw the hunger games tonight, and loved every minute. They did the best job on it, set it in Western North Carolina, which matched perfectly to what I visualized reading the book. I loved the choice of actress for Katniss. I recognized her from the picture in my mind from reading the book. The movie stayed really true to the book, and they did a good job of including what was needed and being careful with what they had to leave out, like condensing the relationships with her team down to one member of the team to really portray. I liked the music too, and might want the soundtrack.. Harry loved it too. It was one of those we talked about all through dinner afterward.
Here's a few more photos I found that I liked.

News Reporting-Fact or Fiction?

When you tune in to the evening news, do you usually pretty much assume that what you hear is the truth of the story? How would you know if you are hearing the truth? If you're like me, you tune in to your favorite station and feel comfortable quoting the 'facts' you hear there in the break room the next day. I mean, don't the reporters go to the source and get the facts? Don't they have to check the facts? Would they broadcast as facts things without checking, or even worse, the speculations of the reporter?

Granted, when news is breaking I'm not surprised to hear things reported by witnesses that later turn out to not be true, like the man who was interviewed on the scene of school shooting. His wife was the teacher in the classroom where it happened and he said that his wife had told him that the boy got out the gun, aimed deliberately at the girl and shot her in the stomach on. Later news reports clarified that the gun was in a backpack, cocked and went off when the boy bumped the backpack on a desk.

So, when my daughter found herself privy to some of the inside information of a tragedy that happened to close friends, I started switching from station to station to get as many of the stories as I could. I was surprised when I noticed how the details varied in the stories being reported by the different stations. The tragedy involved the drowning deaths of a father and his small son. One station reported the canoe had capsized and neither of the victims were wearing life jackets. Another station said that neither of them were wearing life jackets, but that two jackets were found in the canoe.  How could they be in the canoe if the canoe was capsized?

The child's body was found right away, but his father's wasn't found until a week later. Meanwhile, the news quickly turned to other, more violent happenings, but when the body was found, the story at the one station about the canoe capsizing still contained that detail when they reported the discovery of the body.

I was thinking about writing this post about the varied inaccuracies when my daughter called and said that there were so many inaccuracies in all the different news sources, that she found it really upsetting and wanted to let me know what they knew there on the scene as the friends of the victims. It was interesting that she was noticing the same thing I was.

What it seemed like was that it was considered a minor story and so whatever they got as 'facts' at the beginning was good enough. When the follow-up story was written, the earlier report was rehashed. I guess it doesn't matter to most viewers if the canoe capsized or not, any more than any of the other inaccuracies seemed to detract from the center of the story that a father and son had drowned and that it was an accident.  It is only disturbing to those who are closest to the story and would like to see the facts reported accurately, and maybe also to those of us once removed, as I am who would really like to know what actually happened.

So, the moral of the post is to remember when watching/listening to the news that while the major facts of the story may be mostly accurate, you are probably only hearing an approximation otherwise, particularly for something that is a breaking story, and even if it's an old story, there's a likelihood that old inaccuracies are being rehashed along with the new information that brings the story to the front of the news again.  My husband suggests checking to see which station reported it most accurately. That may be the station to watch for the closest approximation to the truth...

Missing that Bahama Sunshine

Gold Beach, Freeport, Bahamas

Well, it wasn't sunny the whole time, but even the cloudy parts were as warm as our normal summer days, so it was all good. Even the brief time we got caught in the pouring down rain the rain was so warm that sloshing through ankle deep puddles in my flip flops felt wonderful as the warm clear water flowed over my feet.  In Freeport we spent several hours at beautiful Gold Beach in our bathing suits and in and out of the water, with never a chill in spite of the storm clouds piling up across the water. (Same day we got rained on later)

 Gold Beach, Freeport, Bahamas

Yesterday I was looking at a photo of the beach at Fort Zachary Taylor State Park, Key West,

 Fort Zachary Taylor State Park Beach

and the memory was so vivid at that moment, I felt like I could step back into it. I was listening to the rain outside and then it seemed like that world was so far away, and i wished I could go back there. It seems so funny that when you're somewhere like that it is so intense and almost feels timeless while you're there, but then you move on and it's done, and you can't just step back into it, maybe ever with some places. I guess that's one reason I want to take so many photos and post and write about these experiences, so I can hang on to them in some way.

Anyway, dreaming of the beaches from a few weeks ago are such a contrast to the nasty weather we're currently enduring, it's a good mental escape while we move closer to summer again.

 Fort Taylor State Park beach

 Nassau- Junkanoo Beach

Junkanoo beach

Indian Summer View of Harbor and Mountain

After a long siege through spring and summer of too much cool and rain, we are getting a little back of some lovely days. We thought it was all gone this week when the rain gauge almost filled with 4 1/2 inches of rain, but now today, sun and 70 degrees the day before the last day of September. I love having a few more balmy days to walk in short sleeves unencumbered by weather gear. I walked around part of the Harbor today, choosing to traverse the far end to get some shots of the view that so often makes it into books and onto calendars. When Ranier is in view (or as we say here, 'The mountain is out!') the view from the far end of the harbor is total gold.

Good Day, Sunshine, Good Day, Sunshine...

We've been having some summer weather finally, as if to make up for the late spring/early fall weather that dogged our summer days, but that streak ended with a nasty weekend of cooler than normal temperatures and off and on rains including a night-long stretch that put an inch into our rain gauge. Now, in a little tender mercy we have some sun and warmer weather again, though not summer-hot as it was before the cold and rainy spell.  It felt perfect to me. In fact, the whole day pretty much flowed with all good things.

The usual schedule difficulties had combined to leave me pretty short on sleep by the time the alarm got me up at 4:30 am this morning-two nights of 5.5 hours sleep each, with no kind of nap. I worked hard all day yesterday cleaning house and getting my jewelry making supplies back in order after months of creating bookmarks and necklaces. I need to do more, but couldn't work in the disorganization any longer. Clogging was great last night, but I didn't get my shower done and get to bed until 11 pm.  So I was grateful to be able to come home this morning after seminary and go to bed for a serious catch-up nap. I figured 2 hours would do it, and got to sleep by 8am, then sure enough woke at 10:20, but I couldn't seem to wake all the way up, I kept drifting off again. Finally I decided that my body and brain were trying to tell me something and made up my mind to quit trying to wake up and settled in to sleep again. This time when I woke up I was rested and ready to get up but it was 12:30 pm! I should feel bad for being such a slug I suppose, but really, I don't. Meeting my bodies' need for sleep just felt wonderful.  I got so used to having enough sleep this summer that I don't want to go back to being sleepy all the time.

I got another couple of bonuses out of it. First of all, I weighed myself and I've dropped the couple of pounds that I picked up on vacation and starting seminary with the days I didn't exercise. Sleep does wonderful things for burning calories, speeding metabolism and reducing appetite, so when I sat down to the first meal of my day, I could only eat about half of what I usually want, so the sleep seems to have affected that for the better. When I woke up, the sun was out and the air was fresh, balmy with a little moisture, and cool without being cold. The sun was warming the day just right.  I was brimming with energy to go and exercise, so after a scheduled haircut, I headed off to the woods planning to walk for 40 minutes, but instead walked and jogged the trails for an hour and came out dripping sweat but feeling wonderful. Peninsula High School's cross country team was practicing for a meet taking place on the trails tomorrow, so the woods were busy and happy with running teens. No worries about bears today.

A good dinner of almond crusted chicken breast and beans with roasted red potatoes in rosemary butter sauce (Green Giant, I'm not that ambitious!), with a brownie for dessert, and I went into the evening feeling rested, exercised and fed. Really a nice all around day. Tomorrow promises similar weather, 66 by noon, and 78 by dinner time. Bliss. It's almost officially fall, but I won't mind if we pretend a little longer that summer is lingering around.  And the best last thing-I get to sleep in tomorrow!  Then, I'm looking for my new computer to arrive!

Walking on the Predator Path...

I got out to walk yesterday in the neighborhood by where the bear attack took place last year-50 yards from our driveway.  There aren't any houses in there yet so it is a nice peaceful place with no cars and sidewalks all the way around.  It's a mile total loop and goes uphill all the way to the far end of the loop, so I get a good uphill workout, and then I usually jog on the downhill, so it's a good balance.

For the first time on my walks around the loop I saw a lot of doggie doo on the sidewalks. There are some dog walkers that walk that loop, but usually they are good about either curbing their dogs to the grass or picking up the dog's waste.  Then I saw what was unmistakably bear scat (poop). Bear plops are kind of round and looser, especially when they're eating a lot of fruit as they are in the fall. A big giveaway also is the seeds, pits, and the blackberry color staining the area around it.  It wasn't as large as what I used to see up on our property in the fall, when they're eating the Gravenstein apples but definitely came from a bear.  I mused as I walked around, noting other instances as I walked. There were a lot of what looked like cherry pits, so there must be wild cherries around nearby.

Bear scat with wild cherries

Coyote scat, aged, showing fur of ingested animals

Then I got thinking about the doggie piles and realized they looked like the picture I have on a scat chart of coyote scat. We definitely have a pack in the area, we hear them at night frequently.  I looked closer at some that was more weathered and saw that it was mostly all animal fur, so coyote for sure.  The fresher ones also had that dark black look that you get with meat eaters as opposed to the grain and soy chow that domestic dogs eat that makes a different color and texture. (I know this sounds really gross, but I was finding it really interesting. It kicks in the amateur biologist in me.)

On my second time around the loop I decided to count, and came up with 14 instances of coyote scat, and 8 of bear.  What I found especially interesting was how both kinds of animal had done so much pooping on the sidewalk. Either there's a ton more in the grass and bushes, (which is kind of a scary thought) or they use the sidewalk by preference, (which is just weird).  I have this picture in my mind of the neighborhood at night with the coyotes and bears walking sedately around the neighborhood on the sidewalks, nodding at each other and growling 'good evening' as they pass, at least when they're not stopping to relieve themselves...  I do wonder if there is some connection to the smell of human feet on the sidewalks that triggers them to mark territory this way, but who knows?

I didn't see any other sign of wildlife, not even the bunnies I was seeing earlier in the summer-guess that's not surprising-but I do wonder if I ought to be more worried about walking where there is obviously high bear activity, especially considering the woman that was mauled down at the entrance to the development last fall.  But she had a dog off leash that was threatening the bear, so I don't think it's the same risk.

The walk felt really good though, I missed exercising for four days in a row, choosing best instead of good or better on several of those days. (Sleep!) I had no valid reason on Tuesday though, so yesterday was in the spirit of breaking the inertia of several days of skipping exercise and renewing my commitment to six days a week.

Today I walked in McCormick woods for over an hour, using my Nordic sticks, which were really nice for the woodsy trails in there.  I only saw bear scat once, but I bet they are a lot more active in there. The whole woods right now are full of Oregon grape higher than my head, huckleberries, and I'm sure many other kinds.  I love getting on the deep trails and being in the middle of what feels like primeval forest, even though I can hear nearby traffic and some business that is sawing wood (very loudly) at times as I move through different parts. The Doug firs reach high around me like the columns of an ancient temple, and clumps of sword fern as big around as fountains line the sides of gorges. There is a kind of plant that looks so Jurassic that I almost expect to stumble onto a herd of  browsing triceratops. They rise up over my head on single stalks furred with thorns, supporting leaves shaped like maple leaves, only they are the size of turkey platters. I'll have to add a photo..which means another walk there.. which isn't a bad thing...

Tuesday, September 20th...I went back to the woods to walk and get photos...I took some of the Jurassic looking plants..

So here is one of the leaves with my hand for scale:

 I stood under the plant to show how it towers over my head, and then stepped back and took a shot of the whole thing. I think it's really attractive. There is one spot that I didn't get to this time that is a kind of clearing that is full of these plants. That is where it feels like I will see the triceratops herd munching away.

Here's a shot of the trail I was on. Is this heaven or what?

 The temple of trees..I was bending way back to get this shot of the tree that went up, and up, and up..

 Here's a spot where a tree hangs over the trail.

 This is a shot pointing uphill through and towards trees that fell across the trail and had to be cut to keep it open.

 Ferns, ferns, ferns, sword ferns everywhere...