Birthdays

Today two of my grandsons shared a birthday.  One turned five, the other fifteen.  I have been trying to organize a skating opportunity for the six older children in the family but colds and other obstacles delayed the event.  I feared that the younger brother would feel upset when I removed his three older brothers and his three older sisters for such an interesting project.  To alleviate his feeling of exclusion I went to their home with balloons, a gift for him  plus a bottle filled with one of his favorite treats, candied kiwi fruit slices, and a large baking pan filled with what I call popcorn with gooey on it.  It consists of popcorn coated with a candy mixture prepared by adding dry milk granules and chunky peanut butter to a caramel syrup at soft ball stage.  I added colored sprinkles to add a party touch to the treat. The balloons were a great success and the candy covered popcorn was a hit.  It caused the younger child no apparent distress when I took the older children to the skating oval.  None of them had ever ice skated before and one had not even worn roller skates, but they stayed on the ice for almost two hours and the youngest made great progress.  All of them were happy with the experience.  It was worth my time and planning to make both the party at the home and the party at the skating rink successful.  I am grateful that the occasion of birthdays provide the motivation for such fun.

Silk and Cotton

I am a natural fabric aficianado.  I like cotton or silk next to my skin, and my nightgown, pillow cases, sheets and comforter are either silk or cotton.   I always feel like luxuriating in the soft feel of silk against my skin, nearly rivaled by soft cotton.  But the makers of artificial fabrics claim to have exceeded the luxury of silk with their micro fibers.  However there is more to the story.
 Years ago one of my daughters performed a Science Fair experiment.  She suspended  four 1" x 4" strips of white woven fabric over dishes of water.  One strip was silk, another 100% cotton, another 100% polyester, the fourth 50% cotton and 50% polyester.  She dipped each strip in the water and timed how long it took the strip to absorb the water and how long it took the strip to dry.  The 100% cotton and the silk performed almost identically.  They absorbed the water relatively slowly, but the water evaporated relatively quickly, relative, that is, to both the mixed and pure polyester.  The polyester quickly absorbed the water, with very little difference between the 100% and the 50/50 blend.  Then it took a while for the water to evaporate. 
In the arid climate where I now live this is significant to comfort in the summer.  Cotton t-shirts and silk blouses don't wick the sweat from skin immediately as do polyester fabrics.  The passing breeze can evaporate the moisture with a cooling effect.  Then, whatever moisture passes to the silk and cotton is also evaporated with a further cooling effect.  The polyester fabric keeps the moisture in its complicated matrix for longer, forming a barrier to the breeze.  This can make a significant difference on a hot, dry day.
I have lived in Virginia and coastal Southern California and visited at length in Florida, New York City and the Pacific Northwest, all humid climates.  Even there where humidity can approach saturation, I find that cotton and silk are more comfortable.
I am grateful for the comfort of cotton and silk. 

Random?

For years I have been bothered by 'floaters', the random bits that obscure my eyesight with their odd shadows.  I had eye surgery in 2017 and asked the opthalmologist what could be done about them.  He said there was nothing that could be done.  I searched the internet for an answer and decided that I would simply have to live with the random dance of the protein fragments that obscure my sight.  Then today I was listening to Jordan Peterson and his daughter Michaela being interviewed as a followup to an interview they had made 7 years ago when both were heavily medicated for a variety of problems including depression  JBP looked pudgy anda diff vague although his keen intellect was revealed as he spoke.  His daughter mainly looked puffy and sad.  Four years later in 2016 they looked very different after beginning a mostly carnivore diet.  JBP mentioned the alleviation of a number of symptoms, among them chronic fatigue and depression, but then he mentioned that he had long been bothered by 'floaters' which the diet had largely eliminated.  I have experimented with various diets over the past sixty years.  Most were relatively ineffective until I went on a ketogenic diet or low-carb diet with my sisters in 2000.  I lost sixty pounds, bringing me to around 200 lbs. before I read a book that convinced me to go low protein to prevent cancer.   Four years ago I had a tumor removed from my gut and ended up treating myself with alternatives to radiation and chemo-therapy.  First I did a cleansing routine that used various spices and herbs to treat various organs while on a mostly vegetable juice diet.  I got near 140 lbs. which worried me.  However I became rather lazy about my eating habits and gained back to around 200 lbs.  My main health complaints are low energy, floaters and numb feet. as well as overweight and dry skin.  It is possible that going on a carnivore diet will address most of my problems.  So I believe I will be grateful for what seems at first to be random occurrence. 

Stairs

Today I climbed a lot of stairs compared to my normal practice.  I parked close to the far end of the parking garage when I got to the Provo City Center Temple this morning and I decided to take the grand staircase to the waiting room for the first time since I began to attend the PCCT regularly more than a year ago.  I have been climbing the spiral staircase between the instruction room and the terrestrial room from the beginning but I took the elevator otherwise.  I believe that was why I was able to take the grand staircase today with no difficulty.  I plan to continue to extend my ability to climb stairs and I'm grateful I can do so.

Challenge

Since resolving to do a few simple exercises each morning while I listen to my scriptures I haven't missed a day.  I know the next step is to add some aerobic exercise.  I have decided to start this by the simple method of parking at the end of the parking lot under the temple area that's increasing the walking I do each morning I go to the temple.  I had considered going to the store and walking but the stringency of my current budget interferes with this idea.  It is winter it is cold and I have not ever been really fond of walking.  Even so I know that it will be good for me.  In addition to walking I plan to institute a program of eating between 7 AM and 7 PM with breakfast and lunch being my largest meals and a relatively smaller meal in the evening.  I read an article that talked about three ways to keep brain function.  These included periodic 24 hour fast which I do as part of my religious observations as well as a daily period of 12 hours without eating which I plan to start.  The next was engaging in a variety of activities that challenge creativity and thinking which I do as part of my artwork.  Aerobic exercise was the third idea.  At this time of my life I am very blessed that the challenges I face are mediated by self-discipline.

Black Dogs

I have video surveillance of my house and yard.  At 11 PM last night two black dogs ran onto my front porch where I had stashed a stainless steel canister with a spring loaded lid filled with freshly made chicken broth that I planned to use for one of the Chinese stir-fry dishes I prepared for my family for a Lunar New Year celebration.  The freezing weather and the lack of refrigerator space dictated my decision to store the broth overnight on the porch.  Apparently there was enough of the broth smell to attract the dogs and they grabbed the canister and ran off with it.  A few minutes later one of the dogs returned to check out if there was any more.  Viewing the dark image this morning bothered me.  But at least the porch pirates weren't human.  When I compared this relatively minor loss to the troubles faced by many of my neighbors I am reminded of how fine my life is at this time.  I have the strength and health to help to others.  I am grateful for this reminder.

Food and Family

Today Ralph, Lelia and Diana came up and made cupcakes and tuna noodle casserole with my supervision.  At lunch the entire family came and enjoyed the food they had made.  Nine of the 12 Hancocks really liked the tuna noodle casserole including baby James. This evening I've been making preparations for a Chinese new year meal tomorrow.  I just took a really nice batch of almond cookies out of the oven.  I expect that we will have at least three families join us tomorrow.  I'm preparing dishes that have been a tradition for many years.  I am grateful I am able to share them with my family.