SpokEasy

December 2018

Basketry

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Sometimes I take up basketry as Christmas approaches. I don\’t mean this kind of basket. But you can easily make woven paper baskets! When I was still pretty young, we got a Golden Magazine Christmas Annual for Boys and Girls. We had it for years; and eventually I appropriated it for my own box of Christmas stuff. Finally I passed it along to my sister, when her daughters were young. This magazine had several stories, including one about a giant named Grummer; who lived in a castle made of Limburger cheese, and \”was a very bad giant!\” He said he planned to steal all the Christmas stockings and presents (by reaching down the chimneys) and destroy them; he couldn\’t stand the thought of people being happy. One Prince Topsy hatched a plan with Santa Claus to foil Giant Grummer\’s intentions and save Christmas Day. Query: was Giant Grummer inspired by the Grinch? My favorite feature in that magazine was the Countdown to Christmas; with different activities for every day until December 25. I still remember some of them, such as 23 days \’til Christmas: \”It\’s time for window shopping, and we have just begun. We can\’t get everything we like; but looking\’s half the fun!\” And there were instructions for making a wreath; making Christmas stockings; putting up a bird feeder; and so on. Three days \’til Christmas was time to make Danish baskets. The ones in this magazine weren\’t heart-shaped; but it was the same principle. I never tried making them until after I was grown up. Then they were fun to make for  \”goodie bags\” to give to everybody at work the last day before the Christmas holiday. Just be careful not to get so carried away by this basketry that you wind up a basket case!

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Neck Check

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What\’s the neck check? Every cyclist has the occasional day of waking up to realize, \”Oh, no — I\’ve got a cold!\”  Should you ride, or not? Do a neck check! Are your symptoms above the neck? Stuffy head and scratchy throat? But no chest congestion and no fever? Then it\’s OK to go for a ride; but go easy. If riding makes you feel worse, turn around and go home. But if your symptoms are below the neck; if your chest feels congested and/or you\’re feverish, don\’t bother with exercise. The Cyclist\’s Training Bible even mentions the risk of developing Coxsackie  if you train while ill. It can take a long time to recover from that, so don\’t risk it. Something the neck check seems to omit is this: even if you lack below-the-neck symptoms, you might feel dizzy, and/or off-balance. I\’m quite prone to that when my head gets stuffy. Dizziness doesn\’t mix well with balancing on two wheels. Oddly, I\’ve had much less trouble with colds since I took to pushing the pedals. I\’ve even gotten caught out in the rain on a cold day, which people once believed meant, \”You\’ll catch your death!\” Well, I\’m still here. Of course we now know that colds are caused by viruses, not by getting cold and/or wet. But next time I wake up feeling like a cold (and it\’s bound to happen some day), I must remember the Neck Check.

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Not Even a Mouse?

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If not even a mouse is stirring, things are fine, right?  Seriously, though, how do pets mix with Christmas? There are stories of Christmas trees put up by the cat-owned; only to have said cat bring down the whole set-up. We hear about the overly frisky dog that knocks the tree over. I used to have two cats; and as long as I had them I never even tried to have a Christmas tree. A large cat and a Christmas tree don\’t mix well! Even a small cat can pack a surprising punch when it jumps upon something. I\’ve read of stringing fishing line, or something similar, between the top of the tree and a secure hook in the ceiling. That way if a pet jumps on the tree, at least the tree shouldn\’t fall over. And look at those enticing, shiny balls dangling from the tree\’s branches! A cat loves to swat such things. After a few swats, down does the ball, which is why glass ornaments and cats (maybe dogs, too) don\’t mix. A Christmas tree plus pets means non-breakable ornaments. They\’d need to be large enough that a pet couldn\’t swallow them; and not have small parts that could come off and be eaten by the pet. Keeping pets safe during holiday season takes some doing. I have no experience with keeping a dog; but I know that cats are only too good at getting into things. If there\’s not even a mouse to distract them from the Christmas tree, I would have to think of something else.  

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What a Let Down

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What a let down this morning was! It\’s full-moon time again; and I got up early so I could go for a short ride and see the moonlight on the river. When I reached the point where I usually see the moon shining down on the water, the moon was in the wrong place in the sky for that effect. I guess it\’s because of the Earth\’s tilt at this season. At least I passed one spot where the trees were bare enough that I could see the river through the branches. That gave me a little bit of the desired sight, but not enough. As I already said, what a let down! Oh, well. I tried. If I hadn\’t, I\’d be thinking of what I had missed!

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Tricycle for Healing?

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I never thought about a tricycle for healing. My memories of riding an adult trike seem to be fading. It\’s already about five and a half years since I let \”Valkyrie\” go. Adult trikes can be a boon to people who have balance difficulties. Maybe they gave learning to ride two wheels their all; but unfortunately couldn\’t get the hang of it. The same friend who put me on the track of aqua cycling also mentioned her sister-in-law who had suffered a broken back. Eventually, when her back was better, this lady found that she was able to ride an adult trike! I think that\’s great. She could have fun; and get some good exercise, too. For all I know (having no medical expertise), the riding helps her back. She\’s still in physical therapy for her back; but I think that riding the trike would be much more fun than therapy sessions. I wish her the best with both. The reason I began my cycling \”career\” with an adult trike was the off-balance sensations inside of my head. It seemed to be between my ears, deep in the center of my head. If I turned my head to look behind me while I was just walking, something inside of my head seemed to move around; and it made me feel off balance. I didn\’t dare trust myself on two wheels because of that. So I got the trike. Fast-forward about two and a half years. I noticed that those weird sensations in my head were significantly reduced; and my speculation is that all the vigorous pedaling played a part. It makes me think: A Tricycle for Healing! So an adult tricycle may not be a miracle worker, but it still can do a lot of good!

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Horizons

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Let\’s broaden our horizons here, and have a look at some other countries\’ Christmas customs. The Mexican piñata easily springs to mind. When I was a kid, we had a big book of Christmas stories. One was about a little Mexican girl named Pepita. Pepita was staying with her grandmother in the United States, and wanted a piñata for Christmas; but was too young to explain what a piñata was. Just before Christmas, her parents sent her a big piñata. A note told what to do with a piñata. The neighbors were invited to Grandma\’s house; and everyone had a good time trying to be the one to break the piñata. Feliz Navidad! We have Germany, among other countries, to thank for the Christmas tree; and the carol Silent Night comes from a little village in neighboring Austria. The story: on the night of Christmas Eve, the village priest discovered that a mouse had chewed a hole in the organ bellows; and the instrument was unplayable. Midnight Mass without music was unthinkable; but what to do? The beautiful, still night inspired the priest to write a poem; and he asked a friend who played the guitar to set the poem to music. If that\’s true, \”Three cheers for the mouse!\” Fröhliche Weihnachten! We looked forward to the visit from Santa Claus; but children in Italy wait for Babbo Natale. He, too, has reindeer; and Italian children put out stockings for him to fill. Buon Natale! It sounds as though Christmas in France is a more subdued holiday than in some countries. Nothing wrong with that! Pere Noel comes to the children of France, who put out wooden shoes for him to fill. Joyeux Noel! I hope we\’ve broadened our horizons a bit now. Merry Christmas!

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Quick \’n\’ Lazy Wassail

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For some quick \’n\’ lazy wassail, I decided to try this recipe! Since I wasn\’t preparing wassail for a crowd, I made only one-quarter the amount. I don\’t have whole cloves on hand,  so I skipped the clove-studded apple. Neither do I have cinnamon sticks. All I did was put the juices (2 cups apple; 1/2 cup orange; and juice of 1/2 lemon) in a pot; and throw in a pinch each of ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cloves, and freshly grated nutmeg. Then I put the pot over low heat and let it come almost to simmering. I turned the heat as low as it could go, and let it heat for 15 minutes, with the occasional stir. It\’s pretty good! It would be great to have a mug of this beverage ready when I come in from a cold ride, if there weren\’t any hot chocolate available. Yes, I did ride today, but not until about 12:15 pm. The wind had eased up somewhat, and I needed to get out and get moving. Even quick \’n\’ lazy wassail-making had to wait until I was back home. But it\’s easy to stir up. Cheers!  

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Here I Yam Again!

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Yes, here I yam again. Sometimes we want sweet potatoes, but don\’t want to wait for them to bake. This morning I didn\’t want to wait for the baking, so I did an experiment. Curried sweet potato! Here\’s the recipe I invented: 1  9 oz sweet potato, peeled and coarsely grated (about 3-1/2 cups) 1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion 2 Tbsp olive oil 1/4 tsp freshly ground white pepper 1 tsp curry powder 3 Tbsp whole cashews Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Saute onions until they look milky. Add spices and cashews; saute briefly. Add grated sweet potato. Keep sautéing. As needed, add small amounts of very hot water to prevent sticking. (I kept a small saucepan on another burner, with the water in it.) I didn\’t keep this up for more than a few minutes, because I wanted the sweet potato to still have some crunch in it. If you want the potato to be softer, cook it longer. Salt to taste. Voila! A food processor would have made the grating process much faster, but I have nowhere to store one. I used the coarse side of a grater box. Vary the type of onion and/or oil, if you like. Another kind of nut than cashew is fine. I\’ll bet pecans would be good, for example. Already I\’m thinking of how I might tinker with this. Cinnamon instead of curry? Or maybe a half-cup of sweet peas? … Here I yam again — stuck in the kitchen.

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All Wet

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All wet doesn\’t have to mean you got caught in a downpour while riding your bicycle. You can also take cycling into the pool! Recently I was talking with a friend of mine, who has had hip replacement surgery. She mentioned doing in-the-pool exercises that resemble the motions of cycling. She even suggested it as a blog subject. Kudos to her! I wouldn\’t have thought of it on my own. I suppose that everybody has heard of water aerobics; but the concept of aqua cycling is new to me. It\’s great that people who can\’t ride an actual bicycle the conventional way can get a cycling workout. Years ago, long before I started cycling, I tried some kind of in-pool exercise class. This was in the recreation center of a university campus. The water was always too cold. I was told that that was for the sake of the serious swimmers who did laps. It was also too deep. Even in the shallowest part of the pool, it was hard for me to keep my chin above water. That experience has put me off of water exercise classes. Nowadays, my \”water exercise\” is when I get caught in a downpour while doing a bicycle ride.

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Not Hot Footing It

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This scene looks like not hot footing it. My feet feel cold just looking at it; and In fact, it makes me feel cold all over! If I lived where I got enough snow, I think I would like to try my hand — or rather, my feet — at snowshoeing. It looks like snowshoeing would be fun. If even Icebike didn\’t meet my needs; and I couldn\’t ride my bicycle because of the snow; I could still get outdoors and have some good exercise. I suspect that the hardest part of snowshoeing, for me, would be fighting my natural tendency towards a tightrope gait. What fun to be the first to arrive at an expanse of fresh snow; and make the first tracks! How about working to form a pattern with your tracks? That\’s sort of like making snow angels; but you\’re using your feet. Or you can try to match your own tracks to the ones already there; but that might be hard for me. I have short legs; and consequently, a short stride. You can keep an eye peeled for animal tracks in the snow. Depending on where you live, there might be deer; rabbits; raccoons; or maybe even moose. There might be bird tracks, too. Have snowshoe games! Race other snowshoers! See who can pace out the prettiest pattern! It sounds like snowshoeing is one time when you\’d actually want to put your foot in it. But it\’s not hot footing it. Get some good thermal socks and waterproof shoes; and keep those feet warm and free of frostbite. And when you get back home, warm up with a big mug of hot chocolate!

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