Kinda Like the Walking Dead

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Top of the Cask. Dos Cabezas Tasting Room, Sonoita, AZ

“It’s sort of like watching one of those TV series. You know, like the Sopranos or the Walking Dead. You watch it, you like it, but every season, somebody’s gonna die.”
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Weekend Reading – The Hungry Ear and More

A Good Read:

The Hungry Ear
Poems of Food & Drink
Edited by Kevin Young

Unknown

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Ode to My Grocer

Eddie Basha 1937 - 2013

Eddie Basha
1937 – 2013
A Good Man and a Very Bad Boy

Two years ago, my dear friend and mentor, Eddie Basha, died just before national poetry month. I couldn’t finish this at the time but wanted to honor him. He was an Arizona Icon and a brilliant business man with a heart bigger than his head. He had a generosity of spirit and a flare for practical jokes like no one I’ll ever know. He ran for Governor once but lost because although he was a great leader, he was a poor politician. His grocery chain, Bashas, is dispersed widely across our state and is a hub in many of our rural communities. He spent many years on the Board of Regents, a warrior for education for all. I remain deeply saddened by his departure yet in his leaving, he has caused me and others to examine our words and deeds through the filter of fairness and kindness. I wrote this from my own observations and also from some of the lovely tributes paid to him in the days following his death.

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The Pollen Path

Oh, Beauty before me, Beauty behind me, Beauty to the right of me, Beauty to the left of me,  Beauty above me,  Beauty below me. I’m on the pollen path.

Navajo poem

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While I Groak

How does a word become obsolete? Is it simply that dialects morph over time or do we drop a word in favor of others that roll from the tongue with more grace? I recall a story on NPR when “slacks” was being voted out of the language. I must admit that I wouldn’t be sad to see it go. Pants, trousers, jeans, khakis, capris all hit the mark with greater specificity or at least a more amenable sound. Slacks clamors for attention like an ugly tattoo on an aging beer belly.

 

I groak!

I groak!

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The Bliss Bite

I thrive on data. I love to sift through statistics and and qualitative research piecing together unrelated fact streams and digging deeply into areas of intrigue. I like to read research projects and report back.  This fascination fuels my day job where I’m able to dig into customer research and opinion trends and create or modify programs to meet changing demands.

flickr.com 2.0 Michael Kreil

flickr.com 2.0 Michael Kreil

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Local Food Focus – Hopi Blue Corn

The Blue Corn Maiden

A Hopi Legend


The Blue Corn Maiden is said to be the most beautiful of the corn maiden sisters. The people  loved her very much and they loved the blue corn that she brought to them all year long. Because of this, they felt peace and happiness when she was amongst them.

Hopi Blue Corn

Hopi Blue Corn

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Starving to Death: the “luck” of the Irish

Happy St. Patrick’s Day. This morning Jackie of the Auburn Meadow Farm posted regarding the event that many of us know as the Potato Famine. I find it fascinating but also chilling to learn about the reliance on mono-crops and the influence of wealthy industry in that great tragedy. Can we learn from this?

Auburn Meadow Farm

“The Almighty, indeed, sent the potato blight, but the English created the Famine.”

— Irish national activist, solicitor & political journalist, John Mitchel

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My family came to America from Ireland in the early 1900’s so you’d think I’d have some firsthand tales to tell about the Great Hunger. But, alas, my family is not a sharer of stories, photos or heirlooms handed down from one generation to the next.

They say history is written by the victors, and mylack of understanding of the Irish Potato Famine proves this true.  This day every year when all Americans are honorary Irishmen is a perfect time to reflect on the actual history of the most influential Irish event I know.

Of course what we call the Irish Potato Famine, the Irish instead call the Great Starvation. The Irish rejection of the term Famine is very specific; a famine is a natural disaster. And…

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Weekend Reading – Forks Over Knives Companion

A Good Read:

Forks Over Knives
The How-To Companion
Edited by Gene Stone

Forks Over Knives

Forks Over Knives

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Feeling Presidential

There was a time when my oldest son knew every last detail about the U.S. Presidents. He was 6 years old and knowing this trivia was his passion; their pets, their kids, their hobbies, the shortest in stature, the heaviest, the assassinated, the bachelor.

President's Day

President’s Day

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