The Three R's: Writing, Routine, and Reason

It used to be that you would get your pen and paper out and write; that seems to be a lost art form these days.   Once told by my 1st grade teacher that my penmanship was "very poor", I was marked for life! I have the writing of a chicken and a sick chicken at that and I am positive that cursive is my achilles heel.  However, I love to "write"... that free flow feeling  of consciousness from my mind.  The feel of my keyboard under fingertips. The tap, tap, tap of letters into words, words into sentences, sentences becoming paragraphs until a wonderful piece of thought is woven into something of a story. Those things move me and there lies one of my R's: Reason.

Reason to write can be different for each of us. For me, I hope along the way to discover more of myself. I believe we each have a story and writing brings that out.  Now, maybe all of us don't want an audience to our inner feelings and trials in life, but I feel strongly that writing ones feelings and struggles, ones joys along the journey, ones stories from their past will richly strengthen us.  It was one of my favorite authors, Anne Lamott, who wrote, "We are a species that needs and wants to understand who we are. Sheep lice do not seem to share this longing, which is one reason they write so little." If the Sheep lice wanted to know the reason for their existence they may turn to writing!

Writing itself is a practice in self-discipline and self-preservation.  It sharpens your thinking. Broadens your horizons. Allows yourself to think outside the box. Makes you wonder why certain words in the English language are so hard to remember how to spell. Makes you wish you had paid better attention in class when grammar was being discussed and punctuation.  Writing is the equivalent of the  elliptical in  exercise.  And just like that elliptical machine, it pushes me. I have a love/hate relationship with it; however, I've seen it's results before and I like the way it looks.

And just like that elliptical machine that makes me sweat.... and sometimes swear--I would never do it again(!), I know that with Routine it will bring benefits. Why do you think they have something called "Writer's Block"? I think Writer's Block is like having a sore muscle or a torn ligament.  Maybe even having a cold.  When that happens, we need to rest or change things up.  If you hurt your leg, focus on your arm.  If you're sick, rest; take a break.  But, at some point you will come back to it and the more often you come back to it, you will build a stronger mind, have more confidence writing, and quite possibly step outside your comfort zone and try the StairMaster (or in my case, blog!).

Here, of course, are my thoughts; my R's. Just like those basics of "readin', writin' and 'rithmatic", I truly believe that each of us has something to gain by writing.

~Reggie

These are a few of my favorite things. Part One

"Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens, Brown paper bags tied up with string, These are few of my favorite things."

So sings Julie Andrews in the classic show tune from The Sound of Music. She had her favorites--those things that made her happy or made her smile; maybe even just pause for a moment and reflect. We all have them. Some may have a monetary cost and some like "raindrops on roses" may cost nothing at all, but the simple joy that they bring the recipient is priceless.

As I was emptying the dishwasher the other day, I pulled out one of my favorite things; a deep porcelain mug decorated with motifs from Paris.  The mug is white with a violet band of color wrapped around it. On this band are several postcards of varied photographic views of the Eiffel Tower--these cards are black and ecru with fancy cursive writing in sayings like "Bonjour Paris", "L'amour Toujours", and "C'est Chic Paris". This mug with a  matching saucer and was a gift from a very good friend and her daughter many years ago.  We had been shopping at a local French boutique and as a surprise they bought it for me.  Many mornings I have taken that mug out of the cabinet or dishwasher and filled it with fresh coffee or tea and it has always brightened my morning, but as I took my mug from the washer this time,  I noticed something different about it.  I noticed a large chip.

One of the things we are working on in the house is dividing the chores. With five people in the house, the dishes and laundry and dust and dirt and wear, etc, etc seem to be adding up. So, I have given over some of the chore of doing dishes to my older two children.  Now,  let me tell you that my son can empty the dishwasher in less than 5 minutes! However, just like those old typing tests I used to take, his speed may be high, but his accuracy is quite lacking, thus what I can only assume was the fate of my mug. <sigh> My mug is not the same now.....

Fortunately, the chip is on the side and the exposed porcelain is smooth, so I am continuing to use the mug. I have a new found love for my favorite warm beverage container.  If you look closer at it you will see some coffee or tea stains, some fine scratches way down in the bottom from cleaning, and the bottom is well worn from being picked up and put down countless times over the years.  To put it bluntly, I am very much like this mug; a bit worn from life and its experiences. However, instead of looking at the downside of an aging vessel,  I'm learning to look at these as character building flaws. So it is my goal, at least.

What's one of your favorite things?

~Reggie

P. S. The above video version is Pomplamoose's indie version of the song--just to freshen things up.

La Fête Des Rois (Three Kings Day)

Oh joy!

It's only my third post and I get a day to talk about two of my favorite passions: food and France. The dictionary describes passion as, among other things, "boundless enthusiasm". That pretty much sums up my thoughts on good foods and France; I could talk/share about them with boundless enthusiasm for hours.

In France, La Fête Des Rois or Three Kings Day is celebrated on the 6th of January. Just like those ingenious French, they took two holidays--the Roman "Les Saturnales" and the Christian tradition of "Epiphany" and created their own fête or celebration or party: La Fête Des Rois. Today, French families celebrate with a delicious  cake (made from almond meal and puff pastry) and by crowning a king or queen for the day.  The crowning of the king or queen comes when the cake is cut in pieces and each family member is served a piece; however, during the baking process of the cake a small object (crown or toy trinket) is placed in the filling of the cake.  The Roman tradition shows this to be a bean or féve. The one who is served the piece with the féve is crowned the king/queen.   To ensure that the baker doesn't cheat and serve herself (in this case!), the youngest will hid under the table and tell who gets each piece.  This is something that my youngest is looking forward to with much glee.

So, this afternoon, I gathered in the kitchen with my girls and made the cake.  It was a testament to my patience, my baking skills, and my metric conversions (since the recipe was in French--oui !). I must say that I was very happy in those moments--with my apron on and daughters near me eager to help out. Maybe I just might bake more often.  The cake baked nicely to spite the fact that I didn't seal the pastry pieces together very well and that I may have over done the quantity of the filling.  The egg wash gave the scored pastry top a nice sheen and the smell of almond sweetness filled the house.  The filling did ooze out a bit, but I just took that as extra artistic baking points.

Once the family was home, we sat around the kitchen table and got ready to crown someone.  While trying to keep to the festive and royal feel, I pulled out my Wedding China and used the platter to present the cake on.  My youngest did hide under the table and pieces were dispersed to everyone as she called it. Since it was a large cake, I was hoping that someone actually did get a piece with the small crown like charm that we put in it, as I didn't cut the whole thing.  And sure enough, my son discovered it in his piece shortly after starting to eat the cake.  A king was crowned!

The cake, still warm from the oven, tasted rich and delicious and the pastry flaky. I'll call it a success and will look forward to making the cake again next year, too.  As with the "Les Saturnales" festivals which represented a wish for health, prosperity and peace for all citizens, I too wish for that in this coming year.

~Reggie

Galette des Rois - recipe

INGREDIENTS

2 sheets ready rolled puff pastry 
140g ground almond (1 1/4 cups)
75g soften butter (1/2 cup)
80g sugar (2/3 cup)
3 eggs
1 yolk

Mix the butter and the sugar until the mix whitens, then add the beaten eggs and the ground almond, mix well.
In the middle of the first sheet of puff pastry, pour the mix. Lay the second sheet on top, and roll the sides of the sheets together towards the inside to seal the galette. 
With a knife, draw diagonal lines in both direction (so that they cross each other) to create the pattern. Then with a brush, spread the yolk on the whole cake to give it a golden colour. 
Put in an over for 30 minutes at 200 degrees (400 degrees F.)  Serve hot, but it is excellent cold too. 

Taking the jump. Now what?

As a young child, I took swimming lessons at our local pool. Since we lived in Washington state at the time, most pools were indoor; including the one where I took my lessons.  I can still remember the smell as you walk in. You probably know what I'm talking about.... the damp air heavy laden with the smell of chlorine. I love that smell.  Here in California, I don't get to many indoor pool areas, so I miss that smell.

As I venture into this thing called "blogging",  I'm reminded of the swimming lessons of my youth. In particular, sitting on the bleachers and watching as everyone jumps off the high dive; the signal that lessons were over and you had completed that session.  For a young girl, this was a huge thing! The moment you've been waiting for; the moment you've seen everyone else do, and accomplish. And all the sudden....it's here.  I'm standing on the edge of that high dive, after climbing the long ladder up, and I'm ready to jump.

 Now what?  I've jumped and I'm thinking, "OH my!!".  This is exhilarating and frightening at the same time--just like this blogging thing.  I'm very rusty as a writer and add in the technology aspect and I feel like an alien from another planet, but I am going to give it a try.  Just like that little girl who took the jump off the high dive, I'm jumping in with two feet.  

~Reggie

I did it!

Welcome to my blog.  

At this point, I'm just welcoming myself, but let me tell you this self is pretty happy to be here.  I have a lot to learn, a  lot to share, and a willingness to start on a journey that is "blogging". 

Here's to a new year (2011).  A new beginning in writing and maybe a little adventure along the way.

~Reggie