Monthly Archives: June 2012

California summer cooking with flower

My friend and fellow writer, Dixie, had the most unusual flowering plant by her back porch in Lincoln, CA. It was nearly as tall as I, flowering lavender-blue. It looked like an alien sunflower, but it wasn’t. I finally guessed correctly – it’s an artichoke gone to flower. 

Dixie cut one for me, and it now sits with peonies in a floral arrangement on my table. That was my inspiration while cooking for company yesterday. My planned spinach salad was transformed, and turned out pretty cute. The crumbled bacon in the middle looks like sunflower seeds, and the eggs, the petals. It’s just a traditional spinach salad, but arranged with a summer hand.

Who says you shouldn’t play with your food?

Finding a good hairdresser in Sacramento


How do you find a hair stylist in a new town? Well, if you’re like me, you talk to people.  I found myself in need of hair care in Sacramento. When I found myself in the queue at a department store behind someone with fabulous hair, I confessed to being new in town, complimented her hair, and asked if she’d share the name of her hair stylist. It’s amazing how helpful people can be!
The first person recommended was wonderful, but after a few months she ended up leaving her salon to return to school. I wasn’t as impressed with what I’d seen from her colleagues, so I was back to the search. I had lunch with a new friend. She has great hair. 
I have long, layered, usually auburn hair. I drive a convertible and swim, so my hair often bleaches out and gets really hard to keep nice looking. So now I’m feeling grateful for generous friends, and a great new hair stylist!
On my first visit to Strands (on Folsom, Sacramento), David spent time asking questions and listening to my hair wishes. By the time I left, he’d spent three hours with me, restoring my hair to its natural color, plus adding beautiful, subtle high-lights. 
Oh, and giving me a neck massage.
Highlighting darker hair can be tricky. I’ve had bad experiences elsewhere with well-trained, experienced, and quite expensive stylists. David’s was the most natural-looking result, with fine blonde sun-kissed highlights. It didn’t look like some past disasters. 
Instead of the “hair implant” look with perfect rows of blonde stripes, David gently scattered natural-looking highlights throughout, with special attention around my face and other areas where the sun naturally lightens. The “zebra” look of heavy strips against a dark background was thankfully substituted with very fine highlighted sections that look natural. My base auburn color, which has been interpreted by other stylists as ranging from orange, to blonde, black, and even magenta, looks both indoors and  out like a color of hair actually created by nature. 
It would be easy to be fooled by his own blonde mohawk, but even though David is fun and adventurous with his own style, he spent as much care making my hair look the way I wanted (natural, healthy and professional), as he did making his own look the way he wanted. After my shoulder surgery, when he couldn’t massage my neck, he gave me a wonderful hand massage. 
I’m not his friend, or relative; just a grateful fan. Thanks, ladies, for the recommendations. And thanks, David, for the great hair!

Northern California swimming hole

When the Sacramento heat passes 100 degrees, it’s time to cool off.  About an hour’s drive from town is this beautiful spot on the middle fork of the Cosumnes River.  The water is crystal clear, widening and slowing before splashing over rapids below, then calming again under the bridge. It’s a good old-fashioned swimming hole that even has a rope swing. 

I didn’t try the rope, not knowing how long it had been there, (or its tensile strength). I was happy just floating downstream on the current from beneath the old stone bridge, where I could see swirling swallows and their nests. They and the chameleons probably accounted for the lack of mosquitoes you’d normally find around water. I was sure to pull over before the rapids just below this spot. On such a hot weekend you’d expect a crowd, but the only other folks around while we were swimming were downstream under the road bridge, apparently getting ready for some tubing. You can just make out a tuber in the lower left of this photo, which gives you a sense of the river’s scale.
This is a do-it-yourself place accessed from public land. There’s no risk manager to make sure you are safe at all times. That’s fine with me. I like being responsible for myself, scouting upstream and down, and enjoying a swimming hole without lifeguards or crowds. I’ll do that every time, since the water levels change. I love discovering a place where there’s even a cave too deep for me to see the back wall, and deciding not to bother any animal that might live inside. The private land across the creek is marked “no trespassing.” But there are plenty of places like this on public land. I’ll post a few.

Directions: from 50 east, we took exit 44A, Missouri Flat Road, then turned left where it T’s into Pleasant Valley Road. After driving through Diamond Springs we turned south on Bucks Bar Road. (Just over 5 miles from Pleasant Valley Road) We followed this to the E16 intersection, also known as Mt. Aukum Road, where you find the Somerset Store and Gold Vine Grill. We turned south (right) on E16/Mt. Aukum Road. We followed this to the bridge over the Cosumnes River, then turned left into the parking area behind the left side guard rail. You can walk along the road until you see the path down to the river. We did a quick visual scout from above, then cooled off in the river.

Torn ACL, Doggy-style

My adorable, muscle-bound dog, Patches, suffered an athlete’s fate here in Maryland on Thursday. She made the mistake of running and turning at the same time. Dogs tend to do that. Our vet identified the cause of her subsequent limp: a torn ACL. He said it tends to happen to very strong, athletic dogs whose muscle strength exceeds their ligament strength. She probably tore it a little bit in the past, and this was the final straw. Poor baby!

First, I didn’t even realize dogs have ACL’s. Yup, along with a miniscus, just like human knees. I never knew that. And they can blow them out on the playing field, just like human athletes. Patches has some surgery and a tough recovery ahead.

My ability to help her is limited. I can’t pick her up, or give her a boost, or much of anything, because I’m still recovering from shoulder surgery. You’d think I’d at least have injured it doing something fun: rock climbing, skiing, sailing, or snowboarding; but no. I blew my shoulder out doing something just as challenging as Patches: I lifted the head rest on a rental car. Pop! What was I thinking, trying something like that? More proof that your body gets the last laugh for everything you put it through.

Hmmm…I think I see a couple of patterns here. Unexpected injuries, and supportive family. Which gets me to the gratitude part. I’m so thankful for my parents, who came to help during my surgery, and now, to my two awesome family members who are supporting Patches through hers. We will both try not to do anything too strenuous. Like turning left.

Another great TED talk – Happy Planet Index

I like the idea of measuring the success of a nation not solely based on productivity, but on the happiness of its citizens.

As a parent, the wishes I and my friends have for our children always begin with “happy and healthy…”

But, if you believe television, happiness is defined as success, which is defined (by the television programs that are funded by companies that want to sell us things) as having stuff. Happy with a diamond…a BIG diamond. Happy driving a car. It’s great to love the outdoors, but you need a sweet ride to get there. Happy having an attractive person next to you. PS: all the products and surgeries needed to be attractive are available if you just pay for them. Earn a LOT of money. Then you can buy all this stuff. Then you will be happy. Hmmm…

If you’re producing something that is required for survival, like wheat, or vaccinations, then efficiency and productivity are also required for survival. But in what case is efficiency actually less productive?

There is a balance between quantity and quality. If you’re a doctor and can crank through twenty patients in an hour, you’ll earn more money that day. But will you and your patients be happy and healthy? Depends. It costs a lot, on many levels, to miss a diagnosis.

When teaching, I was able to help struggling writers be more successful when the number of students was limited such that I could respond in writing to their journal entries. (Well, if I stayed up most of the night :-D) Having the time to know their interests made writing stories for struggling readers possible; they persevered, decoding and comprehending difficult vocabulary, when the protagonists in the stories were them. Fewer students, but I would argue, more productive.

Is “Meaningful Productivity” a term? I think it brings a lot of happiness. Sometimes exhausted happiness. Satisfaction. Compassion.

Here is the wonderful TED talk that got me thinking about happiness as success: The Happy Planet Index

I hope you enjoy it. Be happy 🙂