Tried to Post this yesterday...

Deep South

Sometimes I think I would love to live in the Deep South. There is so much tradition entrenched in the culture and the people. My friend Patrick Burke sent me a web page from his pictures of "Afton Villa in St. Francisville" (http://patburke.digitalphotochat.com/AftonVilla) They are pictures taken in spring and it looks so beautiful. I could just imagine the frilly, laced, hooped dresses, mint juleps and lady chatter in the garden where he took these photos. It certainly seemed like a simpler time to be sure.

Greek Salad

I was sure I hated Feta cheese. So whenever I went to a restaurant I never ordered a Greek salad. When I went to Greece I thought, when in Greece do as the Greeks would… (oh that’s Rome isn’t it?)… Anyway, one evening I ordered a Greek salad to start my meal. When the waiter placed it in front of me my mouth dropped. It was the biggest Greek salad I had ever seen. My thought was… how in the world am I going to eat the rest of my dinner? (Which of course was lamb…I love that line in My Big Fat Greek Wedding…”What do you mean you DON’T EAT MEAT?!!! Oh that’s ok, I’ll make lamb!”) Anyway, back to the salad. On the top of all these vegetables was the largest piece of Feta cheese, and I mean LARGE… it was this ¼ inch thick, 5X7 slab of Feta. I thought “oh, oh”, but being the polite Canadian that I am, I figured I must eat it as not to insult any chief that might come running out from the kitchen with knife in his hand and totally not amused that I would waste his creation. Now, maybe it was the fact that we were sitting on a patio overlooking the Aegean sea, maybe it was the famous Greek sunsets, maybe it was the delicious Greek wine we were drinking, whatever it was, that salad was absolutely the best salad I had ever tasted. From that moment on, wherever we went in Greece, I ordered a Greek Salad!

So here’s the secret to an authentic Greek Salad… Fresh Greek Feta Cheese, goat is good, sheep even better, and it must be soft. Fresh olives, black or green, Greek olive oil, (Italian will do but Greek is the best), red or orange peppers chopped in large chunks, fresh cucumbers sliced, red onions sliced thin, fresh tomatoes cut in quarters, fresh oregano, ground pepper and balsamic vinegar. I toss it all or you can just put the chunks of Feta on top of the salad. Trust me it is to die for!

Meetings… What are they for anyway?

Today the manager of our department scheduled a meeting…a daylong meeting. The only enthusiasm was when lunch arrived, at which point everybody woke up, devoured their lunch and went back to “snore” mode quickly afterward. Me, I sketched my co-workers faces only I drew them as clowns. Sorry JT it’s just hard concentrating on company future plans when you know you have work that needs urgent attention in the now and you’re sitting in a daylong meeting.

Last but not least a AH HA moment at 2:30 am this morning.

I tried writing it down in my journal and will try transcribing it here now as I think it rather important. Here goes…

Over the years, we build up, layer by layer, a veneer wall each time someone hurts us or rejects us or doesn’t live up to our expectations or disappoints us or we have a very negative experience. Depending how sensitive one is so equals the thickness of that wall. We also learn to protect ourselves from the hurt by reacting to the hurts. We usually do the flight or fight thing. A bully attacks us in the schoolyard we either fight back or we run away. This gets refined as an adult, we use anger or we become insular, aggressive or passive. Problem is our childhood reactions become inappropriate in an adult world. Some people recognize that there is something wrong and want to fix it but don’t know how. Or they know how but just don’t want to do the work.

To strip those layers down to what some call “your authentic self” you have to face every bully, disappointment, rejection, hurt that has happened to you in the past and realize that it was about the past. They are all past childhood experiences and that we are no longer helpless children but are capable, strong, intelligent adults who have a choice as to how we react to the experiences that come our way NOW.

I think that once we can realize that there are no boogiemen in our closets anymore or if there is, we are brave enough, big enough and strong enough to see them for what they are… illusions, then won't take things personal any more, but realize that it is about the other person’s fears not ours. Awaken to this understanding and the walls start to melt away and we can become more comfortable with our true spirit which we recognize as this remarkable loving, fearless being.

Ok maybe this is just my own personal AH HA but it was a significant one for me nevertheless and I thought I would pass it on.

St. Paddy's Day tomorrow… I have never liked beer, makes me burp too much and making it green does not make it any more appealing to me!

So here’s to you for tomorrow… Happy St. Patrick’s Day…

May you have:
A world of wishes at your command.
God and his angels close to hand.
Friends and family their love impart,
And Irish blessings in your heart!
~an Irish Proverb~