Mid-Week Mish Mash and Spring Equinox Too

Once again items are piling up to share, so with a running start, off we go, headlong into the Spring Equinox. For those in the Atlantic Time Zone (or Eastern, for now) it will officially begin at 7:02 a.m. Thank  you, Suzanne of the Finca, for the link to such a good article on the Spring Equinox, that says in part

If you learn the Chinese system of Wu Xing – Five Elements or Five Phases – you’ll begin to see it in many things. It’s a deep way of thinking about nature and can help you understand, for example, how profoundly the stillness, cold and quiet – the deep unknown – of winter has to happen first before spring (or new endeavors of any kind) can begin to sprout. In that way, it helped me embrace “winter” of all kinds, because winter promises spring.

I like that, because while we know the subtle nature of Winter in the islands, it is not the same as being in a climate with deep cold, snow, naked branches, and where bundledupness is required. The author addresses  the reality that Winter comes in many shapes, with Spring to follow.

While Spring gives us new life, it also brings renewal, and that is what this next bit is potentially about. Can 2 teaspoons of coconut oil (pure, not hydrogenated) reverse severe symptoms of Alzheimer's? Ok, I have NO idea whether this has across the board validity or not, but it is presented so non-biasedly and non-commercially, along with the possibility of such strong change for the good, I'm compelled to toss it in and say, do with it as you wish! The video (I typed film at first - I'll be sucking down some coconut oil next) I watched can be found here, while an article with more explanations as well as more rigorous debate is here.

The other day I got this advert in the mail for some very nice wooden utensils at a great price, from a venerable magazine, Grit. Except that all of them were made in China. So I wrote and asked why not support US made goods and got a very long explanatory letter back about good price, inspected factories, eventually exploring US products and so on. I wrote back wondering if more small businesses could be supported by magazines with such history, maybe the price would come down...no reply so far. But! One of the companies I found had so many fun pieces (if you don't think cooking is fun or utensils can be fun, skip this, sorry I forgot to warn you earlier) I have to pass it along to you. I mean, how can you live without knowing what a spurtle is? The answer? You shouldn't even try. Go here see some modern versions along with the classics and some really nice wood carving!

My first photo of Spring (and yes, I did run barefoot to the water to take this. Really.)

And last but not least, the other night I ran out of anything new to read, so I went web crawling for something, anything, and came across Many Books. If you don't have a kindle or other reader and the physical books have all been read, it's not a bad stop-gap.

Oh! One more thing. If you are interested in Karen Miles dog sledding 1000 mile trip, this is one way to follow her and the young man sponsored. I'm hoping it works as well along the way as it did yesterday. If you look in the bottom left hand corner, you'll see her message from the satphone. To listen to Karen talking about the trip, go here. Good luck, Karen and the rest of the crew!!!


Have a wonder oh wonder Wednesday! Do something whole.