Awesome August 2014 - Fragmented Friday

We build words letter by letter -

Hoping to make ourselves feel better?

A cairn is laid stone by stone

To let the next one know you are not alone

Each letter - each stone - builds bridges as well

Because each of us has a truth to tell

Heart and soul exposed to share

With courage and abandon what we dare

The bravest thing that I can be

Is simply - totally - unabashedly me

This is how I make potato soup:

I can tell you in general what I do. You can buy a product called Chicken Base - are you familiar with it? There is a Beef Base as well, it is like a super concentrated Bouillon paste ... I put chunks of potato, diced onion,  diced celery and some chicken base in a saucepan and barely add enough water to cover, I bring to a boil, grate in a medium sized carrot,  then simmer uncovered until the vegetables are tender and the liquid has begun to evaporate. I taste the broth, and season to taste with Old Bay and freshly ground black pepper. I then add heavy cream or half and half to come about 1/2 inch above the vegetables, use a spoon or potato masher to break up a few potatoes to thicken, toss in about a half a stick of butter, and heat until the butter melts. I do not let it boil after I add the butter, I add bacon bits, grated cheddar cheese, and maybe sliced green onions when I serve it.

Most soups are good with crackers, but I always want buttered bread (not toasted, just plain white bread) when I eat potato soup. I think it is because we often had buttered bread with soup in lieu of crackers when I was growing up. 

I posted this on Facebook earlier today:

a journalist is beheaded

a small town in Missouri most of the US would never have had cause to know existed is suddenly the new incarnation of our worst kept national secret

Ebola Haemorrhagic Fever continues to ruthlessly decimate West Africa

the Israel/Palestinian/Gaza Strip maelstrom is claiming lives at a steady clip

But what the hell? Let's just keep obsessing over the marriages/relationships/shenanigans of so-called celebrities in NYC and LA - Facebook, if you are a snapshot of life as we know it, well - what can I say - Houston we have a problem.

I do soul/spirit soothing posts on Facebook - that is the main purpose of our Apples and Owls page. To try to keep some balance against all of the pain, war, bloodshed that we are exposed to constantly in 2014. I know that this may sound contradictory to what I just said in the Facebook post, but in my mind it is not. Here is my reasoning:

The pictorial posts are for the most part pictures we take here at our home: the cats, the creek, trees, rocks, and bushes. I share my blog posts, my poetry, Roger's artwork and hand-crafted jewelry. I write about what I cook from time to time, and sometimes about an issue that I feel passionate about. 

The thing that bothers me is the obsessive amount of attention paid to the personal and professional  lives of "celebrities" and the manner in which it detracts attention from issues of  national and global concern. There is a "Trending Topics" column on the righthand side of Facebook when viewed from my laptop. As I am typing this, seven of the ten trending stories are celebrity related : a separation, a soon-to-be-released book, a cast change for a television show ...

I read the news online rather than watching it on television because broadcast news had deteriorated drastically over the past ten years. September 11, 2001 changed the way news is reported, and covered. In the years since, there has developed a wider and wider gulf in viewpoints, and I want neutrality. So I search out the news online, and try to find the balance. "There are three sides to every story" I look for the one in the middle.

Information and access are tools. Use with caution and care. 

So I will end my fragmented Friday with a picture:

My awesome life at Little Beaver Creek comes complete with a cat on a log!