bananas
Not taking the time to blog has dire psychological consequences, so I have found. The lost effort, or maybe more so time, to put thoughts on "paper" leads to a build-up of still life memories and short video clips floating around in the brain; captivating simplicities and beautiful situations that may be lost forever...
Sounds a bit intense...
The following may be a collection of these random mind tattoos... Just to warn you :)
A couple days ago, I could have captured the $1,000 prize money for best photo of the year... Should I have had a camera and maybe not even the best photo taking skills. It was a sunny, late afternoon and it had just started raining. As we made our way to Images restaurant for dinner, just a few hundred meters behind Sean, Ryan, and I, began (or ended) the biggest, brightest, closest, and most powerful rainbow I have ever seen... and will probably ever see. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet: each color as clear as a paint brush to a crisp, white sheet of paper. We could actually see the colors shielding the majority of a house from view- dusting the bushes below. I could almost taste the colors, as the entire bow stretched across the road we were standing on and the net couple toward the ocean. It was a dual rainbow, bringing me back to the cliffs of the Road to Hana on Maui.
I tasted the best chardonnay of my life with an order of sweet chili prawns. Sean and I had gone to the local bottle shop, spending nearly an hour deciding on what brand, let along type, or wine to purchase. How many times have you read the back of a wine bottle and tasted exactly what was described? (I am a sucker for labels). I have never experienced a smooth, almost buttery sensation of wine on my tongue... And with a chardonnay! The name of the wine: __(goes here soon!)__
Sonia took me to a bonfire in Tarang a couple nights ago. I can only describe the time as joyful. A youth gathering with people of all ages, hosted on a farm owned by a man probably in his 70s, out enjoying the night with us. Hot, BBQed (or grilled/roasted) carrots, pumpkin, lamb ribs and steaks, snags, onions, peas... waiting to be eaten... Dessert was curious bananas cut down the middle, filled with chocolate and marshmallow, and wrapped in foil: Just set them on the hot, glowing ashes/coals until they are soft with the test of the tongs. Then move them out of the fire, let them cool a bit on the grass, open them up, and enjoy! I know I did :)
Next was "bush bread" called damper (Aussie pronunciation = dampa) Being with gluten didn't stop me from Sonia's persuasions to try the Australian tradition. This is what you'd eat stuck out in the outback somewhere, with some flour, water, milk if you're fancy, and a fire. Wrapped in foil, or put in a pot, the bread is heated until the outside is hardened, leaving a soft, warm, dense, center: perfect for a topping of jam or butter. The taste reminded me of the old fashioned Bisquick biscuits mom would make with dinner as a kid. The textures of a hardened crust encasing (may I repeat) the warm, soft, dense center, trumped the simple taste and created something so special, rolling around in my mouth... I could have even been more excited had I taken Anna's (Sonia's cousin) position and kneaded the dough myself. I cannot pass up the opportunity to learn new tricks and traditions. Especially in the baking/cooking category!
After roasting a couple small, flavored, Aussie marshmallows, a man named Nathan (who also helps lead the youth... also holding a marine biology degree and employed by Wannon Water) read a devotion by Dietrich Bonheoffer, after which Sonia closed with a prayer. It began to sprinkle a bit as we wrapped up discussions for the night.
I know a bit about Bonheoffer, but not the whole story. If you're in my boat, this website is enlightening: http://www.dbonhoeffer.org/
Sounds a bit intense...
The following may be a collection of these random mind tattoos... Just to warn you :)
A couple days ago, I could have captured the $1,000 prize money for best photo of the year... Should I have had a camera and maybe not even the best photo taking skills. It was a sunny, late afternoon and it had just started raining. As we made our way to Images restaurant for dinner, just a few hundred meters behind Sean, Ryan, and I, began (or ended) the biggest, brightest, closest, and most powerful rainbow I have ever seen... and will probably ever see. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet: each color as clear as a paint brush to a crisp, white sheet of paper. We could actually see the colors shielding the majority of a house from view- dusting the bushes below. I could almost taste the colors, as the entire bow stretched across the road we were standing on and the net couple toward the ocean. It was a dual rainbow, bringing me back to the cliffs of the Road to Hana on Maui.
I tasted the best chardonnay of my life with an order of sweet chili prawns. Sean and I had gone to the local bottle shop, spending nearly an hour deciding on what brand, let along type, or wine to purchase. How many times have you read the back of a wine bottle and tasted exactly what was described? (I am a sucker for labels). I have never experienced a smooth, almost buttery sensation of wine on my tongue... And with a chardonnay! The name of the wine: __(goes here soon!)__
Sonia took me to a bonfire in Tarang a couple nights ago. I can only describe the time as joyful. A youth gathering with people of all ages, hosted on a farm owned by a man probably in his 70s, out enjoying the night with us. Hot, BBQed (or grilled/roasted) carrots, pumpkin, lamb ribs and steaks, snags, onions, peas... waiting to be eaten... Dessert was curious bananas cut down the middle, filled with chocolate and marshmallow, and wrapped in foil: Just set them on the hot, glowing ashes/coals until they are soft with the test of the tongs. Then move them out of the fire, let them cool a bit on the grass, open them up, and enjoy! I know I did :)
Next was "bush bread" called damper (Aussie pronunciation = dampa) Being with gluten didn't stop me from Sonia's persuasions to try the Australian tradition. This is what you'd eat stuck out in the outback somewhere, with some flour, water, milk if you're fancy, and a fire. Wrapped in foil, or put in a pot, the bread is heated until the outside is hardened, leaving a soft, warm, dense, center: perfect for a topping of jam or butter. The taste reminded me of the old fashioned Bisquick biscuits mom would make with dinner as a kid. The textures of a hardened crust encasing (may I repeat) the warm, soft, dense center, trumped the simple taste and created something so special, rolling around in my mouth... I could have even been more excited had I taken Anna's (Sonia's cousin) position and kneaded the dough myself. I cannot pass up the opportunity to learn new tricks and traditions. Especially in the baking/cooking category!
After roasting a couple small, flavored, Aussie marshmallows, a man named Nathan (who also helps lead the youth... also holding a marine biology degree and employed by Wannon Water) read a devotion by Dietrich Bonheoffer, after which Sonia closed with a prayer. It began to sprinkle a bit as we wrapped up discussions for the night.
I know a bit about Bonheoffer, but not the whole story. If you're in my boat, this website is enlightening: http://www.dbonhoeffer.org/
Just read Bonhoeffer's name today while reading a book called "Where is God when it hurts?". His name was referenced by a gentleman, {Reger},whom under his leadership end up in a concentration camp because he was a Christian.Reger says in that camp he learned the Who of his life...
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