Beige World

I live in Beige World.

I moved to Orange County five years ago and I was surprised to discover that nearly every building here is beige. It's true! Oh, there is some variation. There's light beige, medium beige, dark beige and everything in-between but really it's all beige. They try to give them fancy names like "Chaparral", "Sand Dune", or "Coffee" but they are still all beige. They can't fool me. Needless to say, it's very boring. I am tempted to paint the town red.

Speaking of painting, it just so happens that we are re-doing the interior of our house. We are painting it ... you guessed it ... beige. You can call it "Sandcastle" if it makes you feel better. The outside is, of course, already beige, the same color as every building in my association. Beige is very safe.

Even the general landscape is beige. Parts of the coast here can be beautiful but, think about it, even there the sand is beige. The natural areas of Orange County are, in general, beige. The areas that don't have beige buildings on them feature scrubby beige hills. Oh, sometimes, if we get a little rain, there is a green tinge to the beige or a little yellow from mustard plants but that's about it. Not the stuff of watercolors. Of course, our ubiquitous smog is ... you guessed it ... beige. Very monotonous. I used to live in Seattle which is green but definitely not with envy.

The other day I was filling out a form. It was asking various questions about my background. One of the questions was about race. I was reminded what an artificial human construct race is! Whites aren't really white. Blacks aren't really black. Why are any of these distinctions helpful? So, instead of checking "white" I checked "other" and then took a close look at my skin. What color am I really? With a little shiver of disgust I realized ... you guessed it ... I'm beige! Oh, the humiliation!

I have worms

I have worms -thousands of 'em! Thankfully they are not infesting my body but rather are quietly sitting on my patio eating my leftovers and producing rich fertilizer for my yard. That's pretty special. Actually, they are very special worms called "red wrigglers" who are known for their voracious appetite and equally prodigious ... ah, what shall we call it ... "casting" production. Another less solid by-product is "worm tea." This is collected by a tray at the bottom and all I have to do is turn a small spigot and help myself to a generous libation of worm tea. My flowers love it but humans should refrain.

Alan, the worm man, got me started with a tower of stacked black trays and a bunch of worm-rich dirt which he put in the bottom tray and partially in the next tray up. This was followed up a few days later by a small damp bag supposedly containing one pound of premium red wrigglers, hand-picked, no doubt, for the great privilege of being the starter colony for my personal worm bin. I am not sure why they then spent the next week trying to escape the wonderful home I had provided for them. I'd come out in the morning and find dozens of them spread out in all directions all over my patio seeking their freedom. I decided to banish these miscreants to "purgatory" which is, in fact, a very inferior plastic bin full of weeds, leftover potting soil, and other garden debris. There they will eek out a bare existence cursing the day they decided to leave the generous luxury of my main worm bin. I later read that it is quite normal for worms to be a bit skittish about a new home and, indeed, they seem to have now settled down quite nicely with no new escapees for a while.

Worms are not picky eaters but they do have some standards. I generally feed them leftover veggies, fruit, rice, bread, etc. They shouldn't eat citrus peels and are not fond of salad dressing and other sauces. They can eat meat but this tends to attract other vermin who are not welcome in my home, so I avoid that. I am told it's important to occasionally give them egg shells which is meant to help the PH balance, whatever that is. These I carefully dry and then grind to a powder using a mortar and pestle and sprinkle liberally throughout their next offering. They don't jump up and down and wag their tails but I also understand they really like coffee grounds. At first I collected the leftover grounds from my office but my co-workers only drink Costco-brand decaf, and I really thought my worms deserved better. Now they enjoy a rich, fully-caffeinated blend from Starbucks, free for the asking at my local gourmet coffee joint. I wonder if it keeps them up at night?

Alan also explained the worm hierarchy to me. The top layer, where I add food, is where they eat. He explained that the fastidious worms then plunge down to the bottom layer to "poop." The middle layer is where they ... ah, what shall we call it ... mate. So then, this is the sum total of the life of a worm: eating, pooping, mating. Sounds wonderful, doesn't it!?!

So, the next time you're over, we'll sit on my sunny patio, surrounded by my surprisingly vibrant flowers, and we'll raise our cups of red wriggler tea and promise never to again disparage "the lowly worm." Cheers!

Nelson Mandela

I've decided that I really like biographies and autobiographies. My sister gave me two for Christmas and one was the autobiography of Nelson Mandela ("A Long Walk to Freedom"). I thoroughly enjoy it. Mandela has had a compelling life and is not a bad writer either. This great South African Freedom Fighter dedicated his total life to the emancipation of minorities in his country. I think I read somewhere that South Africa was the only country to transition power in such a way without civil war. Yes, there was sporadic violence but not widespread bloodshed. Governmental transitions are rarely so smooth. A lot of credit for that goes to Mandela. For most of his career he advocated non-violence but later he felt that sabotage (of infrastructure, not people) would put the needed pressure on the white government for change. Of course, he later served as President of South Africa.

I have three rather selective observations about his life.

First, He endured 27 years in prison. It is a testament to his spirit and those of his companions that they were able to face the great hardships and brutality with such indomitable perseverance. Certainly it is the loss of hope that truly condemns a person in prison to a kind of living death. Mandela and his companions were innovative and tireless in the different ways they coped, communicated, or fought for greater privileges. He began writing his autobiography during this time.

Second, an amusing story. Prior to his incarceration, and during the time he ran the ANC's military wing (sabotage) he was on the run, hiding in many different places and situations. An odd African habit nearly got him caught. Evidently, some Africans like sour milk, also called amasi. This is essentially unpasterized milk left in the sun to curdle. Mandela was hiding in a comrade's apartment in a white neighborhood. He left a glass bottle of milk on a sunny window sill to curdle and become creamy. He later overheard two Zulu workers comment that it was strange to see milk on the window sill because whites don't drink amasi. It was a close call and he learned to be more careful.

Finally, Mandela sacrificed his marriages for service to his country. I did not know previously that Mandela was twice married and divorced. He admits in his autobiography that he was "married" to his country rather than to his families but this was a sacrifice he was willing to make. He worked constantly and tirelessly for freedom, but could he have done it with out ignoring his family? That's a tough question. Many "great" men have wrestled with that one.

3 Secrets of Dieting ... if I followed them.

No one in my family is particularly overweight but we talk a lot about food and dieting. When a friend is on a new diet, I question them quite closely about the short term and long term success. Over the years I have gleaned three secrets of dieting.

Secret #1: We eat more than we should for emotional reasons.

Let's face it. Food is comforting. (Some more than others, of course. For example, I don't find humus to be a very comforting food, nor tofu or brussel sprouts. I am thankful for potato chips, chocolate, and ice cream). It's natural that when we are emotionally hurting to use food to try and fill that hole or to comfort that hurt. I notice that I eat when I feel lonely. Since life can be difficult, there are many opportunities to learn this unhealthy response. And, of course, it ultimately is a false way to meet this need. The key here is to address the underlying issues. That's not easy but it's the key to not eating for emotional reasons.

Secret #2: We eat more than we should out of habit.

How many of you were told growing up to eat everything on your plate? I think we get used to eating a certain amount of food without thinking and thus we unconsciously eat more than we should. Restaurant portions don't help. The first time my wife and I ate at Claim Jumpers we shared one Senior dinner plus one side dish. It was plenty for the two of us! I think we even brought some home. Perhaps when we eat out we feel compelled to get our money's worth. For these reasons and others, we zoom right past that "full" point and, out of habit, eat more than we should. In this case, the key is to be more conscious of our eating, to notice when we are really full or when we are not. In my family we have a new saying that helps us here: "It's OK to waste". One habit many of us have is to not waste anything. When survival is on the line that's a good policy but nowadays we eat way to much (at least in the US) and so it's actually a good thing to waste. Leave food on your plate. (Actually, I now do worm composting so the worms get the extra!)

Secret #3: It is easier to add exercise than to cut calories.

This is probably the most controversial statement of my three secrets and there is quite a bit of disagreement about it. Cutting calories and increasing exercise are both effective and take discipline but in my experience resisting calories is the greater challenge, at least in the long term. A fascinating study reported in Health Magazine confirmed as much. Three groups of people who wanted to loose weight were given three different strategies: Diet only, Exercise only, and a combination of diet and exercise. All were fairly successful for one year but only the Exercise only folks kept off the weight for two years. The other groups, the calorie cutters, all eventually gained the weight back.

Conclusion:

Knowing these there secrets doesn't mean it's easy to loose weight. I've known them for some time and yet I have not lost much weight. Still, they are a great starting point and I'd be working on them right now but this has been a difficult time for me and so if you'll excuse me, I need to go pig out.