. . . loves Sushi!
Years ago, when I first learned of this little Eastern delight, I thought, "NO WAY!" But, when I took a job as emergency support of my family in the Fall of 1988, as an urchin diving crew tender, I had my first sample of this exquisite delicacy, and, WOW! does it ever taste so good!
Urchin row is about the best tasting form of "shushi" I've ever had. For the uninitiated, I'd describe it as composit taste of fresh butter, rich dairy cream, fresh king crab leg, a twist of salt, and a flavor unlike any other that compliments all of those! UUUUMMMM!
I think the smaller, greenish-colored urchin have the better tasting roe. The larger, purple species has less flavor, to my taste.
Japanese sea food tastes highly prize urchin roe, so it goes for well over $50 an ounce in Japan, making it hard to find here where much of it is harvested in the late Fall.
Still, if you find a mature green urchin in Fall waters of Puget sound, carefully capture one with thick rubber gloves to prevent the disease-causing spines from puncturing your skin, open the shell to expose the pinkish to redish roe inside, and just scoop out and -YUM! enjoy!
Puget Sound has many more sushi-eligible sea life species, so search for what to find, where, and when harvesting is optimal for species propagation.
Here's a starter . . .
One with renown in Asia, is Geoduck ("Goey Duck") Here is a Puget Sound farmer page with an explanation, and recipes! [$115.00 buys you about 1-1/2 pounds! then, pay S&H!]
http://www.geoduckrecipes.com/
Buy here . . .
http://www.marxfoods.com/Live-Geoduck
Puget Sound has fish monitors! Here is one, UW, Seattle . . .
http://www.washington.edu/burkemuseum/collections/ichthyology/FishKey/
Go to the "Key" page for specie details. Catching Puget Sound fish requires a State Salt Water License, so locate a license provider for both the license, and vital guides for species seasons, endangered species, and seasons to catch specific species.
Here, . . .
http://www.pugetsoundmagazine.com/articles/a001/10022.php
. . . an article describes methods of catching Puget Sound edible fish species.
Have fun!
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
China Beach, Vietnam - Discovered Again
This just came to my attention today . . .
Dana and crew made it into my heart in their 1988 TV series, "China Beach." When the series was announced, it put me in a state of semi-shock, as I both feared to view it, but was irresistiblydrawn to it like a moth to a flame in the night.
I was there. Tet, 1968; China Beach. It was my station during my entire year in Vietnam.
I can never forget the sights, smells, sounds, people, devastation, Death, fears, confusions, hostilities, raw animosities, deceptions, political plays, deadly "friendly" fire, friendly foreign country soldiers and supporting civilians from Australia to Korea, deadly tracer bullets blazing past inches from my face behind a fragile wall of sand-filled oil drums, a child who used a razor blade to cut my back pocket attempting to take my wallet as I was finally leaving for home . . .
The long list of memories goes on and on . . .
Now, after my last day in DaNang, in the late Fall of 1968, here again I am brought face-to-face with its memories, its passions, my newly-married loneliness, memories of sweet, kind-hearted Vietnamese peasants, most of whom I knew as orphans, widows, or refugees, living in soda-pop cardboard shipping boxes, in crowded, dirt-path camps, and on the China Beach - to- Monkey Mountain Beach on the DaNang River peninsula ocean-side.
People I later learned had been photographed where they were murdered by hoards of North Viet Cong who swept over DaNang, driving thousands onto China Beach, and when bullets ran out, brutally beat and bayoneted these innocent people for their support of U.S. Forces during our silly political play-war actions.
That's the "China Beach I held close in my heart, during every TV episode I watched. It is the same "China Beach" I hold in my heart when I watch this DVD. It will always be this "China Beach."
I lost my family due largely to the moral dilemma that Vietnam played on my youthful conscience. Honoring a government that so callously used it political might to play with a nation's common peoples' lives, and so carelessly abandoned its duty to defend to the Death it had brought to this very shore made my young father's heart into a confused and helpless pit of irresponsibilities. I still sense the loss of moral certainty that my family finally rejected me for lack of. It, this inability to stand on unwavering moral ethic, mirrors the wish-washy lack of moral ethic that I felt in my Vietnam experience.
Today, as over 300, 000, 000 Americans can potentially view this DVD, it will have very little life-changing impact on our nation. It is too far in the past to be relevant, too few viewers have the intensity of memory of this place and the events it contained during the time of this movie, and it will be a mere curiosity for those interested enough to spend a few moments to view it.
Too Bad. History in our time, is engineered to numb the dumb, hide the ride, and scare the rest from the nest. We have an "education" system that is solely focused on training our children politically-doctored "history," and a political fantasy that changes with every whim of the social engineers that drive public opinion from the media platforms that are controlled by the same financial engines that control all our political "leaders."
"China Beach" is like an echo of this same demented political engine, only its voice is carried to us from over 40 years ago!
America, it's too late for you. Your "China Beach" Massacre is just beyond the next bend in the political immoral mire that you threw on China Beach nearly 50 years ago!
Somehow, I feel no pain, now, as I watch from my vantage point of experiencing overwhelming pain as I helplessly watched the terrible, wanton mayhem unfolding on China Beach, 43 years ago.
I wish I could feel pain, again.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Then, Along Came Mary!
[Note:] I discovered that this was not published when I wrote it. So, here it is!]
Have I told you about the "Miracle Lady" lately?
She's my wife, Mary, who's life for the months from September til the first of this month, March 2011, has been anything but calm! First, in about two month's time last Summer, her eyes went from fairly good vision to almost no vision, due to retina swelling, we finally discovered in mid August. Then when a friend of our from my days of gardening and landscaping on a Whidbey Island beach cottage property, just came bouncing right back into my life. She, our friend, invited us to a leg of lamb bar-b-que at her lakeside duplex, and while I was making the bar b que, she invited Mary inside to tour her little duplex. But, Mary missed the tricky door step, fell onto the high door sill, shattered her shoulder in many fragments, and over the next two weeks, went into deep shock and then depression.
By the end of December, Mary's depression had so taken her will to live away that she stopped eating. By the middle of February, Mary's weight had dissipated away to well under 100 pounds, and I was called in to meet with her and her case worker, and psychiatrist. We finally persuaded Mary to 'volunteer' to go to a physical and mental health wellness unit in an auburn hospital, to begin the moment they had a bed open.
With some hospital maneuvering to speed things up, Mary was admitted in mid-February. For two intensive weeks she was diagnosed daily, given close diet scrutiny, frequent mental evaluations, and amendments to compensate for brain chemistry imbalance.
At Day 15, she was discharged, and a whole new Mary Margaret (Pearl) came back to Lakewood! Her sprtits were way up, her weight was returning, and her vigor and will to exist had returned! What a Joy!
At the health care home she was in, they had been trying to prepare her for release to an assisted living home, but her deteriorated mental and physical condition had held things up. With her renewed spirits, Mary was soon able to go with me to review prospective homes. What we discovered was unfortunate. Of four we visited, two had very little resident activities in the public areas, halls, and only muffled dining room chatter. We were not allowed to mingle with residents, for the obvious.
The third home we toured was much better, open, and all residents seemed happy, well-adjusted, and interactive. But, when the room the administrator had promised us would be Mary's was due for her to move in on the agreed date, we were informed that "there are no vacancies"!! I had told the administrator how I'd had a fast-growing lump on my throat, searched online to find non-doctor, non-invasive ways to stop such growths, and finally, it was hydrogen peroxide that reduced the lump to nothing in about three months, and it has not returned since early 2010.
Her reply was, "So you self-treated the condition?" - as if that were a bad thing. I also took coconut oil and hydrogen peroxide to a young man living there who has M.S., and is determined to overcome its effects, which I given this admin to give to him. From her lie about "No vacancy," two days later, and her disparaging remark about treating myself, it seems clear that her idea of health is to trust disease-promoting medical and pharmaceutical enterprises to heal us!
A good thing she turned us down! I could not think of Mary being under such twisted anti-health care!
Then came the best home! Plus, it's just a block from my bank branch of HomeStreet Bank, here in Lakewood! The home is owned by a family where the mother is an invalid, and hubby stays with her in their home in Vancover, Washinton. He has a family friend, a local lawyer, managing the home via his local business. The admin and her assistant are great ladies, taking detailed care for each resident. And, both are named "Cindy," and "Sindy"!! Makes me feel right at home, since my youngest child is "Cindy"!!
But, back to Mary! She has just amazed me with her vitality! Her sweet smile, super kind attitude, and her heart flowing over with love for all is so nice to have again! Our relationship was not just on hold these months, it was not there. "Frustrating," to say the least, having no way to stop the depression, the constant bad-mouthing, and the unkind words that her dementia seemed to work overtime to produce. So good to have my sweetheart, Mary, back again!
On a close, similar note, several ladies have taken a liking to me, as Mary's hubby, mind you!, and look forward to this Spring, when I am to help create a garden for residents. I'll be taking my compost, buying some gladiolus, maybe a few dahlia, and some vegetables, like peas and carrots. Simple garden plants, but hands-on fun in the outdoors for these cabin-fevered sweethearts! I look forward to some great times in their little community.
For Mary's room, we are carefully selecting furniture like she's had with her first marriage, things that hold a unique and uncommon good looks to their design and material. Pieces that fit together to form a special, inviting place for dear Mary to be comforted in, and to entertain her family and friends. It is a shared bath and closet room, where two rooms are served. For now, the other room is vacant.
One detail about the setting that especially makes Mary happy is the babbling little creek, Ponce de Leon Creek, just outside her window! It exits a via-duct from under Lakewood, Towne Centre's all-paved over, sprawling campus, and actually flows right under the Key Bank building!, and enters a gully with alder and Douglas Fir trees, wild-growing holly, and woods-bushes, has a rocky bed, and lots of wild grasses, shrubs, and creek sounds!
When I was setting her room up for her arrival, there were two very plump raccoons traversing the far edge of the stream bed, tuning over the stones, looking for larvae and other delectable cuisine! They sure looked pretty! Yesterday, in the morning, I saw two mallard ducks swimming down-stream, going fast, with the added speed of the fast stream!
It's kinda funny, but this little stream empties right into the lake where my reappeared Whidbey Island friend now lives in her duplex! It's a small world we live in!
I'll keep Mary's progress posted - probably infrequently!
Have I told you about the "Miracle Lady" lately?
She's my wife, Mary, who's life for the months from September til the first of this month, March 2011, has been anything but calm! First, in about two month's time last Summer, her eyes went from fairly good vision to almost no vision, due to retina swelling, we finally discovered in mid August. Then when a friend of our from my days of gardening and landscaping on a Whidbey Island beach cottage property, just came bouncing right back into my life. She, our friend, invited us to a leg of lamb bar-b-que at her lakeside duplex, and while I was making the bar b que, she invited Mary inside to tour her little duplex. But, Mary missed the tricky door step, fell onto the high door sill, shattered her shoulder in many fragments, and over the next two weeks, went into deep shock and then depression.
By the end of December, Mary's depression had so taken her will to live away that she stopped eating. By the middle of February, Mary's weight had dissipated away to well under 100 pounds, and I was called in to meet with her and her case worker, and psychiatrist. We finally persuaded Mary to 'volunteer' to go to a physical and mental health wellness unit in an auburn hospital, to begin the moment they had a bed open.
With some hospital maneuvering to speed things up, Mary was admitted in mid-February. For two intensive weeks she was diagnosed daily, given close diet scrutiny, frequent mental evaluations, and amendments to compensate for brain chemistry imbalance.
At Day 15, she was discharged, and a whole new Mary Margaret (Pearl) came back to Lakewood! Her sprtits were way up, her weight was returning, and her vigor and will to exist had returned! What a Joy!
At the health care home she was in, they had been trying to prepare her for release to an assisted living home, but her deteriorated mental and physical condition had held things up. With her renewed spirits, Mary was soon able to go with me to review prospective homes. What we discovered was unfortunate. Of four we visited, two had very little resident activities in the public areas, halls, and only muffled dining room chatter. We were not allowed to mingle with residents, for the obvious.
The third home we toured was much better, open, and all residents seemed happy, well-adjusted, and interactive. But, when the room the administrator had promised us would be Mary's was due for her to move in on the agreed date, we were informed that "there are no vacancies"!! I had told the administrator how I'd had a fast-growing lump on my throat, searched online to find non-doctor, non-invasive ways to stop such growths, and finally, it was hydrogen peroxide that reduced the lump to nothing in about three months, and it has not returned since early 2010.
Her reply was, "So you self-treated the condition?" - as if that were a bad thing. I also took coconut oil and hydrogen peroxide to a young man living there who has M.S., and is determined to overcome its effects, which I given this admin to give to him. From her lie about "No vacancy," two days later, and her disparaging remark about treating myself, it seems clear that her idea of health is to trust disease-promoting medical and pharmaceutical enterprises to heal us!
A good thing she turned us down! I could not think of Mary being under such twisted anti-health care!
Then came the best home! Plus, it's just a block from my bank branch of HomeStreet Bank, here in Lakewood! The home is owned by a family where the mother is an invalid, and hubby stays with her in their home in Vancover, Washinton. He has a family friend, a local lawyer, managing the home via his local business. The admin and her assistant are great ladies, taking detailed care for each resident. And, both are named "Cindy," and "Sindy"!! Makes me feel right at home, since my youngest child is "Cindy"!!
But, back to Mary! She has just amazed me with her vitality! Her sweet smile, super kind attitude, and her heart flowing over with love for all is so nice to have again! Our relationship was not just on hold these months, it was not there. "Frustrating," to say the least, having no way to stop the depression, the constant bad-mouthing, and the unkind words that her dementia seemed to work overtime to produce. So good to have my sweetheart, Mary, back again!
On a close, similar note, several ladies have taken a liking to me, as Mary's hubby, mind you!, and look forward to this Spring, when I am to help create a garden for residents. I'll be taking my compost, buying some gladiolus, maybe a few dahlia, and some vegetables, like peas and carrots. Simple garden plants, but hands-on fun in the outdoors for these cabin-fevered sweethearts! I look forward to some great times in their little community.
For Mary's room, we are carefully selecting furniture like she's had with her first marriage, things that hold a unique and uncommon good looks to their design and material. Pieces that fit together to form a special, inviting place for dear Mary to be comforted in, and to entertain her family and friends. It is a shared bath and closet room, where two rooms are served. For now, the other room is vacant.
One detail about the setting that especially makes Mary happy is the babbling little creek, Ponce de Leon Creek, just outside her window! It exits a via-duct from under Lakewood, Towne Centre's all-paved over, sprawling campus, and actually flows right under the Key Bank building!, and enters a gully with alder and Douglas Fir trees, wild-growing holly, and woods-bushes, has a rocky bed, and lots of wild grasses, shrubs, and creek sounds!
When I was setting her room up for her arrival, there were two very plump raccoons traversing the far edge of the stream bed, tuning over the stones, looking for larvae and other delectable cuisine! They sure looked pretty! Yesterday, in the morning, I saw two mallard ducks swimming down-stream, going fast, with the added speed of the fast stream!
It's kinda funny, but this little stream empties right into the lake where my reappeared Whidbey Island friend now lives in her duplex! It's a small world we live in!
I'll keep Mary's progress posted - probably infrequently!
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Just added: WorldTime Clock
I was adjusting my computer time this morning - it's 2:30 AM:-)) and noticed that there is a neat little service that allows a clock to be displayed on one's blog! TaDa! My little blog is now sporting a lovely Blue - my fav color! - analog clock, with the nearest major city - Seattle - time!
Hope you, my reader, enjoys!
Here's the source point to do this . . .
http://www.worldtimeserver.com/clocks/wtsclock024.aspx
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Infrequent posts here! But Lots From My Heart to Share . . .
[Note: I found this was unpublished today, October 8, so here it is!]
Yeah, I KNOW! 99% of "thinking" people BELIEVE the "E" Theory, but, hey! folks, it's JUST a THEORY!
Reality check! PLEASE!
See, there just is not a single human alive today who can tell us exactly what took place at "the Beginning"!! Not one human being!
So, READ MY LIPS - "Evolution Theory" is exactly that - Theory! But, have you watched "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed!"?? To get a pre-idea of how it stirred up folk who Believe the Evolution Theory is Iron-clad Fact, read this unfavorable Wiki . . .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expelled:_No_Intelligence_Allowed
If you want to have your eyes opened to the extreme nonsense those who fanatically support the Theory of Evolution go to keep their dead horse from looking so dead, watch the movie! It sickens me so much I cannot watch it without lots of time between times.
I've just been going through tons of assertions that "Global Warming" is fact. How silly! REAL scientists look into REAL geological records, where REAL CO2 history is recorded for anybody to see, and they find that CO2 levels rise 200 to 400 years AFTER global warming! Get a load of that, Al Gore-ites!
Well, well! Guess that this fact has been thrown out by the GM group as "Irrelevant"!!
I also went over some of the 9/11 issues, and discovered another angry group who want to uncover and disclose and bring to justice, those responsible for this atrocity, who are also our elected government, and bureaucracy! Our neighbors sold us a bill of goods on their involvement and promotion of the murders of those 2972 in the towers, and these neighbors are keeping their lips sealed!
Check out this group of bereaved widows . . .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey_Girls
In a search for them, several arrogant 9/11 cover-up supporters belittle these brave ladies! How wonderful our neighbors are!
Ann Coulter Attacks 9/11 Widows
Conservative Author: 4 N.J. Wives Enjoyed Their Husbands' Deaths
Rather than provide a direct link to the video on CBS' site, and then have CBS change it, just "Google" that title. Even Ms. Hillary Clinton shows dismay at this show of inhuman, heartless "reporting."
If you have a NetFlix account, as I do, you can watch the documentary that shows these ladies' nearly fruitless attempts to discover who was responsible for the 9/11 disaster. It's . . .
"9/11: Press for Truth."
As I watched it, Alex Jones' videos of this shameful act replayed in my mind, and all the many things brought to me about this Last Day came to mind, starting with my mom's sending me "Non Dare Call It Conspiracy," early in 1973. Look it up; I even found a free text of this very revealing book on one website. A must read for those serious about understanding how devious and evil-hearted our nation's leaders are.
NDCIC's author, Gary Allen, was doing investigative journalism on the strange behaviors along the Alaska North Bank oil drilling project, when he inadvertently bumped into U.S. bankers and Soviet Bolshevik Revolution ties, and that discovery led him to the roots of corruption in human nations' leadership circles, starting with bankers, the Catholic Church, and nearly all officials in U.S. government. His reporting has since been confirmed a thousand times over, but nothing in our leadership has changed for the better. Go figure.
Today, mulling over how useless I feel about my ability to aid my departed, deceived children seems to me, iI was led to think about what I CAN do for my beloved, hurting family; Trust Creator, and seek for things I can do. simple things, like posting my one son's art works so he might have a small income, since he is completely disabled from a terrible accident years ago, and I can grow Love and Peace in my heart for each other child. Simple things, and I wonder if they will help at all, but at least I'll feel I'm making a better life for those I love so dearly.
Another bit of research i did today was to follow a trail of work to make oils from algae. For most of my life, I've held an interest in energy conservation, utilizing alternative energy resources, and discovering others. We have become so used to wasting our resources that it is hard to see that making simple changes to our habits can save vast amounts of things we are running short on.
Maybe it's gross to say here, but I save thousands of gallons of clean water a year by collecting urine in a simple pail, then either flushing several days' worth, or best, adding this valuable, clean source of Nitrogen to my compost piles. It is simply amazing to see how much just my water saving adds up to!
Another study I followed today, and yesterday, is a form of digitized music generation, called Melody Assistant, and its big cousin, Harmony Assistant, plus some neat add-ons and companion programs. The developers also offer some little-known African games, and it's interesting to see how these simple pleasures of music and friendship sharing add so much to a joyful heart!
Speaking about small things and a joyful heart, my dear wife, Mary "Pearl," as I call her (Her middle name is 'Margaret,' a term meaning "Pearl"), has been in a nursing home since the end of August, when her shoulder was severely broken in many pieces from a freak fall. Her eyesight had failed over a matter of just two months last Summer, and the fall was mostly caused by her lack of vision.
The orthopedic surgeon who replaced her arm femur ball with a steel ball told us in his debriefing that that type of injury caused more trauma to older persons than any other bone damage! All I know is that my dear wife went into a terribly deep depression, and finally gave up eating for several weeks over Christmas and New Years, and in a last effort to save her life, her caregivers decided to send her to a mature persons' Wellness and Health ward in Auburn.
It was discovered that her mental chemistry was imbalanced, and her lack of hunger was also affected by the chemistry issue. Over a two-week period, I saw my wife become a new person! She is back at the nursing home, and now talking about coming home! She had wanted to be placed in an assisted living home, but now her vigor and disposition are so much better she feels she can put up with me! What a change!
Talking about caring for my family, I'm thinking about taking the six-hour bus, ferry, and train trip back to my son's place, and taking photos of his art, to post here! Maybe someone who is meant to see, and love his great art will find it irresistible!
Well, it's late. I want to check in with my friends over at "Not Over The Hill," where us maturing types gather!
Good night!
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