Thinking about Eating

In my younger, "invincible" days, I seldom put much thought into my diet. Food was food, and the goal was to fill up as fast as possible. I think my Father was my inspiration: he was the fastest eater I can remember ever watching. He hardly chewed his food, and, as it left his fork, I think he was already swallowing.

I vividly recall, to this day, his "humorous" end to saying grace: "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, whoever eats the fastest gets the most." "Ha, eat up," and he would laugh.

Growing up in a family of SIX BOYS (he was the youngest), plus SIX GIRLS, (he was 10th overall), the competition for food was a legitimate concern. He grew up during the Great Depression and then World War II, with food rationing and scarcity daily facts of life.

He never forgot his beginnings, and it affected us all.

My Father had horrible gas. Farting was how he showed his appreciation for a good meal, meaning he was stuffed. He loved to claim that people in other cultures farted after a meal to show their appreciation to the cook. I never knew if he really believed that, but it provided an excuse for me to fart too.

Today, we realize the effect of a poor diet and our eating habits. Eating slowly will result in feeling fuller, after about 20 minutes, regardless of how much one actually consumes. Chewing food thoroughly helps digestion and reduces intestinal gas. (There, that's my contribution to a healthy lifestyle for today.)

Here is a link to my post on Gruggers Way entitled "Thought for Food"

Cancer Kills a little bit of all of us

I attended a memorial service for a friend who recently lost her battle with cancer. Mostly I attended to show support for the surviving widower; he lost his wife of 30 years, and she was only 50 years old. We feel most of our pain for those who must somehow find a way through the grief and the loss; those who must learn to live all over again.

When we lose someone we care about we also die just a little bit too. I don't believe that grief makes us stronger; I believe that grief takes a toll over time and builds up until we just don't want to go on anymore ourselves, and we give up.

Cancer is such a horrific disease, attacking all ages and destroying lives and families without mercy.

Surgery, Radiation, Chemotherapy: three terms that follow cancer victims to their final day. At first these terms represent hope; but they are nearly always just a stopgap. The REAL fight against Cancer must strike at the source of the disease; not merely treat the patients.

More thoughts on this at my other blog, Gruggers Way

Security for Personal Health

One part of a healthy lifestyle is peace of mind.

Part of that "peace of mind" comes from knowing that you have done your best to ensure that your vehicles are properly maintained and ready for the road. Something as simple as running out of gasoline can ruin an outing. A broken Timing Belt can END it.

My recent week included a broken timing belt as well as malfunctioning equipment on our motor home. The timing belt should have been replaced at 60,000 miles, but I had 80,017 miles on my 12-year-old Ranger pickup when the belt went. Age could have something to do with it too. Rubber can get brittle over time. Not many 12-year-old Ranger pickups have only 80,000 miles on them. This repair was fairly inexpensive as the breakdown occurred in my own city, Missoula, and my mechanic effected a repair within 6 hours of the event. (The mechanic's name is Patrick Jensen, with an 'e' and I highly recommend him as knowledgeable, honest and responsive.)

The motor home was checked out just before our trip. It is important to remember that there are TWO parts to a motor home: the truck chassis and the coach. The truck chassis was what I had checked out; the coach, which contains the "hotel" aspects of a motor home, was not checked out. The LP gas mode for the refrigerator did not work. Since we were camped in the wild where there was no electricity to hook up, we needed the self-contained LP gas mode to keep the reefer cold. A refrigerator on battery power will quickly run down the battery. One can't drive all the time, so while we were parked in 98 degree weather, the food in the reefer got warm....

Peace of mind is a very important aspect of a healthy lifestyle. It also makes things easier in the "personal relationships" part of life. We have to ensure that our family feels safe and secure when they are out in the wilds with us.

Inspect those rigs and maintain them!!