December 18 – colors of the sky

colors of the sky
pastel mornings, oils at noon
watercolor nights

The angle of the axis and rotation of the globe have combined so that my day starts and ends in the dark.

Very few benefits to this but I get to see the sunrise and sunset each day.

It happens in my rearview mirror but still.

I had lived my entire life in West Michigan until moving to North Georgia about 10 years ago.

I thought that things like sunsets and twilight or first light and full dark were pretty much constant.

I never thought that these things might be influenced by a locations distance to the equator.

It makes sense, geometrically, but who goes through their day thinking geometrically (besides my brother the math teacher).

Weatherunderground.com posts the different times for:

Sunset
Civil Twilight
Nautical Twilight
Astronomical Twilight
Length of Visible Light

I am not sure what the difference in those things mean exactly but I am sure my good friends Chesley McNeil at WXIA or George Lessens at WZZM could explain it.

Here in Atlanta for December 17, there is 10 hours and 50 minutes of visible light.

Further up the globe in Grand Rapids, there is 10 hours and 5 minutes of visible light.

There is more light down here in the south.

But if you compare the time from sunset to astronomical twilight, Grand Rapids comes out on top with a total of 103 minutes of total twilight compared to Atlanta’s 90 minutes.

We noticed this right away after we moved down here.

The sun comes up fast.

The sun goes down fast.

I look out the window in the evening and think we have time for a walk while it is still light.

By the time we get outside, it is full dark.

Not much color to dark.

Most likely if you were looking for a color based adjective for night time, the word you come up with is inky.

But daylight.

I have as much ability in art as I do in music.

I can look and listen.

I look at the colors of the day.

Pastels done in sidewalk chalk to capture the powdery pinks and blues of morning.

The strict separation of colors in oils for the full sun of noon.

Spreading wet watercolors on a damp piece of paper for the evening.

Alice Walker writes, “I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it.”

I am not going to stop my car and get out and look at the colors in the sky.

I am not going to get out my phone and take a picture of the sky (I know it wouldn’t work anyway).

But I think God would be pissed off if I, at the very least, didn’t notice the show in the sky.

It happens every day.

December 14 – Saturdays’ blankets

Saturdays’ blankets
warm and cozy, coffee calls
such choice to start day

Owen Johnson writes in “The Lawrenceville Stories,” At seven o’clock every morning the rising bell fills the air with its clamor from the belfry of the old gymnasium, but no one rises. There is half an hour until the gong sounds for breakfast, a long delcious half hour – the best half hour of the day or night to prolong under the covers.

It was raining early this morning.

Warm bed and rain on the roof.

Pure luxury.

Maybe the pureist of luxury in its simple pleasure.

Mr. Faulkner wrote, “How often have Ι lain beneath rain on a strange roof thinking of home.”

All good until thoughts turn to coffee.

I could put the coffee maker up in the bedroom.

At least I think could get away with that.

But then I would need someone to …

That’s a slippery slope all of a sudden.

Stay with just being warm in bed with nothing to do.

Best half hour of the day.

December 3 – Latte? Expresso,

Latte? Expresso,
hot milk. Use coffee, big cup,
its Cafe au Lait

I like Café au lait

Maybe it’s those great big cups you get to use.

At one time in my life I agreed to cut back to one cup of coffee in the morning.

But I made sure it was a really big cup.

If I am being really goofy, I will microwave a small pitcher of milk and then pour my milk and coffee into my cup at the same time, just like in the movies.

Most of the time I half fill a mug with milk and microwave it for 30 seconds then add my coffee.

In the Louise Penny books, them there Quebecois are always having bowls of au lait.

Maybe I like it because it’s harder to say than Latte.

It is certainly harder to find.

Then I learned that Starbucks uses the Italian term for au Lait which is a Caffe Misto.

SO wait a minute.

Is there really a difference between Latte and au Lait?

Turns out there is.

I looked it up.

Café latte
The café latte originated in Italy, before being adopted in Europe, and then in the US.
This beverage is typically made using one or two shots of espresso, topped-up with steamed milk, and finished with a small layer of foam on top. A café latte has more milk than a cappuccino and less foam.
The trademark of a true latte is the artwork that the barista creates on top. Latte art is thought to have originated in Italy, which makes sense when you consider that the beverage has its roots there.

Café au lait
As the name, café au lait would suggest, the beverage was first created in France. In fact, “café au lait” literally means, “coffee with milk” in French.
A café au lait is created using brewed coffee and steamed milk. The drink is made up of one part coffee, and one part steamed milk.
Café au lait typically doesn’t have foam on top, although some coffee houses do flirt with tradition by adding some.
Café au lait is never to be confused with “white coffee,” which is simply brewed coffee made using cold milk or with powdered whitener added.

Cafe au Lait vs Latte: Milk Measuring Up

Latte? Expresso,
hot milk. Use coffee, big cup,
its Cafe au Lait

December 1 – life support system

life support system
a nonnegotiable
necessity, sleep

I was struck by the juxtaposition of morning headlines on wired.com.

One touted the “The Absolute Best Black Friday Deals Online”.

The best deals on the 62 items you currently can’t do without.

The other headline was “Stop Obsessing Over Sleep—Your Brain Will Thank You”

The sub headline is, ” Worrying about sleep is perhaps the most counterproductive thing you can do, no matter how many gadgets try to tell you otherwise.“

The article states, “Sleep has become one more thing to feel guilty about, even when the data we’re consulting is often flawed or incomplete. It’s one more number we didn’t hit, one more goal we didn’t achieve. Pangs of guilt follow every new study reminding us of this magical panacea, if we would just turn off Netflix, forget our social lives, emails, and all the dishes in the sink, and just climb into bed.

Sleep may be a biological necessity, but our stress over it is a choice. So let’s put the issue to bed. Hit the snooze button on this one! All the wide-eyed worry over shut-eye is the thing that’s actually cheating us of immortality, or at the very least, stealing the promise of a delicious, relaxing, no-pressure night of sleep.”

I need sleep.

And I can’t sleep due to worrying about sleep.

And the gadgets that are available online actually re-enforce if not create the anxiety.

And that isn’t even commenting on the anti sleep anxiety I create for myself because if I DO SLEEP, I might miss out on the great deals available on these gadgets.

Only in America!

November 21 – that awful question

that awful question
each morning, again at noon
what is in my lunch?

Before we begin let me say that I understand that the ‘awful question’ I will be discussing would be a welcome issue in much of the United States and the world for that matter.

That being said, it is an awful question.

I question I face each work day and have faced since about 1972 when I started bringing my lunch with me to Riverside Junior High School.

Not, “What is for lunch?”

But, “What is in my lunch?”

I make and pack my own lunch each morning.

I dread it.

For one thing, coffee is about the only thing I want when I get up.

Coffee is about the only thing that my stomach will stomach.

There was a time when my favorite breakfast was an ice cream sandwich.

There was a glorious period in history when Oreo Ice Cream sandwiches were available.

At my age, that just doesn’t seem appropriate, so coffee it is.

How then, with food not something I want to think about, can I make a lunch?

I watch the clock and as the minutes run out of morning, I say to myself, “Got to do it!”

At this point, all I want is to get this over with.

What is the fastest sandwich I can make?

I check the fridge.

Any cold cuts?

Cheese?

Any packable fruit?

I make an uninspired sandwich as quickly as I can.

I start with and empty cold cut container to hold the sandwich.

We save these containers and their lids for leftovers and such.

I like these better than a baggie as I have eaten too many peanut butter sandwiches that have been squashed flat.

I take the empty container and toss in a piece of bread.

Then I drop a slice of cold cuts or cheese or cold cuts and cheese or maybe spread peanut butter on it.

Then another piece of bread on top and snap on the lid.

The sandwich is done and in the lunch bag.

Now the chips or pretzels or maybe, if I am really lucky, some oreos which I put into another plastic container and into the lunch bag.

Is there any fruit?

An apple, orange or banana?

If the oranges are clementines, I pack 2.

If its a banana, I have to think if its edible.

I have to ask that question because my wife likes bananas to be light green and chewy

How she can eat an unripe banana is beyond me.

There are some days when we have leftovers.

A container of lasagna or chicken alfredo is more than lunch, its a relief that I don’t have to make anything.

Often at dinner the night before, I get excited when I see that there are leftovers for my lunch.

I will be sitting with my coffee and watching the clock move and say to myself, lunch is ready to be packed up, and I sit for one more minute with a smile for my good fortune.

I slide the container in my lunch bag.

Wrap a fork in napkin.

A plastic fork?

Well.

That just isn’t right is it.

I drop the fork into the lunch bag and seal up the Velcro flap.

Lunch is packed in my back pack.

That should clear up any mystery as to what is in my lunch bag each day but, for me, the question still nags at me.

When lunch time rolls around, which is 11AM for me, I still ask myself, “What’s in my lunch?”

I am hungry now and hopeful.

Even though, I know the answer.

I am reminded of the summer when my brother, Tim, worked in construction.

He needed at least three sandwiches a day.

But he couldn’t stand the thought of, one, having to make them, and, two, knowing what was in his lunch.

Not that he was any master of the kitchen.

I have a memory of him standing in the kitchen holding an empty water pitcher and a can of instant powdered lemonade and saying to me, “do you know how to make this?”

Anyway, my brother Tim started paying my brother Pete a dollar a day to make his sandwiches.

That lasted until there was an argument over the selection of sandwiches.

Tim wanted them all different,

Pete felt that a ham sandwich with a slice of cheese WAS different from a cheese sandwich with a slice of ham.

I understand what Tim wanted.

I know what is in my lunch.

Maybe that is why it is such an awful question.