My Elder Sister Gets A Meat Smoker

 

Song:  My Ever Changing Moods

Group:  The Style Council

My elder sister and her husband just bought a smoker.

My mother is on the sofa awaiting supper.

This will be the first time for me to taste freshly smoked meat.

My elder sister had seasoned the meat first.

This is her dog...Musa.

After initially placing the meat on...

she only realized later that she had forgotten to emplace the temperature probe into the meat.

I don't know what my elder sister was thinking here...

but she seems to be saying...

Viola! ...

after having put in the meat probe.

While the meat slow smoked and cooked...

she then prepared some salt and pepper shrimp.

At first...

as my elder sister is still getting used to using the smoker...

the meat was underdone...

so she put it into her BBQ to finish it off at a much quicker pace.

I started out with the shrimp.

After she brought out the smoked meat...

I then ate some.

The meat was so delicious because of the smokey flavor.

My mother had her share of meat, shrimp, and salad.

She really enjoys good food.

For certain...

in the future...

I will be getting a good BBQ and a smoker.

Life is simply too short to not have good smoked meat...

at least...every once in a while...

whether it be various red meats...

fish, or fowl.

A smoker really adds a new dimension to eating.

There is no sauce needed with smoked meats...

as the meat is especially tender and savory.

French Dip Sandwich

 

Song:  Prelude (FF III) (Cover)

Performing Artist /Arranger:  Jonathan Morris

My younger sister made French Dip Sandwiches for my mother 

and I to eat on this night.

I know that people who live in big cities

can get these easily.

However, they are relatively rare...

with any degree of quality...

outside of those cities.

As I am more country...

I have only had them a few times in my life.

Just last week...

I went to a local eatery and ordered a french dip sandwich.

My mouth was sent into an overdrive of succulent sensations with each bite.

I had told my younger sister of my experience there.

She then decided that she would try to make them at my mother's.

Her meat juice

dipping sauce was even better than the one at the restaurant.

When orchestras play with each bite...

that is when you know you have a winner.

My younger sister's sandwiches were so good.

Here is the recipe:

Before each bite...

you simply dip the whole end of the sandwich into the meat sauce.

It thoroughly moistens the bread and meat...

and it is this that sends the flavor explosion throughout your mouth.

The result was excellent...

a mouth watering delight in every bite.

My younger sister also made a greek yoghurt blueberry and strawberry parfait for dessert.

Looking For A New Route

  

Song:  Reflections Of My Life

Group:  Marmalade

(A Repost from my other blog:  The Three Wheeled Philosopher)

My younger sister and I rode up to Mountain Court on this night.

I am scouting for a mountain route to train on daily.

I will try on the bottom of this hill for another route into the mountains.

This particular route is fraught with obstacles and a steep path of loose soil...

and the mountain is smaller than the one I wish to go up.

Although the other route will be a difficult ride...

it will get me into shape for later mountain rides.

I expect to attack the mountain a little at a time...at first.

Although I will fail many times...

with each attempt...

I shall get stronger.

Although a man must stress himself in order to grow stronger...

he must never go beyond his capability to adapt.

So long as the challenge is taken in small enough bites...

the lesson may be adapted to.

The magic number for any endeavor is 85%.

Any more effort and the recovery will take too long.

Moving at this amount ensures enough intensity...

and allows for a long enough interval of exercise

to ensure the optimum quantity of quality exercise.

This puts you into the flow...

where, although you will be breathing like a locomotive...

the breaths will be deep, relaxed, and diaphragmatic.

This is the amount just below oxygen debt...

where you could go for an hour or more... nonstop.

The new route I will be using will be for almost daily exercise purposes...

and once a week or so (starting in spring)...

I will head into the Sierra Nevada mountain range to do much longer routes.

The key to this...

as well as any other challenge in life...

 is not in how much pain one can take...

but in how much pain one can recover from before the next session.

This is adaptation.

If one feels too tired...

experiences reluctance...

or anything other than exuberation towards the next session...

then the intensity was too high...or the session... too long.

------------------

Life is merely existing without that next mountain to summit.

It is in new horizons that hope is born anew...

that we may grow enough in heart, body, and mind...

to stand atop that next mountain.

It is from the summit that we may reflect upon our lives and see 

how far we had come.

Sunrises and sunsets bring a special significance to my life.

In each sunrise...

I see the future with great hope.

In each sunset...

I reflect upon my life...

and it is in this that I derive a deep sense of serenity.

I am so deeply and serenely happy...

because I don't care what others may think of me.

I know what makes me happy...

and I do it.

No one will be with you in death...

no one will care more about you... than you...as you die.

And so...

why should you care what others may think of you in life?

Freedom lies in saying...

F*** it...

and finally doing what makes you the most happy...

regardless of what others may say or think.

The important thing is setting yourself up in life so you have no worries...

spending time pursuing your creative passions...

and fully enjoying the great simple pleasures of life everyday.

Life is so different if you walk the tightrope without a safety net

(metaphor of knowing there is no afterlife).

You are more focused...

everything has more meaning...

every moment is so much more treasured.

It is precisely because I have never believed in an afterlife...

or any form of religion...

that I have always loved life so much.

I don't live in dread of death...

for it is what gives life its sense of urgency...

what gives time its value...

and what makes each sunset so transcendent.

If you don't experience a great symphonic orchestra

as you feel the vibrant colors of a beautiful sunset...

and as the wind caresses your skin in rhythm across your face...

there is something you need to fix in your life.

Exercise is the key to living life to its fullest.

Recumbent triking allows senior citizens to get a plentiful amount of exercise...

regardless of your present health status.

I first learned of triking when watching an elderly man triking (YouTube)...

and fully enjoying it...

even though he had stage 4 cancer.

He triked almost everyday...

until just before his death.

What an inspiration.

The serenity in his face as he rode...

even through his chemotherapy...

and of his knowledge of his impending death...

told me he knew the value of life...

even in the face of death.

It was after seeing his videos that I decided to get a trike myself.

I had been having problems with my knees after long walks.

However, with triking...

my knees are pain free.

I can now push myself to levels I haven't been able to for years.

----------------------

The only way you may walk through the valley of death without fear or trepidation...

is to know that heaven lies on the other side (metaphorically speaking).

Always...

ALWAYS...

live life with deferred gratification as a priority.

This is how to properly set up and live your life.

You do the work first (metaphor of valley of death...hell)...

but you do so because you know heaven lies on the other side 

(metaphor for pain now for better life later).

This includes exercise.

At first you may not feel comfortable...

but after you feel so good for much longer afterwards...

you start to look forwards to exercise...

and so...

you may walk through the valley of death without fear...

for you know heaven lies on the other side.

-----------------

One of each of our greatest missions in life is to find out 

what makes us serenely happy (creative passion)...

and doing it...

and through exercise...

it will magnify it...

and every other experience in life.

For anyone thinking he or she is too old...

too infirm...

or in too much pain to trike...

you are wrong.

Triking allows even those with MS...

advanced arthritis...

balance issues...

advanced cancer...etc...

to live life much more fully

through the great pleasure magnifier...

that is exercise.

The Calm Between Storms - A Winter Sunset

  

Song:  A Pillow Of Winds

Group:  Pink Floyd

(A repost from another of my blogs: The Three Wheeled Philosopher)

My younger sister and I went triking after many days of winter storms.

It was good to get out once again.

We did a short ride to Sunset Court.

My younger sister taking in the sunset.

I am getting a final look at the sunset before departing.

It was so good to get some fresh air and to experience another beautiful sunset.

I love triking.

Once I get into a steady cadence...

I can just look around and enjoy the ambiance.

Some time in the future...

I will be buying my final place...

a place of serenity and where I may enjoy more beautiful sunrises and sunsets.

It will be a place to truly live life...

and my final resting place...

where I may die in serene settings...

my final sunset.

However...

I will be triking until the time that I die.

Exercise is the key to living life to the fullest.

It is the great magnifier of the heart and mind...

where colors and music become one with you.

I am in my sunset years...

and my life is as beautiful as the last picture of the sunset...

as I reflect upon my life up until now.

It is only because I had prepared for retirement.

I had made sacrifices in my earlier years to ensure my sunset years

would be filled with beautiful sunsets.

Even though I am 64 years old now...

I fully retired at the age of 51 so I could have an extended sunset.

Although we may never know which sunset will be our last...

you can die knowing you were on the right path.

There is a well known...

but little followed path to reaching your genetic potential...

and to enjoying life to the fullest:

The Basic Four

1)  A Nutritious and Delicious Diet.

2)  Exercise

3)  Deep Restorative Sleep

4)  Living Life With A Passion

The first three allow you to live...

the last one gives life its meaning.

Some things in life are out of our control...

but these four things are not.

The good life is within each of our reach.

The goal in life is to have the highest quantity of quality.

While the quantity of life may not be in our control...

the quality surely is.