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Being present in the moment can be one of the greatest gifts you can give someone. It can also be one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself. I struggle with this, especially at home. I’m always thinking of the next thing — What fits in where? When can I do this?
I live in my head a lot. If left to my own devices, I could go for days without saying a word. Living in a world with other people (and in a house with another person!) means that doesn’t work. I often find myself in a conversation that I wasn’t aware I was having. Whenever I have to say “You’re going to have to start over,” I know it is a blown opportunity.
Do you ever absentmindedly turn the TV on and let the hours roll by without gaining anything? When you are out for dinner, do you keep checking your Twitter feed or send text messages? Focus on what’s in front of you! When it’s time to work, work. When it’s time to play, play.
These days, with so many ways to stay connected, we need to remember that the best way is real, authentic interaction.
Quit surfing the net. Put the phone down. Shut the TV off. PAY ATTENTION!
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This round of Let’s Blog Off, the topic is “What smell takes you back?” My mind instantly went to food, but I think that is only part of the story. What really takes me back is the smell of a campfire. There’s something about the aroma of hardwood slowly burning that is intoxicating.
Sitting around a campfire is the perfect time and place to reminisce. The crackle of the fire and the flames dancing put me into a bit of a trance where I can remember any number of things — previous camping trips, time spent with family and friends, a general feeling of warmth.
Campfire ring with tripod grill
I think campfires are one of the reasons for my interest in outdoor cooking. There’s something primal about food being in direct contact with the heat source. Think about it — outdoor cooking allows a person to play with knives, play with fire, and fill an empty stomach. It is also a way to be in touch with those who came before us. Many types of outdoor cooking were regular cooking at some point in the past. Classic Welsh Rarebit is cooked in a cast iron pot on the hearth of a fireplace.
Along the same lines, one of my smokers is known as a “stick-burner” which means it’s designed to use hardwood logs as it’s source of heat and smoke. This is the classic way to prepare barbeque.
I’m lucky to live in a very diverse neighborhood where, on any given day, you can stick your nose in the air and smell something delicious. I’m amazed at all the different ways people from different cultures use a live fire to build community and to feed one another.
Finally, when my house was built, in 1900, it didn’t have electricity (or indoor plumbing). There was no natural gas line. My home was heated with a wood stove that would have been in my living room. This stove would have also been where all the food was prepared, in the winter anyway. Now that stove is long gone. My house has 2 chimneys and no fireplaces. Kinda sad… Just think of all the memories created around that old stove a century ago.
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We’re having a chili cook off at work at the end of the month. I’m thinking about competing this time around. I haven’t made much chili in my life. I wasn’t really much of a fan growing up. It was probably the kidney beans.
I’ve competed in exactly one chili cook off in my life. It was about 6 years ago. Out of 13 contestants, I finished in…
13th place! That’s not a good track record. So this time, I’ll have to try something different.
The idea came to me the other day and I made a test batch on Saturday and I like where it’s going. I’ll make a few tweaks for the final entry.
So what was the big change? I smoked the ground beef before adding it to the pot. It added some depth to the flavor profile that I can guarantee won’t exist in the other entries. Is that enough to make a difference? I hope so.
There was another benefit to smoking the beef. It removed most of the fat making it a very lean chili. I was a little afraid that it would cause the beef to be tough, but cooking the chili for 5 hours after adding the beef kept it nice and tender.
What’s makes your chili special? What can I do to ensure I don’t finish dead last again? Leave your comments below!
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I just finished reading Sutton Parks’ first book, “You can sleep in your car, but you can’t drive your house to work” and I have to say it was well worth the time. It’s a short, easy read that packs a real punch.
Sutton has been through the wringer dealing with depression, foreclosure, addiction, and homelessness. Nothing he did ever worked out. He even tried to commit suicide and failed at that!
He realized that his attitude was holding him back. He turned to drugs and alcohol to ease the pain. Eventually, he stopped caring. It took losing everything — his house, his possessions, a few jobs — to clear his mind. With the help of a couple of special people, he learned gratitude.
The meat of the book covers about a one-year span. The chapters are short which makes it easy to stop and digest the content before moving on. My favorite part is the journal entries at the end of the book from his time living in his car. You can really get into his mind by reading his words from the trenches.
I’m fascinated by Sutton’s ability to evaluate his situation and find the good in it. While living in his car, he was thankful for a warm, dry place to sleep. He was thankful for the truck stop where he parked his car and could use the restroom. He was thankful for the community center where he could work out and take a hot shower for only three dollars. The world became his oyster.
There’s much more wisdom in this book than I can convey here, so you’ll just have to get it yourself! I bought the softcover version, but it is also available on the Kindle.
These days, Sutton doesn’t live in his car, owns Cool Springs Office Cleaning, sings, and speaks to groups. You can connect with Sutton on his website http://www.SuttonParks.com.
Click here for an interview Sutton did with Justin Lukasavige of CoachRadio.TV. Here is another one with Joel Boggess of 4pointscoaching.com.
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This was a weekend of celebration and none of it Super Bowl related. Liz’s birthday was Saturday but we started on Friday night when we went out to dinner at Famous Dave’s. She got an birthday email offering a free entree with the purchase of an entree.
We had a fantastic waitress who was friendly, helpful, and generous. We chit-chatted a few times throughout the evening and at the end, she comped my dinner, the more expensive one, rather than the cheaper one as the email stated. We both had enough left over for lunch on Saturday, which is even better!
On Saturday around noon, we headed downtown to Rice Park to check out the Saint Paul Winter Carnival festivities. We saw what was left of the carved ice sculptures (it’s been pretty warm for the past week which isn’t good for ice.), saw the Ice Palace display and Winter Carnival Memorabilia display at Landmark Center, and scoped out the lay of the land for the parade later that night. My video camera wasn’t working so we headed back home to see if I could get it working again.
Landmark Center, Saint Paul, MN
As is turns out, all I had to do was pull the battery out and wipe off the contacts and it fired right back up. We hung out at home for a while and ate the aforementioned Famous Dave’s leftovers before heading back downtown.
We took our spot on the corner of 5th and Washington and sat down to watch the Torchlight Parade. I recorded the first 65 minutes of what was supposed to be a 45 minute parade before my battery died. I would have had the whole thing had my battery lasted just 5 more minutes. I guess that means I need a second battery. Oh well… Here is the full video if you are interested.
I also created a video of the parade that is sped up 3 times so it only takes about 22 minutes. It’s fun to watch all the people in the parade walk so fast.
After the parade, we walked a few blocks to the Wabasha Street bridge to watch the fireworks being set off of Raspberry Island. My birthday is in the summer and it has become a regular occurrence for me to see fireworks on or around my birthday. This was the first time Liz got birthday fireworks.
Since my video camera was dead, Liz recorded some of the fireworks on her new iPod Touch.
You can see a couple video clips from the parade along with several other videos on my YouTube Channel. After all was said and done, we had walked about 9 miles in the day. This included walking to and from Rice Park twice for a total of 6 miles right there. It was good to get that much exercise without really feeling tired.
Sunday was a restful day to close out the weekend. What a blast!
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