The House of Salt

Years ago when my husband was suffering with several illnesses including dementia he would occasionally tell me that he wanted to go to one of his favorite restaurants. But he couldn't tell me the name. I would tease him by saying, Oh you want to go to "The House of Salt."

Is it wrong to tease a person with dementia?

Anyway, he would laugh because he knew that I knew he wanted to go to Red Lobster. That's what I called it, The House of Salt.

This morning's paper has an article titled "Report Blasts Red Lobster, Olive Garden for Salty Food." Darden Restaurants serve salt laden food? Really?

Is it wrong to tease a restaurant chain in this economy?

The article went on the say, and I quote: Who knows how many Americans have been pushed permaturely into their graves thanks to sodium levels like those found in Olive Garden...

In my opinion Red Lobster, Olive Garden and Bahama Breeze serve delicious food in a nice atmosphere at a moderate price. I love eating at all three of these places. There is a Longhorn's Steakhouse close to me but I don't eat red meat so I've never been there.

I watch my salt intake. Likewise when I go to McDonald's (Yummy) I watch my calorie intake.

It's no secret that Red Lobster pours on the salt. Their baked potatoes are encrusted in it. The cheese biscuits are sparkling with it. I appreciate having the freedom to decide what to order.

One of my kids gave me a Darden Restaurants gift certificate for Mother's Day. I can assure you I will use it.

Unless the salt police have shut them down.

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Cultivating Contentment

I was away for a few days but now I'm back home.

The last couple of days I've been going over the material for a class I'm getting ready to teach. It's called "Cultivating Contentment" and it's about money and possessions and soldering through this crazy ongoing economy. But reading the material has helped me in other ways.

Because I've had an interesting week.

Some might say a tragic week. But great good has come from it. Good for my family and good for the community. Great good usually comes from tragedy if we look for it and cultivate it.

OK, here's what the material says: Contentment is found in relationships.

So true. But heartbreak is found in relationships as well. The writer, Adam Hamilton, in makes the following statements. They've helped me in my journey this week.

1. Remember that it could be worse. Yes, our situation could have been so much worse. A fraction of an inch would have made it an unbearable situation for me and many others, including most of the people I love.

2. Develop a grateful heart. I have a very grateful heart. I'm grateful to God. I'm grateful for every member of my family. I'm grateful for my boyfriend. I'm grateful for my friends. I'm grateful for my ministers and others in authority in my community.

I'm grateful for my quiet happy home where healing is taking place.


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I Don't Want to be a Soloist

Last Sunday we saw "The Soloist" staring Jamie Foxx and one of my favorite actors, Robert Downey, Jr.

What a powerful movie. I thought it was almost a perfect movie. When it was over we just sat in our seats, kind of stunned.

"The Soloist" dealt with a lot of truths. Here are a couple:

- First, both characters are "soloists." i.e., they keep themselves emotionally distanced from other people. The very best thing about the movie was the friendship that emerged. Downey's character had to learn what healthy relationships are all about.

We don't have to fix each other. In fact, we can't. It took me a while to learn that lesson.

- In "The Soloist" we see homelessness up close and personal. In Foxx's character we see the co-joined twins of genius and madness, unfortunately, a fairly common occurrence.

- In "The Soloist" we see how important newspapers are. What a tragedy if they disappear!

- In "The Soloist" we see the redemptive power of music.

- In "The Soloist" we see how much we need each other.

After my husband died I thought I wanted to be a soloist - but I don't.


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On the Road Again

When my kids were little we spent a few vacations at Calloway Gardens, a resort in Georgia. It's a great place. We biked the beautiful seven mile trail, picked fresh vegetables every afternoon for our evening meal and roamed the luscious gardens.



The Florida State University Flying Circus performed there all summer so the children enjoyed watching and taking classes with them. Two of the children ended up going to Florida State, but I doubt that it was because of the circus. Neither of them has ever expressed a desire to join the circus - that I know of.



The only problem with vacationing at Calloway Gardens was, after a few days, we all got sick. And I mean sick!!! The doctor finally told us she had no idea why this was happening to us and maybe we should throw in the towel.



This coming Thursday morning my boyfriend and I will head for Calloway Gardens for a few days. I want to show him what a beautiful place it is, not to mention the fantastic golf course. Then on Sunday he'll drop me off in Atlanta where I'll visit family for a few days, then fly home.



He will continue on to Minnesota.



We'll be separated for most of May. I'll be catching up on things here. He'll be catching up on things there. These separations are beginning to wear on us but we'll make the best of it.



I only hope the bug that made my family violently ill all those years ago doesn't bite us while we're at Calloway. That might take some of the romance out of this trip.





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Jobs I Could or Couldn't Do

I know folks who are working at jobs they never thought they'd be doing - and at an older age than they thought they'd be working.

After reading an earlier posting my niece asked me if "Aunt Catfish" was the name of a person or a fish. It's a restaurant.

I could work at Aunt Catfish except for one thing. The waitstaff has to introduce themselves as "Cousin." As in Cousin Cess. I couldn't do that.

I love my supermarket and I think I could work there. Not as a cashier - too much standing in one place. But I could be a bag boy. Except for gathering about 50 carts in the parking lot and guiding them back to their space in the store. How do they do that?

The Mall: I couldn't handle being a salesperson due to the standing around part. I think I could do maintenance or be a security guard. No wait, I couldn't wear that silly uniform.

An Airline: I could work at the counter and I'd be polite and tell the truth about the flights - which means I probably wouldn't last long. I absolutely couldn't do the most boring job of all - pilot. It's sort of like being a baseball player, hours of boredom and ten minutes of excitement. But hopefully not too much excitement like Sully and crew experienced.

I couldn't do any of the jobs I did when I was a consultant. Once, about 20 years ago I had to explain to about 50 high powered managers how to train their staffs to use a new cash register. All went well. They didn't know that I'd learned to operator it myself 15 minutes prior to meeting with them when the owner told me this would be part of my presentation.

I no longer have the brainpower or the nerves for that sort of thing.


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The In-Between Spaces

We're all experiencing transitions these days. Some of us more than others.

One of my Power Ranger friends taught my Sunday school class this morning. Her title was:

The Great Myth of Having Arrived...
Transitions: Getting from Here to There

She knows what she's talking about. She's had two huge transitions in the past couple of years. One a relationship and the other, just recently, losing her long time position as director of public relations for an international firm.

But she didn't talk about those things. The most important thing I heard her discuss was...

The in-between spaces.

She quotes Deepak Chopra saying, It's where the soul resides.


It's the times between one thing and another. The getting to the other side.


My niece, friend and blog mentor is there right now. For a few years she wrote a blog called "Living With the Oldies." That blog, as well as other things in her life are over now. She's in the "in-between space."


For those of you who enjoyed her blog - she's started a new one and would love to have you visit. I'm excited that she's going to let us be part of her "in-between" time. Her address is:


http://www.rileywritings.blogspot.com/


By the way, my Power Ranger friend has reached the other side, stronger than ever.





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Who Says I'm Not Spontaneous?

In fourteen hundred ninety-two,

Columbus sailed the ocean blue.

Yesterday morning we saw in the paper that replicas of the Nina and Pinta arrived at the Ponce Inlet Marina.

We spontaneously jumped in the car and drove the 60 or so miles to tour the ships.

As it turns out the Pinta is not an exact replica but the Nina is. And the Nina is the ship that Columbus was on.

This replica not only looks like the original but was built in the same way, using no modern tools or machines.

What struck me was how small it is. The 28 crewmen all had to sleep on deck where they were constantly pelted with waves. The hold was used exclusively for supplies and food, including live animals.

PETA wouldn't be happy about how they were treated. Nor am I. They were kept tied up in slings so they wouldn't break their legs in the tossing and turning.

Anyway, it was cool to experience this bit of history.

Afterwards we went to the Ponce Lighthouse, the tallest lighthouse in Florida. Instead of our daily two mile walk, we climbed the SEVENTEEN stories to the top.

What a view.

Later we had a meal at one of my favorite restaurants, "Aunt Catfish."

All in all a good, spontaneous, day.

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