Month: April 2025

April 16, 2025 – Local Dirt

April 16, 2025 /

Local Dirt by Andrea Bemis is one of several books for the April Left Coast Culinary Book Club meeting. When I say one of several, what I mean is that sometimes we pick an author and it is Sophie’s Choice for what you want to read. Local Dirt is the second of a two book series. The first one is titled Dishing Up the Dirt.

She has a third book called Let Them Eat Dirt which seems to be recipes oriented towards children. I elected to purchase just one because I can always buy the others if it turns out that I like the author. I will say that I do like the author but it is unlikely that I will purchase any more books. There is only so many cookbooks I will use and reference and my shelves are quite full.

Why Bemis resonated with me is that she is from Oregon. If you are going to have a reference for eating locally and seasonally, it is nice to have guidance where there is a shared experience. I talked about this in my podcast last week but it is pretty hard to follow someone eating seasonally that lives in a climate that produces all year long.

That being said, my earliest growing season would be for me early May and would run until late October. So we are realistically talking six months for the most enthusiastic gardener. Our farmers market is just getting started for the year and it will be plant starts and Beanie Babies until about July. I jokingly told my wife that I will be making a dish with Beanie Babies since that is what seems to be abundant in this season.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the Portland Saturday Market has vendors that have some year round produce using artificial methods. The rub there is that no longer becomes local to me. Bemis does reference preserving and using preserved foods. For me, that is going to be the only way to make it from a strict local standpoint.

The book is presented in a way that you would expect for seasonal eating. Hearty meals in the winter give way to heartier greens in the spring to fruity bounty in the summer and moving back into the richer foods of the fall. Because Bemis owns a vegetable farm (for retail sales) there are some interesting ingredient choices. For instance I would wager that 20% of the recipes have kohlrabi in it. I’ve never even seen that.

Despite my aforementioned grievances, I do find it inspirational to consider local and seasonal. I used to spend more effort in steering out diet that way but it has been difficult as the family grows. That comes with strong preferences and busy schedules. It also made me want to keep up with my gardening this year. I had moments where I was disappointed with what germinated. It made me want to give up and just get starts for everything.

The other thing that I appreciate about Bemis is that she recognizes that what is local to me may be exotic to you. Each recipe has some suggested substitutions. For example, this is Hazelnut (filbert) country. They are abundant here but if you live in almond country, use those instead. Think texture and purpose rather than specific ingredient.

Do I recommend this book? The short answer is no. But, if you are part of a Community Supported Agriculture share and don’t know how to use all of the ingredients then this might be the book for you. I think it would be a good reference for trying to keep up with all those weirdos like kohlrabi. I do also wonder what the difference is in book one versus the one that I purchased.

End Your Programming Routine: It is the mark of experience to have an opinion. When I was a kid and saw very few movies, the ones I did see I loved. This is no different. Our group is very eclectic and I appreciate others interest and ideas to get me to try new things and get out of my shell. This is a good book and I respect the author’s attempt, it just doesn’t hit my mark.

April 15, 2025 – It Can’t Be True, But It Is

April 15, 2025 /

Oregon is awash with idiocy. I am sorry to say but it is true. Because measure 114 has been tied up in court since 2022 and both the senate and the house have a Democrat supermajority there are now eight different bills that are going through to supplant measure 114, just in case.

I have been receiving notifications from both the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) and Oregon Firearms Federation (OFF) to go to the capitol and show my indifference to the bills sometimes more than once a day. As if going there and holding a sign is going to stop this. My own neighbor, that claims to be pro-second amendment is going to vote for these bills to pass.

One theory that I heard the other day is that because gun control has been beaten so badly in most of the United States they are focusing their efforts in states that are the most receptive like Oregon, Washington and Colorado. I do have to say that as much as I see much of my second amendment getting written away, so far Oregon has nothing on the other two. It won’t be long.

It sure seems like this is the case when I look at the pro-second amendment advancements throughout the country. What is the drive for all of this gun control in the first place? In my opinion, it is the fictitious phenomenon that gun violence is increasing and that mass shooter events were created at Columbine.

The other day, I was reading the local newspaper and I saw this article saying that there was sniper fifty years ago. You can read the entire article in the picture below. I looked up the census information and saw that the population was 6,361 in 1970 and 8,530 in 1980. Presumably, the population was 7,500ish in 1975.

The reason I looked up the population is that Dallas is a small town today, I figured it was smaller fifty years ago. More than that, it was an active shooter in a small, homogeneous town twenty years before Columbine. I had never heard of it, probably because the shooter was not successful.

“If we could save one life…” is a phrase commonly uttered in these kind of political situations. But really? I could think of a lot of things to ban. What about airplane travel of any kind? How about eliminating the 0.08 blood alcohol limit? For that matter a lot of people die in car crashes, I think driving can be dangerous. People die skiing, mountain climbing, hiking and swimming. People literally kill themselves with their diet.

If we were serious about eliminating risk then there would be a whole lot of things no longer permitted. I think that it really comes down to all the things that I think are risky and don’t effect me should be eliminated. As an example, I believe that there certainly is a place for wolves in the landscape but when they are killing your livelihood then it is a different perspective. The best compromise I can think of would be that wolves should be allowed to exist and they should be allowed to be eliminated when causing damage.

It is an ecological fantasy to say that man does not effect the environment. It is also part of the same fantasy that man is not part of the environment. Self defense is a God given tenant that pre dates our country and goes back to the origin of our species. Firearms are the best tool for self-defense and codified in our American heritage; not a specific type or construction or even needs based. It doesn’t matter if you don’t like it or whatever baggage you bring to the conversation.

I understand the pain of loss, especially when it is senseless or even innocent. My own 16 year old cousin committed suicide with his shotgun in 1994. It was hard on my young 19 year old psyche. We were relatively close and it changed our family forever. I have never blamed the firearm or the access to it. I blame the choice of the individual.

Would that have happened if the shotgun was locked up or not there at all? I don’t know. I don’t have an accounting of how the situation unfolded and the other circumstantial parameters. It doesn’t matter in the slightest because it doesn’t change the outcome. It also wouldn’t be addressed in this latest round of gun control bills. This was a common, pump action shotgun with bird shot setup and used for hunting. It was not a high capacity, rapid shooting, already possessed tool.

I am not for any further restrictions. If you told me that if enacting all of these bills I would be having a conversation with my cousin tomorrow I would still say no. Something tells me that a person in that kind of mindset would subject to other ills of life like drugs or even worse violence against others regardless of the means. There is something sick and psychotic about wanting to keep other’s tortured in their own life in the name of do-goodery. Besides, mental health is a conversation significantly deeper than a one day blog post.

End Your Programming Routine: When I declared that I was going to leave this state in November 2022, I did not fully consider the complications. I can see that this is not the state that I want it to be and I still do want to leave. It is just quite a bit more than just reacting to legislation. I am under no delusion that I can save this state and preserve my rights no matter what I do. Doing what I can means writing my thoughts down trying to persuade the world in my point of view. I doubt it will work but it is what I can do.

April 14, 2025 – Six Months After Helene…

April 14, 2025 /

I thought that it would be fun (for me) to reminisce about my time in the Carolinas. Of course, I was interested about whether they were getting equitable treatment in the clean-up efforts as well as whether Helene was as bad as I imagined. I suspect that it was worse because things look alright considering the amount of work that was still being done.

April 11, 2025 – Revelations 1-7

April 11, 2025 /

There is a bit of controversy surrounding the book of Revelations. It was allegedly written by John based on some visions that he had. It is the last book of the New Testament and follows a couple letters from John. Apparently, during the Counsel of Nicaea this book was on the chopping block as to whether it belongs or not. There is even controversy that Nicaea actually debated the bible. For simplicity sake, let’s just agree that the Bible is was adopted in its current form at that event just like a lot of other things they adopted.

Revelations is one of those books that is extremely galvanizing. It has often been a focus of Christian splinter groups (or cults) like the Branch Davidians as an example. The colloquial view of the book is that it predicts the second coming of Jesus Christ. As such, those who have been faithful will ascend directly to heaven while those who have not will be damned. At least this is what I have already heard and believed.

One might wonder about it’s placement in the bible. I actually think that it is genius. Scare the Christians into obedience. If you have just read all of this love your neighbor doctrine straight through and then you get obey or else. That seems like a strategic position.

I am certainly no bible scholar. I have read bits and pieces here and there. One time I set off to read it and got into Joshua of the Old Testament and then put it down. There were too many names for me and it is really hard to read the Bible like a novel. I have also read all of the Corinthians I and II as well as the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, John and Luke of the New Testament.

What drove me to want to read Revelations is that attraction of the Doomsday groups to this particular book. I cannot condone the Branch Davidians activity, but I recently watched an accounting of the FBI masacre and I really cannot condone that either. There is something like us tin foil hatters that have to stick together.

Here is a quick synopsis. Chapter 1 is John’s vision of Jesus. Chapters 2 and 3 are about what the churches are doing wrong and what they need to change. Chapters 4-7 are all about the elements in the vision.

Having never read this before, I am not sure what to really expect. One thing that I can say is that Chapters 4-7 read remarkedly like Dante’s Paradiso. Dare I say that maybe this was the template to what Dante used? It kind of makes sense how Dante would come up with the dancing and singing angels. It was all in John’s vision with Jesus.

If this were a sermon, I might start off talking about the the seven churches and the context of each in relation to John and maybe even history in general. Then I would talk about the animals, thrones seals and scrolls. But I wont. Partially because I don’t really know all of that and partially because I think this time we will read all the way through before disecting each little part. There are internet sites that can help with the symbology if you want that.

I have to leave you with something though. So we have some churches gone astray as well as scrolls that contain a list of sins that is getting checked out. It probably indicates that trouble is brewing or at the very least stuff is being accounted for. Better get ready because the rapture could come at any time. We will see what happens next week.

End Your Programming Routine: When I think of the theology, there is probably a reason why Revelations doesn’t get a lot of Sunday air time. I know the bible stories about Noah and starting over but is God going to really empty the earth? I thought that he created it for companionship? Would this be the end of the human experiment? It sure seems likely.

April 10, 2025 – A New Year New Gear, Part 8

April 10, 2025 /

Whoa. It has been a busy period. I have been waiting for a long time to pull the trigger on my next purchases because of cost. Recently, I bought my tent, a satellite tracker and a new head lamp. Not only is this a big purchase but it represents a significant change to my strategy in training. I am shifting from my training pack to my new trail pack. I will also be moving from day hikes only to include overnights.

After these purchases, I have a few other things that I want to buy but they are truly optional. There are a few things that are possible as well. For instance, I may or may not buy new shoes. Right now it seems like they are holding up just fine but my actual hike is still a ways away. The last expensive and necessary purchase is going to be my food,

This tent is incredible. I have yet to set it up but I will of course test it out. I researched features and made some optional choices like doors that open to the side so each doesn’t have to climb over to get out. I decided on a two person tent rather than a one person tent. This is because it only added three ounces. I figured the versatility of possibly allowing another person and certainly more space was worth the weight.

The tent itself is only two pounds and eight ounces. It feels like nothing. I have seen bread loaves that are bigger than everything when it is packed up. There is one optional accessory which is called a footprint that I would like to buy. It’s purpose is to add a second layer to the bottom and prevent moisture coming through. But it also adds more resiliency to prevent tears in the fabric. I sure don’t want a $400 tent with a rip in the bottom.

A tent is potentially optional. I could have chosen a bivy bag or hammock or even toughed it out under the stars. I wanted a tent for two reasons. If the bugs get crazy, I want to get away from them, especially as I sleep. Also, if the heavens open up I want to be able to get away from rain if I have to. A tent is peace of mind for me and it is something I can use for years to come.

The satellite communicator is definitely a luxury. What it is supposed to do is send periodic GPS coordinates to somebody as well as contact emergency services when summoned. I don’t think that it is strictly necessary and wouldn’t have one if I hadn’t fought with my wife for the last twenty years about going into the woods alone.

I am looking at this device as an opportunity to be able to do some more back country hunting and fishing. Year over year, I have held back because I didn’t have a partner to go with me. Even this trip, I am supposed to be lining up some fellow travelers (which I do not really want). This of course requires a subscription service that can be turned on and off. I am planning on turning it while I train and probably leave it on until hunting season is over.

I would have gone on the trip without the satellite communicator but it happened to be 25% off this month. When the stars align with income and sales, it is time to act. More on how this works as I do more testing with it.

Finally, I really did not need a new headlamp. However, there were some new features that this has that I wanted. First of all, the other headlamp I have is in my hunting pack. I used it on my fishing trip last year and it worked fine. I didn’t really like how it accidentally would go to the red light when the button sequence was not pushed correctly. Plus, it is good to have some redundancy.

But more so than that, this new headlamp has a rechargeable battery pack that can also take alkaline batteries. Hopefully using rechargeable, batteries will never explode in the device and when it becomes discharged, I can replace with alkaline batteries until I get the point to charge again. It also has a nice carrying bag that will turn the lamp into a lantern by the light reflecting inside the bag. Pretty cool.

End Your Programming Routine: What started as a desperate search for topic ideas has now gone eight versions. As I said, I am not likely done buying things but this topic has run it’s course. It definitely wont be the end of my hiking topics. I plan on doing a whole pack-out before I leave. I am going to talk about lessons learned from my training as I get through them but the strictly buying gear posts are done. You probably didn’t enjoy them as much as I enjoyed planning and buying the stuff but more hiking coming on Thursdays.

April 9, 2025 – I’m a Lumberjack and I’m OK

April 9, 2025 /

You may have seen the Stihl Timbersports competition on ESPN. This is the logging related competition where competitors cut through a log the fastest called ‘hot saw’ with souped up chainsaws. They also chop through telephone pole thickness poles with an ax in less than 20 seconds. Like other competitions, rodeo as an example, timber sports have their origins in practical skills.

When I was a kid growing up, our town hosted the biggest timber sports competition in the world and the competitors reflected that. It was called the Albany Timber Carnival. As with the fall of timber in the mid 1990s, so too went the Timber Carnival. But the lasting tradition of the competition and quietly preserved skills can still be found, if you know where to look.

I shouldn’t be surprised but I ran across the Oregon State University’s competition area when I was doing some of my practice hikes. One of OSU’s foundations is a strong forestry school. The hiking I have been doing is in the forest owned and managed by the college for teaching purposes. Why wouldn’t they have a competition program and the facilities to perform?

Ultimately, these competitors have to come from somewhere. My cousin competed on a team in high school in the late 1990s. I remember asking what the secret was to chopping with an axe. He said that there is definitely technique but a lot of it is how you sharpen your tools. That part I don’t quite know but I spent a couple of days sharpening my ax one time. I put a whole new bevel on the blade that was much sleeker. That thing definitely cuts like a house of fire.

I am no expert in this by any means. I have never competed or trained let alone barely watched one of these competitions on TV. I just think it is pretty cool to see this of throwback activity (to me and my past) is still alive. I takes me back to when I was a kid and timber was king. It was a time when my town crowned the world champion in each of these events.

End Your Programming Routine: I would love to be able to climb up a pole and know how to sharpen an ax so that I could whack a giant log in less than ten swings. Even more than my sentimental pride, the point of my writing today is you never know what you are going to find in the world. You have to get out there and explore that world to find it. TV and internet can expose and publicize things but when you just run across it incidentally, it is pretty neat.

April 8, 2025 – Air Fryers

April 8, 2025 /

We are continuing with food again today. I know that I am late to the game with the kitchen gadget ‘Air Fryers’ but we recently got one. I have messed around with it a little bit and so I am going to provide some insight to all of you holdouts out there. Is it a necessity or is it a gimmick?

About a month ago, my son called my wife and asked for help making a debit card purchase. Their is a large, box store out there that does not take Apple Pay. When I woke up the next morning there was a Ninja brand Air fryer on the counter. My son said that was his belated Christmas gift to us.

I have been an air fryer skeptic from the beginning. Not that I have used one nor have I eaten anything that has been made with one. My opinion is based on the people that I know who love them and rave about them are people that I would consider subsistence cooks. They cook because they have to, not because they enjoy it (or are particularly good at it either). They also tend to be very small cooks, generally for one or two people.

I am not trying to put anyone down, but I suspect that part of the motivation for my son was that he eats a lot of what I would call garbage. There is a lot of frozen dumplings, ‘chicken’ nuggets and things like that. What I have heard about air fryers are that they are faster than an oven and easier on the dishes. It is the perfect appliance for bridging between the microwave and a full blown range of someone that want’s to spend minimal time in the kitchen.

I have used it a couple of times and I have seen it used quite a bit more than that in the last month. I made pulled pork sandwiches a couple of weeks ago and the family wanted french fries to go with the meal. So, I tried out the air fryer. And my verdict – they are marginally better than baking in the oven. But, the volume of the basket led me to have to make two batches causing a lot of up and down from the table.

I find the air fryer, french fries to be overly dry. This is a slightly better texture than the greasy and limp oven baked fries. But, compared to the fry daddy, french fries I made at the beginning of the year there is no comparison. Those would be worthy of paying for from a drive through window, not a compromise of cleaning and mess.

I can only speak from personal experience. Ours seems to be a supercharged convection oven. So, it does a reasonably good job of browning all the way around what is put into the basket. Just like the french fries, I find other things to be overly cooked and dry and not just evenly browned. I am following the package directions, so maybe I just need to subtract a few minutes for model variation.

I do plan on doing more than just french fries. Maybe a frozen burrito would be a good test? That is not something I normally eat, but I remember the oven directions being something like 45 minutes. That is too much effort for a $1 junk food. I know people that cook roast beef, so I would be willing to give it a try for the sake of experimenting.

I will admit that the last time I was in Williams and Sonoma (months before air fryer) that I was looking at the Breville models they had. My interest was to have a second oven that is also an air fryer. I have no idea if the price was worth the performance, but again I was thinking of the extra utility. It is possible that I find this experiment worthy of upgrading at some point.

Let us bottom line it. Is the air fryer a gimmick? No, it does actually work. That being said, I see my kids using it way more than I do for things that I really don’t eat. I don’t find the performance or utility worth the counter space. But, since we have it, I will make an small effort to find what it is best at.

End Your Programming Routine: With family of five eaters, I do not find the capacity of our air fryer adequate. Maybe when there is two of us, I might change my tune if I can find things that it does well. I really don’t mind spending time in the kitchen and doings things traditionally. The speed that the air fryer offers, I don’t consider an attractive enough benefit. My vote would be a no for the air fryer, but to each his own.

April 7, 2025 – Why Do I Care About Food?

April 7, 2025 /

I am not outing anybody, but I do talk about what I would call food processing nightmares today. In some cases, it is enough to make your appetite turn. But we all have to eat to thrive. Fortunately, we have choice and at least at certain times of year we have tremendous abundance. Food can be one of the great pleasures in life that is also a necessity. I encourage you to learn more about your choices.

April 4, 2025 – The Fourth Turning, Wrap Up

April 4, 2025 /

Wow, what can I say but just wow. This book has fundamentally changed my thinking about my understanding of right and wrong. Up until now, I have believed in universal and binary thinking originating from sound fundamentals. I have come to change my understanding to think that right and wrong are generational and that is natural.

As we have learned, we are near the end of the sixth full cycle of the American experience. Can you image that just two cycles ago, it was a widely shared belief that slavery was justified? It was actually even biblically sanctioned because people that looked different were lessor. As saecula change, so do right and wrong. I have to believe that if I was alive in that time instead of now, my beliefs would have supported the status quo and not a radical abolition ideals of the time.

It is very hard to say how much our generational identity is truly ordained because of circumstance or other factors. I shared many of the cultural experiences of my generation but I also missed out on many of them as well. Because we lived in the country, because my parents are early boomers and took on less of the boomer characteristics, because we weren’t left home alone until later, because we didn’t have free reign of the TV, I was aware of Gen-X even if I didn’t fully participate.

Other portions of my generation I have exhibited in spades. The part where I am self-reliant and not willing to get involved in other peoples business. I am certainly a reluctant leader that only takes the position when there is no choice. Certainly, we all couldn’t be born this way or there would have been no class presidents or team captains. But when it comes to the real world, my generation is still waiting until they have to step in. I wouldn’t be surprised if we wait long enough that the Millennials just side step us.

After reading this book, I saw an example of how history can help us in real life. We have often heard the phase ‘study history so that we don’t repeat it’. If you follow the turning’s theory that is just plain not true. But, what I took away from it was I never understood how the GI generation could just trample all over the Constitution. I have come to realize that the Constitution had nothing to do with it. It is when the Hero generation is in charge, it is just the way things are going to be, legal or legitimate or not.

The Artists are going to continue the Hero’s lead. The Prophets are going to question everything from the Hero and Artist Generation. Finally, the Nomads are going to ignore it all until it falls apart and the next Hero generation takes charge. If you think about a cycle, this actually makes perfect sense in all aspects of life.

For most of my life, I have always bought into the marketing that the GI generation was the ‘Greatest’ generation. Now that I see that they actually broke the natural cycle of passing the baton to the Silent generation. Feeling emboldened by their success in every aspect, they kept the party going. The Silent’s stayed true to form and never really assumed power and not rock any boats which allowed the Me generation (Baby Boomers) to take over directly. They have brought their awakening and reborn fundamentalism to do the same thing to Generation X.

If I am being honest, it was the GI generation that started the mess our country is in by not following the natural laws even though naturally we were bound for trouble. My fear is that we have artificially influenced the natural cycle to cause a more delayed and catastrophic fourth turning. If there is one thing, there is nothing that I can really do about it but prepare for the eventual hard times.

If I were to prognosticate, I would say that Generation X missed the boat. I think that we may be entering the fourth turning right now. Many of the things that Trump is doing seems a lot like we just entered the Crisis. I don’t think that it is a crisis to eliminate a bunch of government bloat, but it is a dismantling of the system as we have known it. Whatever happens, we have taken a position of no coming back.

When the political winds swing the other way and they will, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a full on ‘Idiocrasy‘. I would imagine that we will have several cycles of this extreme push and pull. The net of Crisis is a diminished America. I do not see any way that a country who a significant portion of the citizens believe that men are women and vice versa are grounded enough in reality to thrive in a way that Americans have typically in the next high.

I have already stated how I feel about the book. I will now add it to my reading list. It is one thing to have books about what the world is doing to you. This book covers the why those things are happening. It doesn’t mean that I agree with what is happening, but I understand it in a way that I have never have before. You might read it and get something completely different but that is the beauty of this endeavor.

I stated last week that the next Friday series is going to be Revelations from the Bible. I think I will take it several chapters at a time. I don’t think that I will have an introduction week but if there is any need for background information, I will include it with Chapter 1. I have never read it but I see that it has 22 chapters. Since it is relatively short, I will probably read ahead and group as I see appropriate.

End Your Programming Routine: I have to say that last year was a struggle between Dante and Sun Tsu. In fact I almost gave up on this. Not reading but writing about it here. This book I thoroughly enjoyed and I am even sad that it is over. It gave me such perspective that I am taking a gamble on Revelations. I would probably read it anyway, but let’s see what we get out of it.

April 3, 2025 – Gone to Carolina

April 3, 2025 /

My nephew is getting married this weekend in North Carolina. They actually moved cross country to Charlotte right after Christmas this year. We are going on a lightning trip to be there leaving tonight and back on Sunday. Charlotte was the closest city to when we lived in South Carolina at only 30 minutes away. In some ways, it seems like our second home even though I haven’t been back since leaving our driveway in 2004.

But, we aren’t going anywhere close to Charlotte. We are going to western NC in the foothills of Appalachia. It is definitely a beautiful area but not home (#2). That’s OK because we are not going to have time to do anything fun or reminisce anyway. I have already looked at the weather and we are going to get some typical Carolina spring warm, wet and humid.

There is a chance that this will effect Altf4. Although I am very much ahead on things, there is a possibility that some kind of unforeseen situation will happen. It is also likely that I will get some good ideas from this trip so I am excited. Flying into Asheville, I expect that we will see firsthand damage from Helene as well.

I’ll be back in a couple of days. Tomorrow will be normal with my conclusion of the Fourth Turning which is already written. I have decided on how I want to handle Revelations. Week 1 will be books 1-7, including introduction. Week 2 will be books 8-20 and Week 3 will be books 21 and 22 with conclusion. I want to wrap that up around Easter, then we will be onto something new, likely Ayn Rand again.

We keep moving along. Just to make things interesting, I ran across this the other day. It is thought provoking. So, I will leave with this.