Happy Thanksgiving Day

There are so many things to be thankful for …

U.S. Thanksgiving dishes different than in Canada

I just wrote to my cousin in Canada that today I was preparing for the biggest family day in the U.S.; namely, Thanksgiving Day.

Some Thanksgiving Day dishes I never made nor saw while growing up and living my early adulthood in Canada are:

* Green bean casserole sprinkled on top with canned, crisp onions
* Cooked carrots and rutabagas mashed together and flavored with butter
* Sweet potato casserole with marshmallows and brown sugar on top

Or is it that these are mainly Southern delicacies? And, perhaps, now that I live in the South, these dishes are what Southerners cook and eat as part of their traditional Thanksgiving Feast.

A Hauntingly lovely poem: The Shell

For some strange reason, the opening nine lines of this poem by James Stephens, The Shell, have stayed with me since my high school years. It certainly evokes a feeling.

James Stephens. 1882–

123. The Shell

AND then I pressed the shell
Close to my ear
And listened well,
And straightway like a bell
Came low and clear 5
The slow, sad murmur of the distant seas,
Whipped by an icy breeze
Upon a shore
Wind-swept and desolate.
It was a sunless strand that never bore 10
The footprint of a man,
Nor felt the weight
Since time began
Of any human quality or stir
Save what the dreary winds and waves incur. 15
And in the hush of waters was the sound
Of pebbles rolling round,
For ever rolling with a hollow sound.
And bubbling sea-weeds as the waters go
Swish to and fro 20
Their long, cold tentacles of slimy grey.
There was no day,
Nor ever came a night
Setting the stars alight
To wonder at the moon: 25
Was twilight only and the frightened croon,
Smitten to whimpers, of the dreary wind
And waves that journeyed blind—
And then I loosed my ear … O, it was sweet
To hear a cart go jolting down the street. 30

We’re working on a new website

Clair Balsley, who works on my websites, is putting together a new website for my speaker site at CaroleChapman.com. I’ll let you know when it’s ready.

Taos New Mexico bareback riding

The Life Science Top Ten Unexplained Phenomenon article on the Taos Hum brought back memories of a phenomenal horseback riding experience I had there.

The Beautiful Taos Pueblo in Taos, New Mexico, Photo Credit: Dreamstime

While visiting Taos, New Mexico, a number of years ago, the children and I also received unique riding lessons. During my first visit prior to the visit with my children, I had seen a sign saying that a certain Taos resident, a pueblo Indian, could teach a person to overcome horseback riding problems. Among the list of riding problems enumerated, I saw fear in mountainous regions alongside cliffs.

My riding problems were banal in comparison to mountain-riding fears. I usually fall off or the horse refuses to move while I’m sitting on it. I also knew that my children, who have an innate ability to ride, would enjoy the experience of learning from a skilled Native American horseback riding instructor, we signed up for the class.

It turned out to last 4 hours long, during which my three children and I rode bareback through ravines, pinon forests, and open fields. Our Indian riding instructor kept coming over to me and reminding me that when I fell, I should keep my elbows close to the body so I wouldn’t hurt myself or break an arm. He said that I was bouncing all over the back of the horse … and we were only walking!

At one point, our instructor who was wearing a cowboy hat and had long raven-colored hair, made me get off the horse and walk it, the seat of my jeans wet with the horse’s sweat because we had been riding bareback.

I had been afraid of the horse moving at a faster pace than walking because I, too, felt I would surely fall off. Nonetheless, when our instructor helped me back on the horse, the horses all began to trot.

Even though I had no saddle or stirrups, I after 4 hours of being either on the horse or walking it, I was too tired to care. Amazingly, my body simply knew how to ride in harmony with the horse’s bouncing. I stayed on the horse as if I knew how to ride!

For me, it was a phenomenal experience. I wish I could have lived nearby and received on-going lessons from this amazing teacher. Although Taos is small, it brought me some amazing experiences.

Memories of taos new mexico do not include the hum

I read with intrigue Live Science’s online article on The Taos Hum in their list of Live Science‘s list of Top 10 Unexplained Phenomenon because it included such broad and well-known topics as ghosts and intuition instead of giving specific relatively unknown unexplained phenomenon in those categories. However, it was a delightful surprise for me to see The Taos Hum” in the list, because I visited Taos a number of years ago.

I don’t remember hearing a hum. However, I do remember exploring inside one of the pueblo houses, something tourists seldom have an opportunity to do.

A retired “Governor” of the pueblo invited me and my children into his parent’s house. At the time, he lived in the town of Taos, but maintained the house after his parents’ passing. The children and I enjoyed climbing onto the roof of his ground-level home, and the children climbed the ladder on the roof to the next house.

He also played a ceremonial drum for us. It was covered with a gorgeous hand-woven tablecloth and looked like a round coffee table until he unfurled the cloth.

Taos New Mexico has a mysterious hum

In yesterday’s post I said I felt disappointed when I read Live Science‘s list of Top 10 Unexplained Phenomenon because it included such broad and well-known topics as intuition and the body/mind connection. I guess I expected items that were more specific and also something I didn’t know about.

However, I was not disappointed with their Number 10, because it was very specific, and it was a surprise to me: The Taos Hum.

Even though the online article says that only 2 percent of people can hear this hum, still, it is intriguing to think that many people agree on hearing this low-grade hum when they are in Taos, New Mexico.

Top 10 Unexplained Phenomenon

I felt a little let down when I read Live Science‘s list of Top 10 Unexplained Phenomenon because it included such broad and well-known topics as:

1. The mind/body connection including the placebo effect

2. Psychic powers and ESP

3. Near-death experiences and life after death

4. UFOs

5. Deja vu

6. Ghosts

7. Mysterious disappearances

8. Intuition

9. Bigfoot

I also felt disappointed because the list did not include crop circles and orbs.

However, when I got to Number 10, I felt a jolt of delight because they actually did list something I had never heard of before.

After the Snowstorm …

Unbelievably, after weather announcers proclaimed that we, in the mid-Atlantic region, are having the coldest winter in 30 years, today‘s outside temperature was 60 degrees Fahrenheit. In the previous weeks, we had overnight temperatures in the teens.

I guess 60 F is closer to normal because I remember a number of New Year’s Days at this temperature. One, we were strolling in a nylon jacket at the beach.

Happy New Year!

And many good wishes for a wonderful year ahead of you.