bearing blog

bearing blog


bear – ing n 1  the manner in which one comports oneself;  2  the act, power, or time of bringing forth offspring or fruit; 3 a machine part in which another part turns [a journal ~];  4  pl comprehension of one’s position, environment, or situation;   5  the act of moving while supporting the weight of something [the ~ of the cross].

  • Well-meaning, yet so very unhelpful.

    Mark and I took Mary Jane hiking in the mountains yesterday.  I carried the pack with all the gear for a half-day's hike crossing lunch — don't forget, this includes the oops-I-fell-down-a-ravine-and-spent-the-night-in-freezing-temperatures gear — and Mark carried the empty child carrier while MJ walked.  We thought she'd tire quickly, but she hiked more than 2 miles, mostly uphill, and remained cheerful. 

    2009-08-12 mj hiking rmnp 2

    I used to obsess about bringing healthy, balanced snacks on hiking trips with kids, but I have reformed.  My new philosophy is this:  Bring stuff they really, really like, and dole it out generously, bribing and rewarding as necessary.  A trail mix of peanut M&Ms, little pretzels, and raisins, divided up in tiny portions, is great for Mary Jane.   We discovered that a supply of Dum Dum Pops is also useful, not for hiking (with a lollipop in your mouth?  And if she drops it in the horse dung you know she'll pick it back up — not a chance!)  but for "Dad and/or Mom have to stop and check the map/treat blisters/take a pee break, and you have to sit still for a minute." 

    The trail we hiked was mostly dry and sandy, but every once in a while a little rushing rivulet crossed it.  Mark and I have boots, of course (I made the mistake of bringing relatively new ones – ouch – more on that later) but MJ had little canvas athletic shoes.  Of course we have a contingency plan for wet feet (dry socks and you get to ride in the pack now!) but still, staying dry is better.  We came up with a plan whereby MJ would announce, "A river! A river!" and Mark and I would seize her by the hands, count three, and swing her over the little wet stream, with much drama and excitement.  It worked wonderfully, she didn't even try to splash, and looked for many yards ahead  to spy the next wet spot on the trail.

    Until we passed an older couple hiking the other way at the same time we passed a muddy puddle.  The lady saw MJ and grinned widely and exclaimed, "Aren't puddles fun?!?"  And with that she trod in place in the mud puddle in her waterproof boots.  "Splish splash!" she said and went on her way.

    We did manage to keep MJ dry after that, but it required just a bit more vigilance.  Eventually we had to turn around a bit shy of our goal (see above re: new hiking boots) and at that point we put her in the pack — she fell asleep in about thirty seconds.  Mark packed her out.  Along with several former Dum Dum Pop sticks.

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  • Long-distance self-optimization.

    Latest thing I have learned about myself:  When on a long car trip, it's better to pick where we are going to have meals ahead of time.   As in, identify a particular chain restaurant at a particular exit in a particular town, and drive there for dinner.  Flexibility has its benefits, but it doesn't suit my particular brand of food insanity.  (We can, of course, stop for the rest of the family to get snacks if it takes us longer to get there than we expected.  And we can change the plan, but that doesn't undermine the importance of having a plan.)

    If we don't have an exact plan, then as dinner time approaches I find myself obsessively scanning the horizon for blue highway signs labeled FOOD, and frantically running my mind over the possible combinations and things I could order at the various chain restaurants along the way.  Should we go to a McDonald's where nothing's really great for you but I have a well-developed, reliable strategy?  Or should we go to a Chili's where theoretically I could order something quite healthful but there's a chance that I could be distracted by the choices and wind up talking myself into a giant mushroom swiss burger or something?  Trapped in the car with little else to do, I find I can't think of anything else.  By the time I'm actually sitting down in front of a table, I've lost all my control.

    But the last time we made a several-hundred-mile car trip, I made a plan to go to a specific restaurant in a specific city, which we expected to reach around dinner time.  (I had coupons even!)  And I discovered that I didn't obsess over the signage at all.  "We're going to stop at the such-and-such at Exit n and that's that," I told myself, and instead of focusing on the blue FOOD signs I found I was focusing on the tiny green mileage signs instead, which wasn't so bad, and when we got where we were going I knew exactly what to expect and what my strategy would be, and I did fine.   I chose healthful items and had a non-excessive amount, including a small dessert, and felt satisfied and guilt-free.

    I think it's important to perform this sort of experiment on yourself from time to time.  The results might not be applicable to others, but hey, you're only responsible for optimizing you, not them.

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  • Do it for its own sake.

    The article linked to in this blog post at "and sometimes tea" completely meshes with my experience:  Exercise does not actually help you lose weight very well on its own, but it's worth doing anyway.

    This is why it is so important to exercise for the sake of exercise, and completely forget about exercising in order to lose weight.  It is worth doing even if you don't lose a single pound.  It would be worth doing even if it made you GAIN weight. 

    (Thanks to reader Charlotte for the pointer)

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  • 10,000 hours.

    An interesting post on the interrelationship between talent and hard work.  The book that is mentioned in the post, about music and the brain, sounds like a good one.

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  • “Maybe they will be less mean to me if I make them something delicious.”

    Fun interview with Anna Prasomphol Fieser of local restaurant True Thai.

    Did your mom actively teach you to cook, or did you learn from being in that environment?

    Well, we had no TV at all growing up. My dad owned a movie theater, but he didn’t allow me to go watch movies. The only time that I’d get to go see a movie — even though it was free — was after exams. Even then I had to have a note from my dad to show at the theater, “Let me in!”

    So, all the time I had available, my mom said, “Either you come help me and learn how to cook or you go study French after school.” And, after being in school all day, I didn’t want to do anymore reading or studying, so I had no choice.

    And she called that a bonding time – just me and her. Also, being a girl growing up with eight brothers in the household, you may think, oh, maybe they will be more nurturing with me, but no; they were very rough. So, in order to please them… maybe they will be less mean to me if I make them something delicious.

    The myth of the Minnesota fear of spicy food, the $2,000 Kaffir lime prep-cook fiasco, and more at the link

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  • Ouch.

    I have a sore tailbone, for no apparent reason.   Googling around I found several mentions that having a "tipped" a.k.a. retrograde uterus can, in pregnancy, cause tailbone pain.   Having found an illustration, I can see that possibly making sense; on the other hand, lots of things that appear to make sense in medicine turn out not to be true after all, so.  Grain of salt.

    I do have a tipped uterus, at least that's what They tell me when They have me in the stirrups.  So I guess I can chalk it up to a Pregnancy Complaint.    Maybe I need to find some funky-shaped cushion to sit on.

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  • Vietnamese yogurt.

    There's American yogurt, and there's Greek yogurt.  There's also Vietnamese-style yogurt, which is one of those culinary legacies of French occupation.   Here's how you make your own.   Two notes:  the yogurt is sweetened before it is cultured, and you don't have to use fresh milk at all.

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  • Rendering the easy way.

    Here are directions for rendering lard at home in your Crock-Pot.   I already have a source for good natural lard, so I'm mostly interested in trying this the next time I render duck fat.  Two ducks gives us enough duck breast for one family meal, enough miscellaneous meat bits for a pan of duck enchiladas, a beautiful pot of rich stock, and enough duck fat for many skillets of fried potatoes.

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  • Turnip greens quiche.

    This sounds pretty good.  I love turnip greens and don't need to hide them, but I also love quiche.

    I wouldn't serve it with a fresh green salad though — there are enough greens in the quiche.  I'd do some kind of a carrot salad.

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  • An unexpected hit.

    Today I made a cheater's Greek salad and a non-cheater's Greek lentil soup.  Shockingly, every member of my family gobbled up both.

    Non-Cheater's Greek Lentil Soup (adapted from The Bean Bible by Aliza Green)

    1 lb  dried brown lentils
    8 cups  light chicken stock (I used my rich chicken stock, diluted by half with water)
    2 cups  chopped onion
    1 cup chopped carrot
    1 cup  sliced celery
    1 Tbsp chopped garlic
    8 oz canned tomato sauce
    1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
    1 Tbsp dried oregano
    1/4 cup red wine vinegar
    Salt and pepper to taste

    Place the lentils in a pot with the stock and bring to a boil.  Simmer for one hour; stop early if the lentils get quite tender before then.

    Add everything else EXCEPT the vinegar and cook for 30 more minutes.  I had to add a little more water at this point.

    Just before serving, stir in the vinegar.

    The scent of the soup reminded me of my favorite minestrone, but the soup was much easier than minestrone (although it cooks longer than minestrone-with-canned-beans).   I suspect you could crock-pot it, adding everything at once in the morning, with great success; the acid and salt shouldn't be a problem for long-cooked lentils.

    Now for the salad.  You may remember that I have mostly had the best results when I personalize salads for my family members.  This was no exception.

    Cheater's Composed Greek Salad For A Family

    First I made this vinaigrette in my food processor.  More or less.  I just used ordinary oregano, all extra-virgin olive oil, and some onion instead of shallot.  What's the deal with shallots anyway?  I think onions taste better.

    Then I tossed chopped romaine lettuce with the dressing, and also some chopped tomatoes with the dressing in a separate bowl.  I chopped up some cucumbers, cut into tiny cubes some monterey jack cheese (no feta in the house), minced some red bell pepper, and opened a can of sliced black olives and a jar of banana pepper rings.  And I sliced some more onions paper thin.  

    Then I put the dressed lettuce in everybody's salad bowl, and with my family at the table I started calling out questions.  "Who doesn't want tomatoes?  Who doesn't want black olives?  Who doesn't want raw onion?"  It only took me a few seconds to top everybody's salad and omit all the correct ingredients.

    Very well-received, even with the stuff from cans and jars.  I even liked mine.  I can suspend my food snobbery when necessary.  

    (I did wish for a little feta, though.)

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  • A membership that works for the community.

    A fascinating model for independent, Catholic nonprofit health care, described in detail at DarwinCatholic.   It works by offering two levels of care, in a structure which reminds me of the way our local YMCA works for gym membership.

    1. "Concierge" style primary care, at a fixed yearly price, for a limited number of paying members.   This provides the clinic with a steady revenue and eliminates overhead costs from dealing with government agencies and insurance providers.  Members get highly personalized access to primary care doctors.  (Specialist care is not included.)
    2.  Primary care, walk-in, first-come-first-serve, 3,000 appointments per year, completely free of charge, to the uninsured.

    Isn't that a great idea?  

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  • An enterprising salesman.

    Jimmy Akin thinks that context of Sunday's reading fron John 6 (NAB here) suggests that the boy who supplied the five loaves and two fish sold them to Jesus and the disciples.  

    I'm not sure it matters too much in the long run, but I note it only because it's a possibility that never occurred to me.  Bible stories are weird, you turn them over and over and there's always something new to think about, sometimes very deep, sometimes "just" novel (to me) and interesting.

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