I'll take an order of Yoga Mat and some extra Sneaker on the side......

I've never eaten one.....I have no desire to eat one.....but apparently some people love to eat them...and they're back (although I don't know where they went a'hiding)....yep it's the McRib.

And with my Internet newspaper addiction....I discovered (quite easily) that maybe we shouldn't all cheer for the McRib to return.

Apparently, several news outlets have facilitated investigations of exactly what is in a McRib and it ain't pretty....or even tasty sounding.

There is, of course, no rib or bones in a McRib....it is a formed patty of meat made up of porky bits. Now here's the real tasty part....the porky bits include "pork heart, scalded stomach bits, and tripe (intestine).




All nicely molded together into a pretend slab of ribs.....or "restructured meat product".

According to Time Magazine, the McRib contains azodicaronamide...a "flour bleaching agent that is most commonly used in the manufacture of foamed plastics like yoga mats and the soles of shoes."

Yummmy.........

Nothing like a little Yoga mat with your scalded stomach bits.

But hey they cover all of it in a tangy red sauce........throw some onion and mayo on it.....and who would know?

I do....and every time I see a commercial or sign for the McRib....I think scalded stomach, heart bits and intestine.

Trouble is.....I think this is just the tip of the iceberg.....I wonder how many other products have similar contents.....just a different animal in them.

Okay....I'm going to heat up a bowl of my own homemade soup...where I can verify that I put in real carrots, beans, tomatoes and left over beef....although G-d knows what they fed the cow.

Finished and Ready for Fall

There isn't a tendon or joint that is not barking at me tonight. I've just finished a ten day courtship with my front and back yards.....and I 'm going to declare us both winners.

I like to garden....and I enjoy tinkering in my yards.

My back yard is mostly forest with numerous azalea bushes, Hostas and a few other ornamental snuggled down in the tamed landscape. I have a small pond....where a colony of frogs live....plus a rain-stream...a stream that comes to life when it rains.

Since my house is on a hill....I look down into my backyard and I love that it is mostly wild and attracts wild things. Songbirds, rabbits, owls, hawks, woodpeckers, raccoons, squirrels, turtles...you name it and it probably lives or passes through my property.

As the West Side of my city adds more parking lots and buildings....my little yard is a wildflower and wild thing oasis. Every other year though--- I have to go down there and tame it .....pull out poison ivy, cut down branches to increase sunlight and air, clip numerous tree sprouts, and cart out dead branches and moldy whatever to keep things in a pleasant balance.

When my parents died, of course, I was up in Chicago....and settling their estate ....so it's been about 3 years since I had a chance to tidy up.It wasn't horrible....nature does keep some things in check all by herself....but there was a tremendous amount of overgrown vines and a tremendous need for some pruning.

So armed with ax, shovel, pruning saw, clippers and a triangular metal stake ...which I call the jabber....I tackled my lot. Some days I only put an hour of work in.....other days 6 hours.....my son Tom helped me after school....he morphed into a human tractor...hauling all the debris up and out to the front of the house. His hefty size was a helpful too.

When I couldn't find an ax....I looked at him.... at 6'3" and said, "Remember when you played football? Think of that rotten dogwood tree as your opponent." He put his shoulder down....and gave a good hard thump....and the darn thing fell right over. Yes yes...we had to get an axe to chop the roots free...but it was still sort of cool.

The front yard is manicured and has traditional garden plants with just a few wild things stuck in...some native buckeyes....a few wildflowers. It's sort of the yang to the yin of the back yard.

I congratulated myself on moving from back to front ...cause by the time I did hit the front yard....my muscles were having serious conversations with me...and my hands sported callouses. When I finally yelled over to my son, "We are done done done!" I did a little celebratory gig....and walked back and forth....eying my achievements....making sure nothing needed just a little more clipping.

Tomorrow....the landscape guy comes over. There's a huge unruly thick holly that needs some expert trimming and at least of truck load of mulch to spread....which I will gladly pay for someone else to move. I know my limits....10 days of hard work is perfect and I am happy to baby and pay the type of attention to my plants that only an individual can do....but bulk mulching is not romantic and requires more muscles than I have left right now....so I'll help the economy and pay people to do that.

Finished and ready for fall....the leaves are turning...the garden is ready....and now it's time for both the land and I to rest.

Now here's a Halloween costume!

Adele

Sometimes I come a little to music....I hear about a singer.....hear his or her name....but they seem to pass me by until a song grabs me.

I was sitting in my car getting ready to head out to the grocery store when this song came on....I turned it up....sat back....and said to myself...."Whoa...who is this woman?"

Yes...Adele....winning awards and creating hit songs for a couple of years....but now known to me....after groceries I went home and downloaded to my Itunes....several songs....and I'm amazed at how she passed me by until now.

There's something in her voice...some quality that sounds almost nostalgic to me....beautiful...just beautiful.

So if she has passed you by.....here's the song that caught me.

Two good pics ...One mine....one Borrowed....

Too funny...if you have a dog or cat....especially an older dog or cat....you know how the little critters can find any sunbeam in the house for a nap......This group nap was great.....mine don't line up that perfectly because they are pretty territorial and don't like being clumped together in the same room.



One of my pictures I really liked......after my daughter's wedding I went to Syracuse then drove down the Hudson River Valley....not all the way down....but far enough down to be getting into mansion land...so I dropped in at the Vanderbilt mansion for a tour.....sitting in this huge expanse of lawn...far from the house....was a bright red fire hydrant. Pour Quoi? (Frenchy talk for why?)

Was it real?

Was it a toy for the mansion dogs?

Did the fire department use it to water the lawn?

I should have gone over and inspected it......but I didn't....so I just smile at the perfect fire hydrant in the perfect lawn.

In the next few hours......

My husband clicked the phone off.

"What did you authorize?" I asked.

"Kidneys, liver, lungs"

"Oh"

I turned at looked at the clock: 6:12 pm central time.

He stepped outside to return to some work.....but I stood in the quiet kitchen staring at the clock.

A young man was dying somewhere in my state.....and my husband, who is a medical professional, had authorized what organs could be taken for transplant after he dies.

A family....a grieving family..... had offered their son's unaffected organs to other people and it was part of my husband job to evaluate the feasibility of their gift when particular circumstances were involved.

I watched the digital clock move forward...and for some reason....my stomach tightened.

A young man would be dead soon.....and a team of people were making phone calls and initiating a chain of events to prepare for life.

6 people.....somewhere in the United States.... would receive a call from their doctor tonight.

He or she would say...."You've been matched to a donor organ. You need to come to the hospital now."

6 people...and all their friends and all their families will have their lives changed in just a few hours...... but they don't know it yet.........they are in their beds...or sitting in their chairs.....or quietly reading.....strange that I know what is coming for them even though I don't know who they are or where they live.

Phone calls will be placed ....organs will be typed and matched and transported a few miles or thousands of miles....all rushed and handled with great expectations.

As the young man's family cries and crumples in grief.....6 other families' hearts will leap with hope.

Next year....at this time....one family will look upon October 15 and feel the pain of loss...and wondered why it happened..... and 6 other families will hopefully smile at their loved one...still living and breathing.

And it will all unfold in the next few hours.....cell phones ringing.....bags being packed.....emails sent....patients and medical teams....called in ...driving to hospitals....scrubbing up and waiting......for a painful gift of life.

All of this....in the next few hours....