Were it not for me visiting Hungary last year, I might not of paid any attention to this article.  On the surface (and I guess until they get down 6 feet–shouldn’t they be on the metric system?  Should it be 2 meters?  Does 6 feet just sound like a more impressive depth?  Is this just one of those “carry-over” things the metric system could not shake?), it just appears to be a competition.  But, after reading the article, it appears the purpose truly runs deeper.

Were I to think about death as a part of my occupation every day OR every day I had a shovel in my hands, I could see myself slipping into a bit of depression.  While they don’t literally look into the eyes of death, they are regularly creating a place for a person’s shell to be deposited once life has left it.  I don’t consider myself weak stomached, but this is a job I could not take pride in.  I suppose the only way to truly “enjoy” the work is to look at your work as honoring the person who has recently passed.  I have told my children, “It doesn’t matter what job you have in this world.  Whatever it is, do your best.”  And, if they are able to do this, I honor them.  And, if they are Christians and part of the ritual while digging or refilling is praying for the family of the departed, may their tribe increase.

As I woke up from a less than fulfilling sleep, I sensed something was different. A glanced at my wife’s empty side of the bed and confirmed part of my suspicions.  And, as I wondered out into the kitchen, the kitchen was alight with the Memorial Day preparations that the previous days graduation and graduation parties left no time for.  The downstairs a/c was off and the doors were open–yesterday’s humidity was apparently less lethal than it was last evening. The swimming pool, somehow, had swallowed an extra inch or so of water.  And, my daughters comments of, “The water was over the bridge.”, made me wonder what had occurred.

After breakfast and my feeble attempts to begin some internet research, I embarked on my walk. (Yesterday, I took a one-day sabbatical from walking.  While I have convinced myself a daily walk is important, taking a day off seemed to put an extra spring in my step as I emerged from my “walk-fast”–not be be confused with “walking fast”.)  The past couple of years in Texas have allowed me to anticipate where my path is susceptible to flooding.  And, it has shown me what it looks like when the muddy waters of the creek/crick/man-made-run blend with the lively little brook from across the street. (see above) It has given me fair warning of the places I will need to tiptoe thru (not tulips, but tadpoles seem to frequent this pond.  So, literally, I am “tiptoeing thru the tadpoles” as they race under my outstretched feet.) to avoid the pond that has been in almost perpetual “flood” stage for over a year.

All of this rain could be global warming or just a shifting of weather patterns.  If the earth is a billion or whatever years old as some claim, certainly she is allowed to be a little fickle and “shake it up” a little bit. While  I miss the blue skies and since there are no universities granting any “God” degrees (This would be quite a few degrees over a doctorate–so many degrees, in fact, no human could earn it in multiple lifetimes.  Thus, the reason the degree does not exist…just my guess.), we just need to be grateful to the God above who gives us life daily.  If you are not getting the life you want, ask Him if He has a better plan than the one you are aiming at.  Ask sincerely, and patiently look for the opportunities.

So, what happened while I was sleeping?  I am not certain what happened on this day, but I know one thing I need to do daily.  (Some days are better than others.)  I need to find the optimist who often dwells deep within.  The usual “me” dislikes rain and disruption to schedule.  The optimist sincerely says, “It’s all good.” and genuinely smiles despite the environment.  On this day, the optimist quickly leapt up to claim it as one of his.  On other days, the optimist and pessimist have to struggle from moment to moment.  Fortunately, I am grateful God has a plan and still loves me even when I struggle and I don’t feel all that lovable.

As I continue to creep into middle age or deny the fact I am already there, I have “moments” where my lucidity is put into question. Have I been told this piece of information before and forgotten it? Have I locked that door?-even though I am 95% sure I already locked it. Have I forgotten some place important I am supposed to be today or forgotten to make a call? It is these doubts that lead me to the paranoia I felt yesterday when my sanity was checked at least 3 times…

1. Closet light:  When I open my closet door (not a closet shared with my wife), the light automatically comes on.  When I close the closet door, I need to make sure it is closed snugly.  If I don’t, the door will gradually assert itself and the door will open up fully or at least enough for the light to come back on. (The switch is near the hinges.  When the door is open far enough, the switch is no longer pressed.)    Once I noticed the light was on in my closet, I searched my brain for which visit to my closet may have caused this failure.  Fortunately, a query to the living room where my daughters were sitting received a quick, “I am sorry, dad.  It was me.”  My brain wins one of the days battles!!
2. Van:  As I walked out of the house into our garage, I was quite surprised the car was parked so poorly.  I knew I had ran errands in that vehicle that morning.  And, as far as I knew, I was the last person to drive the car.  There were a couple of “things” messed up at the front of the garage that would have become more easily accessible should the care have been backed out.  Thankfully, as I walked out the garage entrance, my fears were quickly put at rest.  My wife was trying to be a good hostess for my daughter’s class party.  She had hauled out the corn hole game after backing out the car.  My son and her were playing a round of corn hole.  And, it was good they did.  None of my daughters friends had an interest.  When they were not swimming, they played a game of 4-Square with an egg-shaped ball.  (The dog had bit a hole in the “better” ball.)
3. Door closed:  Since the house was full of “partiers” (AKA swimmers) and with the temperatures not being excessively warm, we were using our screens and not our regular doors…..this was until it was determined the screen were of a design that most people were not able to learn how to intuitively use.  Prior to that, however, I walked toward the garage to see the screen was left wide open.  With the mosquitoes and flies attempting to join our family and live under our roof, I felt an incredible amount of guilt immediately–I thought for sure-despite the previous false alarms-I finally found evidence of my fluctuating sanity.  My son’s presence in front of the dog’s cage provided a near immediate, “Sorry, dad.  I forgot to close the door.”  While not explicitly requested, the implied need for an explanation was enough to again put my mind at ease.

I list these as examples of how I am certain I am not wandering down a road of mental uncertainty.  The problem is the mere writing of this posting gives evidence not all of my decisions are explained away by someone else’s failure.  I tend to vote more quickly for, “to much on my mind” rather than a precursor to gaffes related to lessening mental acuity.  Should the latter win, my blog will someday provide a daily reminder of the brain I once had.  Exciting, huh?

I was not in a great mood as I walked into Walmart to pick up a few produce items for the evenings fried rice.  As I went thru the “exit” door on a bee line for the carts, I noticed a lady grabbing her bags out of her cart.  Since it was not entangled with all of the other carts, I gave her a proposal…

“Since you have it warmed up, can I grab your cart?”, I asked.  Her reply was barely a reply.  It was some sort of titter or noise uttered from locked lips.  Apparently, she was embarrassed by the unsolicited attention.  Despite her discomfort, stretching my mood toward the more civil end of the spectrum was achieved–a warmed up cart began the warming of my mood.

As my mood continued to move to the right, I had the opportunity to go to the deli counter.  As I waited for the lady in front of me to have her choices of meat and cheese sliced–she wanted everything pretty thin–I must have continued to make the shift into a happier place.  Once my turn came up, I gave the attendant my meat and cheese choices.  I clearly stated, “Don’t hurry too much.  I prefer you keep your epidermis.”  The lady behind me laughed–she must not like the epidermis either.

Lastly, as I was walking out into the parking lot, a lady was preparing to use the pedestrian crossing to the entrance.  She seemed hesitant.  I gave her a smile and volunteered to use my cart to block traffic so her crossing would be less fraught with indecision.  Without hesitation, she refused it and stood planted while waiting for a satisfactory path to open up.

I have found my mood is quickly improved when I start looking out rather than dwelling within.  It is easy to be drowning in self pity when you are floating in a current you are trying to control.  When you take your eyes off yourself and look around a little at others, it is much easier to leave your rotten mood behind.  Forgetting a bad mood is more about putting it in perspective than it is solving the problem that put you there.  Interacting with others almost always makes it easier to smile than dwelling on what is wrong.  While Walmart is not always the first place I look for a smile, it is a far better place than looking into a mirror.

This rice was made after our exchange students had left.  It may have been an attempt to lure them back for another visit.  But now, it had developed into something we make once or twice a month.

And, to make it uniquely ours, we have modified it a bit…

• We usually put in as much ginger as we can…within limits. You won’t regret it.
• If you put in too many pepper flakes (we have on a couple of batches), we can really notice the little extra heat.
• I don’t usually measure scallions and celery by the cup–I measure them in a quantity.  “3 stocks of celery and 4-5 green onions” sounds about right.
• Whoops…got ahead of myself.  We also add celery.
• And, we are a little iffy on the quantities.  If we have a 1/2 bag of peas, they all go in.  And, it all works out.
• We typically add a couple cups of chicken.  (I suppose other meat if season correctly would also work.  Our chicken is usually just cooked on the grill after being marianted with chicken.) Since we grill chicken a couple times a month, we often have some setting in the fridge waiting to be used.  (It is also popular for enchiladas and quesadillas.) I probably do 3-5 OR 3-4 cups of already cooked chicken.
• We like eggs in our fried rice.  We usually do 2 or 3 of them right before we put the aromatics in.
• We almost always pair these with Chinese dumplings.  It gives the rice a side item.
• The boys like to just treat the rice like it is something to stuff in their tortillas.  They wrap (or double wrap if the first one tears) their fried rice burritos.

Fried Rice

Recipe from Grace Young, author of Stir-Frying to the Sky’s Edge

What You Need

Ingredients

Aromatics
2 tablespoons minced ginger
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Vegetables
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels, defrosted
1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas, defrosted
1/2 cup chopped scallions

For the rice
2 tablespoons grapeseed, canola, or peanut or vegetable oil
4 cups cold cooked rice

1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 large egg, beaten
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts, almonds, peanuts, or cashews
2 tablespoons minced cilantro (optional)

Equipment

A 14-inch flat-bottom carbon steel wok
A fish spatula or other thin, flexible spatula for stir frying

Instructions

1. Cut Up the Ingredients: The most important key to making a good stir-fry is cutting each ingredient to a uniform size as specified above. Cut the aromatics as directed and set them aside in a bowl. Finely slice, then mince, the ginger. Don’t grate it on a grater. Cut the vegetables and set them aside as well.

Optional Step – Egg Pancake: There are several ways of adding egg to your finished fried rice. You can simply cook in the beaten egg at the end of cooking, or you can make an egg pancake. To do this, heat the wok and add 1 teaspoon of oil. Swirl in the oil to coat the bottom of the wok. Add a beaten egg and tilt the wok so that the egg covers the surface like a crepe. Cook the pancake about 30 seconds to a minute until it’s just set. Use a metal spatula and flip the pancake and cook for 5 seconds or until set. Cut into small strips and add to fried rice near the end of cooking.

2. Prepare Your Wok Space: Set the bowls of vegetables, aromatics, rice, and soy sauce near your stove. Also, have a very small bowl of water next to the stove.

3. Heat the Wok: Turn on a stove burner, as high as it will go. Set a 14-inch wok over this high heat burner. To determine when the wok is hot enough, start flicking droplets of water from the small bowl into the pan after 30 seconds. As soon as a bead of water evaporates within 1 to 2 seconds of contact, the wok is heated and ready for stir-frying. Do not overheat the wok.

4. Pull Wok off the Heat and Add Oil, Then Stir-Fry Aromatics: Pull the wok off the heat and add 1 tablespoon of oil. Pick up the pan and carefully swirl it to coat the bottom and sides. (If the wok smokes wildly the moment you add the oil you’ve overheated the wok. Remove the wok from the heat and let it cool for a few minutes. When it’s cool enough to handle carefully remove the oil with paper towels, wash the wok, and start again.)

With the wok back over the heat, add the ginger and red pepper flakes and stir fry for 10 seconds or until fragrant.

5. Add the Carrots and Stir-Fry: Add the carrots and stir fry for 30 seconds, or until the carrots are bright orange.

6. Add the Corn and Peas and Stir-Fry: Add the corn and peas and stir fry for 1 minute.

7. Add 1 More Tablespoon Oil: Swirl the remaining tablespoon of oil into the wok.

8. Add the Rice and Scallions and Stir-Fry for 2 Minutes: Add the rice and scallions stir-fry for 2 minutes, breaking up the rice with the spatula until it is heated through.

9. Season the Rice: Season the rice with the salt and white pepper.

10. Add the Sauce: Pour the soy sauce around the edges of the wok and stir-fry.

11. Finish the Rice: Add the chopped egg pancake and pine nuts. Toss to combine. Alternatively, you can stir in 1 beaten egg. Stir-fry until the egg is no longer wet. Stir in the cilantro.

Additional Notes:

• Stir-Fried Rice in a 12-inch Skillet: If you are cooking in a 12-inch stainless steel skillet, halve the recipe to prevent rice from falling out of the pan

• Using Fresh Rice: This recipe is best with day-old rice. But if the craving hits and you don’t have any prepared rice, you can make fresh rice, spread it out on a sheet pan, and refrigerate to cool.

• Substituting Other Vegetables: Substitute up to 2 1/2 cups of vegetables in place of the carrots, frozen corn, and frozen peas. Leftover meat (shredded or diced small) can also be added.