There is a challenge to any cook in using unknown ingredients. Variation in texture, flavour, colour; any or all of the above, for those who seek a multiple choice question in life. My decision to make an impulse purchase has led to the longest soupmaking session of my career in the family kitchen. Pea soup; the ultimate in haute cuisine.
posted in health | Comments Off on Saving a pot of soup | 453 words
Any time we mention health care up here in Canada, there’s a sense of pride that we have a system, an admission that it costs a lot of money and a whispered prayer that someone will find a magic bullet to reduce the whole pyramid scheme to something we can afford. Well, perhaps not a pyramid; think of it as a really big ball carried on the backs of a collected multitude.
posted in health, Idol | Comments Off on No beds available, I guess | 357 words
Head protection. It only makes sense. After all, if you’re halfway up the local version of a skyscraper, and a hot rivet falls from above (not the sky – just a floor or two up) then that tin pot covering the bald spot is probably a good idea. Ditto the soldier in a foxhole; if you stick it into the freefire zone and the lead is soft enough, it could provide a good story around the table in your local legion for the next half-century.
posted in health | Comments Off on Cover your head | 295 words
Finally, the body that would like to be a government has chosen a topic for The Year Of that shouldn’t offend anybody. I’ve known about this one for a few months, and in fact showed a printout of the appropriate page to a friend from Mexico. She couldn’t imagine why a world wide body would be celebrating the Pope. Error in her dictionary: we are now officially celebrating the Year Of The Potato.
posted in health | Comments Off on A year of recognition | 340 words
I’ve been shot, but it is barely a flesh wound. Grammar is odd; saying that I am getting a shot is not at all like I’m getting shot, even if both involve a puncture wound. It must be a question of degree. My yearly visit to the family doctor took the requisite four minutes and left me prepared for another winter of not missing work. Quite a deal for the employers of this world.
posted in health | Comments Off on I’ve been shot again | 334 words
Finally, vindication. We make lifestyle choices and then we listen to the naysayers. Well, I’ve heard the word and it’s actually two: OK. I’m not going to worry any more. I’m on the road to redemption. After all, with all of the studies and the theories and the downright nasty remarks made behind our backs, having someone as highly placed as a doctor who gets cited in the JAMA telling us that being “a little fat doesn’t kill you” should be a reason to celebrate.
posted in health | Comments Off on For a change, my waist is healthy | 285 words
Dialogue I didn’t imagine: “Dad, what’s the difference between a turnip and a rutabaga?” Before we continue, this is not the context for a smart-aleck joke. It shows the level of parental-filial discourse that has evolved over the years around the kitchen. Not the basement; that’s a whole other ball of wax.
posted in health | Comments Off on Dialogue about a root (vegetable) | 339 words
The government today struck a committee to help Canadians better understand and eventually destigmatize mental illness. A noble goal. Today the conference on psychosomatic medicine closed at our local convention centre. Bookends. In between, the rest of us.
posted in health | Comments Off on Not another nutty idea | 234 words
It’s probably illegal, immoral and fattening, but I have a new junk food to recommend to the discerning shopper. Someone in the office was down to New England during the holidays and came back via York Beach in Maine. I’ve never been there; without the help of Google Maps I’d be able to propose the general direction, nothing more. However, this is one place that might be worth a visit sometime during an upcoming summer vacation.
posted in health | Comments Off on Sweet temptations | 239 words
Rejoice, and be glad, for there is still a place for the optimist. While checking out the news on CNN, I learned that a leading rabble-rouser in Washington has decided to retire. In and of itself, nothing there. The better part came in remarks by his boss, who added that “I’ll be on the road behind you here in a little bit.”
posted in health, media | Comments Off on Minor notes for a Monday | 257 words
