Lathenia: inspired by good blog on Greek cuisine

My quick version of lathenia: A pizza like Greek dish.

As many of you already know, the heart and stroke specialists in London, Ontario, have put me on a cholesterol reduced diet. If it has a face, I can have it only every other day. And if it is red meat, once a month is often enough. Ice cream? I can have it on my birthday.

This diet may sound restrictive, and it is, but it doesn't feel that way. My wife, Judy, is going to Weight Watchers and she is bringing home oodles of good, low fat, vegetable-centric recipes. We have both lost a lot of weight. I am about to drop below 180 pounds and my doctors are very happy with the weight loss. If my heart could smile, it would be sporting a grin.

In searching the Internet for recipes and just inspiration, I have found a good blog on Greek cuisine: OliveTomato posted by Greek-American Nutritionist and writer Elena Paravantes. She discusses the Greek-Mediterranean diet, Greek food, and supplies a constant flow of recipes while touching on the latest research on one of the healthiest "diets" on the globe. I believe my doctors would approve.

I made my quick version of lathenia by using a low-fat pizza crust purchased ready-made at the grocery store. I used just a smidgen of tomato sauce as instructed by Paravantes. I covered the crust with tomato and onion slices and brushed the surface with a little good olive oil. I baked this in the oven at 350-degrees until the simple topping began to caramelize. Five minutes before it was done, I sprinkled a very light dusting of grated Parmesan cheese over the top. I returned the lathenia to the oven just long enough to melt the Parmesan.

My wife said this was delicious and it was only about 4-points per quarter. Today my wife was weighed. She was down and this means my version of lathenia gets a thumbs-up.

If you are trying to keep your weight in check, or trying to develop a heart healthy diet, check out Elena Paravantes' site, OliveTomato. She has posted some good, easy and oh-so-healthy recipes with a Mediterranean/Greek cuisine slant.

You will notice that Paravantes was very generous in her use of olive oil when making her version of lathenia. I may try this again and make her flaky crust but I will restrict my use of olive oil in the topping. I cannot bring myself to use a third of a cup of olive oil. I'll simply brush the surface. For me, that will be sufficient.

Subconjunctival hemorrhage: Nasty looking but harmless

My eye was well on its way to be healed when I took this picture.

My granddaughter noticed it first. The white of my right eye appeared to be filling with blood. It looked nasty.

As I take the anticoagulant Pradaxa, bleeding in my eye was concerning. I headed off to the the ER at University Hospital in London, ON.

Moments after entering the ER I was interviewed, my OHIP information was taken and I was asked to sit down and await triage. A few short minutes later I was being interviewed by the triage nurse. She seemed remarkably calm about my bleeding eye. A good sign. She asked me to take a seat in the waiting room.

A notice in the waiting room warned the wait for a doctor was running anywhere from four to six hours. I took a seat, picked up a magazine and scanned it for something to read. Interesting, I thought, my right eye is filling with blood and yet my vision seems unaffected. Another good sign.

I hadn't waited even two hours when I my name was called and I was taken from the waiting room to a small examining room where I noted there was what appeared to be a slit lamp instrument. These have a support for the chin and a brace for the forehead. With the patient's head held steady, an optometrist or doctor can shine a bright light into the eye to conduct a careful examination.

Soon a nurse arrived and had me read an eye chart. This tests visual acuity. I did fairly well. There was certainly no big difference between my two eyes. Whatever was occurring in my right eye was not affecting the vision.

The nurse left and an ER doctor entered. He carefully noted the meds I take and seemed especially interested in the Pradaxa, the anticoagulant I take to lessen my risk of suffering a stroke. He looked at the results of my visual acuity test and then examined my eye using the slit lamp unit. He put drops in my eye and left to help someone else while the freezing took effect.

When he returned, he used a computerized pen-type instrument to gently touch the surface of my eye to get an accurate eye pressure reading. All was normal.

He had a diagnosis: Subconjunctival hemorrhage. According to the Mayo Clinic this is caused by a tiny blood vessel breaking just underneath the clear surface, the conjunctiva, of the eye. There is usually no pain and no visual problems associated with this despite the frightening appearance. The blood trapped below the transparent layer will usually disappear in a week or two. There is no specific treatment.

The ER doctor made it quite clear that if pain should develop or my vision become blurry, I should return to the emerg. I believe the Pradaxa was a bit of question mark hanging over this whole incident. When one is on a powerful anticoagulant, any bleeding is cause for immediate concern. That said, it did not appear my eye was bleeding all that profusely and the Pradaxa did not appear to be the cause of my problem nor did it appear to be making the event worse.

The doctor sent me home. I had been in the ER a total of four hours.

In the last few months, the ER department at our local hospital has come in for criticism in the local paper. With my own personal defibrillator in my chest, an ICD, with a pacemaker in charge of my heart rate about 93 percent of the time, with a rather rare genetic-based heart condition, I have made more than my share of visits to the ER in recent years. I have no complaints.

The medical staff in the ER have tough jobs. In my experience, they are an amazing group doing damn fine work. Part of the reason I am alive today is because of the fine work done by the doctors and nurses in hospital emergency departments.

Sun Media: nattering nabobs of negativism

Jonathan Sher, of The London Free Press, reported on the treatment received by patients suspected of suffering a certain type of heart attack in Ontario. The news report was well written, was medically accurate and I believe, was overly negative in tone.

I believe it was this negative tone that resulted in a great many oh-so-critical online comments attacking the health care system in Ontario. "For 1 in 5, fast care isn't there," read the headline. According to the article, nearly one in five Ontarians with a specific type of heart attack, known as a STEMI,  are not getting the fast access to treatment required. All true. The reader is also told Canadian experts look to American counterparts for benchmarks against which to judge treatment times. In Ontario 18 percent fall short of the American/Canadian benchmark.

An online comment warned, "Be afraid. Be very afraid. Do not get sick or old in Ontario." This comment attracted the most support from the paper's Web-based readers with the warning sitting at the top of the comment heap. Another reader laid the blame on Deb Matthews, a London MPP and former Minister of Health.

Let's take another look at the situation in the States. We find articles where the Yanks are downright proud of the their health care system and the rapid advances being made in this area. A recent American study looked at 96,738 patients in the heart attack group under discussion and found only 17 percent had treatment times that fell short of the benchmark.

In Canada, Sun Media bemoans the fact that our health care system fails 1 out of 5 patients suffering this type of heart attack. In the States, the Yanks are proud to report that 4 out of 5 patient suffering these attacks are treated within the benchmark time. The numbers from the two counties are separated by about one percent.

Two of my uncles died from heart problems. My father died from a heart attack. I take powerful meds while watching my diet to keep atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) at bay. For these reasons, I carefully follow the ever improving treatment for heart attack patients. 

I see the Canadian health care glass as half full and continuing to fill as medical breakthroughs are made around the world. A lot of medical research is done in Canada and our medical community is aware of not only what is being done in the States but around the globe. 

Recently, when I had an ablation procedure to cure my heart rhythm problems, one of my heart surgeons was a doctor from the south of France. When I was wheeled into recovery after the procedure was done, I felt very lucky to be living in Canada and especially lucky to be living in London, Ontario. 

My health care has been world class.

Weight Watchers for those seeking heart healthy diet

With a failing heart and arteries showing signs of plugging up, I've been put on a Mediterranean diet. The hope is that a low cholesterol diet will help keep my blood cholesterol in check. But my doctors are not taking any chances; I'm also taking 10 mg of Ezetrol, a cholesterol absorption inhibitor.

I take Ezetrol in addition to 40 mg of Lipitor daily as the Ezetrol takes a different approach to cholesterol lowering than statins, which lower cholesterol by cutting cholesterol production in the liver.

By happy happenstance, my wife decided to start attending Weight Watchers at the very same time I was being placed on a low fat, low meat, diet. My diet and my wife's diet fit together like two pieces of good-health-diet puzzle. My wife has lost more than forty pounds and I have dropped about twenty-five pounds in the last few months. My doctors will be pleased when I next see them for a consultation.

Tonight we had spanakopita for dinner with a cucumber and tomato salad topped with slices of bocconcini cheese. On the side we had some broccoli florets lightly "buttered" with Becal margarine. My wife made a Weight Watchers' version of spanakopita -- a savoury mix of spinach and feta and low-fat ricotta cheeses wrapped with layers of flaky phyllo pastry. Each serving of the spanakopita was just four points. I enjoyed two pieces as I have a daily goal of 37 points.

I'd post the recipe but my wife adhered fairly closely to the Weight Watchers recipe. If you want the recipe, you'll have to join Weight Watchers. She did stray a little, she added a few roasted pine nuts to the spanakopita and a few slices of bocconcini cheese to the salad. I should note that this recipe did not call for eggs, not even yolkless egg substitutes, and parmesan cheese was also missing.

I admit, cheese is a bit of a no-no to those of us on low cholesterol diets. That said, I figure my daily intake of cholesterol today was well under 100 mg -- my personal cholesterol ceiling. My intake of saturated fat and total fat was also held in check. At the same time, I had lots of fibre while keeping my salt intake low.

Now to head out for a gentle walk about the neighbourhood. Light exercise is the final important ingredient in my heart healthy regimen.

ReThinking Heritage Districts

The City Hotel as it appeared in about 1895.

Considering how much of  historic London, Ontario, has been torn down and relegated to the history books, The London Plan devotes a lot of space to historic London

I've only lived here since the mid 1970s and yet I've watched a lot of historic London disappear. And I've been amazed at what passes for saving our architectural heritage. Think of the City Hotel, the Capitol Theatre and the Bowles Lunch building.

Today the City Hotel, later the Talbot Inn, is a facade with opaqued windows.

The City Hotel goes back to 1865. In 1886 it was extensively remodeled and enlarged. When I moved to London the name had been changed to the Talbot Inn. If memory serves me right, one could get a good Mexican dinner there along with a cold draft. At night one could catch some of the best blues musicians on the bar circuit playing next door. The inn barely escaped demolition when the other buildings making up the Talbot Block fell to the wrecker's ball. The streetscape disappeared to make way for a new downtown mall and hotel complex. (In the end, the mall/hotel complex failed to materialize despite the hasty demolition.)

The Talbot Block was a wonderfully intact row of historic buildings. It was possibly the most historically important block in the city. At one point, more than a thousand Londoners held hands to circle the block and loudly protest the proposed destruction. It was all to no avail. Everything was taken down. Only a poor imitation of the old hotel's facade remains as the exterior wall of the north-east corner of Budweiser Gardens, a sports and entertainment centre.

The London Plan proposes to protect our built heritage and revitalize London's downtown. The distinctive historical elements on our oldest buildings will be conserved according to The Plan. I say it is a little late to take the save-our-built-history approach. If there was ever a topic in need of rethinking, it's what to do with London's core and the remaining historic buildings.

Large chunks of the downtown have been demolished and rebuilt.

I propose a three pronged approach to creating an historic looking downtown core.

1. Restore remaining historic buildings.
2. Rebuild some of the easily duplicated missing historic brick structures.
3. ReThink the core by finding historic buildings facing demolition in other communities, buying the facades, or at least the most important and difficult to duplicate elements, and bringing them to London for reuse.

I know the last two suggestions sound absurd but they really aren't. In fact, both have being done successfully in many places around the world. Think Williamsburg in the States or Old Quebec in Canada.

 Ada Louise Huxtable points out in her book The Unreal America: Architecture and Illusion that "approximately 730 buildings were removed at Williamsburg; 81 were renovated and 413 were rebuilt . . . The next step replaces the "wrong" buildings with the "right" buildings, moved, in turn, from somewhere else." Huxtable calls the result a stage set.

Old Quebec City, despite its fame, has a lot of faux heritage buildings. According to the Encyclopedia of French Cultural Heritage in North America, Gérard Morisset, the art historian behind the reclaiming of the old city's past, believed "restoring a building does not mean maintaining it, repairing it, or rebuilding it; it means restoring it to a state of completeness that may never have existed." I personally saw some of the last Old Quebec heritage buildings under construction in the mid 1970s. The reclamation had been going on for about twenty years at that point.

The Capitol Theatre facade above left. The faux Bowles Building on its right.

London already has one handsome, faux heritage building: The Bowles Building. Originally one of the Bowles Lunch chain of diners, the building had a rich architectural heritage. It's clean, white terra cotta facade sported two large, ornate capital Bs on both sides of the second floor window. The terra cotta is gone, replaced by stone. The fancy Bs, difficult to replicate in stone, are also missing.

Deconstruction and skimming could repair London's core.

Detroit has a lot of once fine structures that are suitable for architectural salvage, both deconstruction and skimming. Deconstruction is the disassembly of buildings to their foundation to preserve up to 85% of the materials. Skimming, a less intensive method, salvages the easy-to-remove materials. The Architectural Salvage Warehouse in Detroit specializes in both deconstruction and skimming.

Cities are for people. At one time London's core was for people. The sidewalks were crowded day and night. If our city planners want to create a downtown heritage district, they are going to have to get busy creating. Otherwise, many of the remaining heritage buildings will disappear and the feeling The London Plan envisions will never materialize.

Heritage streetscapes are popular around the world.

Since writing this, the downtown core has lost another bit of heritage. Kingsmill's department store is closing and being bought and converted to use by Fanshawe College. One more reason to visit the downtown will have vanished. (My wife and I bought a lot at Kingsmill's.)

Many artists love the suburbs

Recently I read a tweet pushing the notion that artists gravitate to city cores. A linked article stated, "Artists are unlikely to move their garrets to subdivisions – their districts need to be close to the high-density commercial core to function properly." I shook my head. I haven't done a scientific survey but in my experience many fine artists make their home in a suburb of a nearby large city.

In the '60s I went to what is now called the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan. I loved that school and I admired my teachers – all successful artists in their own right.

Jay Holland lived in this neighbourhood.

I studied sculpture under the instruction of Jay Holland. Holland has been called the father of Detroit sculpture. With his powerful personality, he dominated the classroom and he did his best to mold students as he molded clay. His passion inspired students for 34 years. Holland lived in Oak Park. A suburb of Detroit.

Bruce Blyth lived in this suburban area.

Another instructor, Bruce Blyth, taught jewellery design. When my wife and I visited Bruce a few years ago, we found him living in a rather funky little bungalow in a neighbourhood I would guess was completely devoid of garrets. He lived in Livonia. A suburb of Detroit.

I could go on an on, listing artist after artist, all living in suburban communities, but I will stop with just one more example: Marshall Fredericks, best known to the average Detroiter as the man responsible for the Spirit of Detroit sculpture sitting at the foot of Woodward Ave in front of the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center. Fredericks lived for many years in Birmingham, Michigan, with his wife Rosalind until his death in 1998.

Fredericks was a very successful artist. I believe he owned the former Kresge Estate located in the area. If he didn't own it, he certainly controlled it – at least according to one of his sons. I went to a party there, thrown by the son, where I discovered a scale model study of the Spirit of Detroit tucked away in the old coach house and stable. 

I asked the son if he was worried about getting noise complaints from the neighbours. He laughed and said no. The neighbours leased their property from his father Marshall Fredericks. There would be no complaints, I was assured. The great artist had woven himself deep into the suburban fabric.

In my experience, many artists enjoy the suburbs. In writing this piece I learned that when Bill Girard, Jay Holland, Chesley Odom, Gordon Orear, Bill Rauhauser, Robert Vigiletti and Tony Williams gathered to chat, the seven artists met at Borders in Birmingham – a suburb of Detroit.

Masked hunter has nasty bite

The resolution isn't great but this image gives you an idea of what to look for.

Spotted by my wife at the bottom of bag just brought into our home, my wife called me to the kitchen. "What is it?"

It was big, almost an inch long. It had a sandy textured back and legs, a brown colour and looked strong with big, thick legs. My first guess was a stink bug but it didn't seem to have the shield shape I usually associate with the smelly critters.

I killed it with a tissue and then logged onto the Internet to discover what had hitched a ride into our home. I learned I had squashed a reduvius personatus or masked hunter. It was a good bug to kill as it can bite and the pain has been compared to that of a snake bite with the swelling and irritation lasting up to a week.

The name masked hunter comes from its habit while in the nymph stage of "masking" itself with bits of dust, lint and sand for camouflage. This proved the undoing of our masked hunter, also called an assassin bug, as it was easily noticed sitting quietly in a white-bottomed bag.

As adults, these European bug invaders fly and are attracted by outdoor lights glowing in the night. The adults have a sleeker look, no longer sporting the dusty, dirty appearance favoured as nymphs.

Small Yellow Lady's Slipper found in Ontario

The Small Yellow Lady's Slipper shown above was photographed growing wild at Inverhuron Provincial Park located a short distance south of the Bruce Power nuclear generating station.

This beautiful orchid was spotted growing at the edge of a small wetland beside a footpath leading to the dunes and the sandy beach bordering Lake Huron. Although we spent an afternoon exploring the park and found lots of interest, we took only photographs and left only footprints.

The London Plan: of vehicle zones and pedestrian zones

Many courts and cul-de-sacs in London act as hometown versions of Dutch woonerfs.

I am amazed at the claims made by the London planning department when it comes to their recent London Plan, the newest blueprint to guide urban planning in the city. I downloaded the plan and gave it a read. I showed it to an architect and sought his thoughts. He thought it was pretty thin on new thinking but filled with feel-good urban planning clichés and lots of wordy ways of expressing the obvious.

For instance, The London Free Press reports that in the future minor neighbourhood streets will have sidewalks on both sides of street. There is no mention in the article about courts, crescents and cul-de-sacs.

I assume the minor neighbourhood streets being discussed are those like Griffith Street. I was working at The London Free Press when the Edie and Wilcox designed subdivision in which I now live was created. Main thoroughfares like Griffith were intended right from the start to have a sidewalk on each side. Why? Because these routes would be the busiest streets in the subdivision. Bus service would use these streets.

Streets funneling traffic and pedestrians to the main thoroughfares would have a sidewalk only on one side. Why? Since these feeder streets carry mostly local traffic, both vehicular and pedestrian, the demand for sidewalks is much less.

And small, short streets like courts, cul-de-sacs and crescents, carrying traffic generated only by the homes bordering the street, often have no sidewalks at all. I like to think of these streets as almost homegrown examples of the Dutch woonerf - a residential street on which vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians all share the pavement. Traffic naturally slows on such streets.

Sidewalks are expensive to build and to maintain. The sidewalks in my neighbourhood are not three decades old and yet whole sections have had to be replaced. As important as detailing where sidewalks will be installed is to telling us where sidewalks will not be installed. Detailing how to repair older sidewalks in a seamless fashion would also be a good idea. The repaired sidewalks in my area are a bit of a visual mess. We need a sidewalk standard. All pedestrian zones are not created alike.

After two years of work and supposedly lots of consulting with London residents, the city planning department has decided roadways are "Vehicle Zones" and sidewalks are "Pedestrian Zones." Brilliant? I don't think so.

The above graphic is from The London Plan.

After writing the above, I read a letter to the local paper posted to their website. The author bemoans all the confusing terms in the plans asking, "pedestrian zones" (aren't these called sidewalks), bike routes (aren't these bike lanes), connected with public transit routes (bus stops?), "layby" areas where cars can park (street parking?) . . . " I don't feel so alone.

All the colour makes this a spectacular dinner

I added the pepper. The two chefs may give me a good scolding for being a bit too generous.

Sunday my wife and I had dinner with friends. The husband and wife are a both whizzes in the kitchen. Together they created an absolutely superb Sunday dinner. Actually, meals at their place are usually superb but this Sunday's meal was spectacular at first sight. It was gorgeous with an incredible mix of colour.

I had taken a picture and was setting the camera aside when my granddaughter passed me the heritage tomatoes topped with a sprinkle of chopped basil and slices of buffalo milk mozzarella. She insisted I take another picture. Forgive me but I already had generously peppered my dinner. Not the best move when taking food pictures.

The pork loin was gently grilled and served in slivers on the avocado mixed salad. A vegetarian could make this dinner by simply eliminating the pork loin. I don't believe the meal would suffer.

Since writing this post, I 've heard from the cooks. The recipe is not theirs. It is the Island Pork Tenderloin Salad posted on Epicurious. Check out the link. Just look at my picture and tell me that this isn't a great presentation. As a further bonus, my heart doctor would certainly approve - just go light on the pork.

Expanding one's world

Photo of sculptures by Carolo taken by Marc Grenet (www.marcgrenetphotographe.com)

 
I've been asked why I watch TV5 almost every morning. The answer is simple. It broadens my world.

This morning my wife and I caught a story about a young sculptor in France, going by the name of Carolo, whose medium of choice is cow dung. And yes, there is a lot more to be said for this artist's work than just the material used in making her sculptures. The cow dung is simply her "hook" so to speak.

If you'd like to know more about Carole Chanard (Carolo), read the piece on the artist by Zelda Meyer and posted by La Terre. My link should take you to a Google English translation of the French Internet site.

As someone who studied sculpture in the '60s, I still have a small nude hiding in my garage, I loved much of what I saw of her work. I believe she is untutored but she clearly has a much better grasp of working in a three dimensions than I ever had back in my art student days.

I find some of her pieces have a certain Picasso feel but without the obvious threatening edge. The tension may be there in some pieces but it is subdued. Many of the works exhibit dry humour -- an understated comic undertone. Like sugar in food, humour in art can easily be overdone. In lesser hands it can become cloying. Carolo has a deft hand and a clear artistic vision.

Carolo spent some of her mid-teens living with her parents in the West African country of Burkina Faso. Apparently it was there she discovered mud huts can be made from material other than mud. Meyer quotes Carolo: "If we can make mud houses with dung, you can also make sculptures!"

If you have the time, do some Googling of Carolo. Don't let the fact that most of the stuff posted is in French. Use Google translate. And check out the posted work of Marc Grenet. His portraiture is absolutely wonderful.

And this is all stuff that I never would have discovered had I not been watching TV5.

Cheers!

A soft toothbrush, floss and mouthwash keep a mouth healthy

My dentist gives me a new toothbrush every time I visit, which is normally every six months. A few years ago he went on a soft toothbrush kick. As I understand it, a small group of Canadian dentists decided they didn't like any of the toothbrushes on the market -- all had bristles which were too thick and too hard, in their estimation. They feared that over time the harsh bristles would damage teeth and gums.

The dentists had a toothbrush manufactured to their specifications. It was a very traditional design. No sharply bent neck, no coloured bristles that fade with use. The big difference between this new toothbrush and all the others in the market were the very thin, soft bristles. My dentist got a number of the first toothbrushes and gave them to his patients. I loved mine. My wife hated hers. A soft bristled toothbrush may or may not be better, the jury is still out, but the ultra soft bristles definitely don't please everyone.

The last time I visited my dentist I got a standard Oral B toothbrush. It claimed to be soft but it was downright hard compared to that special, soft-bristled toothbrush. I tried keeping my old brush but it was clearly worn out. Regretfully I tossed my unique toothbrush.

I take an anticoagulant daily to reduce my risk of stroke. The blood thinner makes bleeding gums more of a problem for me than for the average person. I try to take good care of my gums and my new Oral B toothbrush was too hard. No matter how lightly I brushed my teeth, I had bleeding.

I searched the Internet for a new toothbrush and discovered Colgate is making a brush similar the one given out by my dentist. If anything, the new Colgate SlimSoft toothbrush is a little lighter and slimmer with more bristles than other brush. This is possible because each bristle is thinner and more tapered. I bought a SlimSoft and I love it. I'm going to buy a number. I don't want to run out. I've already watched as one good brush was withdrawn from the market.

When one has had some types of heart valve surgery, the risk of endocarditis, a heart infection, increases. Although endocarditis is rare, affecting less than 20,000 people in the States annually, it is serious. Those affected can die.

I've had the mitral valve in my heart repaired. Whenever I had a dental procedure performed I was required to take 2 grams of amoxicillin an hour prior to my appointment. Taking a walloping big dose of antibiotic to possibly protect one against a very low risk infection is controversial. Personally, I side with those who argue the risks associated with taking a massive dose of amoxicillin are greater than the risk of developing endocarditis from having one's teeth cleaned.

I saw this preventive use as an abuse of a powerful antibiotic. After the first few dental visits, I refused to take the amoxicillin. My dentist allowed me to refuse but I have heard that some dentists told patients that they had a choice: take the meds or take the door.

In the past year or so, the tide has turned. The American Heart Association admits "there is a concern that widespread use of antibiotics for this purpose might contribute to promoting antibiotic resistance, an important issue today, as well as needlessly expose patients to antibiotic side effects such as allergic reactions."

What is agreed upon is that it is important to try and prevent the development of endocarditis. Good oral hygiene, daily brushing and flossing followed by the use of a good mouthwash is believed to offer a fair degree of protection. To this end, I have added a thirty second mouth rinse using Listerine Total Care to my daily oral health ritual.

Total Care is not the only suitable mouthwash but it is the one that I have settled upon. A few years ago Listerine ran into problems when the manufacturer claimed Listerine could replace flossing. It can't.

I know I am at risk of endocarditis but I honestly believe I have lessened that risk by adopting the use of the new Colgate SlimSoft toothbrush and teaming it with the daily use of dental floss followed by a morning and night 30-second cleansing slosh of Listerine Total Care.

At my next check-up the dentist is going to measure the pockets at the base of my teeth. I'll have a better idea at that time of how successful this three tiered assault on periodontal disease has been.
___________________________________________________________
Today was check-up day. My pockets measured mostly 1s and 2s. I had some 3s and two 4s. 4s are bad while 1s and 2s are good. Pretty good for an old geezer in his late 60s. Clearly, I am doing something right.

If a layoff goes down and no one hears . . .

The e-mail to The London Free Press failed. Using Twitter, I publicized the layoff.

I have it on good authority that Sun Media informed its staff at the former Bowes Publishers operation in northwest London that a major layoff will take place at the end of the month (May 2014).

Reportedly someone from The London Free Press made the announcement to a staff left shocked by the news. Many of those working at the facility on Gainsborough Road just west of Hyde Park Road had felt their jobs were secure. Just hours before the announcement one staffer had signed on the dotted line to buy a new house. Now, that sale has been scuttled.

How many jobs are being loss? I have heard numbers ranging as high as thirty. That's a lot of good, jobs -- well paying jobs. This is but another blow to the  London economy which has not recovered from the recession now officially some years in the past.

Jim Bowes worked for The London Free Press and branched out into publishing in his off hours. With his publishing business flourishing, Walter Blackburn, Free Press owner, gave Bowes a choice. Either work for The Free Press or leave and devote all his time to his own expanding publishing business. Bowes left the paper and, in the end, left London.

Bowes moved to Grande Prairie, Alberta, where he added the weekly Herald Tribune to his growing chain of small newspapers and niche publications. At the same time, he kept his publishing operation in London going and growing. By 1988, when Sun Media Corporation acquired a 60 percent interest, Bowes Publishers had 22 business units. Two years later Sun Media took complete control of the now not-so-little publishing operation started in London, Ontario. And now Sun Media is slashing employment at the London facility and moving many, if not most, of the work to Barrie.

What do Londoners think of this sad turn of events? Nothing. Most have no clue that it is even happening. It may have been a honcho from The Free Press who announced the layoff to the Hyde Park workers but the paper has been strangely mum about the impending layoff when it comes to informing the public.

I have called the paper and left messages. I have send a tweet hoping Hank Daniszewski, the business reporter, would notice. Nothing. No response. (To be completely accurate, a local Londoner who seems to stay abreast of everything retweeted my Twitter post. Score one for a very alert Butch McLarty.)

A neat way for kids to make art

If you know a young child who likes to paint, I have a tip on teaching a child to create art like that shown.

Fiona, my four-year-old granddaughter, loves the Children's Museum in London, Ontario. One of the activities that brings her back time and time again is the art instruction. Each time we have gone they have had a class demonstrating a new art technique designed with little children in mind.

The piece shown is actually circular and not rectangular. I cropped the subject in the camera. It is circular shape is a result of the fact that the art is on a round, white paper, pie plate that had been jammed into a salad spinner. The plate's diameter was a little larger than that of the plastic spinner insert. This large size is important as the tight fit keeps the paper plate firmly anchored.

After pushing the plate into the spinner, the instructor had Fiona place dabs and gobs of colourful paint in the centre of the plate. When the mix of colours was just right, she put the top on the spinner and turned the crank as fast as she could. Inside centrifugal force thrust the paint out to the sides.

I'm going to try this at home with both Fiona, 4, and Eloise, 3, my oldest granddaughters. I'll use Crayola non-staining, washable water colours. These will wash out of the spinner with a little warm water and dish soap, plus Crayola paints are clean and bright with good density.

French potato salad; No egg

I had to make a potato salad today. It was my contribution to a Mother's Day dinner. Bill, the gentleman hosting the party, requested the potato salad as he loves my wife's cold potato salad made with hard boiled eggs and mayonnaise. He figured I could use Judy's recipe.

The problem with Bill's request was the egg. Egg is off limits for me as it is for Bill's brother. He has heart problems as I do. Eggs are exceedingly high in cholesterol and dietary cholesterol is a no-no to those with heart disease.

I found a recipe for French potato salad posted by a Swedish blogger by the name of Ewa (Eva). She lives in Seattle, WA., and enjoys sharing her recipes. I don't believe she'd mind my posting a link to her site and her recipe for French potato salad: Delishhh.

I made some small changes to the recipe. I used a little less olive oil and a little less salt than called for and I added some roasted, chopped walnuts immediately before serving. I used my Cuisinart blender to mix the olive oil, champagne vinegar, Dijon mustard, salt and pepper into an emulsion. I tried whipping it manually but failed. The blender was the perfect answer.

I put the scallions, dill, parsley and basil in a bowl and mixed all together before adding all to the salad. As I mixed the salad, I salted and peppered it to taste but on the conservative side. I figure folk can always add more salt and pepper at the table. It is impossible to remove if added with too heavy a hand.

So, what was the verdict? Was my, or should I say Ewa's, recipe as good as my wife's? I believe it was. Bill, a tough critic at times, said the best two potato salads he has every tasted both came from my home. One was Judy's and the other was mine (Ewa's).

This potato salad is not for who fear calories. The olive oil adds fat and calories. This is one reason that I cut back on the olive oil in my version. But for those on a heart healthy diet, a serving of this squeaks by on the heart healthy side. This salad contains no saturated fat and no cholesterol.

Homemade soup: Easy to make, nutritious to enjoy

I've modified this recipe. For one thing, I've increased the amount of cauliflower used. Click on the link to see the new recipe: Elegant soup for about a dollar.

I'm not overly fond of cauliflower. I don't dislike it but it is not in my usual veggie rotation. Still, I found the idea of making a thick, creamy cauliflower soup without resorting to heavy cream appealing. And it gave me a chance to use my newest toy: A Cuisinart blender.

I've come to believe that it is almost impossible to make a poor soup at home. The canned stuff is just so boring, the makers seem to rely on salt to kick up the flavour. Homemade soups seem almost magically in comparison.

Judy and I had this soup the other evening. It was good. I can see making a big batch a day in advance and serving it to guests at the next holiday dinner.

Cauliflower Soup

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 small, chopped onion
1 chopped celery stalk
12 oz. chicken stock or vegetable stock
6 oz. 1% milk
10 oz. cauliflower florets
1 bay leaf
1 sprig of thyme
a little nutmeg to taste (just a few pinches)
2 tablespoons of chopped chives
pinch of freshly grated pepper - I like black for the flavour and colour

• Put olive oil in a deep fry pan and place over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and chopped celery. Cook until celery beginning to soften and onion looks translucent. Do not brown.
• Add chicken or vegetable stock, milk, cauliflower florets, bay leaf and sprig of thyme. Heat until simmering and then place a lid over the pan. Simmer for about 25 minutes or until cauliflower is tender. When done, remove from heat and let cool.
• Remove the bay leaf and the thyme sprig and pour the soup into a power blender. Blend until smooth.
• Pour the soup into a medium sized pot and reheat. Do not boil. Let soup quietly simmer until the right degree of thickness is obtained. Stir in the nutmeg and let simmer for another couple of minutes. All this reheating and thickening should not take more than 30 minutes. If it is not thick enough, I understand adding a small amount of potato flakes should quickly thicken this soup without damaging the flavour.
• Serve with sprinkles of  chopped chives and a couple of passes of the pepper mill. These add a little flavour and some much needed colour.

The next time I make this, I'm adding a clove of crushed garlic to the finely chopped onion and celery. I may oven roast a small number of cauliflower florets in a little olive oil. When the florets are almost done, I'll sprinkle on a little Parmesan cheese and return all to the oven until the cheese is just melted. I'll add these flavoured florets to the soup moments before serving. I think some little bursts of concentrated flavour hiding and floating in the soup might add extra presence.

I'd try this soup straight the first time, though, and leave the tarting up with roasted cheese-flavoured florets to later.

Just asking for a basic level of journalistic integrity

I went to a breakfast this morning in London, Ontario. The monthly social event is attended by those who once worked for the media in town but who have now, for whatever reason, found themselves put out to pasture.

It is always fun catching up on the latest media rumours, but this morning was a little more interesting than usual. I learned that Joe Warmington, the award-winning Toronto Sun columnist, wrote a story and posted it to the Internet before the event had occurred. Oops!

According to Now, a weekly news and entertainment tabloid serving Toronto, The Toronto Sun declared Rob Ford's appearance on the Jimmy Kimmel show a "victory for Ford" even before the writer, Joe Warmington could have seen the program. The Ford segment was taped at approximately 9:40 p.m. Eastern Standard Time but the date stamp on Warmington's first report was 9:13 p.m.

In talking about a program he couldn't possibly have seen, Warmington said the Toronto mayor's appearance "was vintage Rob Ford."

The Now report goes on to say that Canada.com's Marc Weisblott first tweeted out the column at 10:31 ("Joe Warmington reviews a show before it airs"). Fifteen minutes later, amid suggestions from those in studio that the appearance had been a disaster, the Sun pulled it down. (It has disappeared as well from Google's cache.)

One exchange that hasn't gone missing is the Twitter tweets between National Post columnist Bruce Arthur and Toronto Sun staffer Cynthia McLeod.

In the ensuing conversation I thought the responses by Alex Colangelo and Stan the Man Chan were among the best. Colangelo offered, "So I guess perfection is waiting for an event to occur before writing about it?" Stan clarified the problem that McLeod seemed unable to fathom: "No one's asking for perfection. We're just asking for a basic level of journalistic integrity."

Seeking solutions to the housing crisis

Streetscape from Hong Kong shows dense residential does not have to be boring.

 
This is an intro to a link to a New York Times piece on the housing crisis facing cities around the globe. I really liked some of the stuff the writer said.

As someone who attended many of the ReThink London meetings, I believe cities may well lack  the fortitude to deal head-on with the numerous problems encountered trying to supply decent, while also affordable, housing.

Housing policy can be very tricky to get right. “Success is going to be in the eye of the beholder,” says Eric Belsky, the managing director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard. “If success means building more homes at greater densities, you’ll end up with some neighbors not happy . .  .

Personally, I find the London, Ontario, solution of embracing sprawl to be totally unacceptable. That said, I feel quite alone in my opposition. Oh, lots of folk talk the end-the-sprawl talk but they fail to walk the end-the-sprawl walk.

Here is the link to Rent Too High? Move to Singapore. Read it, let it make you think and don't get hung up on statements like the following: "It seems the only solution would be to level all of, say, North Brooklyn and put up monolithic prefab tower blocks. But New Yorkers don’t want to live in Singapore." (And there is no demand to emulate Singapore housing in either London, Ontario, or New York, New York.)

When it comes to housing, Singapore and Hong Kong are guideposts and not final destinations.

Eating healthy despite being miles from home

Lunch in St. Jacobs: A delicious stir-fry on a bed of Basmati rice.

Today was a meatless day. No beef, no chicken, no fish -- nothing but veggies. Today was also escape-to-St. Jacobs day. St. Jacobs is a small town about an hour from London. At one time, it was famous for its Mennonite shops.

Then a couple of small malls moved to town and it became a shopping magnet. The town paved the land behind main street and put in parking for the tour buses filled with visiting shoppers. But times have changed. Many of the once popular mall shops have disappeared. For instance, Dansk -- a once popular retail destination -- has closed all its factory outlet stores.

With the downtown mall emptying of stores, the small mall has now been converted to another use. But the town still has Mennonites and, even without the presence of lots of out-of-town retail, it may be able to return to its small town retail roots.

The little stores my wife and I visited were filled with great stuff, much of it locally made. We picked up a loaf of freshly baked sour dough bread in the local bakery and for lunch we enjoyed a non-chain restaurant meal.

I must confess, I miss the Dansk store. But I don't miss McDonald's, Wendy's, et al. My meatless day lunch was great. So far, Dr. Spence has been right: Meatless days can be absolutely delightful.

Leftovers

Leftovers don't have to be second best. Tonight we had left over ratatouille. Judy punched it up with, what else, some other leftovers.

She added roasted red peppers and canned artichoke hearts. It was delicious. (Before Judy served this, she added a sprinkle of Parmesan but it hid the look of the dish. You will have to use your imagination.)

For a ratatouille recipe, just cruise the Internet. There are lots of recipes posted. And if you make too much, punch it up the next day and enjoy it all over again. Weight Watchers rates this dinner as a five and my heart doctor would call this a wonderful Mediterranean dish. Lose weight and possibly arterial plaque all at the same time.

What a great idea. Pass the red wine, please.

Is the CPP Investment Portfolio Struggling?

Maybe my headline is a little too strong -- and maybe not. A financial expert by the name of Mark McQueen has strong feelings about the running of our Canada Pension Plan (CPP). His feelings are not good.

I started thinking about how the CPP is managed after hearing some comments made on the CBC morning news show with Heather Hiscox. The comments seemed to be throw-away filler and not thoughtful insights.

I've followed McQueen online as well as on BNN and he makes a good case for concern. I decided to see if he has published anything recently on the CPP. I found an online post from February of this year (2014): CPP Investment Board’s External Private Equity Managers Continue to Drag Returns.

McQueen tells us: "The CPP Investment Board reports that our hand-picked team produced $1.8 billion of negative value add over four fiscal years . . . " Go to McQueen's post on his Wellington Financial blog for the whole story or at least as much of the story as McQueen is able to report. You see the CPP Investment Board is terribly secretive about its investments and returns. Much of the financial date provided to the Canadian public is intentionally useless, according to McQueen.

CBC's Hiscox needs to widen her reach when it comes to connecting with folk in the business world and in the financial arena. She should stop with the almost daily fawning over Kevin O'Leary and move on. I nominate Mark McQueen as an on-air financial expert willing, and more than able, to point the news organization in the direction of some newsworthy stuff.

Random testing vs. fasting for cholesterol tests

I got a call this afternoon. It was the nurse at my family doctor's office. She told me my doctor wanted me to have some blood work done and soon. No need to fast, I was told, just get to the lab for some cholesterol tests and others. I went immediately.

In the past, I've puzzled over the fasting instructions that have always been part of having these tests. Would there be any to be gained in having test numbers reflective of cholesterol levels occurring after a meal rather than after 8 to 12 hours of fasting? Once I mistakenly had a little coffee before going to the lab. The lab staff insisted I put the test off for a day. Just how damaging can a few sips of coffee be to one's numbers, I wondered.

Today at the lab, I asked a technician about the change from fasting to random testing. She told me she could see advantages and disadvantages in both. She thought it best not to adhere to either approach in all situations. She herself has cholesterol problems she confessed. In her case, it was genetically caused. For her, she knew it was best to have both fasting and random testing done.

I googled the question and learned:

If nonfasting lipid profiles for cardiovascular risk prediction were used, it would simplify clinical care for patients worldwide. Because only minimal, and clinically unimportant, changes in levels of lipids, lipoproteins, and apolipoproteins have been noted in response to normal food intake in the general population and because nonfasting levels predict cardiovascular events, fasting may not be necessary before determining lipid profiles for predicting cardiovascular risk.

For more on this, read: Fasting and Nonfasting Lipid Levels in the American Heart Association publication Circulation.

Personally, I feel more comfortable having my cardiovascular risks calculated from random tests. First, I am not part of the general populace. I have known cardiovascular problems. The average person doesn't have an ICD hidden in their chest and hardwired to their heart. The average person doesn't have a history of relatively frequent TIAs. The average person doesn't have plaque building up in the carotid artery. How the average person's lipid profile changes, or doesn't, after a meal may not be relevant in my case. I'll leave that to my doctors.

My lipid profile, created from years of blood work done in the morning after a night of fasting, has developed some solid numbers. It will be interesting to see what profile modifications will ensue now that my tests are being based on blood work taken randomly.

Whole Wheat Fusilli with Roasted Red Peppers, Turkey and Goat Cheese

This past weekend was Easter. My wife made a large Easter dinner but she made concessions based on the recent advice I received from my London doctor. As red meat is now just about out, Judy made her stuffing using locally-make low fat turkey sausage. Her potato and leek soup was lighter this year as it contained no heavy cream. Judy took advantage of every opportunity to lighten up on animal fats. The dinner was large but not ridiculously large and we'll work through the leftovers in just a few days.

Today, I uses some of the leftover turkey in a whole wheat fusilli with roasted red peppers, turkey and soft goat cheese concoction. I like the fusilli shape as it offers sauces a surface with good grip. Sauces easily slip free from the twirling fusilli shape.

I served broccoli as the side vegetable. I like the way trimmed broccoli curves along the edge of a pasta bowl. It's too bad I didn't include the broccoli in the picture. It would have added a nice splash of green.

Whole Wheat Fusilli with Roasted Red Peppers, Turkey and Goat Cheese

Serves 2

• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil or canola oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 garlic clove chopped
• 8 oz. of roasted red peppers*
• ¼ cup vegetable broth
• 3-4 oz. roast turkey
• 200g of whole-wheat fusilli
• 3 oz. soft goat cheese
• Fresh ground black pepper to taste
• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh Italian parsley
• 3/4 oz. grated Parmesan cheese 

* My wife bought local, fresh red peppers last fall, blackened them on the barbecue, stripped off the darkened skins and frozen them in freezer bags. If you don't want to roast your own red peppers, jars of roasted red peppers are available at the grocery store. I believe they come packed in both oil and in water.

Directions

Heat oil in heavy, deep skillet over medium heat. Fry onion and garlic until translucent. Add roasted peppers, vegetable broth, roast turkey and freshly ground pepper. Heat through, simmering until sauce thickens.

Cook pasta and drain. Remember to reserve 2 oz. of pasta water. Toss pasta with sauce and half the soft goat cheese. (I actually topped the pasta with the mixture but next time I may remember to toss with the pasta.) Add some pasta water if needed. Serve in pasta bowls with sprinkle of parsley, the remaining goat cheese and a little grated Parmesan.

Enjoy!

And if you're curious as to what, other than turkey, was on my wife's Easter menu, think memories. She made a beautiful bunny cake that simply delighted our two oldest granddaughters. They will always remember the Easter dinner at which grandma Judy served bunny cake. The cake, by the way, was somewhat heart healthy. The recipe called for egg whites only. No yokes.

Computers can be good for kids

Why a black flower, Fiona? It's a drawing, Gug. It can be any colour I want.

I've read articles claiming that young children should not be allowed to use computers. One story said "technology is damaging young children whose brains are not yet fully formed."

Not true, at least not in my experience. My granddaughter, Fiona, will not be five for months but already she knows how to turn on the computer, find her icon and open the paint program. The other day my wife asked, "What is Fiona doing? She is awfully quiet."

I found her sitting at the computer making art. It was clear that the computer in no way is damaging her ability to concentrate. She watches what happens when clicking on this icon or that icon and she learns. She knows more about the paint program than I do.

She loves to experiment with colour and form. The computer is perfect for doing this. If one doesn't like the result created by one colour, erase it and try another. Do you like to experiment with geometric forms? It's easy with a computer but almost impossible for a four-year-old using paint, brush and paper.

I've noticed her work with traditional paints often resembles the stuff she creates on the computer.
Many times there is no big divide between her work on the computer and her work done on paper.

Fiona's mother used a computer at a very young age. Not as young as Fiona, but under ten. I had one of the first Macs and I bought a typing program for the little computer. Her mother would sit in front of the little black and white screen blasting words tumbling down the monitor. To type faster, she learned where to place her hands to best use all her fingers. She was typing more than 60 words per minute while still in grade three or four.

Using computers to do dumb stuff is not a temptation unique to children. Maybe learning to ignore such temptations at an early age is an advantage of early computer use.

Can arterial plaque build-up be halted? Reversed? Maybe.

In keeping with my doctor's orders, I am now eating meat every other day. Red meat will only hit my plate once a month, if that. Fish is about to play a big role in my diet and chicken and turkey will fill in the remaining holes in my menus.

It sounds extreme, at least it did to me but it isn't. According to an article in the Huffington Post, President Bill Clinton is now on on a plant-based diet. He has cut all meat from his diet, except for the occasional fish, as well as dairy. Clinton told CNN that he lives on "beans, legumes, vegetables, fruit."

My doctor, Dr. J. David Spence, made no wild promises to me but he is clearly trying to arrest the build-up of plaque that is taking place in my arteries. He is confident the Mediterranean diet he recommends will be part of the answer. Dr. Spence is not alone in his thinking, there are many in the medical profession who agree with my London, Ontario, doctor. They all believe a plant-based diet can help put the brakes on the insidious growth of arterial plaque.

In the United States, Dr. Dean Ornish and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn are two doctors gaining fame for the plant-based diets they promote. I believe, Bill Clinton is following Dr. Ornish's dietary advice. Another doctor publicizing a plant-based diet, this one with a bit of a twist, is Dr. Joel Fuhrman.

Dr. Fuhrman has gone so far as to write a cookbook, Eat to  Live, making the claim on the cover that inside are 200 recipes for "reversing disease." My doctor, Dr. Spence, has also written a book, How to Prevent Your Stroke. Dr. Spence makes it clear that although diet plays a major role in fighting stroke, once one is suffering from TIAs (mini-strokes) and has measurable amounts of plaque collecting in the arteries, a change in diet is not the compete answer.

Today doctors have a growing number of weapons in their arsenal for fighting stroke. But stroke research is showing that long before someone at risk sees a doctor, there are actions they could have taken on their own to cut their risk.

• Don't smoke
• Don't drink (to excess)
• Exercise daily
• If overweight, lose it
• Adopt a healthy diet to keep the weight off

I have never smoked. I have one 5 oz. glass of wine with dinner. But until recently, I didn't exercise enough, I was clearly overweight and that was partially because my diet was in need of a major overhaul. Would a better diet have kept my arteries free of plaque? Maybe.

According to a Harvard Medical School publication, "Visceral fat is directly linked with higher total cholesterol and LDL (bad) cholesterol, lower HDL (good) cholesterol . . . " And what would have kept that fat at bay? The Harvard publication says exercise and diet.

Pay attention to portion size, and emphasize complex carbohydrates (fruits, vegetables, and whole grains) and lean protein over simple carbohydrates such as white bread, refined-grain pasta, and sugary drinks. Replacing saturated fats and trans fats with polyunsaturated fats can also help.

In keeping with my new approach to eating, tonight I prepared curried vegetables on a bed of rice for dinner. The rice was white because, at the moment, all we have in our pantry is Indian basmati rice. As soon as this is gone, we will be switching to brown rice. It has a nice nutty flavour and I will make the switch with no fuss.

Recipe

• I put three teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil in a large, deep frying pan.
• I heated the oil for about 30 seconds and then added two teaspoons of mild curry and swirled the heating mixture around in the bottom of the pan. The next time I make this I will add three teaspoons of mild curry to give this dish a little extra pop.
• When the aroma of the heated curry could be clearly noted, I added two chopped onions and two diced garlic cloves to the oil.
• When the onions began to turn translucent, I added 10 oz. of cauliflowers florets and let the cauliflower absorb lots of the flavour of the curry.
• After a couple of minutes I added a 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes, 18 oz. of salt reduced chicken stock, four peeled, sliced carrots, a sliced zucchini about 8 oz. in size and one  medium sized potato cubed.
• I let the whole concoction simmer for about fifteen minutes.
• I added 8 oz. of sliced green beans, a 14 oz. can of chick peas and a small container of heritage cherry tomatoes which had been halved or quartered.
• I ground a little pepper on top and sprinkled some salt onto the bubbling mix and left all to gently simmer.
• Another fifteen minutes and the curried vegetables were ready to be spooned onto a bed of rice along with a little of the light sauce.

Was it good? Honestly, it needed a little more punch. As I said earlier, next time I'll add a third teaspoon of mild curry. The chicken stock I used was low in both sodium and fat but the next time I make this I will experiment with low salt vegetable stock, and I will keep an eye on the salt I add. Many of us consume too much salt.

So, was it healthy? Yes! It was a good choice for a meatless Monday. Will eating like this stop the build-up of plaque in my arteries from continuing? I can't say for sure but I have my fingers crossed and my spare tire on notice.

Treasures

For my 4-year-old granddaughter the world is a wonderful place filled with treasures. She has a little pink tricycle she calls her scooter. At the back there is a small tray — the trunk. Whenever we go to the park, the short journey is stretched by frequent stops to investigate a treasure.

The crabapple tree in front of my home is the source of many treasures. In the spring, the tree is covered with small, pink flowers attracting dozens of bumblebees bees at any one time. She stops, I hold her high and she picks the pretty, little flowers. Treasures.

The flowers disappear, leaving the ground littered with pink petals, more treasures. Soon little green apples replace the flowers and grown in size and number throughout the summer. By fall the boughs hang low with the weight of the fruit. The tree emits a low, steady hum, the result of hundreds of yellow jackets attracted by the fragrant, juice-filled fruit.

My granddaughter will stop her scooter and I will hold her high in order to pick the biggest, roundest, reddest apples. The ones undamaged by the wasps. She is careful not to bother the buzzing, yellow and black striped insects which appear to understand that we are not a threat. There are enough apples, enough treasures, for all.

Of course, a crabapple tree is not the only treasure to be found. I have two, small, smooth, flat, oval stones discovered by Fiona. They too are treasures and she gave them to me. I treasure them. I will make one into a broach, encircling it with a decorative band of silver. It will be a treasure for all forever.

What I find amazing, startling, even a little sad, is that as we grow older, as we mature, we don't see more treasures in our world but less. Fiona has opened my eyes to the treasures in my world and for this I thank her. I believe I can say, and most would agree, Fiona herself is a little treasure.