Reading?

Feeling anxious about the root canal procedure about to occur in your mouth as you sit stiffly in your dentist's waiting area? Grabbing for that bottle of wine shortly after your daughter comes home from college with a tattoo on her shoulder and a piercing in her tongue? Gearing up to scream as you confront the living room wall that your 3-year-old decorated with Crayola markers. Stop. Breath. Grab a novel. Yes. I did say grab a novel. Within six minutes of reading it your stress level will be reduced by 2/3 according to Mindlab International at the University of Sussex. Reading is more effective at calming frazzled nerves than listening to music or taking a walk.

No wonder I'm feeling a little edgy. Just look at the pile of unread books on my nightstand that I really am going to delve into one of these days:

Despite my literary negligence, I  do love to read -- especially fiction. It's fun to be absorbed by a thriller or romance, travel to a faraway land, meet a character who I truly come to care about or despise. So many fascinating stories at my fingertips yet so little time to read them. A little sad, isn't it? All of those words strung creatively together by a talented writer, unexposed to my eyes, failing to serve their purpose. I do have good intentions, often reaching for the book lucky enough to be on the top of my heap after I crawl into bed, but generally I fall asleep before finishing ten pages. It must have something to do with waking up at 5 a.m. and hustling through the day until I settle down around 10:00 p.m. It's one of those human things -- the need to sleep.

So what can I do about my desire to kick back and read a book that will relax me more than a stroll through a meadow? Possibly, read during the day?

Really?

Do I have time?

In my first blog entry, I mentioned that it takes the average adult 18-minutes to read 15 pages of text. Okay. After dinner, around 7:00, curl up on the couch for 18-minutes and read. Sounds appealing. At that rate I could finish 18, 300 page books in one year. By the way, that's way above the national norm. The average American reads 3-to-6 books a year, but watches 35-hours of TV a week. You do the math. Maybe many of us really do have time to kick back with a book.

To learn more about how reading reduces stress click here:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/5070874/Reading-can-help-reduce-stress.html


Song of the Week:
I picked a classic story telling song this week, The Harper Valley P.T.A. sung by Jeannie C. Riley. No glitz in this video. Let your imagination create the scene.  Love the hair, Jeannie...  

Book(s) of the Week:
Because the topic of the week is kicking back with a book, I'll pick two, a classic and one from the collection on my nightstand.

First the classic, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. Set during the Great Depression, it traces the migration of an Oklahoma Dust Bowl family to California and their subsequent hardships as migrant farm workers. It was published in 1939 and won a Pulitzer Prize in 1940. Read the first line:

To the red country and part of the gray country of Oklahoma, the last rains came gently, and they did not cut the scarred earth.

I was drawn to Oklahoma in the five seconds it took to read that.

Now for a novel from my nightstand, Mudbound by Hillary Jordan. In Jordan's prize-winning debut, prejudice takes many forms, both subtle and brutal. It is 1946, and city-bred Laura McAllan is trying to raise her children on her husband's Mississippi Delta farm—a place she finds foreign and frightening. Click on the image below to hear a little bit more about the book:

A Little Something Extra:

“The best moments in reading are when you come across something - a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things - which you had thought special and particular to you. And now, here it is, set down by someone else, a person you have never met, someone even who is long dead. And it is as if a hand has come out, and taken yours.”
― Alan Bennett, The History Boys: The Film

An Orange

I love to eat fruit. In fact, the second I hear about a nutritional program that limits my consumption of peaches, blueberries, apples and bananas, I say, "Not for me." Fruit is one of life's gifts. Handy morsels of different sizes, colors, shapes and textures, packed with flavor and nourishment. So easy to grab on the run, quenching hunger and even thirst. Nope. I would never make it one day on the fruit restrictive Atkins or Southbeach diets.

Just last August I was walking down the Ausable Road in Keene Valley, NY after a long hike up Gothics Mountain in the Adirondacks. I had run out of water and would have given up a snowfall in December for a sip of something, anything. Then I remembered I had grapes in my backpack. I pulled out the baggie full of purple delicacies and popped them in my mouth, one by one. As I bit into them, juice spurt out and trickled down my throat -- an absolute moment in heaven.

One fruit that has sadly been edited off my grocery list, however, is the orange. It's too much work. Trying to spear my thumb nails through the thick skin, picking off the excess white strings (pith), biting into the slices then wondering what to do with the seeds in the center and the sticky finger aftermath -- all too much. I forgot to mention how the juice dribbles down my chin and sometimes onto my shirt. It also leaves quite a mess on the kitchen counter. Yes, I gave up that sweet burst of orange zest in my mouth because it took too much time and effort. But, what else did I give up? First this lovely kitchen display:

And the nutrients. An orange has 45mg of vitamin C, 75% of the RDA for adults -- take that colds and flu. It contains lots of other good for us stuff and is low in calories, contains no saturated fats or cholesterol, but is rich in the dietary fiber, pectin, which is very effective in helping persons with excess body weight, lose it. Oranges are also high in antioxidants, which neutralize the effects of free radicals, unstable oxygen molecules in your body, believed to cause aging and some diseases.  I'm sold. The orange is back on my grocery list. Just check out some other benefits of oranges by clicking here: http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/orange-fruit.html

My kick back activity for the week will be to sit down with an orange each day. Take the time to peel it, put it in a bowl -- maybe one with a floral design -- savor every bite and that incredible aroma. Along with all that, I'll relish the wonders it is doing for my body. By the way, the most popular seedless oranges available in the U.S.A. are the naval and Valencia varieties. One of those will be my choice since I really don't like seeds swimming around my mouth as I try to chew the orange slice then having to spit them out before I swallow. I'll take care of the sticky orange aftermath with applejack liquid soap and warm water -- not such a bad thing.

Kick back and join me for a week, or a lifetime, of eating oranges. Stay young, stay healthy, stay fit. And I bet the extra time it takes to eat this fruit was planned just to get us roadrunners to slow down a little and enjoy the moment.


Kick Back Song of the Week:

While you pamper yourself with an orange experience, enjoy a little music. One of my favorites, Orange Colored Sky by sung by Natalie Cole:

Kick Back Book of the Week:

The Great Citrus Book by Chef Allen Susser has 38 unique recipes that include citrus fruit. It also has lots of fun facts about oranges, lemons and limes. Chef Allen is one of the inventors of New World Cuisine and owner of Chef Allen's Modern Seafood Grill in Miami, FL. Click below to see him demonstrate how to make an orange mojito and orange peppercorn:

http://www.ciaprochef.com/sunkist/06_beyond_juice.html

A Little Something Extra:

I had to share this recipe for orange lemonade. It makes me want to jump into a hot summer day by a pool with this drink in my hand:

 

Too Busy

"I have too much to do." Those were my exact words when my husband, Keith, asked if I wanted to take a hike up Sleeping Beauty Mountain one Sunday morning. "It'll only take a few hours," he replied. If I said, but I have so much laundry to do, it would have been a true indicator that I had traded in fun for drudgery in this all too short life. So I shrugged and said, "Okay." That infamous word we use when we agree to do something that we really don't feel like doing. I put on my convert nylon pants, wick away shirt, wool socks, a fleece and  hiking boots. We hopped into our Honda Element and were on the way to Lake George, a 45-minute drive, by 6:30 a.m.

In between sips of coffee and nibbles of bagel, I planned how I would organize my day to get everything on my to do list done in seven hours as opposed to the twelve hours I predicted it would take. The family was coming over at five for dinner so grocery shopping and cooking had to happen. Clean clothes for Monday morning were an absolute necessity, as I'm sure my co-workers would agree. I promised myself to add 1,000 words per day to the novel I was writing and had to comply. I've broken enough promises to myself and wasn't going to add another to the list. The car chugged along as my mind raced. I added more and more to my list. By the time we pulled into the trail head parking lot, I was tapping my foot like an agitated parrot. We'd just have to rush up the 1.5 miles to the top, wave to the lake and scurry back down. Keith, a marathon runner, didn't have a problem with that so we sped off like two jackrabbits. We reached the summit 35-minutes later and were greeted by this view: 
    

Taken by Keith from the summit of Sleeping Beauty, Lake George, NY October 8, 2011

It was as if the clouds came down to the lake for a swim. Red, yellow and orange leaves mixed in with the green on the trees. The sun rose through the lavender sky, its rays casting luster and shadows across the landscape. The sight instantly tamed the commotion swirling inside me and replaced it with a quiet calm. Keith and I rested on a rock slab and inhaled this magical scene, which seemed to be painted just for us. As I gazed at the cloud covered lake, I couldn't help but think, I almost missed this moment because I was just too busy.

On the way home, my attitude shifted 180 degrees. I mean, how long does it take to throw some burgers on the grill and put some salads from the local deli on the table. Who even remembers what they had for dinner a week ago, but that scene on top of the mountain will stay with me forever. And the writing -- yes, promises to yourself are important to keep, but taking a time out from the bustle of my day, helped the words flow from my clear mind to the keys on my computer later that afternoon. The laundry was still a must, but really. Doesn't the machine do most of the work? The next time Keith says, "Let's go for a hike," I'll reply, "Sounds great!" In fact, I'll be the one who makes the suggestion.

Kick Back Song of the Week:

You may not be able to climb a mountain this week, but if you want a quick kick back moment with nature just click below and jump into the video. 

Somewhere Over the Rainbow sung by Eva Cassidy

Kick Back Book of the Week:

You can read about nature too. If you think you don't have time to read, think again. It takes the average adult 18 minutes to read 15-pages of text. Delving into good book is a sure way to escape and forget about your crowded schedule for a bit. This one is sure to make you laugh out loud.

    

 A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson

A story about how two middle aged men set out to walk the 2100 mile Appalachian Trail. It's laugh out loud funny. Click below for a preview:

   

A Little Something Extra:

"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn."     

                                                                                                               John Muir           

If you want to learn more about how nature can relieve stress click here