We're coming to the end of our first month here in windy Waimea. My allergies and asthma have been relentless. Mark and I have been operating on a new system that in a lot ways I really like. Mark is now doing daddy-daycare. I do my work for the Waimea Ocean Film Festival. Some days that means making cold calls to large corporations trying to sell them on the idea of sponsoring our festival. Sometimes I feel like I am shouting from the top of a mountain peak with my voice rushing away on the wind, sometimes echoing back to me. I was "hired" to write and layout a program guide for the festival, but this is a small operation in its first official year so I do lots of things. This week is supposed to be about writing again. Maybe writing this blog piece will get me in the flow. Maybe I am just procrastinating.
Craig's List got us over here to the Big Island. For some reason, Mark hinged the flip of the coin on an email friendship he'd developed with a family on the Big Island. He had answered a Craig's List advertisement for a handyman in the hope of finding a work for rent situation. The funny thing is a month later we have ended up in a work for rent situation that came out of Craig's List, but it's me that's working. To be continued . . . .
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Lost in the Woods: A New Journey
What is living on the Big Island?
It's the goosebumps I feel when I hear a popping noise, see a glow, and all the lights in the town go out. It's the bright orange hibiscus flower my daughter dropped in a tall glass. It's the confusion of thinking that my teenage son was rattling windows and slamming doors with his youthful energy and frustration and finding out it was a 4.7 level earthquake. It's knowing that paradise is really a bubbling, volcanic cauldron joining hands with the ring of fire, and that I am living on top of it. It's walking in the bright sunshine and being amazed that the temperature is absolutely perfect.
It's the goosebumps I feel when I hear a popping noise, see a glow, and all the lights in the town go out. It's the bright orange hibiscus flower my daughter dropped in a tall glass. It's the confusion of thinking that my teenage son was rattling windows and slamming doors with his youthful energy and frustration and finding out it was a 4.7 level earthquake. It's knowing that paradise is really a bubbling, volcanic cauldron joining hands with the ring of fire, and that I am living on top of it. It's walking in the bright sunshine and being amazed that the temperature is absolutely perfect.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Lost in the Woods: A New Journey
I may change this blog altogether. Many of my friends have been bugging me to post pictures and write about my experiences on the Big Island of Hawaii. We just relocated to the Big Island about a month ago, and we have had plenty of adventures since.
I haven't wanted to write about my experience because they weren't the blissful paradise stuff that everybody is hoping to experience vicariously through the blog. And, really, the Big Island is just one leg of our journey. I think I will have to write some back story in order for anyone to grasp where I am at mentally and emotionally in this "journey."
Today, tonight, at this moment I am living in Waimea, Hawaii, also known to the US Postal service as Kamuela. Waimea is in the north central part of the island--a little closer to the leeward Kona side (I think by 5 miles). If you parachuted from an airplane in hopes of landing on tropical Hawaii, you'd probably think the compass had gone bonkers and had actually dropped you in Germany or New Zealand or Pennsylvania even but not Hawaii with flower leis and ukuleles. You'd be damp with cool mist and all around you'd see large verdant hills dotted with black, white, and brown cows. Then you'd get hungry, so you'd start walking to find some mangoes or papaya (you might find an avacadoes or oranges) and instead you'd find McDonalds and Burger King and a great place to get steaks called Paniolos, which means cowboys in Hawaiian. Yeah, this is Big Island ranch country up here next to Mauna Kea, which is perplexing by the way. Mauna Kea is this huge 14,000 ft mountain saddled by Keck Observatory but it looks like a very large sloping hill, not as sloping as Mauna Loa, but definitely nothing like the peaks of Mt. Hood or Rainier.
Evidently, because of Waimea's proximity to Mauna Kea and how the trade winds blow, it is often cool, windy, and damp. If you like a surreal, tidy green landscape, Waimea is beautiful. And as a town goes, its a bit plain but quaint, clean, safe, has a nice park for the kids, and plenty of family oriented activities. It's one of the wealthier towns of the Big Island, so you don't really get the island flavor like Hilo. It's a nice town with two good coffee shops, Waimea Coffee and Starbucks, and a great albeit expensive burger joint called Village Burger that uses local Hawaiian Beef and veggies. They have a veggie burger called the Taro Burger made with taro a starchy root native to the Big Island that was once a staple. Overall, my first impression of Waimea when we drove through the first time hasn't changed after living here for two weeks: I see rectangles and squares.
So, why are we here? I responded to an ad in Craig's List and got a job or rather a full-time "situation" for a couple of months. I am working for a non-profit film festival and instead of a paycheck we get to live in a nice, centrally located, 3 bedroom, furnished house, with a great yard and utilities. And, the VOG from Kiluea and its vents doesn't usually come up to Waimea. Unfortunately, all kinds of pollens and molds do. My allergies have been practically feverish since I've been here. I'm half-miserable more than half of the time. Even as we speak, I sniffle and rub.
Luckily, dry air and sea air are only minutes away. Spencer State Park is the quickest, easiest beach to get to from our house. I love the state parks here. They're free and most have easy access to beaches or ocean swimming. Spencer is perfect for families. The beach is sandy and the waters are protected from the wind and strong currents by reefs and the shape of the land making the swimming area nice and relaxing. Today I saw a couple of guys come out of the water with about 10 fish that they had caught spear fishing near the rocky reef areas. These areas are also great for snorkeling. The park has many picnic tables and a nice covered pavilion that looks out onto the ocean. Today I set my computer up on one of the tables and worked while Mark and the kids swam and played in the sand on the beach. Those are the times that I totally dig living in Hawaii and think to myself, "yeah. I can do this."
I haven't wanted to write about my experience because they weren't the blissful paradise stuff that everybody is hoping to experience vicariously through the blog. And, really, the Big Island is just one leg of our journey. I think I will have to write some back story in order for anyone to grasp where I am at mentally and emotionally in this "journey."
Today, tonight, at this moment I am living in Waimea, Hawaii, also known to the US Postal service as Kamuela. Waimea is in the north central part of the island--a little closer to the leeward Kona side (I think by 5 miles). If you parachuted from an airplane in hopes of landing on tropical Hawaii, you'd probably think the compass had gone bonkers and had actually dropped you in Germany or New Zealand or Pennsylvania even but not Hawaii with flower leis and ukuleles. You'd be damp with cool mist and all around you'd see large verdant hills dotted with black, white, and brown cows. Then you'd get hungry, so you'd start walking to find some mangoes or papaya (you might find an avacadoes or oranges) and instead you'd find McDonalds and Burger King and a great place to get steaks called Paniolos, which means cowboys in Hawaiian. Yeah, this is Big Island ranch country up here next to Mauna Kea, which is perplexing by the way. Mauna Kea is this huge 14,000 ft mountain saddled by Keck Observatory but it looks like a very large sloping hill, not as sloping as Mauna Loa, but definitely nothing like the peaks of Mt. Hood or Rainier.
Evidently, because of Waimea's proximity to Mauna Kea and how the trade winds blow, it is often cool, windy, and damp. If you like a surreal, tidy green landscape, Waimea is beautiful. And as a town goes, its a bit plain but quaint, clean, safe, has a nice park for the kids, and plenty of family oriented activities. It's one of the wealthier towns of the Big Island, so you don't really get the island flavor like Hilo. It's a nice town with two good coffee shops, Waimea Coffee and Starbucks, and a great albeit expensive burger joint called Village Burger that uses local Hawaiian Beef and veggies. They have a veggie burger called the Taro Burger made with taro a starchy root native to the Big Island that was once a staple. Overall, my first impression of Waimea when we drove through the first time hasn't changed after living here for two weeks: I see rectangles and squares.
So, why are we here? I responded to an ad in Craig's List and got a job or rather a full-time "situation" for a couple of months. I am working for a non-profit film festival and instead of a paycheck we get to live in a nice, centrally located, 3 bedroom, furnished house, with a great yard and utilities. And, the VOG from Kiluea and its vents doesn't usually come up to Waimea. Unfortunately, all kinds of pollens and molds do. My allergies have been practically feverish since I've been here. I'm half-miserable more than half of the time. Even as we speak, I sniffle and rub.
Luckily, dry air and sea air are only minutes away. Spencer State Park is the quickest, easiest beach to get to from our house. I love the state parks here. They're free and most have easy access to beaches or ocean swimming. Spencer is perfect for families. The beach is sandy and the waters are protected from the wind and strong currents by reefs and the shape of the land making the swimming area nice and relaxing. Today I saw a couple of guys come out of the water with about 10 fish that they had caught spear fishing near the rocky reef areas. These areas are also great for snorkeling. The park has many picnic tables and a nice covered pavilion that looks out onto the ocean. Today I set my computer up on one of the tables and worked while Mark and the kids swam and played in the sand on the beach. Those are the times that I totally dig living in Hawaii and think to myself, "yeah. I can do this."
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Dairy-Free, Soy-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
I tried this recipe for the first time today. I've had trouble finding butter alternatives that were milk and soy free, so I could bake goodies Reef could eat. We all liked the results of this recipe. I found it on the Soy Dream box. You can also find it at www.TasteTheDream.com.
Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup whole wheat flour (I used 1/2 c and added 1 c left-over oatmeal cooked in vanilla rice milk, so I didn't add rice milk to this recipe)
1 cup white flour
¾ c chocolate chips or carob (I used allergen-free chocolate chips from health food store-you could also chop up a 72% or higher chocolate bar. Above 72 %, they use very little to no milk products in the chocolate.)
½ canola oil
½ c walnuts or pecans
¾ c maple syrup (Didn't have so used 1/4 to 1/2 cup natural log cabin syrup and some brown sugar and white sugar to taste)
1 tsp vanilla (I used 11/2)
½ c rice milk
1 tbs baking powder (be sure to mix this in with your flour well, so you don't hit clumps of bp
1tsp salt (my addition)
mix together (dry ingredients first). Preheat oven to 350. Drop spoonfuls onto lightly oiled cookie sheet. Bake 10-20 minutes until edges begin to brown. Makes 12 large or 3 dozen small cookies
Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup whole wheat flour (I used 1/2 c and added 1 c left-over oatmeal cooked in vanilla rice milk, so I didn't add rice milk to this recipe)
1 cup white flour
¾ c chocolate chips or carob (I used allergen-free chocolate chips from health food store-you could also chop up a 72% or higher chocolate bar. Above 72 %, they use very little to no milk products in the chocolate.)
½ canola oil
½ c walnuts or pecans
¾ c maple syrup (Didn't have so used 1/4 to 1/2 cup natural log cabin syrup and some brown sugar and white sugar to taste)
1 tsp vanilla (I used 11/2)
½ c rice milk
1 tbs baking powder (be sure to mix this in with your flour well, so you don't hit clumps of bp
1tsp salt (my addition)
mix together (dry ingredients first). Preheat oven to 350. Drop spoonfuls onto lightly oiled cookie sheet. Bake 10-20 minutes until edges begin to brown. Makes 12 large or 3 dozen small cookies
Monday, August 2, 2010
Food Allergies
Reef hasn't "officially" been diagnosed with a milk and soy allergy by a medical professional, but the evidence is pretty clear. If I had waited for the medical professionals to suggest food allergies as one of the potential causes for the irritability, whining, screaming in the middle of the night, runny noses red eyes, and mushy to runny stools, we all would have been out of our minds in misery and frustration. I paid close to a hundred bucks (I like many others in this country don't have insurance.) to be told that his green, horribly foul smelling, unformed stools were nothing to worry about and it could be anything. By all means investigate lactose intolerance, but it could be months before you can tell, they said. I had already taken lactose out of Reef's diet for 3 days with no results. If I had listened to the medical professional rather than my own intuition, I would still be pouring the evil allergens down my sweet baby boy's throat only to see him become sicker and sicker.
Luckily, I wasn't convinced and I happened to mention it to a friend. She said the symptoms sounded similar to what her son experienced when he was close to a year old. Their pediatrician said milk allergy was a possibility. As soon as they eliminated milk from his diet, they saw positive changes. Since the symptoms weren't completely eradicated, they also removed soy. Milk and soy allergies tend to go hand in hand. Wallah. Just from eliminating certain ingredients from his diet, they had a happy healthy boy. I decided to give it a try. Why not? It would be cheaper than taking him back to the doctor and handing over our hard earned dollars for nothing.
Within 6 hours of milk elimination, Reef was a happier kid. His pink eye went away in 24 hours and he was a 2-year-old dynamo again. Why should it take months to figure out if a kid has a food allergy? It shouldn't and it doesn't. Doctors, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and other medical professionals food allergies are real. Keep your eyes open for them. The intensity of the reaction and types of symptoms vary.
It's been about a month, and we're still figuring out what he can and cannot eat, and he is pretty good at getting into what he can't have if we're not watching closely; but, he has gained back some of the weight he lost, he's full of energy, and he's not waking up in the middle of the night screaming in pain as often. Most of his poops are normal solid stools. Hooray!
Feeding a kid with food allergies is easiest when you keep it simple. Feed them what they are not allergic to and stay away from processed, packaged foods and restaurant foods as much as possible. Personally, I think the fake cheese tastes awful and Reef didn't react well to it. The fake so-called healthy butters all have some variant of soy and many of the margarines have either soy, milk proteins, or hydrogenated oils. Why can't they make dairy-free stuff that is also soy-free, especially since most kids with milk allergies are also allergic to soy?! Read labels carefully. I bought almond cheese thinking it was all almonds. I bought the expensive stuff that tasted like chewy cardboard and then realized that the last ingredient casein was a milk protein. Why did they even bother!
When you are at a restaurant be sure to ask what kinds of oils they are cooking with and what do they add to what you are ordering. I ordered my son an egg and hashbrowns, thinking they would be cooked in oil like I use at home. Nope. They stir butter into the hashbrowns for added flavor and all kinds of milk proteins have been cooked into that griddle top. An hour later, Reef had diarrhea and that night he woke up crying. What's the lesson here? Ask the right questions, and, even better, don't trust anyone but yourself. Take the time to plan ahead and prepare some yummy allergen-free snacks for your kiddo. You'll save money and have a happier kid which equals happier parents.
Luckily, I wasn't convinced and I happened to mention it to a friend. She said the symptoms sounded similar to what her son experienced when he was close to a year old. Their pediatrician said milk allergy was a possibility. As soon as they eliminated milk from his diet, they saw positive changes. Since the symptoms weren't completely eradicated, they also removed soy. Milk and soy allergies tend to go hand in hand. Wallah. Just from eliminating certain ingredients from his diet, they had a happy healthy boy. I decided to give it a try. Why not? It would be cheaper than taking him back to the doctor and handing over our hard earned dollars for nothing.
Within 6 hours of milk elimination, Reef was a happier kid. His pink eye went away in 24 hours and he was a 2-year-old dynamo again. Why should it take months to figure out if a kid has a food allergy? It shouldn't and it doesn't. Doctors, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and other medical professionals food allergies are real. Keep your eyes open for them. The intensity of the reaction and types of symptoms vary.
It's been about a month, and we're still figuring out what he can and cannot eat, and he is pretty good at getting into what he can't have if we're not watching closely; but, he has gained back some of the weight he lost, he's full of energy, and he's not waking up in the middle of the night screaming in pain as often. Most of his poops are normal solid stools. Hooray!
Feeding a kid with food allergies is easiest when you keep it simple. Feed them what they are not allergic to and stay away from processed, packaged foods and restaurant foods as much as possible. Personally, I think the fake cheese tastes awful and Reef didn't react well to it. The fake so-called healthy butters all have some variant of soy and many of the margarines have either soy, milk proteins, or hydrogenated oils. Why can't they make dairy-free stuff that is also soy-free, especially since most kids with milk allergies are also allergic to soy?! Read labels carefully. I bought almond cheese thinking it was all almonds. I bought the expensive stuff that tasted like chewy cardboard and then realized that the last ingredient casein was a milk protein. Why did they even bother!
When you are at a restaurant be sure to ask what kinds of oils they are cooking with and what do they add to what you are ordering. I ordered my son an egg and hashbrowns, thinking they would be cooked in oil like I use at home. Nope. They stir butter into the hashbrowns for added flavor and all kinds of milk proteins have been cooked into that griddle top. An hour later, Reef had diarrhea and that night he woke up crying. What's the lesson here? Ask the right questions, and, even better, don't trust anyone but yourself. Take the time to plan ahead and prepare some yummy allergen-free snacks for your kiddo. You'll save money and have a happier kid which equals happier parents.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Reflection
It's still early at our house. The glimmer of dawn's first light hasn't crept through the windows to wake the little ones. Today I started my morning with a cup of french press coffee and a book, Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. The wind shakes the branches outside tapping the windows and walls, letting out one long raspy breath. Inside there is a quiet stillness that I relish because it is so rare. If there were no children, no dogs, no husband, no one to tug and pull at this space, the stillness might feel maddening and oppressive. Kingsolver's book helps me reflect on the value of life, the value of the chaos of growth as well as the necessity to celebrate loss.
I just read the November-December chapter, the chapter that we have just left on our calendars. It is the time that comes after harvest, a time to be thankful for the bounty that the early provides and to be proud of our labors of the previous year. It is also a time of loss. The trees shed their leaves. The sun becomes stingy with its rays of warmth. In olden days folks would begin calculating how to ration their food cellars to prepare for the cold months ahead. Our ancestors did not have the opportunity to stuff themselves everyday. What better way to end a season of growth and prepare for a season of loss than to feast and indulge one last time.
Thanksgiving is one of the few holidays that is actually celebrated through the consumption of native foods. It is also a holiday that hasn't fallen prey to commercialism. The turkey did not originate in Europe. Pumpkins originated in the Americas as well as did corn and the potatoe. After discovering this, I felt cheered to have renewed veneration for the holiday. Now I have a reason to serve turkey year after year. Afterall, the turkey was the first runner up to be our national bird.
The theme of loss resonates powerfully within me right now because I anticipate the loss of time with my children if I begin a full-time job, which seems to be an imperative right now. Kingsolver celebrates Dia de Los Muertos, a tradition she aquired from her Arizona days, though she is now living in Virginia hundreds of miles from Mexico. In Mexico, they invite their deceased loved ones to dinner and celebration. I feel as if loss of any sort in our culture is to be is to be hidden and becomes an unhealed wound. We are very uncomfortable with loss of any kind, especially death. Wouldn't it be healthier if we could open our eyes up to the cycles of loss and rebirth around us, embrace them, and celebrate them.
I just read the November-December chapter, the chapter that we have just left on our calendars. It is the time that comes after harvest, a time to be thankful for the bounty that the early provides and to be proud of our labors of the previous year. It is also a time of loss. The trees shed their leaves. The sun becomes stingy with its rays of warmth. In olden days folks would begin calculating how to ration their food cellars to prepare for the cold months ahead. Our ancestors did not have the opportunity to stuff themselves everyday. What better way to end a season of growth and prepare for a season of loss than to feast and indulge one last time.
Thanksgiving is one of the few holidays that is actually celebrated through the consumption of native foods. It is also a holiday that hasn't fallen prey to commercialism. The turkey did not originate in Europe. Pumpkins originated in the Americas as well as did corn and the potatoe. After discovering this, I felt cheered to have renewed veneration for the holiday. Now I have a reason to serve turkey year after year. Afterall, the turkey was the first runner up to be our national bird.
The theme of loss resonates powerfully within me right now because I anticipate the loss of time with my children if I begin a full-time job, which seems to be an imperative right now. Kingsolver celebrates Dia de Los Muertos, a tradition she aquired from her Arizona days, though she is now living in Virginia hundreds of miles from Mexico. In Mexico, they invite their deceased loved ones to dinner and celebration. I feel as if loss of any sort in our culture is to be is to be hidden and becomes an unhealed wound. We are very uncomfortable with loss of any kind, especially death. Wouldn't it be healthier if we could open our eyes up to the cycles of loss and rebirth around us, embrace them, and celebrate them.
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