Until I was 14 years old I lived in a small town, a small town of about three thousand people where everyone knew each other, everyone attended everyone's wedding party, everyone celebrated new born baby, or everyone gathered at someone's funeral. Everyone knew everyone's affairs. Everyone watched the same shows and patiently waited for the next episode. And by the way there was only one channel, and no commercials and the TV was still black and white. Beyond all this the gossiping was big, and there was not a single day when we didn't have a gossip or story to tell. As title states, there were many ghost stories going on in our town. Sometimes it was parent's greatest tool to keep children disciplined by scarring them with ghosts - not very bright idea. We as kids never saw ghost, but we knew and we had to believe that they existed as our parents and grandparents made us to believe.
When someone died, at that time the body of the deceased was kept in the house for three days. For three days most of the time grandmothers and sometimes mothers, and may be grandfathers, would gather around the body, sit for hours and talk. Sometimes they would bring us kids so you could actually listened to the real prayers - gossips and ghost stories, lol.
Not to go into scary mode immediately, this ghost story told here is a ghost prank played among few guys - unfortunately tragic. One day bunch of twenty year olds decided to play a prank and bet some money on two guys who claimed that are not scarred of ghosts at all - they believed that there were none. One of the guys was told, if you such a hero, then go to the cemetery's funeral home before eleven at night jump into the coffin and close the lid. He was instructed to lay in it until pass 12 am. At 12 am - the so called ghost hour, a ghost will come to the funeral home. The cemetery had this old funeral home which was not used at all, I think it was build by Germans who lived in our town before. However, it was well maintained by the cemetery's gate keeper.
Later on, the pranksters told other guy, if you such a hero, then go to the cemetery's funeral home just before 12 am. Bring some hazel nuts with you and start cracking them on top of the coffin at exactly 12 am. We are sure that the ghost will show up. There may be even one in the coffin.
The bet started. The ghost non-believers went for free cash believing that they will win the bet. What happened next? Well that one day first guy showed up at night at the cemetery's funeral home. What he did exactly, how he felt, and was he scared? - no body knows, it is just him, and I cannot speculate on this. He jumped into the coffin, covered with lid and waits. There is probably more to the story, he probably showed up during they day and ensured that the doors were open, and the coffin was free of dust, may be or may be not. Note, at those times life was different, so doing things like that was very normal. Yes, what do you do with all this time when shows on TV were only for limited time, there were no computers, no video games, and no work for students.
Very close to 12 am, the second guy showed up with flashlight, hammer and sack of hazel nuts he probably stole from someone's property. At exactly 12 am he sat on the coffin and started to crack nuts. What happened next? Well the guy in the coffin puts his flashlight on and checks the time - and its 12 am. He is not scared - just curious. Now the guy who was cracking the nuts noticed the small illumination coming out from the coffin, and he probably started to think that may be ghosts do really exists. He continued to crack the nuts now more eagerly. Well the guy inside the coffin is now very very curious as he hears harder knocks - he decided to get out. This did not help the other guy, when the lid moved and more light escaped from the coffin, and it is only speculation, the guy probably got into a shock first. Well for sure he collapsed. As the lid continued to open, and the curious guy is walking out, thinking - someone is probably playing a prank on me. He is right, however, to his surprise he found his friend lying dead and realizing what just happened.
[TRUE STORY, SOURCES: MY TOWN]
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
The Good Food
Today I will be talking about food. However, I will be talking about very natural food I used to eat, and probably never I will experience the same taste again. Someone may ask why? Firstly, my grandmother is resting in piece, recipe or way of doing left with her, and ingredients are not the same as they used to be. In short, the person, the process and the ingredients can not be duplicated at this moment. So lets go back in time over 30 years ago to a small town of just about three thousand people where my grandparents and parents used to have a small farm consisting of a one cow, one pig, one horse, and chickens and roosters. Occasionally we had rabbits too, a seasonal breeding. When my grandfather passed away, we ended up selling the horse. My dad had his own business so he didn't really have time to utilize the horse in the farm. It was easier to just contract out for a necessary task - and it worked. The farm also consisted of many hectares of land, mainly used for potatoes, hay, and then for regular vegetables that were stored over winter time. Around the house we had many different trees such as apples and plums mainly, and lots of current bushes and goose berry. This was our garden of Eden.
Lets now go back on track and talk about the food. There was no pesticides, that means always needed to watch out biting into these high protein worms - you learn how. Fruit was always available all year long. Fresh from the tree or bush in the summer, and fresh, dry or jarred in the winter. The only fruit we ever bought in the store, were exotic ones such as oranges, grapefruit, or lemons. Or other fruit that needed special attention like melons or grapes. It was kind of cool not to have them all the time, because when we did we appreciated it more. We never bought vegetables in the store. Okay I lied, may be tomatoes, but that because we didn't have the heat to grow them, but my mother had a way to used them and make a green tomato salad.
You know what happens when you have a cow around. Yes, you get a fresh milk, in the morning, sometimes in the afternoon and in the evening. I think me and my father were the only two individuals in the house who never milked the cow. Because I just couldn't do it, so I got the responsibility to hold the tail and keep the flies of cow's back. My grandmother specialized in making butter and cheese. There is nothing like fresh bread, butter and cheese sandwich sprinkled with a bit of salt on top, or if you had sweet tooth - homemade jam was added. Add glass of milk to help the flow. As I mention my grandmother was master in making butter. I still remember her slim figure with long arms beating the life out of the milk using wooden barrel and holed beater. Cheese wasn't so bad, it was more a function of heat and time, and separation task using a cheese cloth. As I am writing it now, I am feeling hungry to go back in time.
You know what happens when you have chickens around. Yes, fresh eggs, and fresh chicken soup on Sundays. Sunday was a special day, the chicken was sacrificed for lunch. Hardly ever we had different type of soup on Sunday. We always fought who is going to get the chicken heart or other internal organs. Yes, many people just don't eat that stuff any more because the way chickens are fed - just way too much of unnatural stuff that is fed through the organs. But then it was different, all the food was grown by us, with not pesticides or any fertilizers, except the natural fertilizers - you remember the cow.
You know what happens when you have a pig around. Yes, annual sacrifice - I mean lots of meat. We used to smoke it all or preserve it in the jars. The very common way was to preserve in gelatin. Some people would say - yak, but I like it. The other good stuff was ham and sausages. Again, nothing like bread, butter and ham or sausage sandwich. However, we used to melt lard with bacon bits, it was good but pure fat and deadly. Also, I never liked the pig killing time - sad, and especially when my father had to do it. I have to tell you he just had no skill, and I would like to put that part behind me because wasn't pleasant.
The last thing we had lots of land mainly used for potatoes for us, and grass, wheat and sugar beats for cows, pigs, and chickens. Then around the house garden, a garden full of vegetables and fruit that was consumed during late spring, summer and early fall, and then preserved for winter. I don't think I have to describe the fresh salads, vegetable soups and snack vegetables. The fruit was unlimited.
As a kid myself and my family back then lead healthy life. I continue to lead healthy life, but then there are limitations. For example, an egg may look the same, but the composition is not. The food will never be the same, unless I go back in time.
Lets now go back on track and talk about the food. There was no pesticides, that means always needed to watch out biting into these high protein worms - you learn how. Fruit was always available all year long. Fresh from the tree or bush in the summer, and fresh, dry or jarred in the winter. The only fruit we ever bought in the store, were exotic ones such as oranges, grapefruit, or lemons. Or other fruit that needed special attention like melons or grapes. It was kind of cool not to have them all the time, because when we did we appreciated it more. We never bought vegetables in the store. Okay I lied, may be tomatoes, but that because we didn't have the heat to grow them, but my mother had a way to used them and make a green tomato salad.
You know what happens when you have a cow around. Yes, you get a fresh milk, in the morning, sometimes in the afternoon and in the evening. I think me and my father were the only two individuals in the house who never milked the cow. Because I just couldn't do it, so I got the responsibility to hold the tail and keep the flies of cow's back. My grandmother specialized in making butter and cheese. There is nothing like fresh bread, butter and cheese sandwich sprinkled with a bit of salt on top, or if you had sweet tooth - homemade jam was added. Add glass of milk to help the flow. As I mention my grandmother was master in making butter. I still remember her slim figure with long arms beating the life out of the milk using wooden barrel and holed beater. Cheese wasn't so bad, it was more a function of heat and time, and separation task using a cheese cloth. As I am writing it now, I am feeling hungry to go back in time.
You know what happens when you have chickens around. Yes, fresh eggs, and fresh chicken soup on Sundays. Sunday was a special day, the chicken was sacrificed for lunch. Hardly ever we had different type of soup on Sunday. We always fought who is going to get the chicken heart or other internal organs. Yes, many people just don't eat that stuff any more because the way chickens are fed - just way too much of unnatural stuff that is fed through the organs. But then it was different, all the food was grown by us, with not pesticides or any fertilizers, except the natural fertilizers - you remember the cow.
You know what happens when you have a pig around. Yes, annual sacrifice - I mean lots of meat. We used to smoke it all or preserve it in the jars. The very common way was to preserve in gelatin. Some people would say - yak, but I like it. The other good stuff was ham and sausages. Again, nothing like bread, butter and ham or sausage sandwich. However, we used to melt lard with bacon bits, it was good but pure fat and deadly. Also, I never liked the pig killing time - sad, and especially when my father had to do it. I have to tell you he just had no skill, and I would like to put that part behind me because wasn't pleasant.
The last thing we had lots of land mainly used for potatoes for us, and grass, wheat and sugar beats for cows, pigs, and chickens. Then around the house garden, a garden full of vegetables and fruit that was consumed during late spring, summer and early fall, and then preserved for winter. I don't think I have to describe the fresh salads, vegetable soups and snack vegetables. The fruit was unlimited.
As a kid myself and my family back then lead healthy life. I continue to lead healthy life, but then there are limitations. For example, an egg may look the same, but the composition is not. The food will never be the same, unless I go back in time.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
How to Divide One Slice of Bread
There are times when I actually make a point to watch a TV commercials. There are few that are just adorable, meaning that they are usually with children. Its their face expressions and what the say that make my put my the whole world on hold. There is one with two brothers arguing while their little sister drinks his brother's juice or cool aid, and when in trouble, all you hear 'I love you'. So there is this new commercial on TV for peanut butter. It is my another favorite one, because I did not know what the expect. By the way, I changed things around a bit, however, the story line remains the same.
The story goes. Three characters, the mother and the two boys, Joey and Bobby, and two main and the most important items of the commercial, the jar of peanut butter and one slice of bread - yes only one slice of bread. The two brothers are jokingly fighting over this one slice of bread and obviously to be spread with peanut butter. The mother suggests that the slice of bread is split. Easy, but not. One of the boys Joey wants the bigger piece because he is older. So what happens next. Well the mother gives knife to Joey and tells him to split the bread. There is suddenly sadness on the Bobby's face, because he knows that someone wants bigger piece of pie, its Joey. Well, Joey splits bread into two, but he intentionally makes one piece bigger. As I watched, I was thinking oh mother do something for the younger one, and she does. Joey got to divide the bread, but Bobby gets to choose. Nice little trick, fortunately both boys were happy on the end.
So that day I learned something new, may be old story, but new to me. I think this story teaches are something, and depending which venue you choose, it can have many many meanings.
[STORY]
The story goes. Three characters, the mother and the two boys, Joey and Bobby, and two main and the most important items of the commercial, the jar of peanut butter and one slice of bread - yes only one slice of bread. The two brothers are jokingly fighting over this one slice of bread and obviously to be spread with peanut butter. The mother suggests that the slice of bread is split. Easy, but not. One of the boys Joey wants the bigger piece because he is older. So what happens next. Well the mother gives knife to Joey and tells him to split the bread. There is suddenly sadness on the Bobby's face, because he knows that someone wants bigger piece of pie, its Joey. Well, Joey splits bread into two, but he intentionally makes one piece bigger. As I watched, I was thinking oh mother do something for the younger one, and she does. Joey got to divide the bread, but Bobby gets to choose. Nice little trick, fortunately both boys were happy on the end.
So that day I learned something new, may be old story, but new to me. I think this story teaches are something, and depending which venue you choose, it can have many many meanings.
[STORY]
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
The Honest Hand Shake
Last couple of years I spend lot of time traveling - seen Singapore, Japan, Germany, Italy, some Canada. It was nice, but I always get home sick - usually after four days of being away from home. Well, imagine my fifth, sixth, or fourteenth day. Most of them were business trips, therefore, site seeing was done on the weekends, otherwise, I spend working, eating and sleeping per each day, and next day was just the same day. I also don't like being in the air a lot, just personal fear of flying I have - but then after so many flights it was just like taking a bus. So here I am going to tell you a story, my side of the story, and I will leave it with you do decide what is the other side of the story, because I don't know and I will never know.
We, myself and my husband were sitting on the plane, ready for take off to Frankfurt. As always I got my window seat, where I can stick my face to the small airplane window and watch clouds for hours as long as there was sun. Behind us, I did not look, but by listening, there were three people sitting - young boy, older woman and younger woman. At first I thought that they were all related, however, they were not. The boy wasn't, he was alone traveling by himself.
It was getting dark behind the window, so I decided to open up my laptop. As I was reading I noticed that once in a while my seat would move back or forth, as the boy was leaning forward and trying to see what I was doing, and give up and come back again. Before knowing that he was not related to other two ladies, I assumed that he must be one of those disturbing kids that like to bother others. I had those before, and I tell you they would kick back of my seat and parents never did anything. Well my assumption was wrong. Since I noticed that my chair was now rocking back and forth more frequently, I decided to turn around with my friendly smile, and I did. I noticed the two ladies were very much a sleep.
I turned around and I saw this young boy, with fair skin, big eyes and light brown hair smiling at me. He pleasantly asked, what I was doing at my laptop. I said I was reading some articles. It was kind of hard to explain my business stuff to him, now knowing how young he was. The boy seemed very nice and friendly, not what I imagined. I asked him - what is your name? He answered, 'I am Christian', and he took his little hand and forwarded through a narrow opening between the window and the chair to introduce himself. I was in a really bad position to make that hand shake but it was so honest that I just twisted my arm to fit between and shake his hand. We made a connection that would only last few hours.
Christian was traveling from Canada, somewhere closer to West Coast. He offered to show me all his documentation, but I refused. I told him to keep all in place and not to loose it. He listen. He also told me that he was flying to Sofia, Bulgaria. He was going to school there, and was living with his grandmother during his school year. He traveled four times a year - for summer and Christmas holidays. He didn't want to really go back to school and be away from his mother. Father was never mentioned. He was lonely and sad. We kept talking about school stuff, his languages skills and once in a while I would point out an airplane flying by as sun started to rise above the horizon. We started to see more puffy clouds, and here is something what me and Christian had in common - being in the clouds. At some point he said, 'I want to walk in those big clouds over there', something I always dreamed of.
The plane landed. I started to pack. He was getting ready for another flight. Someone was going the take him. Christian became distant. I felt that Christian met many people like me on the airplane before, and he knew that he will never see them again, and he will never see me again. I said Good Bye as I was leaving, and he did too. My heart was broken seeing the sadness in his eyes, and now no more connection.
[TRUE STORY]
We, myself and my husband were sitting on the plane, ready for take off to Frankfurt. As always I got my window seat, where I can stick my face to the small airplane window and watch clouds for hours as long as there was sun. Behind us, I did not look, but by listening, there were three people sitting - young boy, older woman and younger woman. At first I thought that they were all related, however, they were not. The boy wasn't, he was alone traveling by himself.
It was getting dark behind the window, so I decided to open up my laptop. As I was reading I noticed that once in a while my seat would move back or forth, as the boy was leaning forward and trying to see what I was doing, and give up and come back again. Before knowing that he was not related to other two ladies, I assumed that he must be one of those disturbing kids that like to bother others. I had those before, and I tell you they would kick back of my seat and parents never did anything. Well my assumption was wrong. Since I noticed that my chair was now rocking back and forth more frequently, I decided to turn around with my friendly smile, and I did. I noticed the two ladies were very much a sleep.
I turned around and I saw this young boy, with fair skin, big eyes and light brown hair smiling at me. He pleasantly asked, what I was doing at my laptop. I said I was reading some articles. It was kind of hard to explain my business stuff to him, now knowing how young he was. The boy seemed very nice and friendly, not what I imagined. I asked him - what is your name? He answered, 'I am Christian', and he took his little hand and forwarded through a narrow opening between the window and the chair to introduce himself. I was in a really bad position to make that hand shake but it was so honest that I just twisted my arm to fit between and shake his hand. We made a connection that would only last few hours.
Christian was traveling from Canada, somewhere closer to West Coast. He offered to show me all his documentation, but I refused. I told him to keep all in place and not to loose it. He listen. He also told me that he was flying to Sofia, Bulgaria. He was going to school there, and was living with his grandmother during his school year. He traveled four times a year - for summer and Christmas holidays. He didn't want to really go back to school and be away from his mother. Father was never mentioned. He was lonely and sad. We kept talking about school stuff, his languages skills and once in a while I would point out an airplane flying by as sun started to rise above the horizon. We started to see more puffy clouds, and here is something what me and Christian had in common - being in the clouds. At some point he said, 'I want to walk in those big clouds over there', something I always dreamed of.
The plane landed. I started to pack. He was getting ready for another flight. Someone was going the take him. Christian became distant. I felt that Christian met many people like me on the airplane before, and he knew that he will never see them again, and he will never see me again. I said Good Bye as I was leaving, and he did too. My heart was broken seeing the sadness in his eyes, and now no more connection.
[TRUE STORY]
Monday, September 17, 2007
A Quest For Balanced Life
When Grace graduated from school, she had a rough idea what she wanted to do. The goal was to learn and gain knowledge in the first few years on the job. She did that. First couple of years the learning process was quite slow, but she was definitely learning fundamentals on the real job. Fundamentals in school were theoretical, fundamentals on the job were practical, and she definitely was fulfilling her practical knowledge. Then what. Well, then Grace moved on, she was now ready for a second step. A step where she could apply her knowledge and solve problems. Time came and she was looking for a new job. Decisions were tough to make. Everyone was offering her mountains of gold - like brand new desk, a new computer, complete working system in place and job that required very little challenge. The challenge was just get things rolling, get things done, and ensure you follow the system. Yes follow the system already in place. In this case there is no room for change. Was this what Grace wanted in her next career step? No, that wasn't it.
Grace needed something more challenging and her wish came true. She arrived at the place where everything was just right, and at first she thought there is no challenge here, but that thought was based on her visual observations only. However, something made her listen deeply - the boss wasn't happy. As she listened and listened, she started to see a true picture - the business was in trouble, and things needed to be fixed. There were many other candidates for this job, Grace needed to win this and how? Well, the right answer was - 'I don't want to work in the place where everything is perfect. I want to work in the place where I can get hold of the broom and start cleaning and creating a system that is right for all' - Grace got the job. Her knowledge now was growing along the exponential curve. Just to clarify, she was a dry sponge before, and at the second step she was now the wet sponge, absorbing much more knowledge than before. She worked for couple years in this second step or on her second path, but unfortunately boss's impatience to have things done, and fake appreciation and dishonesty to all employees eventually brought him to bankruptcy. Grace was long gone before his downfall.
Before Grace had challenging job she took pre-early second step, she went to work for herself. Grace failed because she was too aggressive, naive and she just did not have enough knowledge to recognize that it wasn't that easy, and it would have not been if she knew what she was doing. However, the paths in life are not that obvious sometimes, and because someone else walked that path, it may not be a path for you.
When Grace left the second step job, now she was ready for the third step. By some unknown reason her own business made a perfect sense now. She took different approach. She entered the abyss of unknown with her true confidence, with what she really knew and not with what she pretended to know. The honesty, dedication and now her skill got Grace successful. So how Grace measures her success. In business world usually success is measured by how much money you make. However, she measures her success based on that too, because you need to make money to survive - yes she makes enough to have her business going every year, but not any more when she was working for someone else. However, Grace's true measure of success is happiness defined by balance between a work and personal life.
The moral of the story is, when you are new to the working world, you must think of your path carefully. You must also know that the path you chose may not be always the path you end up with. You must also realize that your work path will take most of your life on the beginning but as you get established you should realize that there is also personal path that you can run in parallel. Lastly, you must also know, that any path you choose may not be an easy path, but it is up to you to stay strong and honest with yourself to make the right life decisions.
[FICTION BASED ON TRUE STORY]
Grace needed something more challenging and her wish came true. She arrived at the place where everything was just right, and at first she thought there is no challenge here, but that thought was based on her visual observations only. However, something made her listen deeply - the boss wasn't happy. As she listened and listened, she started to see a true picture - the business was in trouble, and things needed to be fixed. There were many other candidates for this job, Grace needed to win this and how? Well, the right answer was - 'I don't want to work in the place where everything is perfect. I want to work in the place where I can get hold of the broom and start cleaning and creating a system that is right for all' - Grace got the job. Her knowledge now was growing along the exponential curve. Just to clarify, she was a dry sponge before, and at the second step she was now the wet sponge, absorbing much more knowledge than before. She worked for couple years in this second step or on her second path, but unfortunately boss's impatience to have things done, and fake appreciation and dishonesty to all employees eventually brought him to bankruptcy. Grace was long gone before his downfall.
Before Grace had challenging job she took pre-early second step, she went to work for herself. Grace failed because she was too aggressive, naive and she just did not have enough knowledge to recognize that it wasn't that easy, and it would have not been if she knew what she was doing. However, the paths in life are not that obvious sometimes, and because someone else walked that path, it may not be a path for you.
When Grace left the second step job, now she was ready for the third step. By some unknown reason her own business made a perfect sense now. She took different approach. She entered the abyss of unknown with her true confidence, with what she really knew and not with what she pretended to know. The honesty, dedication and now her skill got Grace successful. So how Grace measures her success. In business world usually success is measured by how much money you make. However, she measures her success based on that too, because you need to make money to survive - yes she makes enough to have her business going every year, but not any more when she was working for someone else. However, Grace's true measure of success is happiness defined by balance between a work and personal life.
The moral of the story is, when you are new to the working world, you must think of your path carefully. You must also know that the path you chose may not be always the path you end up with. You must also realize that your work path will take most of your life on the beginning but as you get established you should realize that there is also personal path that you can run in parallel. Lastly, you must also know, that any path you choose may not be an easy path, but it is up to you to stay strong and honest with yourself to make the right life decisions.
[FICTION BASED ON TRUE STORY]
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