Past Blogs

Venus has been putting on a spectacular show lately. Glance up and planet number two stands out in the night sky like the Kohinoor Diamond.

Venus’ exceptional brilliance recently caused a pilot to think he was headed for a crash with an oncoming plane. He abruptly dropped altitude tossing his passengers around the cabin like popcorn. Before judging him too harshly, consider these words by the award winning science journalist, Dava Sobel, in her 2005 book, The Planets…..”the planet’s dazzle mimics the landing beam of an oncoming airplane, even triggers police reports of unidentified flying objects.”

The brilliance that tricked the pilot is caused by sunlight that bounces off Venus’ dense and toxic cloud cover. Eighty percent is bounced off compared to 8 percent off our dusty moon.

The clouds that cause the radiance also turn the planet into a seared wasteland with rocks resembling the embers of a fire. Day and night temperatures hover above 800 degrees Fahrenheit, hotter than Mercury, the first planet from the sun. Soaring in layers fifteen miles high, the clouds block the sun during the day and the stars and planets at night. It’s a perpetual gloaming and the greenhouse effect on steroids. If  the above isn’t dismal enough, the clouds also produce constant sulphuric acid rain which evaporates before it strikes the ground.

Venus’ atmosphere is also diabolical. Consisting of 97 percent carbon dioxide, the Venus “air” weighs on the terrain with 90 times the pressure of earth’s atmosphere. Between 1970 and 1984 the Russians landed ten spacecraft on Venus. After an hour of picture taking and measuring, each melted in the heat or was crushed by the pressure which is comparable to 3,000 feet below sea level.

Venus goes her own way, the only planet to rotate to to the west as she travels eastward around the sun with the other planets. The sun rises in the west. And she is a lazy spinner: one Venus day equals 243 Earth days. The Venus year is shorter than its day, 224.7 Earth days.

Every geographic feature on Venus except one is named after a woman either real or mythological. I sincerely hope this is not an editorial statement on my gender….beautiful, but deadly.

Garrison Keillor astutely said that there is essentially only one cell phone conversation: “I’m here now, and I’ll be there then!”

It doesn’t take a lot of eavesdropping to know he’s right on target. For that matter, you don’t even have to eavesdrop. We are all constantly barraged with other people’s cellular conversations. Or, more correctly, half of their conversations. We have become a nation of inadvertent voyeurs.

Garrison could add a corollary to “I’m here now, and I’ll be there then”……””I’m here now, and what do you want me to buy?’ I frequently hear that scenario acted out in grocery aisles by perplexed shoppers phoning their spouses for advice on dinner selection.

I try to use my cellphone sparingly and with a minute’s reflection. For instance, do I really need to tell my husband that I’m leaving the grocery store and will be home in 20 minutes? My guy will know I’m home when my car pulls into the garage. When did we start reporting our lives instead of living them? We are like uber tourists who photograph everything and see nothing.

I recently came across a  truckload of brand new end of season shoes that had been donated to Goodwill. A lady was standing in the shoe aisle rapidly phoning every friend she knew. “Quickly, what are all the shoe sizes in your family?”, she would ask. This amazing woman could note sizes and simultaneously load her shopping cart with a mountain of footwear.

I found that to be one of the truly rare, inspired uses of a cell phone. And she didn’t even say, “I’m at Goodwill now and I’ll be home in an hour.”

Some things should not be improved. The grilled cheese sandwich is one of those things. Good cheese, good bread, real butter and heat are the only elements required for the perfect G.C.

Unfortunately, the grilled cheese sandwich, my ultimate comfort food, appears to be the hottest new food fad. A New York Times article has confirmed my fears: “Artisanal grilled cheese shops, a culinary sub genre, (have) boomed in the last year.”

That line was included in a restaurant review of the food trucks and new restaurants in New York (Milk Truck, Melt Shop, etc.) that are devoted to the once humble G.C. The sandwiches are described with phrases such as “grassy undertones”, “inner magma” and  “minimalist composition”.

When I read this nonsense, I want to laugh, scream, cry or get out a frying pan and make a real grilled cheese sandwich.

Any food that the food groupies target for their fleeting admiration is destined to be degraded. Two other bad things automatically result as well: the prices of the item soar and the calories of the item soar.

Please stop over for lunch sometime. I will make you a grilled cheese, and it won’t be artisanal, but I think we will be just fine.

The “most beautiful bird in the world” was under our feeders the other morning. I put down my cereal spoon, picked up the binoculars and zoomed in for a closer look at this jewel-toned bird. Soon he was joined by eight friends all shimmering in the morning sunlight.

I have appreciated these stunning creatures for over forty years. That was when our young son called to me, “Mommy, mommy, come quick, the most beautiful bird in the world is outside the window!” I flew to the window expecting to see something on the par with a quetzal bird or at least a Baltimore oriole. What I saw was a grackle.

Fortunately, I was taken aback for only a second. My little boy was seeing the world with fresh eyes, the eyes Picasso always said that he longed for. I learned my lesson, and, as a consequence, am thrilled every time Common Grackles pay us a visit.

I love the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s description of the bird: “Common Grackles are blackbirds that look like they’ve been stretched”. Their head and bodies shimmer with iridescent colors like a fine Raku pot that has just come out of the fire. Their heads are a magnificent melding of turquoise, royal blue and black. Amber tones gleam on the upper back and are followed by magenta and brown hues on the back half of the body. The tail is long and black, and the eyes are bright gold.

The Common Grackles’ voice would not be referred to as lovely. In fact, their name derives from the Latin word “graculus” meaning “to cough”, an accurate description of their loud, raspy call.

These big, noisy birds often flock with other blackbirds. Several weeks ago we heard a huge cacophony in our pine grove. The trees were dotted with grackles but also red winged blackbirds scouting out their territories.

Grackles are opportunistic eaters. They eat primarily seeds, but almost anything else as well including fruit, fish, frogs, mice, spiders, grasshoppers and garbage. Corn sprouts and ripening corn are their favorite treats, a fact that does not endear them to farmers.

But grackles are always welcome in the Tooley Cafe. They make us muse on how many natural wonders our jaded adult eyes may be missing. Quite a few, I suspect.

Last weekend we drove to Kentucky to buy a broom. Our thirty year old broom was made at Berea College, and its demise provided a perfect excuse for a road trip to springtime Kentucky. The College is an American treasure and worthy of a trip, broom or no broom.

Founded in 1855 by Christian abolitionists, this small liberal arts college welcomes everyone and was the first in the South to admit African Americans and women. Berea is nestled in the foothills of the Appalachians. Their aim is “to strive to be courageous and innovative as we break down barriers to inequality, justice and economic opportunity through distinctive and distinguished education.”

All students get a four year tuition scholarship and all participate in a campus-based work program of not more than 15 hours a week. Many students choose Berea’s Craft Programs which preserve the traditional arts of the Appalachian Mountains.

The young people in woodworking, broom making, weaving, pottery and furniture studios produce exquisitely crafted products.

Since 1909, the historic Boone Tavern and Dining Rooms have welcomed visitors and trained students in the hospitality arts. All the furniture in the hotel is student made. Boone Tavern Hotel is a Historic Hotel of America and its recent renovations earned it LEED gold certification…it’s green. On a wry note, be advised that the Tavern is dry.

Berea is an art lovers’ paradise. It is also a potent reminder that America cannot and should not waste the potential of students from poor families. Berea College was radically innovative in 1855. Berea remains radically innovative in 2012.

Click here for more about the Berea College crafts program.