When all the stars align in our favor, we tend to feel a sense of self-satisfaction that the universe has fallen into place for us. But instead, maybe we should feel a sense of humbling recognition that among the field of all possibilities, we have fallen into place within the […]
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Would Your Ideal Americans be — Honest, Kind, Strong, and Responsible?
These days, it is kind of hard not to believe the great American divide is all around us. As proof we are bombarded daily with endless examples of a society divided by class, race, gender, politics, finances… And not to dispute the many deep divisions that do exist, but — […]
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Book Review: PECULIAR SAVAGE BEAUTY by Jessica McCann
In Jessica McCann’s PECULIAR SAVAGE BEAUTY you get a front-row view of the horrors of the American Dust Bowl. Your skin will sting with torrents of dust, your eyes will burn from the grit, your heart will race. Yes, you will feel for the jackrabbits escaping the biting dirt, and the […]
Pondering The Possibilities: Repeal of Whopper Neutrality
Have you heard of “Net Neutrality”? What about “Whopper Neutrality”? Back in December of 2017, the Federal Communications Commission voted to overturn regulations mandating net neutrality. Net Neutrality was one of those things that too many of us took for granted or never gave much thought about its function […]
Pondering The Possibilities: Male Cat Birthing Coach
The idea of a male cat birthing coach seems to go against everything we think we know or have been taught to think about the nature of human vs animal behavior. Humanity — 1) compassionate, sympathetic, or generous behavior or disposition: the quality or state of being humane; 2) the quality or state […]
Series Review: THE GOOD PLACE
Every now and then a tv show surprises me in an unexpectedly good way. A recent Netflix binge brought me, happily, to THE GOOD PLACE! While our lives often seem like a twisted series of moral dilemmas (and then we die), most people would rather talk about death than mention […]
With Only 8.6 Percent Of The Sun …
A total solar eclipse happens about every 18 months, but rarely in the U.S. And, yet, we didn’t join the masses traveling to the Great American Total Solar Eclipse of August 21, 2017. We stayed home. A place, according to eclipsewise.com, that would have an eclipse obscuration of .914 — […]
Book Review: THE SPORT OF KINGS by C.E. Morgan
What I’ve come to learn about myself as a reader is that I am patient enough (who knew?) to enjoy epic novels that span generations (This one was 545 pages). And I’m nerdy enough to enjoy puzzling out long, beautiful literary sentences that may ramble (This book does include some […]
For The Joy Of Animals: Bald Eagle-Hawklet Day
Happy Bald Eagle-Hawklet Day! The Mayor of Sidney, Canada has proclaimed Sunday August 6th, 2017 as Bald Eagle-Hawklet Day in recognition and celebration of the incredible events that took place this summer in an eagles’ nest high above Roberts Bay — a baby red-tailed hawk was raised by bald eagles. […]
Reclaiming Creativity
Creativity is how we reframe and redefine our world. It is how we express our joys, fears, interests, hates, passions, frustrations… It is how we feed our curiosity, learning, understanding, artistry, craftsmanship, resiliency, social connections… It is a profound part of our conscious and unconscious being. It is an everyday […]
Pondering The Possibility: A Tease of Orange Blossoms
I’m a sucker for trivia questions that ask what a group of a particular type of animal is called? The fun being when the names are distinctive and not what one would expect. Yeah, a pride of lions, a parliament of owls, a memory of elephants have a certain logic to […]
Pondering The Possibilities: Dinosaur Webs
Dinosaur webs? When we think of what is possible… we tend to be limited — by our knowledge by our perspective by our experiences by our curiosity and by our imagination. So why ponder dinosaur webs? It was something I saw in a web comic… As far as I know, no […]
Words: T.S. Elliot “…When We Do Not Know Enough…”
We can never know everything. But, when we do not know …when we have moments of doubt or confusion …or when we simply do not know enough — Do we ignore the unknown? Or, do we pause to wonder? Do we assume we know? Or, do we take a moment to question? Do we […]
Pondering The Possibilities: The Bat-Candy-Halloween Connection
Have you ever wondered how the bat-candy-halloween connection got started? Well, I think I might have the answer. Okay, it is pure speculation on my part, but the evidence seems pretty convincing me. It is all because of fruit. Does that sound far fetched? Well, would you want to go up […]
Words: “I Am Not Simply A Story-teller …”
One of my goals in starting BELOW THE SALT NEWS was to explore the power and possibilities of stories and storytellers to create change. Whether the story is based in fact or fantasy; whether it is told through art, invention, music, or words; whether it is couched in persuasion, humor, aggression […]
Words: “The Greatest Lessons You Teach Us…”
“Education” has almost become a byword for all that is wrong in the U.S. While most people agree our education system is broken, we can’t seem to agree on the “real” problems or what to do to fix them. So our current state of “schooling” limps on. But our youth know and […]
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President Lincoln, Inventor and Proponent of Wind Power
In 1849, Abraham Lincoln conceived of and successfully patented a system of air chambers and bellows to lift boats over shoals and obstructions in a river. As a U.S. Congressman (House of Representatives 1847-1849), Lincoln was a frequent boat traveler between Washington D.C. to his home in Illinois and had seen the need for an […]
What Are Whole Grains?
Whole grains or foods made from them contain all the essential parts and nutrients of the entire seed. A whole-grain kernel is composed of three parts: the germ, the bran and the endosperm. In conventional grain processing (e.g. white flour), most of the bran and germ are removed, resulting in the […]
Music: I LIVED by OneRepublic
I’ve long been a fan of I LIVED by OneRepublic. Its upbeat affirmation of life and living is guaranteed to get me up out of my chair and dancing around even on the gloomiest of days. But it wasn’t until recently that I saw the video version of it featuring Bryan […]
Small Acts of Kindness
As a law enforcement officer, I was constantly aware of my surroundings. Hidden dangers could mean life or death. A year after retirement, I’m still alert. But it’s not danger I’m spotting. It’s small acts of kindness. Thank you for your service! My husband and I were shopping at Cosco when an […]
The Little Orange Tree That Could
Like a bee, I was lured to the table by the sweet smell of orange blossoms. There it sat, a lone orange among two lemons. Not really trees. Barely even bushes. Mostly twigs, covered with fragrant white blossoms. They were the worst for their time at the garden center. Too much […]
For The Joy of Animals: Turkey Bobbing
Turkey bobbing anyone? We take an all hands — and paws — approach to prepping for our christmas feast. Do you have plenty of helping hands and paws at your house? MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY HOLIDAYS! ~~~ You can find more Macho and Nina YouTube fun at The Fry Ranch ###
Quotable You: “Your Mind, Do Investigate.”
We function in a world full of assumptions. We literally start our day with them. We assume if we open our eyes, we will see. We assume if we stand up, the ground will hold our weight. We assume if we see a door, it will lead to somewhere or to something. We […]
Should CVS Dump Junk Food And Alcohol Next?
When CVS announced its plan to stop selling all tobacco products at it’s 7,600 stores by October 1, 2014 and walk away from 2 billion in tobacco related business, the media immediately began to speculate whether other major drug store chains would follow suit. The more interesting question to me […]
Eating Like A Piglet
We’ve always been told “eating like a pig” was bad… But who knew eating like a piglet could be so darn cute! ~ ~ There is just something seriously adorable about a baby pig. I don’t know if it is the little grunting sounds… the tiny hoofs… the oversize head… […]