Questions to Ask Before Resolving to Lose Weight

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS

QUESTIONS TO ASK BEFORE RESOLVING TO LOSE WEIGHT

Summer is easing into autumn. The season change encourages changes in lifestyle—hopefully, changes for the best.

While sorting papers I came across an article on questions Weight Watchers advises a person to ask before resolving to lose weight, before making a commitment, in order to come to a realistic goal.

Do you realize that you must make long-term, not temporary, changes?

• If I’m only losing weight to fit into my wedding dress for my forty-seventh anniversary, and am not concerned about after the event, I don’t have to be concerned about making permanent changes. However, if I want permanent weight loss, I need to make permanent changes.  I aim for permanent weight control.

Do you realize that you must make long-term, not temporary, changes in the way you eat?

• There are not too many changes I need to make in my basic diet, but snacking…cutting      down on popcorn…and taking smaller portions of food are points to work on. I’m cognizant that Moderation, not deprivation, is the key.

Do you realize that you must make long-term, not temporary, changes in how active you are?

• As for being active…I’m basically a sedentary person who must work

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Nancy’s 70th Birthday: 9/15/2012

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS

NANCYS 70^th BIRTHDAY: 9/15/2012

Our birthdays are feathers in the broad wing of time. —Jean Paul Richter
 You can only perceive real beauty in a person as they get older. —Anouk Aimee

So you think seventy is old?

How would it feel to be 25,567?

How would it feel to be 613,608?

How would it feel to be

September 15, 1942: People, Events, TV, Music

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS

SEPTEMBER 15, 1942: PEOPLE, EVENTS, TV, MUSIC

I’m posting this piece in honor of my sister Nancy’s 70th birthday. Return on September 15th to read my tribute to her. 

There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of the people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will have truly defeated age. —Sophia Loren
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Nancy, you might want to know…who else was born on YOUR day?

• 1254 Marco Polo, explorer
• 1613  Francois, duc de la Rochefoucauld, writer, born in Paris, France. When we cannot find contentment in ourselves it is useless to seek it elsewhere. (d.1680)
• 1789  James Fenimore Cooper, American novelist, was born. He wrote The Pioneers and Last of the Mohicans., and said The press, like fire, is an excellent servant, but a terrible master. (d.1851)
• 1857  William H. Taft, 27^th United States president.
• 1890 Agatha Christie, English writer of mystery novels, was born. She wrote

Jelly Beans of All Flavors

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS

JELLY BEANS OF ALL FLAVORS

While fruity candy remains a universal favorite, more candy makers are defying traditional sensibilities to satisfy what scientists call kids’ “yuck factor”—the yuckier the better. With the right mix of chemicals, scientists can turn a plain sweet into a lick of hamburger, horseradish or even grass, all of which are replicated in a just-out-line of jelly beans fashioned by Jelly Belly after Harry Potter’s favorite sweets, Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans. There’s also sardine (all that’s missing is the can) and—achoo—black pepper.¹

On our travels to Heuvelton, New York (beginning of May 2012) Monte and I ate at The Jelly Beans Restaurant in Painted Post, New York.

The waitress mentioned that a groups of students dine at the Jelly Beans Restaurant during field trips. One such group presented the restaurant with an art/history project comprised of jelly bean cutouts with messages, about jelly bean history, lettered on them. I surfed the Internet to share details with you.

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The beginnings of Jelly Belly Candy Company is traced back to a family named Goelitz. When two young brothers emigrated from Germany to make their mark in America, they set the family on its candymaking course. In 1869, just two years after arriving in America, Gustav Goelitz bought an ice cream and candy store in Belleville, Ill., and his brother, Albert was sent out in a horse drawn wagon to sell their sweets to nearby communities.²

The family’s second generation created a new type of candy, then called “buttercream” candies. They also created Candy Corn, which they’ve made since 1900.

The great-great jelly bean ancestor first appeared in the 1800s, but jelly candies of one kind or another have been around for thousands of years. “Turkish delight, ” a citrus, honey and rose water jell, has been putting smiles on kids’ faces since

The Jelly Beans Restaurant (Painted Post, N. Y.)

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS

THE JELLY BEANS RESTAURANT

Painted Post, New York

While fruity candy remains a universal favorite…candy makers are (creating flavors) to satisfy what scientists call kids’ “yuck factor”—the yuckier the better. …hamburger, horseradish or even grass, all of which are replicated in…jelly beans fashioned by Jelly Belly after Harry Potter’s favorite sweets, Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans…¹

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     On our travels to Heuvelton, New York (beginning of May 2012) Monte and I registered at a motel near Painted Post, New York. It was not quite 4:00 p. m., so I selected a movie to watch. I expected it to be a typical two-hour flick that would end at dinner time. However, it was a double-length film that lasted until 8:00 p. m., too late for dinner. We gave up on the movie and drove a few miles to Painted Post to locate a restaurant recommended by the motel desk clerk.

It didn’t take long to locate the Jelly Beans Restaurant. We both ordered breakfast items—Monte, a veggie omelet and I, corned beef hash and eggs. Their food portions were generous and good. They even have horseradish sauce.

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     The Jelly Beans Restaurant is a community restaurant with good food and a good atmosphere . Employees had painted spring flowers on the window glass. Hand-made banners hang from the ceiling. A painting—comprised of hands—was created by early, elementary school students.

     The waitress mentioned that a groups of students dine at the Jelly Beans Restaurant during field trips.

“They each have their own money and pay for their own meal,” she said.

One such group presented the restaurant with a creative

Rabbit’s Foot Fern

 

RABBIT'S FOOT FERN

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS

 

 

RABBIT’S FOOT FERN

     The plant sits on my filing cabinet during the winter and on my patio railing during the summer. My finger gently strokes the furry length of one of the tarantula-like legs that extend over the edge of the flower pot. I caress the soft “hairs” that are a delightful blend of tans and browns, a characteristic that makes the leg resemble a rabbit’s foot.

     My finger must gently bypass the delicate, lacey, ferns that grow out of the plant known as the “rabbit’s foot fern.”

     I received the unique plant from a good friend, Virginia DePew, around 1978. We were living in rural Slippery Rock then. Virginia and her husband, Elmer, were our neighbors. I am reminded of them at the times I care for and/or enjoy the plant.

     Last spring, I realized that the plant was root-bound. It wasn’t until this spring that I decided to repot it, separating it into multiple plants which I could pass on to friends and relatives.

     Once separated, I figured that I needed to supply information on the plant with those who were receiving its starts, including friends and members of the Beanery Writers Group.

     I also gave starts to the Conservatory, a plant and gift shop for gardeners on Rt. 30 in Laughlintown, PA. Persons visiting the shop, open betweenMay 1 and September 30, can ask the owner, Terry Coyne, about the plant. Her shop is open Friday through Monday, 11:00 to 6:00.

     To research the plant, I did my usual: surf the Internet. There I learned that the plant is a