Give Eggs a Break

When I was growing up eggs were often called "the perfect food" -- a massive dose of protein packed into a small container with all the essential nutrients for making strong bodies. Everyone endorsed them. We all ate them at almost every meal.

Then some egghead discovered cholesterol and everything got scrambled.

Eggs contain more cholesterol than almost any food source, a whopping 212 milligrams or so per yolk. So when doctors started prescribing less cholesterol in the diet, eggs were the first to go.

That decision may have been a little too hard-boiled.

Continued at... Give Eggs a Break

Michael Hofferber
Rural Delivery
Eggs
Eggs and Health Promotion
Artwork: Fresh Eggs

Strays

Another animal has joined our menagerie -- a puppy this time, probably of mixed breed. Barely six weeks old, he's a furry ball with a hungry belly, loose tongue and sharp teeth. He's already made some unfortunate impressions on exposed shins, flower beds and the living room carpet; being cute and affectionate has been key to his survival.

In some households, people spend hundreds of dollars on specially bred and registered pets. They go to great lengths to seek out and find just the right animal. We might have too, I suppose, if we lived somewhere less rural.

All of our pets, including this puppy, have come into our care through unplanned and unexpected adoptions. All but one was abandoned on our property, or nearby, by faceless miscreants too irresponsible to show themselves.

Continued at... Strays

Michael Hofferber
Rural Delivery
Husbandry
Pet Supply
Artwork: Mother's Love

Equinox

We lie on the brink of change. Great storms are brewing. This is the week of equinox, when the Earth stands up straight to the sun before it begins to tilt again, northern hemisphere tipping outward.
   
At this moment everything hangs in balance. The hours of day and night are nearly even. There's some powerful physics at play.

I remember Oregon Coast fishermen, charter skippers and commercial trollers, standing around the bait shop scolding the weather. The worst storms and the most unpredictable catches occurred at equinoxes, they said. Nasty storm clouds would rise out of nowhere and turn the ocean black, threatening lives. Then, quick as cream in a cat's mouth, the clouds would be gone. Skies would clear. Fish would bite.

Equinoxes are times of special powers. Calendars are created around them; crops are planted by them.

Continued at... Equinox

• Michael Hofferber
• Rural Delivery
• Out There
• Artwork: Precession of the Equinoxes