High Steppin' (The Avett Brothers)

[ Thanks so much to my friend MegHS for this picture!  She knew how much I loved the one of the Boston Common ducklings wearing pussy hats a few years ago, and this was a very thoughtful share...  :-) ]

Emotions are running high, with family as well as friends and, when the going gets tough, the tough go into roly-poly mode... except that yesterday I needed groceries and had vowed not to step foot in a store until all this is over.  I've been talking about using Instacart and finally signed up ($99 annual fee; peace of mind priceless).  Placed two orders, one for our household and one for my friend R (a snowbird who is "stuck" here until things are improved enough for her to go home to Maryland).  The process is easy-peasy, choosing items from the Publix website to add to your cart (they even give you a heads-up when something is BOGO, so you can add the second item to qualify). The app tells you when your shopper is in the store, what they suggest as a replacement (if your first choice is not available), when they are checking out, and when they are on the way to your home.  Instacart adds a 5% tip (which goes to the shopper) to the credit card you have on file, and Googling the process recommends adding another 5% in cash at the door (gladly).  This is a gamechanger!  Lysa was amazing.  She made substitutions where necessary, was so nice, and complimented us on our healthy eating, despite the Wise chips variety pack (I give my husband the non-vegan ones) and the Sweet Lorens cookie dough on the list!  We are stocked up for at least another two weeks.

Confession that, in addition to the earrings I bought a few weeks ago on Amazon, I also purchased The newest Avett Brothers CD, Closer Than Together, and the round-trip of delivering R's groceries was the perfect time to give it a listen.  Wow!  I could probably use each and every song as a title for the next 12 blog posts (is that a challenge, Susan?).  I segued from sniffling to welling to full-out weeping.  I enjoyed an all-Avett-Brothers Spotify playlist on my walk yesterday afternoon, and my legs were already twitching to pound the pavement, especially to such thoughtful music.

P.S.  Whenever I am on my way to pick up (for a music- or food-related outing), or drop off something, I always text R that I am "crossing Cleary" (the main street near her home) to let her know I am close.  She suggested we write a song with that title.  It could very well happen...  :-)

SONG:  High Steppin' by The Avett Brothers

BOOK:  Make Way for Ducklings 75th Anniversary Edition by Robert McCloskey

POEM:  When Giving Is All We Have by Alberto Ríos

                                              One river gives
                                              Its journey to the next.

We give because someone gave to us.
We give because nobody gave to us.

We give because giving has changed us.
We give because giving could have changed us.

We have been better for it,
We have been wounded by it—

Giving has many faces: It is loud and quiet,
Big, though small, diamond in wood-nails.

Its story is old, the plot worn and the pages too,
But we read this book, anyway, over and again:

Giving is, first and every time, hand to hand,
Mine to yours, yours to mine.

You gave me blue and I gave you yellow.
Together we are simple green. You gave me

What you did not have, and I gave you
What I had to give—together, we made

Something greater from the difference.

QUOTE:  "To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one's family, to bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control one's own mind. If a man can control his mind he can find the way to Enlightenment, and all wisdom and virtue will naturally come to him." ~ Buddha

Blueberry Hill (Fats Domino)

Have you had your RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowance) of anti-oxidants today? - well... now you have... :-)

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Blueberries are good for the heart, study hints
Mon Apr 20, 2009
by Megan Rauscher

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Eating blueberries, as part of a healthy diet, may help ward off several key risk factors for cardiovascular disease and diabetes, such as an accumulation of belly fat, high cholesterol, and high blood sugar, according to research reported Sunday at the Experimental Biology conference in New Orleans.

The health benefits of blueberries are thought to be due to their high levels of phytochemicals - naturally occurring antioxidants called anthocyanins found in darkly pigmented fruits and vegetables.

"In the long-term Women's Health Study, it was shown that women who had diets high in anthocyanins had a significantly reduced risk for heart disease," University of Michigan research scientist E. Mitchell Seymour told Reuters Health.

In studies involving overweight rats, Seymour and colleagues looked at the effects of adding freeze-dried blueberry powder to a low-fat and a high-fat diet.

"We looked at things that are relevant to heart disease," Seymour explained, "like total body fat, abdominal fat, blood lipids (fats), and the body's ability to manage blood sugar levels and we found that they were affected by the blueberry."

After 90 days, rats fed the blueberry powder had less abdominal fat and lower levels of cholesterol and harmful triglycerides than control rats that weren't fed any blueberry powder.

Blueberry-fed rats also had improvements in blood sugar levels and in how their bodies used insulin to process sugar for energy - both of which could help keep diabetes at bay.

The benefits of a blueberry-rich diet were more pronounced when combined with the low-fat diet, as compared to the high fat diet, "but the majority of those benefits were still present even in a higher-fat, more typical American diet," Seymour said.

The study was supported by the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council.

P.S. SMM here, here and here...

SONG: Blueberry Hill by Fats Domino

BOOK: Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey

POEM: Blueberry by Diane Lockward

Deep-blue hue of the body, silvery bloom

on its skin. Undersized runt of a fruit,

like something that failed to thrive, dented top

a fontanel. Lopsided globe. A temperate zone.

Tiny paradox, tart and sweet, homely

but elegant afloat in sugar and cream,

baked in a pie, a cobbler, a muffin.

The power of blue. Number one antioxidant fruit,

bantam-weight champ in the fight against

urinary tract infections, best supporting actor

in a fruit salad. No peeling, coring or cutting.

Lay them out on a counter, strands of blue pearls.

Pop one at a time, like M&M's, into your mouth.

Be a glutton and stuff in a handful, your tongue,

lips, chin dyed blue, as if feasting on indigo.

Fruit of the state of New Jersey.

Favorite fruit of my mother.

Sundays she scooped them into pancake batter,

poured circles onto the hot greased griddle, sizzled

them gold and blue, doused with maple syrup.

This is what I want to remember: my mother

and me, our quilted robes, hair in curlers,

that kitchen, that table,

plates stacked with pancakes, blueberries sparkling

like gemstones, blue stars in a gold sky,

the universe in reverse,

the two of us eating blueberry pancakes.

QUOTE: "I am not bound for any public place, but for ground of my own where I have planted vines and orchard trees, and in the heat of the day climbed up into the healing shadow of the woods. Better than any argument is to rise at dawn and pick dew-wet berries in a cup." ~ Wendell Berry