Paddling to Squaxin Island

The beach at Alki yesterday was full of colorful Native American canoes as members of area tribes stopped on their way to their annual gathering which is being held this year at Squaxin Island in south Puget Sound.

Here is a map of the journey undertaken by the tribes participating this year. Some have come from as far away as northern British Columbia and have been underway for over a month. All expect to arrive at Squaxin Island in time for the potlatch that begins on July 29th.

To understand the significance of this journey, I read portions of the Canoe Journey Guidebook. The 10 Rules of the Canoe are valuable life lessons, even if you never undertake a journey like this one. This guidebook also includes historical information, the legends of the 7 inlets, a description of canoe culture and the canoe movement. There are lots of photos and stories that make this guidebook interesting reading.

I got to the beach yesterday after most of the canoes had arrived. I missed getting to hear tribal chants and songs, but the scene was colorful all the same. I'm learning to use my iPad to do videos and this was an opportunity to practice.





OK, enough of my amateur attempts. Here's a professional video of the landing at Alki during the 2011 Canoe Journey. It explains the event and its significance in tribal culture.

Eat Your Parritch

I've become a big fan of Diana Gabaldon's "Outlander" series of historical novel/time travel stories featuring Jamie and Claire Fraser. Their adventures begin in Jamie's native Scotland in the mid 1700s. Gabaldon describes, in some detail, what daily life was like in that time, including what people ate.
It appears that much of the Scottish diet at that time was made up of meat or fish. So when I first encountered a character in one of the books talking about "parritch," I thought he meant "partridge." As it happens, though, he was talking about porridge, or what we Americans call oatmeal.

OATMEAL - on the left, steel cut oats; regular rolled oats are on the right.

I don't know how oats were harvested and prepared for cooking in those days. But I do know that there weren't microwaves or or little packets of pre-sweetened cereal available back then. So when Jamie's sister, Jenny Murray, fixed breakfast for the family at Lallybroch, I imagine she made up a big pot of what we'd now call "steel cut oats." (Also known as Irish or Scottish oats.)

If you've never made this version of oatmeal at home, dinna fash yourself, as Jamie would say. It's very easy. And verra, verra tasty.

Before you go to bed at night, pour 4 cups of water into a medium-sized saucepan. Add a dash of sea salt. Bring to a boil. Add one cup of steel cut oats. Give them a quick stir.  Put a lid on the pot and turn off the heat. Let stand overnight on the stove top.

When you get up the next morning, the oats will be cooked through. All you have to do is heat the oatmeal, dish it up in a bowl, pour on a wee bit of milk and you have breakfast. Some people like to sweeten their "parritch" with brown sugar or maple syrup. I prefer to add fruit - dried in the winter and fresh in the summer. A sprinkle of almonds or walnuts is verra nice. And ye'll ken that a pinch of cinnamon or nutmeg would be lovely, too.

For more about food inspired by the Outlander stories, visit Theresa's clever blog, The Outlander Kitchen. She begins each post with a food-related excerpt from one of the books and follows it with a recipe. Examples include: "Fiona's Ginger-Nut Biscuits from Drums of Autumn," "Honey-Buttermilk Oat Bread at Madame Jeanne's from Voyager," and "Dougal's Poached Peach Sundae." Great storytelling and great food - what could be better, aye?

Can't get enough OUTLANDER? Visit my Outlander Plant Guide for a wee bit more information about the plants featured in the series.

Is It Possible To Get Over A Food Allergy?

If you asked me that question 10 years ago, or even 3 months ago, I would have said, "No." Emphatically.

I was diagnosed with an egg allergy nearly 20 years ago. Back then the antibody levels in my blood for both egg whites and yolks were off the charts. When I stopped eating eggs, the symptoms - buzzing in my head, difficulty swallowing, bloating, cramps, diarrhea, etc. - went away. Because the severity of the allergy developed gradually, I didn't realize how rotten I felt all the time. Until I didn't anymore. Sweet relief!

Since then, I've had to be diligent in order to maintain my health. As anyone with an allergy to common foods like wheat, eggs, dairy and soy can tell you, it is a challenge to avoid these things. There are traces of them in prepared foods everywhere you look. You learn to read labels, ask a lot of questions at restaurants and rely mostly on your own cooking to stay out of harm's way. But as far as I was concerned, that was all a small price to pay for feeling good. I was absolutely fine living my egg-free life.

So it came as a big surprise to me when, about a month ago, I started craving scrambled eggs! That's just crazy, I thought. That's self-destructive! I can't eat eggs - I haven't even wanted to eat an egg in years. But the craving wouldn't go away. So one day while I was shopping, I decided to buy a half dozen eggs. I figured I'd listen to my body and give them a try.

I knew that after two or three bites of scrambled egg, I would know where things stood. There have been enough slip-ups over the years that I am very familiar with how I react when I'm exposed to eggs. I fully expected to feel an electrical sensation in my head and that my throat would start to constrict. When that happened, I was going to stop eating. Simple as that. I'd feel a little sick, but not terribly so if I ate only a couple of bites. And then I would know whether this craving was simply crazy or whether, by some miracle, I can eat eggs now.

I scrambled my egg and started to eat. One bite, two bites - no problem. I kept eating. Still everything was normal. I finished the egg. I felt fine. I waited for a delayed reaction. It never came. In fact, I felt really good. And that egg tasted great! I wanted more, but decided not to push it. I waited a couple of days and had two eggs for breakfast. Again, no problem.

In fact, I've eaten close to two dozen eggs in the past three weeks without any sign of allergy!

I have no idea how this could have happened. The only thing different in my life lately is that I have been doing T-Tapp exercises for the past three months. It seemed to me to be a stretch to think there could be any correlation, until I read this post on the Chicago Eats Allergy-Free site. All I can say is that I am grateful for whatever it is that has healed my immune system.

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The Pleasures of the Low Tide Days at Alki

For me, the low tide days of late spring and early summer are the most special days of the season. I avoid setting appointments or making commitments for the time when the tide is way, way out so I can walk the beach. After all, there are only a few days a year when this opportunity presents itself. It is as if a curtain is pulled back from the shore and we can wade out into sun-warmed tide pools to explore a world that is usually invisible.

Exploring tide pools during a -4 foot low tide at Alki Beach in June 2009.

These extra low tides coincide with the days around new and full moons. Last Saturday, for example, there was a full moon, so big and bright it was called a Super Moon. That morning in Seattle, we had a -2.1 low tide at around 11 a.m. The lowest low for this full moon phase was on Tuesday, a -3.4 tide at 12:20 p.m. Now that the moon is waning, the tides are not so low - today it was only -1.8.

There's an incredible array of marine life on display during these very low tides. Jellyfish, barnacles, sea stars and this "sun" star, above, are just a few of them. A recent post on the West Seattle Blog has images of a frosted nudibranch and a type of anemone, which you can view here.

The first time I saw a piece of a moon snail's egg casing, like this one above, I thought it was an old gasket someone had thrown into the Sound. The smooth, dense material looks like it was manufactured somewhere. Which in fact it was, right there, by the mother snail. If I am understanding the explanation furnished on Buzz's Marine Life of Puget Sound blog, which you can read here, the snail combines eggs and sand with some sort of glue and extrudes this collar. A sand collar can contain over 300,000 eggs.

If you want to enjoy the low tide experience, the next series of super low tides will coincide with the full moon on June 4. The lowest low in Seattle, a -3.8, will be on Tuesday around noon. To view the tide tables for Seattle, click here. Beach naturalists from the Seattle Aquarium are on hand at local beaches during low tides to answer questions and teach visitors about the marine life visible during these times. Check the Aquarium website for dates, times and more information.

Why Everyone Over the Age of 40 Should Have a Blood Pressure Monitor

Heart disease doesn't just come out of the blue. It is the result of day-to-day choices about diet, stress management and exercise. The decisions we make in our 30s become habits in our 40s, which set the stage for the health we have in our 60s and beyond. We all know what we should do. But how often do we put off exercise until we have more time; or eat on the run; or rely on alcohol or drugs to relax - always thinking that we'll have time to improve our habits later? Apparently, way too often. Heart disease is the leading health problem in the US.

But here's the good news. If you have a blood pressure monitor and use it often, you can get clear, immediate feedback about which of your habits are working for you and which ones are working against you. Taking your blood pressure can show you when your blood sugar is too low. It can also be an indicator that you aren't adequately hydrated. Monitoring your blood pressure will show you the effect exercise has on your body and how well stress reduction techniques work for you.

And here's more good news. Blood pressure monitors are inexpensive - you can get a good one for less than $60 US. Blood pressure monitoring is non-invasive. You don't have to wait for a doctor's appointment to find out if your pressure is high. And when you do see your doctor, the information you have about how your blood pressure fluctuates throughout the day can be helpful in determining whether there is anything serious going on. Furthermore, seeing normal healthy readings on a regular basis will give you peace of mind. It will let you see how, as you change your habits, you move the needle on your health-o-meter in the right direction.

Now you may be thinking - what's the big deal? Your reading was normal at your last checkup or when you checked it at the drug store recently. It might surprise you to know that these once-in-a-blue-moon readings don't tell you that much about your health. They are merely a snapshot of a moment in time - not the full picture.

This is the blood pressure monitor I use regularly, the
Omron HEM-711. 

You see, unlike your temperature, which varies by less than 2 degrees over a 24-hour period, your blood pressure can swing 20 to 30 points either way several times over the course of a day. It might be a healthy 115/75 when you get up in the morning. But by lunchtime, if you skip breakfast, have a stressful morning and consume caffeinated beverages (coffee, soda, tea), your blood pressure reading may be up to an unhealthy 150/90. Then, if you eat a good lunch and take a 20 minute walk, your pressure might be down to 130/80. By late afternoon, you might be back up in the danger zone again, or not, depending on various factors: what you ate for lunch, your level of activity or how stressed you are.

There's really no reliable way to know what is going on with your blood pressure - except to check it on a regular basis. It also matters when you monitor it during the day, which I will explain later in this post.

First, let's talk about monitors. I bought mine, pictured above, a few years ago. I paid close to $100 for it, which I thought was pretty reasonable. Omron has updated this monitor - Amazon carries the newer version - which has more features, for an even better price - less than $60. I've been very happy with my little machine. I rarely get error messages and when I do, it's often because I'm wearing a bulky shirt of some kind. (It's better to take a reading by wrapping the cuff on a bare arm or over the sleeve of a garment made of very thin fabric.) The monitor also shows heart rate and the newer version will detect irregular heartbeats. There is a memory function that stores previous readings. By setting the date and time on the monitor, you can compare readings over time.

I've never used that function on my monitor. When I had an episode of high blood pressure a while back, I kept a notebook nearby and wrote down readings and made notes about what I was doing at the time. My naturopath used that information to show me how I could get my pressure back to normal without having to take medication.

When you are on Amazon, you will see that there are many blood pressure monitors available. One of the great things about Amazon is the number of customer reviews you can find for products. I suggest that you look at several of these to see what other people have to say. One monitor that gets very good reviews is a wrist unit, also made by Omron.

This monitor would be ideal for travel, taking to work, going to the gym.

OK, you have your monitor, now what? 

First of all, I suggest you keep a journal for a while to develop a sense of how your body responds when you do, or don't do, various activities during the day. Note your pressure readings before and after. Also note how you feel if the reading is high: spacey, lightheaded, fatigued, slight headache, irritable, clumsy, etc. This will help you learn to recognize the subtle symptoms that indicate that your blood pressure is beginning to creep up.

Normal blood pressure readings range from 100/60 to 140/90. Anything over 140/90 on a consistent basis is considered high blood pressure. The higher number is the systolic measurement which indicates the pressure exerted when the heart muscle contracts. The lower number is the diastolic reading which measures the pressure when the muscle is relaxed between beats.

Here are times during the day when it is useful to check your blood pressure. Be sure to wait 20 -30 minutes after eating, bathing, or exercising before taking your reading to assure accuracy.

1. When you get up in the morning and before bedtime.
It is useful to know how you begin and end your day. If your pressure is high first thing in the morning, stop reading this and go see your doctor.

2. Before and after eating.
There is a correlation between blood pressure and blood sugar. When your blood sugar drops below a certain level, your blood pressure will begin to rise. This was very useful information for me when I was learning to manage my blood pressure. I was in the habit of skipping meals, especially breakfast. Once I got into the habit of eating breakfast and not going more than three hours without eating at least a snack, my pressure started stabilizing. Eating a little protein with each meal and snack is important. It keeps blood sugar from spiking and then dropping quickly, which would send blood pressure right back up again. Now I always keep foods like string cheese, walnuts, yogurt and leftover chicken on hand for quick snacks. A piece of cheese and half an apple is often all I need to tide me over until the next full meal. (This is a good strategy for lowering the risk of Type 2 diabetes, too.)

3. Before and after taking a shower.
Dehydration will cause blood pressure to go up. Many people have mild, chronic dehydration because they drink caffeinated drinks (coffee, tea, soda) throughout the day and occasionally alcohol at night. All of these beverages have a diuretic effect. Plus, as we age, our thirst mechanism begins to fade - we don't feel thirsty, so we don't drink enough water. If there is a big difference in your readings before and after bathing, you might need to drink more water.

4. Before and after exercise.
How much difference does a 30 minute walk make? Well, could be quite a lot. When you see how regular physical activity, spread throughout your day, can keep your blood pressure in a good place, you may be inspired to stay with or add to your exercise program. Like eating a little bit of protein, even just 15 minutes of exercise has a residual calming effect that lasts.

5. After having a few drinks. 
Alcohol initially lowers blood pressure. But be aware that it has a rebound effect. After a few hours blood pressure will come back up, possibly higher than before, due to the dehydrating effects of alcohol.

6. When you are exposed to emotional triggers.
Something infuriating happens at work. Watching a political debate has you yelling at the TV. You have an argument with your teenager. How do these events affect your blood pressure at the time? How long before it comes back down? What can you do to minimize these stressors? It is good to explore this subject because things happen, and we all need strategies to handle them and maintain our health.

A very simple thing to try is this. When you can, sit alone quietly, and breathe deeply. Take deep breaths in through your nose and exhale slowly through your mouth. Do this 8 times and then check your blood pressure again. You will probably see a significant drop in the reading. This little exercise shows you that you have the ability to lower your stress level. What other techniques have you used in the past to deal with stress? Try them and see what effect they have on your blood pressure.

Summing up...
Improving your health doesn't have to be a huge project. Adding little things to your day - a few minutes of walking or stretching, a healthy snack, doing some deep breathing - will keep your blood pressure at a normal level, reduce the strain on your heart and lower your risk of heart disease or stroke. Monitoring your blood pressure will show you what is working and point the way to other beneficial changes you can make.

Free Speech on Vacation

We Americans pride ourselves on freedom of speech - except for when we don't.

I was back east over the holidays visiting my son and his wife. The weather was pleasant - sunny and warm for late December. So we went sight-seeing. As we were strolling the streets of a lovely, scenic seaside town (whose name will be revealed at the end of this post), my son pointed to this sign.

"What do you think that sign says, Mom?" he asked. Thinking it was a joke, I said, "I don't know - no swearing?" "Yup," he answered. Still thinking it might be a joke, I started to look more closely at signs posted along the street. I saw that these "no cursing" signs appear all along the main street. Apparently, folks around here are not kidding. (Which naturally made me WANT to cuss up a blue streak. There's nothing like being told "no" to make an activity irresistible.)

In case visitors don't get the message, posted in between the "no swearing" signs are more signs, each with a reminder about "language:"

Reading this, I had to laugh. I live in a beach community, too. I know what it is like to have your neighborhood taken over by thousands of strangers the moment the sun comes out. Most of the people who show up are respectful of others and don't have to be told what the "rules" are. And the people who disturb the peace - don't read signs. 

Surely the good people of Virginia Beach, Virginia, can find better uses for their tax dollars.