Imagine yourself far away from home, across the ocean far, lost in an unexplored land, surrounded by animals you’ve never seen or could imagine (and they’re big, like bison big), and following a guide your gut tells you not to trust. This is exactly what happened in 1541 to the company on Vasquez de Coronado’s exploration of the… Read more »
I grew up in the era of TV dinners and rice that cooked in a minute. Literally. This fare deadened my taste buds for years, so when I discovered how inexpensive and easy it is to prepare food in its natural form, I went gung-ho. Today, my pantry is stocked with dried pinto beans, garbanzos,… Read more »
While visiting any Mission ruin, I have to inspect the walls. The bricks, commonly known as adobe, are made from mud and fibrous organic matter that, if left unprotected, tend to melt back into the earth. Any surface ornamentation of plaster and paint on the walls is usually the first to go. But where faded… Read more »
Have you ever carved your name into a tree, a rock, a sandy shore at the beach? Seems the need to be remembered, or at least make our mark, is universal. And why not? You are one person among over seven-billion currently on planet earth. You are unique. To coin a well-intentioned phrase, you are… Read more »
Who hasn’t eaten vanilla ice-cream, vanilla cake, or smelled the comforting fragrance of vanilla candles? The creamy flavor and homey scent evokes many happy memories. But vanilla was not known to most of the world until after the year 1519 and a meeting with the Aztecs. Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortéz landed in what is now… Read more »
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