Celebrating Hammocks

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We've Got A Hammock Holiday

There's a holiday for hammocks. Yes, indeed.

We were alerted to this important life-detail via a tweet by Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate (@BHGRealEstate).

Hammock Day Is Celebrated On July 22

Hammock Day has its own day on the calendar – July 22. It's difficult to pin down the start of this holiday, but, since everything seems to have its own "day" – this was probably inevitable.

Hammock Day obtained some momentum when an article in the Huffington Post highlighted the event in 2014.

Will this holiday take off and become a celebration that is fêted around the world? Maybe not, but in the meantime, who wouldn't enjoy a little swing in a hammock?

The Origins Of Hammocks

Hammocks were developed in Central and South America and are now found in most corners of the Earth.

 
“Early hammocks were woven out of bark from a hamack tree, and later this material was replaced by sisal fibers because it was more abundant.
One of the reasons that hammocks became popular in Central and South America was their ability to provide safety from disease transmission, insect stings, or animal bites.
By suspending their beds above ground, inhabitants were better protected from snakes, biting ants, and other harmful creatures.”
 

Hammocks remain popular in Central and South America. El Salvador integrates hammocks into their daily living. Hammocks sway in humble rural homes as well as in prestigious city hotel chains. They're found inside houses, outside in courtyards, on porches, and connected to trees.

An afternoon siesta is meant to be relished in a hammock. One village in El Salvador annually celebrates The Festival of the Hammocks in November where hammocks are produced and sold.

Mayan Hammocks

In this photo by Abraham Razu, a man is hand-weaving a Mayan hammock with brightly colored cotton fibers. These hammocks come from the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico. The breezy fabric allows for air to circulate and on hot nights, this provides more cooling than a flat mattress.

To call it a Mayan hammock is a bit of a misnomer. The hammocks didn't originate with the ancient Mayan civilization. It's thought that hammocks arrived in the Yucatán by way of the Caribbean almost two centuries before the Spanish conquest. However, the Mayan people of the Yucatán have been weaving hammocks ever since that time.

Hammocks in Yucatán life are integral to their culture and are a part of their home furnishings. They are used for beds as well as living room furniture and are easily removed at any time to free up precious space in the rooms for other activities.

Mayan hammocks are considered some of the most comfortable and have a tight weave that leaves fewer marks on your skin. They are light, making them easy to carry and store. A hammock weighs between 0.9 and 3 kg, depending on the style and size. Contrast that with carrying around a queen size mattress or a sofa.

How to Get In And Out Of A Hammock

Enjoying time in a hammock is the easy part. Getting in and out of it without hurting or embarrassing yourself provides a small challenge. 

If you'd like to master these swinging contraptions with a bit of elegance and panache, here's a video to help you.

Hammocks And Relaxation

If your hammock is outside, relax into the natural world. Feel the nuance of the breeze on your skin, listen to the song of the wind in the trees and the message of the birds.

Maybe you hear the steady rhythm of ocean waves by the sea or perhaps the chirping of cicadads.

If you're comfortably ensconced with a good book in your hammock, let yourself be carried away into another world while nestled in your swaying hammock.

Whether you're ocean-side or lake-side or in your own backyard, hopefully, you'll get to enjoy some relaxing hammock time as we celebrate our Hammock Holiday.

 

Bake Your Election Day Cake

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Election Day Is Nigh

National and midterm elections in the United States take place every two years.

Some people are glued to their television sets to follow minute-by-minute results.

Others, to avoid the stress of it all, keep their tv sets off and check the results once the drama is all over.

Take A Stroll Into The Past

If we were whisked back to colonial times, we'd find ourselves busy preparing our Election Cakes. In early America, Election Day was an important celebration, second only to Thanksgiving.

Our Puritan ancestors did not acknowledge the religious holidays of Christmas or Easter, believing they were too connected to Papist idolatry. Furthermore, to say that religious, "holy days" existed implied that other days of the year were not holy which was not acceptable to them.

Election Day, therefore, provided a rare chance to celebrate in high fashion. Parades filled the streets. People came to town from outlying areas and everyone fêted the day with religious ceremonies, dancing balls and fine food.

Election Cake Old World Recipe

I found an official Election Cake recipe from 1796. With these quantities, you’d have a lot of cake.

“Election Cake:
30 quarts of flour
10 pounds butter
14 pounds sugar
12 pounds raisins
3 dozen eggs
one pint wine
one quart brandy
4 ounces cinnamon
4 ounces fine colander seed
3 ounces ground alspice
Prunes and currants

Wet flour with milk to the consistence of bread over night, adding one quart yeast;
the next morning work the butter and sugar together for half an hour, which will render the cake much lighter and whiter; when it has rise, light work in every other ingredient except the prunes, which work in when going into the oven.”
— Simmons, American Cookery, 1796

Cakes of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries were typically produced through soaking or sour leavening, not unlike sourdough breads. This traditional method of soaking flour in sour milk or leavening dough with sourdough starter optimized nourishment received from these foods. In a time without mass-market refrigerators, it also made use of sour milk that would otherwise have gone to waste.

Election Cakes were filled with healthy, wholesome fats such as butter and fresh eggs. The added alcohol helped with preservation of the cake. The dried fruits made it similar to our infamous fruit cakes of Christmas.

Get Out And Vote

Election Day Cakes were also a way to entice people (in the beginning, men with property) to come out and vote. They could vote and receive a slice of delectable cake. Later on, it was even a bit of a bribe to vote straight down a ticket.

Cake sustained not only the voters, but the people counting all the votes late into the night.

Vintage Election Cake For Today

We can bring the past into our present by baking our own version of an Election Cake.

What better way to celebrate or soothe your disappointment than with cake? 

If you'd like to try a modern-day version of Election Cake, here is a recipe. It has a yeast mixture that harkens back to our historical Election Cakes.

Election Cake Revival

Voting is a remarkable aspect of our heritage in the United States. With the passing of the decades, people have tended to become blasé about this privilege. Others hold the stance that you can't complain about elected officials if you didn't vote. 

How fun to honor our history of voting with a present-day revival of Election Day Cakes. We could be creative and celebrate with any cake of our choice.

Here's a bundt cake from Martha Stewart that makes a great Election Day Cake. No yeast mixture is needed. This Kentucky Bourbon Brown Butter Cake would hit the spot, whatever the voting outcome.

The Privilege To Vote

Celebrate your right and privilege to vote.

Cake brings all of us together on this day of our democratic process. Go forth and bake your cake.

See you on Election Day.

 

Little Holiday Videos

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A Quick Peek Into The Season

Christmas baking and decorations make this holiday season a busy one. There's little time for writing, however, here are a couple of videos taken with our iPhone.

Going To The Tree Farm

Traveling to a Christmas tree farm in Woodland, California this year, we picked out our tree. You can cut down your own if you're feeling like an ambitious woodsman. Pre-cut trees are kept fresh in buckets of water. The workers will take off an inch from the trunk for those of us who don't own a saw. 

One of our favorite Christmas tree species is the Noble Fir. After picking out a humble 6-foot tree, we took the tag to the workers and requested shaking and netting. Shaking it removes loose needles and dirt and a net can help get it home.

A sense of humor is needed when the farm is crowded with holiday shoppers. Tree farm personnel demonstrated their funny-bone with the bottom line of this sign for the tree nets. Just kidding, of course!

Dramatic Winter Skies

Winter skies like to dance at this time of year and I captured some traveling clouds with the time-lapse feature on my smartphone. Music was then needed. The song I Wonder as I Wander evokes seasonal skies and is sung with layers of harmony by The King's Singers.

I had to giggle when I noted that I wandered in my neighborhood and I wondered if there were more Christmas decorations than usual, or had I not noticed them before? I included their photos in the video to connect with the song's lyrics.

 
“I wonder as I wander out under the sky
How Jesus the Saviour did come for to die
To save lowly people like you and like I;
I wonder as I wander out under the sky

When Jesus was born it was in a cow’s stall
With shepherds and wise men and angels and all
The blessings of Christmas from heaven did fall
And the weary world woke to the Savior’s call.”
 

Our Creativity

It's okay if our creative process is not a professional production. The joy is in the creating.

With so many professional examples around us, it can be intimidating to pursue our own attempts. Remember when it was simply fun to create and we didn't worry about the outcome?

Wishing you a holiday season filled with wonder as you wander and may the new year be a source of joyful discovery.

 

Christmas Songs Across Time

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Dust Off Your Christmas Songs

The month of December is here and that means uninhibited, unabashedly repetitive, guilt-free playing of Christmas songs.

Allow me to address the guilt-free part. Naturally, we can play Christmas songs at any time of the year. There are no laws on the books saying we can't.

But, honestly, don't you feel just a little out of sorts when you play them in the blazing heat of July? Sweltering under 90 degrees Fahrenheit, I only need a few notes of Frosty the Snowman to picture him in a giant puddle. Not the effect I really wanted.

For our holidays in December, Christmas songs are ubiquitous. They point the way to joyful celebrations with family and friends as well as the intimate journey on the path of inner light.

A Wide Variety Of Christmas Songs

We have Christmas songs to suit every taste. From traditional to modern, from serious contemplation to light-hearted frolicking.

Time-honored traditional songs:

  • Silent Night

  • Hark the Herald Angels Sing

  • O Holy Night...

  • O Come, O Come, Emmanuel...

Classical songs:

  • The Nutcracker Suite

  • The Messiah...

Venacular songs:

  • Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

  • Jingle Bells

  • Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

  • Santa Claus is Coming to Town...

Raucous songs:

  • The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)

  • Fairytale of New York...

 
“The boys of the NYPD Choir were singing Galway Bay and the bells were ringing out for Christmas Day.”
— The Pogues
 

Wistful songs:

  • Merry Christmas, Darling

  • I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

  • The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)...

The fluid, lyrical voice of Karen Carpenter as she sings Merry Christmas, Darling is like warm butterscotch coating your ice cream.

Christmas songs are timeless. It's okay to dust off the Carpenters from 1970. No apologies needed. It's the time of year when songs from the past are like a badge of honor in a world of nostalgia.

The Christmas Song

Another song that must be played is The Christmas Song sung by Nat King Cole from 1961 with its full orchestral arrangement. It is one of the definitive songs of the season.

The liquid gold of Nat King Cole's voice smoothes our ruffled feathers after we've ventured out in the shopping-crazed world.

 
“The Nat King Cole Trio first recorded the song early in 1946. At Cole’s behest – and over the objections of his label, Capitol Records – a second recording was made later the same year utilizing a small string section, this version becoming a massive hit on both the pop and R&B charts.

Cole again recorded the song in 1953, using the same arrangement with a full orchestra arranged and conducted by Nelson Riddle, and once more in 1961, in a stereophonic version with orchestra conducted by Ralph Carmichael.

Cole’s 1961 version is generally regarded as definitive, and in 2004 was the most-loved seasonal song with women aged 30-49, while the original 1946 recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1974.”
 

Christmas Songs And History

Many of our Christmas songs are steeped in history.

God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen – was written in England in the early 1800s as a reaction to church music of the 15th century.

Carol of the Bells – was composed in 1916 and was based on an old Ukrainian folk tune. It was originally named Shchedryk. It means "the little swallow" and it was a New Year's song. The little swallow flies into a home and sings to the family about the bountiful year that awaits them.

The English lyrics that we associate with Christmas were published and copyrighted in 1936. 

Bring a Torch, Jeanette Isabelle – originated from the Provence region of France in the 16th century. Initially, it wasn't a Christmas song at all, but rather a dance song for nobility.

The list goes on. It's impossible to complain about a lack of Christmas songs.

And everyone has to record their own version of them on every instrument possible. What are your favorite renditions?

Merry Christmas to One and All.

 

(The Radiance Technique® is not associated with any religion or belief system.
Please see Radiant Nursing – About for more details.)

 

Happy Fourth Of July

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Independence Day – Fourth Of July

We love you, Great Britain, but we've got to go.

It's not you, it's me.

No, actually, it is you. And we don't want to pay your taxes. Especially without representation.

We're celebrating our independence from the rule of Great Britain and the birth of a sovereign nation – the United States of America.

A Federal Holiday

Although Independence Day has been celebrated since the 18th century, it was in 1870 that the U.S. Congress made 04 July a federal holiday. It then became a paid federal holiday in 1941. 

We like the paid part. To this day, I can remember my joy at having my first paid holiday. There I was, at home, eating bonbons (well, not really, but it sounds good) and getting paid for it.

Do you remember some of your first paid holidays?

The Declaration Of Independence

Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and John Adams were among the key players in the creation of the Declaration of Independence. They are considered the founding fathers of the United States of America.

It is noteworthy that Jefferson wrote, "We hold these truths to be sacred and un-deniable..." and it was Franklin who changed it to the phrase we all know:

 
“We hold these truths to be self-evident...”

On 02 July 1776, the Continental Congress of the American colonies voted in favor of independence from Great Britain. Two days later on 04 July, the delegates ratified and signed the Declaration of Independence.

The 4th of July is the day celebrated as the birth of American Independence. As a significant patriotic holiday, its most common symbol is the American flag. The word “patriotism” comes from the Latin “patria” meaning “fatherland.”

Franklin, Adams, and Jefferson working on the Declaration of independence.
Painter, Jean leon gerome ferris, 1900

 

The 2nd Or 4th Of July

Humans wouldn't be humans without disagreement. Some founding fathers, John Adams in particular, believed we should celebrate the 2nd of July, when Congress first voted in favor of the resolution.

In fact, as a protest, even when personally invited, Adams refused to join any 4th of July celebrations. 

Oh my.

But here's a little Twilight Zone moment.

John Adams died on 04 July 1826 at the age of 90. 

Coincidence? Or did his spirit, in some fashion, relent and claim the 4th of July by dying on that day?

However, the plot thickens. Thomas Jefferson also died on the exact same day at the age of 83, just hours before John Adams. 

04 July 1826.

Relax Into The Red, White And Blue

For the Fourth of July, students of The Radiance Technique® (TRT®) can relax and enjoy some TRT® hands-on. You might even bring the principles of the Declaration of Independence to your meditations. What do they mean to you?

 
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
— Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
 

This preamble is considered an enduring statement of human rights and a moral compass for the United States. All men are created equal has been called "one of the best-known sentences in the English language."

Students who have studied The Second Degree of The Radiance Technique® can direct energy to the founding of this country. You could also direct energy to a person from the past who helped create the Declaration of Independence.

Do you have a favorite founding father?  

Thomas Jefferson? Benjamin Franklin? Or fiercely stubborn John Adams? 

Enjoy your 4th of July holiday.

And oh, by the way, we still love you, Great Britain.

I remember singing this song with the high school choir, our music director waving his arms with gusto. Over these many years, I would often sing the opening line to myself.

Be sure to take a listen.

 

Sailing Through The Holidays

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The Festive Season – Holidays Are Here

The fun and joy of the holidays are upon us. But, uh oh, along with that comes more stress that is associated with the many activities.

Family expectations, travel plans, budget limits, menus and holiday treats to prepare, all of these activities can be demanding.

Managing Your Time During The Holidays

Here are some good tips from the Cleveland Clinic for helping you to manage stress:

  • Set priorities and let go of impossible goals

  • Stop to enjoy the fruits of your labor

  • Don't spend all of your time planning activities for your family. You might end up feeling drained and unappreciated

  • Take the time you need to finish tasks that are important to you. Don't try to complete everything at once

  • Ask others, including the kids, to help you complete chores

  • Rest when your body tells you to.

Sail Through Your Holidays

Don't just survive the holidays. Sail through them.

Make use of these tips to help you navigate through this busy time of year.