Down The Rabbit Hole #8: Blast Off To Mars

It is known as the Red Planet or the God of War.  It is the fourth planet from the sun in our solar system, Mars.  It takes 687 days for Mars to orbit the sun and it is the only planet, in our system, that has an elliptical orbit.  It has polar ice caps, just like Earth, with frozen water beneath them, although science for years claimed there was no water on Mars.

Mars has the largest volcano in our solar system named Olympus Mons.  It is three times the height of Mount Everest, making it roughly a little over 16 miles high and now scientists believe it may still be active.  Mars also sports the biggest canyon in our solar system.  Valles Marineris is so long, it would stretch from the west coast to the east coast of the USA.  

Mars also has two moons, Phobos and Deimos.  Oddly, these moons were written about by author Jonathan Swift in his book 'Gulliver's Travels', 151 years before the moons were discovered.

Now that the truth is out about the water on Mars, what else could be revealed?  Is the theory about Mars being destroyed by a nuclear war, millions of years ago, false?  Or, does it perhaps hold a bit of truth?  Just how did rocks from Mars end up being meteorites that have landed on Earth? 

For a planet that supposedly does not have much to offer, there have been 39 attempts to reach it since the 1960's, with only 16 of those being successful.  Sixteen successful times.  Doesn't that seem like a lot, especially since we, as a nation, have only landed on the moon six times?  Just exactly how much does it cost for 39 attempts to reach the red planet?  

There are many who believe man has already gone to Mars, and are still there.  There are individuals who spend countless hours going over the camera footage beamed back from Mars, and the anomalies they have found certainly leave us scratching our heads.  One of these days, that true visionary, Elon Musk, may give us the answer....unless he already knows it.

A secret space program is believed by many to have been in place for years.  Some scoff at such nonsense, but think about this, right before 911, the Pentagon could not provide transactions for 2.3 trillion dollars.  That adds up to $8000 for every man, woman and child in the United States and it went somewhere.  Maybe to Mars.

In What Spirit?

Living in a city offers many amenities.  There are countless places to work, restaurants for any and all palates, shops full of every item that can be imagined and businesses that specialize in whatever mode of entertainment one needs to be entertained.  There are medical clinics, on practically every corner, for humans or their best furry, or scaly, friend.  Most all these things can be found in close proximity to wherever one lives.  It is possible to fill up the gas tank, pantry, closet and stomach and never get more than a mile away from home base.  

One of the hardest realizations of the city life is not the large population or the crime rate.  It's the homeless.  The people who stand at the intersections, with their cardboard signs.

Some of the signs are simple handwritten pleas that state the bearer of said sign will work for food.  Others spell out the facts, they're homeless, they're broke, they're hungry....they need money.  

Areas around grocery stores seem to be the ideal place for the homeless to seek help.  A young man approached me one day with the most well rehearsed script that I finally had to put up my hands to stop him and explain that I had no cash on me.  He looked at me, nodded his head and spun around to catch the unsuspecting little old lady, just getting out of her car.  From the look on her face, she took the bait.

As I pulled up to the stoplight, waiting for the left turn lane to go green, I made eye contact with the man.  He was standing on the concrete barrier that separates the incoming and outgoing lanes.  He smiled and flashed me the 'peace' sign.  He opened his small cardboard sign that ended with "God bless".  He was within three feet of my vehicle and as I kept my gaze straight ahead, he walked back and forth along side of the cars ahead of and behind me.  

There were a million thoughts going through my head.  I rarely carry cash and this time was no exception, so I could not donate to his cause.  Do you roll your window down for a disheveled stranger, letting him have access to yourself?  Should I get out of the car, pop the trunk and give him a loaf of bread, a banana?  

It was the longest red light in the history of stoplight intersections.  When it turned green, everyone moved forward in what was almost an audible collective sigh.  As I drove off, the Voice, that lives inside my head, told me that even if I had the money to give, I would have had to spend the rest of the day driving around to the areas where I know they stand, giving away all my money.  

The Voice is usually right.  The possibility that 90% of the people who stand and beg, do it for a living and have no intention of seeking other gainful employment is a fact.  But, I could not help but wonder what it said about my own humanity.  The phrase, "There, but for the grace of God, go I" floated through my head, followed by "it is not what the receiver does with the gift, it is the spirit in which the gift was given."

The Incredible Shrinking Kitchen

Low carb diets are nothing new.  Dr. Robert Atkins was the pioneer of the low carbohydrate way of eating back in the 1970's.  It has been around long enough to stand the test of time and actually works for those who wish to go the low carb route.

Several weeks ago, after watching a documentary on Netflix titled "The Magic Pill", I renewed my on again, off again friendship with the low carb lifestyle.  I will be the first to admit though that going with out bread can be tough.  But, that is one of the endless pursuits of the low carb society.....we are ever in search for the perfect bread substitute.  The documentary mentioned a macadamia nut bread, that according to some people, was the ticket to replacing the old wheat standby.  After some internet searching, I finally had the recipe.

One of the ingredients was coconut butter, something I was totally unfamiliar with, but was soon to discover that it was made from coconut flakes.....simply by grinding them.  Perhaps the most amazing part of this was that I happened to have two packages of unsweetened coconut flakes.  

Everything I read on how to make this butter stated that the equipment used was the most important part of the procedure.  All there was to it was to put one package of coconut flakes into a food processor and process for 10 minutes and that was it.  I could not see failure at this point.

I had one bag of coconut flakes in the refrigerator and decided to use it.  I dumped it into my food processor and hit the 'on' button.  My large food processor sounds like a NASCAR race after the first lap and I was thinking how unfortunate it was that I did not have any ear protection.  The articles on making the butter also said that it might be necessary to scrape the sides of the bowl down two or three times during the 10 minute time spread.

I watched with delight as the coconut flakes were ground into a fine powder, that immediately began to cling to the sides of the bowl....within the first minute.  Turning the unit off, I carefully scraped the fine powder back towards the blades and started again.  Within another minute, the fine powder was back on the sides of the bowl.  This went on for at least 20 minutes and I came to the conclusion that maybe the coconut flakes were too cold to start with.  I grabbed the plastic wrap and covered the entire bowl and lid unit, deciding on waiting until the next day to continue.

The next day came with exactly the same results.  Every time I turned the food processor on, the ground flakes flew to the side of the bowl, out of reach of the blades.  As I was contemplating rigging the unit to run without the lid, the Voice, that lives in my head, tapped me on the shoulder.  As I turned, there stood the Voice with its arms held up and where its hands used to be, were bloody bandages.  I looked the Voice in the eyes and distinctly heard the words, "You cannot be freaking serious."   I looked back at the food processor.  The lid was what held the twirling blade in place.  I quickly scratched that idea.

A friend had given me their food processor, which consisted of three sets of blades and four different sizes of bowls.  Perhaps my super loud food processor was the problem and I proceeded to dump the powdered coconut flakes into the largest of the four bowls.  Again, the same results were achieved, so I tried the next size bowl...and then the next size and then the next size.  Still no coconut butter.

I had read that a blender might work.  At this point, what did I have to lose?  My small kitchen, with its equally small counter space had shrunk enough to only offer a small square that the blender might actually fit in.  I put the powder into the blender.  This blender makes the food processor sound like a sleeping baby.  It is so loud that I truly believe if it was not for the suction cups on the bottom of the base, it would literally fly straight up, cut a hole in the roof during its flight and end up somewhere out in the cosmos. 

This too, turned out to be futile.  I looked at the disaster that was once my clean little kitchen and with complete exasperation, I dumped the powder back into the original food processor and hit the power button.  Miracles never cease to amaze, because just like magic, the powder began to change into a liquid form that then morphed into a buttery consistency.

The end result of the recipe was not exactly my idea of a great bread substitute and I will never make it again.  So, the search continues for the elusive slice of 'bread' concoction and I will be certain to make sure it only calls for one mixing bowl.

Bits & Pieces

On the trip back to the East Coast, I had developed a powerful thirst.  It was just about time to stop and refuel, so when the next available exit came up, we took it.  Much to my delight, the gas station-convenience store also had a McDonalds inside.  I try not to plug any particular business, but MickyD's has some really great ice tea.  While my husband fueled the car, I took Runtly, the ever so entertaining Jack Russell Terrier, out so he could stretch and do his business.  When he was done, I handed him over to my husband and went inside to get a super sized ice tea to quench my thirst.  As I made my way back to the car, giant sized tea in hand, it was my job to put the ever so entertaining JRT back into his crate.  This can be like trying to stuff a squirming toddler into a snowsuit.  Yes.  Yes I did.  I set my super duper sized ice tea on the roof of the car and proceed to wrestle fifteen pounds of shedding white fur back into his carrier.  By the time I had finished, my husband was back in the drivers' seat, we had our seat belts on and were beginning to exit.....when I said, "Stop the car."   It would have been much better if I had uttered those words with a whole lot more space between them.....even though I did get the chance to repeat them.  He hit the brake as the words, "my tea is on top of the car" spilled from my mouth and I heard the giant glass of tea fall over.  With lightening speed, I took off the seat belt, opened the door and was just getting ready to do my best Daisy Duke exit when my ice tea landed right on top of my head.  From there it hit the pavement and the ice tea gods must have been with me because the lid stayed on!  I scooped it up, assumed the driving-riding position and away we went.  I'm sure the golden arches employees enjoyed the show.

I considered using this next topic as part of my "Down the Rabbit Hole" series, but it is just too much for even my great love of a conspiracy theory. There is a group of people who live on this planet that belong to the Flat Earth Society.  I kid you not.  They number into the thousands and are thoroughly convinced the Earth is flat.  They believe that Antarctica is not a continent but rather forms a giant ice wall around a square earth that keeps the water from falling off the sides......because water always seeks its own level and there is no way water can be in the shape of a globe.  The sun is not millions of miles away, the moon is only about 75 miles across and they are kept in our atmosphere by a large dome, aka the firmament.  There is no such thing as gravity because we are moving upward through an empty space and that is what keeps us from flying off the ground.  The list goes on and on for what and why they believe the earth is flat.  As I leave this subject, I would like to ask why raindrops are round....shouldn't they be flat little discs?

As unfortunate as this is, perhaps common core should stand for common sense , plus a few ethics and be a required course.  Take for instance, the family who failed to pay their utility bill and had their electric service turned off.  They solved the problem of not being able to cook on their electric range by taking the heating coils out and filling the drip pans full of charcoal.  Or the person who complained that their air conditioner was not working......even though they had the thermostat set at 51.   One young lady commented about the squirrels jumping off of our deck and scaring the daylights out of her.  I explained that they were eating sunflower seeds that fall out of my bird feeders and when they hear anyone or something approaching, they jump to the ground.  Her eyes grew big and she told me it was no wonder they were jumping, being all jacked up on that salt.......um, no.  I do not buy salted sunflower seeds from the snack isle and put them in the feeders.

Then, there's the cowbird.  A lowly drab brown bird that obviously has not a care in the world.  It is believed the cowbird followed the massive herds of buffalo across the prairies since cowbirds eat insects that follow livestock.  They obviously figured out that in order to maintain their own kind, along with the fact their food source kept moving, there was only one thing to do.  The female cowbird lays her eggs in whatever nest she can find and goes about her merry way to follow the pack.  This leaves the unsuspecting bird, which is usually much smaller than the cowbird, to raise the young cowbird as her own, and she does, and life goes on.  It might be said, that since there are few massive herds of bison or cattle that roam the grasslands anymore,  the cowbird has a pretty good gig going.