Day: 06/20/2015

Miniature lamas at the grower’s market

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/04/garden/the-case-for-miniature-llamas.html

It sounds like a punch line: a miniature llama. It is actually an American novelty, and a work in progress. Just as teacup poodles were bred down from standard ones, small adult llamas have been paired off by breeders for the last 20 years or so, producing some that stay small — and others that do not…

Cuteness aside, miniature llamas are appealing for a number of reasons, said Susan Morgan, who breeds miniature and Argentine llamas (big, fluffy ones) with her husband, George, in Hastings, Minn. “They’re easier to manage, they eat less and they poop less,” she said…

My trip to the grower’s market

Saturday’s grower’s market is in Los Ranchos, an older and well-to-do part of Albuquerque, with large plots of land and huge trees.  While the drive includes a a beautiful stretch of road, the speed limit is 25 mph, which gets on my nerves.

Today’s theme at the market was Father’s Day — hence the display of old cars.  But I was on the look-out for peaches and heirloom tomatoes, because these products from the grower’s market are much more tasty than from the grocery store.

I was also looking for a specific homemade goody from one of the vendors there.  This dude makes small pizzas, with a flatbread crust that’s more like a pie crust than doughy pizza crust. He uses a little bit of cheese on top, with fresh tomatoes and a sauce that is the definition of perfection. The grower’s market opens at 7am, but I didn’t get there until after 8am — unfortunately, he was all sold out by that time.  So I picked up some ciabatta bread with red and green chiles instead. It’s really good, but $5.50 for a couple of servings of bread is just too much.

There weren’t very many vendors there today, but one did have small peaches.  I just don’t love peaches enough to pay $7 a peach.  That’s, like, highway robbery!  (Unless, for instance, the peaches are infused with cannabis.)  One vendor had tomatoes, but they weren’t tempting enough for me to spend any more money.

One of the things I don’t like about the grower’s market is how all the vendors stare at the customers when they walk by, some of them calling out to you.  Yes, being friendly is nice, but I feel like I’m on display or something.  It’s like the vendors are assessing the size of my wallet, which I guess they are.

This was an awful long trip just to get some ciabatta bread, but I did get some nice photos along the way.  Unfortunately, now my allergies are acting up and I’ve got a headache that wants to linger, even though I’ve tried to nap it away throughout the day.  This, along with the added exhaustion, might have been worth it if I had found some peaches and tomatoes.  There’s nothing like biting into a fresh peach from the grower’s market, so juicy and sticky, and a taste that’s incomparable.

Emotophobia – the Fear of Strong Negative Emotions

http://gentlementalannie.com/2015/06/20/emotophobia-the-fear-of-strong-negative-emotions-and-c-ptsd/

People that grew up in mentally abusive childhoods were not permitted to have emotions like other people are.  The expression of emotion, which represents being an individual, are often punished by abusive parents…

Again, the brain rewires the neural connections to avoid showing negative feelings. This is a necessary survival tactic at the time. It is not easily undone. The brain considers it necessary in order to protect the safety of the person. It takes years to develop this survival tactic and to detach from and avoid negative emotions…