FIRST CROP TO COME IN ? STRAWBERRIES - EPER

 

FOOD INSECURITY IN THE UNITED STATES ; MY FOOD "GIVE AWAY" VOLUNTEER GIG CONTINUES

A couple days ago I walked my dog over to the location where I volunteer on Friday mornings to process donated food and bag it for a GIVE AWAY. There was someone I wanted to talk to. I had never been by there on a Thursday and as it turns out, twice a month the food arrives the day before. 

I've decided to call our effort a GIVE AWAY because I saw the delivery and the small amount of storage and realized No, it is not actually a FOOD BANK. Though we do have some canned goods we are processing food the day before or the day of a give away and the rest of the time the space is used for other things. Since I was there, I was asked to help out and basically separated all the things that obviously needed to be put in a refrigerator. Though a small amount of meat and many prepared salads are given, these went in, along with yogurt.

The number one thing that is donated is BREAD - various forms such as sour dough, flatbread, rye, cinnamon swirl, French Loafs, Multigrain, and Tortilla.  There is such an abundance of it - and the store is likely taking a tax deduction, so I wonder, if the motivation to donate all that bread - wheat products - is actually the tax deduction.  Could the stores really overstock so consistently?  Sadly, an overabundance of wheat/bread in the diet leads to excessive calories and a fat belly, but I understand that it would all go into a landfill if it were not distributed. I won't judge it but I'd say most of the people who show up for free food are not very fat.

Anyone who is consistently using free food probably does this but if you're new to it, the idea is to get your free things first and then go shopping for what you still need.

Here is what happens when we volunteers meet on Friday morning. We open all the cardboard boxes and separate out the vegetables, fruits, salads, and other items, on long tables, watching for anything that is rotten. Often there will be a whole bag of something that has been donated because one item inside it has gotten mold or gone bad. Other times it seems something has been thrown in because it was left at a cash register somewhere. All the "bad" stuff goes into a container to be turned into compost for a garden.

It seems that once in a while we get cheeses, more often eggs, sometimes a meat product, such as a ready made meat loaf, or something frozen that can be turned into a meal. 

Once our tables are laden with all this, we take plastic bags and fill them, trying to keep heavy things on the bottom and be diverse in what we put in each bag. Sometimes it's kind of fun to think of the person who gets the bag and what a surprise it is for them to see what's in it.  I personally try to fill a bag in a way in which a meal makes sense.  If I put in tortilla's I'll try for some refried beans, onions, peppers, eggs in the bag too.

Once in a while we get a truly exotic product, and these are also distributed. In the last couple months we have seen gummy bear vitamins, hot sauces, strange teas, fresh ginger.

We know that a person may not like or use everything in their bag. The idea is that they give these things away to friends and neighbors rather than waste them.

When I first started I was startled to see some volunteers taking away a lot of food for themselves and their families.  I understand that his is typical however.

Finally, after about two hours of work, the bags are taken outside to tables under a tent and a line up forms. Usually within 15 minutes most of the people who are going to take food have shown up and usually within a half hour it is all gone. We typically make over 50 bags and if the line up looks sparse, we may give out more than one bag per person.

Most of the people who show up are on foot, some with grocery carts, some in cars.  When someone drive up in an expensive vehicle I can't help but wonder if they are just taking advantage.

I don't do everything every week. Sometimes I just bag. In the last few weeks I've been taking things to the tables. This week we had so many apples, we gave out whole bags of them to anyone who said they would like them in addition to their grocery bag. We had so much bread, same thing.

At the end of the session, other volunteers take about 10 bags to the closest homeless encampment where people do not wish to leave their tents.  We try to be sensitive to the fact that people in these tents cannot cook when we pack their bags. For some of the volunteers this is their reason why they volunteer.

Finally, on a day like we had where we literally had an entire box of apples and dozens of loaves of bread, these are taken to a local rehab or group home.

I like that nothing is wasted.

I believe that Covid-19 economy has a lot to do with what's happening here with food and "Food Insecurity," not having enough food.

There are still people in the hospital with Covid. Our governor has announced there are going to be $50 stipends given to people who get a vaccination and the rest of us are somehow submitted into a lottery for a million bucks.

Wish me luck!

C 2021 Magyar American BlogSpot

SWANS and GYGNETS

 

MY BELOVED SENIOR DOG HAS A SEIZURE

Seizure 

I worked for many hours and well deserved my rest after a long Thursday. On Friday I got up and made a pot of soup - beef barley and tomato with lots of garlic - to last for a few days. Then I took my dog in her carrier to my volunteer gig, the food bank. When I take her we usually go for a walk after. Just the other day I took her for a couple hours out shopping with me and then we went to a grassy park where she happily sniffed the trees and got excited at the sight of a squirrel.

There's a changes from week to week when it comes to the number of volunteers. Last week the food showed up incredibly late and it was a lot of chaos. Everyone had to stay more hours. Some of the people who are coming for free food are acting demanding about what is in their bag and using their bare hands to give back or sort out what they do not want... We can't have that. However, there is often a language barrier and when I say NO! and point to my gloves some of them still don't get it. Maybe it was the delay with the food delivery that set us back and into this situation that was a bit out of control. This is also because of the layout of the building and parking. We can do the receiving, sorting through (some of what is donated is ready for composting), and bagging indoors but we need to take it out near the street when done. People are both on foot and in cars.

I had been tying my dog up on a shaded patio with water and a sleeping pad near the bagging room but she seemed to worry too much about where I was and would sharp bark at some people. So I was told it would be OK to bring her into the bagging room where I tied her up in the corner.  We all wear face masks and gloves and there is a lot of activity, people darting around, and talking. She seemed agitated and still straining to keep track of me. Then on the way home it was a bit of bumpy ride though she seemed to be asleep in her carrier. The carrier is room enough and has lots of air vents and I don't think she was overheated. Once home I gave her a treat of beef. This may have been my mistake. I detail this because later I learned that a seizure can be triggered by anything from accidently eating poison, being fed chocolate, a change in dog food, too much salt, too much sugar, too much excitement, bright flashing lights, or an assortment of serious internal illnesses.

At home she got into the dog bed I keep for her on my bed. She also has another under the bed. I got on the computer, but about an hour into this, I heard something and turned around to see her in seizure. Urine shot out of her.  Her whole body shook violently. She was foaming at the mouth. Her breathing was bad. A spot of blood came out of her mouth. All this especially scared me.  I grabbed her in my arms and carried her outside. I guess I was thinking she might also poo. I was shocked and frightened.

Something about earthquakes. The small ones are barely felt. It can feel like a heavy loaded truck is rumbling by, shaking the street just a little too long. Or maybe some overhead lamps sway. A big one, however is so dramatic that the floors seem to be rising up and down just to throw you out of bed or bruise you as you crawl to a safe space. The noise is tremendous like a freight train that won't stop passing, your possessions are thrown and twisted, cracks appear in your walls, and within it time slows down.

With this seizure my poor old dog had, time showed down for me as the observer. I have no idea how long it went on. It was probably less than five minutes - maybe one or three, but it felt like forever. I held her, I kept stroking her.  I kept saying, I love you, I'm here. And in my mind I thought, She is in the act of dying.

I was amazed at my acceptance of this notion in that moment.  It was as if I was thinking, "This dog will be waiting for me in heaven, when I get there." Knowing she is old and cannot live forever. But what about my double yolked luck? Am I really ready to be dogless?

Then it was over. When I set her down it appeared her back legs were weak or useless. The legs seemed to hang limp.  Her front paws were a little better.  Her tongue was hanging out of her mouth to one side.  I thought, "She has had a stroke!"

It was now Friday dinner time and I knew the closest vet was closed. There are other vets in the area but also nightmare stories of them overcharging and so on. In the next town there is a vet I have never been to but who a dog lover recommended.

I brought her back into the bedroom and set her down, wobbly, into her bed.  This was a mistake. I left the room for a few moments and she had tried to get up and walk and had fallen off the bed. I took her back outside.

It was a bright and beautiful spring day, very windy, with flower blooms on some of the trees. I set her down on grass and she tried to walk.

The curious thing. She was going for it but she was walking in circles and getting "stuck" say, under a hedge. It seemed like she wanted to go under a hedge and hide. However, she started bumping into things and I realized she was blind. My dog has a cataract in one eye that's fairy bad and in the other eye that's fairly good. I thought, "OK, I'm going to have to put her down. I wondered if she would be able to drink or eat with that tongue hanging out.  I can deal with her blind.  I can deal with her if I have to carry her out.  I can deal with her if she can never leave the house again. But if she cannot eat or drink or urinate or poo, she has a day,

I tied her up with a long soft leash indoors, so that she could not bump into things.  She went under the bed.  Then I heard her walking back and forth under there.  So I got her out and took her back outside, where she still seemed disoriented.

Then I got on Google and researched. I learned that walking in circles, hiding, whimpering, and other behaviors were all dog seizure after effects.  Would she come out of it?  Minutes or a day or two is what one site said.

Although it said that dogs who have seizures are sometimes really thirsty or hungry afterwards, I cleaned her up a little, and took her near a water bowl where I lifted some water towards her mouth with my fingers and she licked.  Her tongue went back into her mouth. However she didn't pause to drink from her bowl.  Did she know where she was?  I knew when she last had a little water and urinated and pooed, so I decided not to feed her.

I took her back out and her walking got stronger but she didn't seem to know how to navigate the steps, which she usually does with a bit of a hop.

That she was walking, reprogramming herself, was to me a miracle and a good sign.

The next was that she kept sniffing my leg and seemed to be trying to follow me without circling, using her sense of smell.  I thought, if this is it, I will always be sure to put some of my new perfume on my ankles as a clue for her.

The next excellent sign is that a cat she is jealous of for the attention I give it walked by her and she barked sharply at it.  She barked!

Walking well, hating the cat, I watched as she found and made it through the doggie door into the side yard, went down the steps, and then roamed a bit. But did she find the way back in? Eventually. "I will have to go outside with her in the dark in the middle of the night from now on. I don't want her tangling with a racoon out there!"

Finally, I stayed up until midnight in case anything else happened.  Calls had been made to the closest vet and no one had called back. Then I barely slept.  I'm going through today with maybe five hours of terrible sleep.

It is Saturday and so far my dog has gone out to pee, drunk some water, and eaten a small portion of wet food as well as small bite kibble.  She is sleeping in her bed on my bed contently. She seems to be more keenly watching me but it's as if she didn't have the seizure. Her eyesight is back, as it was. If she makes a good poo then I will feel she is recovered.

Of course I know another seizure could happen at any time, even when we are out somewhere together. 

She is still interested in experiencing life. 

I have to think about all this.

All I can do is try to avoid triggers and hope that this was an isolated incident.

And that is all for now!

How I love her!

C 2021 All Rights Reserved including International and Internet Rights.

DOUBLE YOLK GOOD LUCK

I broke open a large egg and was stunned to see the

Double Yoke.

I instantly knew it was Good Luck

and made a wish.

I also made a double recipe of

peanut butter oatmeal cookies.

 

MY COVID VACCINATION

I'm fully vaccinated against Covid-19 disease. I'm still wearing a mask, except when I walk my dog around the block, and probably will continue to do so in any situation in which I might be exposed to people who are not vaccinated or are sick. Although wearing a mask can be unpleasant, it's worth the caution.

Watching the news on what's happening in INDIA - where there is a frightening double mutant strain and so many people are perishing.  I've been hooked on that news, watching dozens of videos and reading reports, feeling helpless. I am grateful for the stimulus checks provided by the United States of America, because I have been economically impacted and after much sacrificing, I used a couple hundred of it for some new clothes.

I got my vaccination after trying to get an appointment on line and visiting a couple pharmacies hoping there was a cancellation.  A woman told me a medical van was going to be set up nearby on a certain date and I went there. While previously hunting for the Moderna, I took the Johnson and Johnson, the shot that later was suspended because some women got an unusual blood clot  and died.

My vaccination site was sore and a whitish ring appeared around the area - about the size of a dime. The next day the ring was gone but I still feel as if there is a soreness in the area. I had some worry before taking the shot and didn't sleep well the night before and so I'm not sure if my next two days of tiredness were caused by lack of sleep or a side effect. What I was sure of was that I was also experiencing some nausea, even five days later. So I consulted a pharmacist who told me it was normal for the first week. After two weeks I began to feel a sense of relief.

I have two friends who absolutely refuse to get a vaccination against Covid-19, and they are both intelligent women who I want to honor for their choice.  Yet, I have had almost no in person communication with either of them for months, and lately have been feeling that they are part of the problem rather than the solution. They are both in good health. If someone is treating for a serious illness I can understand that they will follow their doctor's orders. Such was the case of a young woman I met when I took my dog for an outing at a grassy park. She was set up to paint and so I noticed and began to speak with her. I was shocked to learn that she was in stage 4 cancer (which usually means near death) because she was so young and looked so healthy.  She wasn't wasting away and was actually cheerful. So her doctor told her no and I understood that. These friends of mine are not taking the vaccination because they do not trust the government or they feel their healthy diet is enough to fight off anything.

I hope they don't have to find out.

If you are a person who will not take or cannot get a vaccination, please continue to follow all the rules such as wearing a mask and correctly, thoroughly washing your hands or spraying  your hands when you use public buses, bathrooms. and facilities, and so on.

It's a bumpy road we are on, but perhaps we can make it through together!

C 2021 Magyar American BlogSpot

All Rights Reserved

THE CROW OBSERVES

 

THEY BATTLE : MAGYAR SHAMANISM #5

Shamans may heal but they can also kill. Therefore, there is a potential for danger in dealing with them. You don't want to get on their bad side.

They may not just control the weather, causing rain or making it stop, they can actually turn themselves into clouds or take on other disguises in the world of nature, for instance becoming a wild animal and acting as if they were possessed by it or possessing it.

You've seen those dramatic Hollywood films with special effects magic, where a man slowly turns into a wolf, hair growing, eyes glowing, teeth extending. Is it through great imagination that the taltos acts as if, or is there an actual transformation? 

This is where the Magyar taltos' very existence becomes mystical.

A taltos does not need to exist in the material world and die. When he or she is ready to leave the earth, he can just disappear, go poof!

Why would he or she kill? A shaman can fight another shaman, say because their tribes are in a serious conflict, and so protect his or her own tribe. He can get into a personal conflict with another taltos as well. He or she can encounter an energy or a being while traveling the World Tree or while walking down the road in Budapest that must be warded off or destroyed as part of that journey. And they aren't going to say, "I warn you, these hands are registered weapons," before they strike.

While all these things may be possible, the taltos' power, ability and reputation are individual. One might be known for one attribute more so than another. Herbal medicine and hands on healing or knowing where the hunting will be good were probably more useful and appreciated. Today your friendly neighborhood taltos would probably at the library - a bookworm as we used to say back in the day of paper - truly wise .

As previously mentioned, the Magyar taltos and the character Don Juan Matus, the Indian said to be a shaman, of Carlos Castaneda's series of books have a lot in common. Castaneda became a controversial author when, after being a best seller, he was accused of creating fictions through library research. But I do wonder, because Don Juan Matus, might have been Mattyosovszky Janos...😉... Or someone else descended from one of the tribes.

I hope you've enjoyed this short series of posts about Magyar Paganism.

C 2021

THE ALL IMPORTANT DRUM : MAGYAR PAGANISM #4

Drumming circles are popular among Neopagans in America. I've heard that hearing drumbeats can improve your immune system and ability to deal with stress. For taltos, the drum beat is another way to enter trance so as to travel The World Tree. A Talos seeks information that will be helpful to the tribe and is consulted by Chiefs and individuals.

A steady drumbeat is better for entering trance.

MAGYAR HORSEMAN WITH BOW AND ARROW