<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1155680218590607209</id><updated>2012-02-16T06:08:11.861-05:00</updated><category term='cooking'/><category term='stir fry'/><category term='kimchi'/><category term='Tillson'/><category term='family trees'/><category term='poem'/><category term='Mother Earth'/><category term='death'/><category term='change'/><category term='Obama health care'/><category term='gift'/><category term='wtf'/><category term='Santa'/><category term='saving money'/><category term='sudoku'/><category term='memories'/><category term='political'/><category term='short stories'/><category term='thought'/><category term='dowsing'/><category term='kids'/><category term='salsa'/><category term='silence'/><category term='theory'/><category term='thought of the day'/><category term='pet peeves'/><category term='simply living'/><category term='mind&apos;s eye'/><category term='breakfast'/><category term='vacation'/><category term='Christmas'/><category term='politics'/><category term='holiday'/><category term='food for thought'/><category term='nap'/><category term='blog'/><category term='imagination'/><category term='television'/><category term='thinking out loud'/><category term='time'/><category term='recipe'/><category term='late wife'/><category term='opinion'/><category term='food'/><category term='meditate'/><category term='things'/><category term='feelings'/><category term='eating'/><category term='duck'/><category term='tea'/><category term='Fall'/><category term='life writing'/><category term='love'/><category term='Mom'/><category term='money'/><title type='text'>WOOD Among the Trees</title><subtitle type='html'>My name is Wayne Wood: This is my life writing about my life, life as I see it and life as I wish it was.</subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default?max-results=100'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><author><name>W J Wood</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04095066540237917135</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-FCK19pjCEY/S0MaxsMesNI/AAAAAAAAADU/OZocr8Urxmw/S220/BX_FV_08.JPG'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>37</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>100</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1155680218590607209.post-803250017633610819</id><published>2011-04-24T10:36:00.001-04:00</published><updated>2011-04-24T10:39:04.095-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='blog'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='short stories'/><title type='text'>My short stories...</title><content type='html'>Please check my other blog at&lt;br /&gt;http://seasonedwoodcircleoflife.blogspot.com/&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This blog is mostly for my short stories.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1155680218590607209-803250017633610819?l=woodamongtrees.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/feeds/803250017633610819/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2011/04/my-short-stories.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/803250017633610819'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/803250017633610819'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2011/04/my-short-stories.html' title='My short stories...'/><author><name>W J Wood</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04095066540237917135</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-FCK19pjCEY/S0MaxsMesNI/AAAAAAAAADU/OZocr8Urxmw/S220/BX_FV_08.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1155680218590607209.post-6351183010456464065</id><published>2011-03-26T06:14:00.002-04:00</published><updated>2011-03-26T06:21:34.352-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='vacation'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='thought of the day'/><title type='text'>Wish you were here....</title><content type='html'>Ever wonder what those people living in those great places do or think about while they go about their lives.  Do they think about going to visit those places with people living there who just want to go to a better place to spend their vacations where they live?  Do they really appreciate where they live?  And then after those thoughts, "Why do most of us feel compelled to think of our choice of residence to be ok for living, but not ok to feel truly happy about?"&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1155680218590607209-6351183010456464065?l=woodamongtrees.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/feeds/6351183010456464065/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2011/03/wish-you-were-here.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/6351183010456464065'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/6351183010456464065'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2011/03/wish-you-were-here.html' title='Wish you were here....'/><author><name>W J Wood</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04095066540237917135</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-FCK19pjCEY/S0MaxsMesNI/AAAAAAAAADU/OZocr8Urxmw/S220/BX_FV_08.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1155680218590607209.post-1999492112656770508</id><published>2010-03-04T05:49:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2010-03-04T05:53:27.602-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='thought of the day'/><title type='text'>Wonder Why.....</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="color:#6600cc;"&gt;Today is one of those days.  One of those days that I wonder why.  Wonder why I'm here doing what I do to exist or even wonder why I wonder why.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1155680218590607209-1999492112656770508?l=woodamongtrees.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/feeds/1999492112656770508/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2010/03/wonder-why.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/1999492112656770508'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/1999492112656770508'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2010/03/wonder-why.html' title='Wonder Why.....'/><author><name>W J Wood</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04095066540237917135</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-FCK19pjCEY/S0MaxsMesNI/AAAAAAAAADU/OZocr8Urxmw/S220/BX_FV_08.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1155680218590607209.post-7503492772356696044</id><published>2010-02-26T04:23:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2010-02-26T04:39:23.500-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='nap'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='meditate'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='thought'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='television'/><title type='text'>Meditating.....</title><content type='html'>I've heard and read some about meditation many times.  It sounds like a good thing to do and it also sounds a lot like I do without even realizing it.  That is, until now.  I didn't realize it because my meditation takes a form unique to me because I've been the only available person to think this over with me.  It started when I noticed a news brief that said it's good to take a nap in the afternoon.  Well, I've been doing this for a while so I assume that I'm ahead of the 'baby boomer' great idea of the moment.  Here's how I got started with my version of meditating.  After all, meditating can be various things to various peoples.  I usually start by sitting in my recliner shortly after a satisfying meal and start to watch an old black and white movie.  Although I have done this with many recent movies, television shows and news programs and gotten the same result.  While I'm watching I start to wander within my memories, letting go of the now and enter into a place that's different.  The transition to my nap takes place and I drift between places until I awaken to find out that, indeed, I am alive and back where I started.  After this startling revelation I feel re energized and ready to watch more television.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1155680218590607209-7503492772356696044?l=woodamongtrees.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/feeds/7503492772356696044/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2010/02/meditating.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/7503492772356696044'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/7503492772356696044'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2010/02/meditating.html' title='Meditating.....'/><author><name>W J Wood</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04095066540237917135</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-FCK19pjCEY/S0MaxsMesNI/AAAAAAAAADU/OZocr8Urxmw/S220/BX_FV_08.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1155680218590607209.post-2462029362649776195</id><published>2010-02-24T05:51:00.001-05:00</published><updated>2010-02-24T05:51:19.580-05:00</updated><title type='text'>STOKES FLOYD FORMERLY OF WILTWYCK GARDEN... :: Daily Freeman Classifieds</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href=http://dailyfreeman.kaango.com/feViewAd/16259524&gt;STOKES FLOYD FORMERLY OF WILTWYCK GARDEN... :: Daily Freeman Classifieds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Posted using &lt;a href="http://sharethis.com"&gt;ShareThis&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1155680218590607209-2462029362649776195?l=woodamongtrees.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/feeds/2462029362649776195/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2010/02/stokes-floyd-formerly-of-wiltwyck.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/2462029362649776195'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/2462029362649776195'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2010/02/stokes-floyd-formerly-of-wiltwyck.html' title='STOKES FLOYD FORMERLY OF WILTWYCK GARDEN... :: Daily Freeman Classifieds'/><author><name>W J Wood</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04095066540237917135</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-FCK19pjCEY/S0MaxsMesNI/AAAAAAAAADU/OZocr8Urxmw/S220/BX_FV_08.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1155680218590607209.post-3869310921235730386</id><published>2010-02-23T05:59:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2010-02-23T06:12:32.866-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Mom'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='recipe'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='cooking'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='food'/><title type='text'>My kitchen owes much to my mother.....</title><content type='html'>I think that most of my money saving ideas that I use in my kitchen are, very much, in the opposite directions that my mother did in her kitchen.  She would need to follow recipes exactly and that meant buying certain items that she never really used after that.  She also would throw out the liquid left from cooking vegetables and most times even threw out the liquid from cooking chicken.  If she was making chicken stock it was a different matter.  I use whatever I have on hand for most of my cooking.  I do buy special items to use, but these can also be used in other recipes as well.  I don't buy items that have a limited range of use.  I never throw any liquid left from cooking and that's even the frying of steaks.  To that liquid I usually make a sour cream sauce to put on the steak or use it to form the base for a sauce to add to my leftover fried steak with vegetables on pasta.  I even use my leftover fast food chicken to make a pasta topping that is much better than any restaurant.  The spices from the chicken are all that it needs to be combined with sour cream, vegetables and a little salt.  I think my mother cooked just to feed us and really didn't like to cook in the first place.  I also think that if it wasn't for her I wouldn't have the ability to do what I now do in my kitchen to save money and create tasteful creations to feed to my family of, me.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1155680218590607209-3869310921235730386?l=woodamongtrees.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/feeds/3869310921235730386/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2010/02/my-kitchen-owes-much-to-my-mother.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/3869310921235730386'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/3869310921235730386'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2010/02/my-kitchen-owes-much-to-my-mother.html' title='My kitchen owes much to my mother.....'/><author><name>W J Wood</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04095066540237917135</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-FCK19pjCEY/S0MaxsMesNI/AAAAAAAAADU/OZocr8Urxmw/S220/BX_FV_08.JPG'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1155680218590607209.post-6613448392173910684</id><published>2010-02-09T04:24:00.001-05:00</published><updated>2010-02-09T04:34:36.731-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='duck'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='stir fry'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='recipe'/><title type='text'>Nesting Oranged Duck.....</title><content type='html'>I bought a frozen duck leg quarter, thawed it and then braised it in water/orange juice.  I took the meat off the cooked leg quarter, cut up the meat and then refrigerated the meat and liquid from braising.  The next day I browned the meat in vegetable oil (tablespoon), added the liquid from a medium sized can of mandarin oranges, the reserved cooking liquid less the fat and about 8 oz of frozen red/yellow/green pepper strips, covered the pan to heat through and then added cornstarch to thicken it, added the mandarin oranges, teaspoon each of ginger, turmeric and soy sauce.  I then added hot sauce and heated through.  I served it on warmed leftover white rice.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1155680218590607209-6613448392173910684?l=woodamongtrees.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/feeds/6613448392173910684/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2010/02/nesting-oranged-duck.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/6613448392173910684'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/6613448392173910684'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2010/02/nesting-oranged-duck.html' title='Nesting Oranged Duck.....'/><author><name>W J Wood</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04095066540237917135</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-FCK19pjCEY/S0MaxsMesNI/AAAAAAAAADU/OZocr8Urxmw/S220/BX_FV_08.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1155680218590607209.post-2193599761365709461</id><published>2010-01-30T05:57:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2010-01-30T06:10:24.347-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='thinking out loud'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='opinion'/><title type='text'>Public meetings.....</title><content type='html'>It seems to me that my local city and county governmental bodies haven't really gotten into the modern age.  Every time that a public meeting is held someone points out just how few the numbers are of those that attend.  In this modern age you would think that all things that require a public meeting would also require them to put the minutes of the meeting online so that they would get a better representation of it's constituents.  Why is it that a person with no transportation or a fear of speaking in public is considered to be less patriotic or public minded because they can't attend the public meeting!  Wake up politicians, utility companies and public representatives, use the modern age of online communicating.  There are a few individuals without a computer or the use of a computer, but it would still afford the best way to hear more of the voice of the people.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1155680218590607209-2193599761365709461?l=woodamongtrees.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/feeds/2193599761365709461/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2010/01/public-meetings.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/2193599761365709461'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/2193599761365709461'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2010/01/public-meetings.html' title='Public meetings.....'/><author><name>W J Wood</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04095066540237917135</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-FCK19pjCEY/S0MaxsMesNI/AAAAAAAAADU/OZocr8Urxmw/S220/BX_FV_08.JPG'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1155680218590607209.post-2048873116216950674</id><published>2010-01-24T06:36:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2010-01-24T06:39:34.306-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='poem'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='change'/><title type='text'>Change.....</title><content type='html'>With each change,&lt;br /&gt;I change.&lt;br /&gt;With each change,&lt;br /&gt;to change becomes easier.&lt;br /&gt;With each change,&lt;br /&gt;I become more of myself.&lt;br /&gt;With each change,&lt;br /&gt;I feel better.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1155680218590607209-2048873116216950674?l=woodamongtrees.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/feeds/2048873116216950674/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2010/01/change.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/2048873116216950674'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/2048873116216950674'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2010/01/change.html' title='Change.....'/><author><name>W J Wood</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04095066540237917135</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-FCK19pjCEY/S0MaxsMesNI/AAAAAAAAADU/OZocr8Urxmw/S220/BX_FV_08.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1155680218590607209.post-3915589477328335975</id><published>2010-01-20T06:36:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2010-01-20T06:52:48.877-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='thinking out loud'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='food for thought'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='sudoku'/><title type='text'>Sudoku thinking.....</title><content type='html'>I started doing sudoku puzzles a few years ago.  I've found that by doing them, and I don't solve everyone, it has given me a new way to look at things.  This new way wasn't obvious at first, but now it has grown to include the process in just about everything that I do.  By looking at things from every direction and how it will effect the end result is coming about in a natural way.  Even things that have until now, become a habit, second nature to me, are being evaluated by my sudoku way of thinking.  This has brought delightful surprises to my taste buds as I combine or alter my cooking methods.  As an example when I now cook chicken in a little water with onions and garlic, I might also throw in a vegetable I have on hand.  Then when the chicken is done I use my hand held wand blender to puree everything to save for soup, sauces or just to drink.  Years ago I would have thrown out the vegetables and just have chicken stock.  With this new method everything tastes so much better and I get much more of the nutritional benefits from the vegetables.  I find that I now have very little waste in the kitchen and that saves me money also.  In the future I'll write about other things that have been effected by my sudoku thinking.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1155680218590607209-3915589477328335975?l=woodamongtrees.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/feeds/3915589477328335975/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2010/01/sudoku-thinking.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/3915589477328335975'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/3915589477328335975'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2010/01/sudoku-thinking.html' title='Sudoku thinking.....'/><author><name>W J Wood</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04095066540237917135</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-FCK19pjCEY/S0MaxsMesNI/AAAAAAAAADU/OZocr8Urxmw/S220/BX_FV_08.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1155680218590607209.post-1632570259074030024</id><published>2010-01-19T05:46:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2010-01-19T05:59:46.797-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='food for thought'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='tea'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='food'/><title type='text'>Tea.....</title><content type='html'>I'm cutting down on my coffee intake and drinking more tea instead.  Along with this I've started to search online about teas, their benefits, types and whatever else I can link to.  With this search I started to think about how us, humans, make a lot of life more complicated than it could or should be.  Why we do this I don't really know.  There seems to be a lot of us who want to take an ordinary thing and make it extraordinary and become experts on whatever it is we've complicated to show others just how smart we are.  I now know that I can spend a small fortune on teas and tea useful things and that I make the wrong type of tea in the wrong way!  I'll probably continue with my wrong tea ways for a while.  That is, until that day when I along with the many, will make this ordinary thing extraordinary.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1155680218590607209-1632570259074030024?l=woodamongtrees.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/feeds/1632570259074030024/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2010/01/tea.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/1632570259074030024'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/1632570259074030024'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2010/01/tea.html' title='Tea.....'/><author><name>W J Wood</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04095066540237917135</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-FCK19pjCEY/S0MaxsMesNI/AAAAAAAAADU/OZocr8Urxmw/S220/BX_FV_08.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1155680218590607209.post-8963493917425354843</id><published>2010-01-11T04:29:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2010-01-11T04:42:28.870-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='thinking out loud'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='pet peeves'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='wtf'/><title type='text'>Things that bother me.....</title><content type='html'>&lt;ol&gt;&lt;li&gt;Why do a lot of television shows and movies hire actors/actresses with beautiful accents/speaking voices to then force them to conceal or change their voice!&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Why don't credits for movies/television shows give their character name also?  And why does television give the ending credits in such a fashion that the viewer can't read them?&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;I hate it when I get coupons for, buy one get one free or so much off the regular price.  How do I know the regular price if they don't tell me?  Why would I make a special trip to buy something when I don't even know if the price is a good one?&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ol&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1155680218590607209-8963493917425354843?l=woodamongtrees.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/feeds/8963493917425354843/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2010/01/things-that-bother-me.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/8963493917425354843'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/8963493917425354843'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2010/01/things-that-bother-me.html' title='Things that bother me.....'/><author><name>W J Wood</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04095066540237917135</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-FCK19pjCEY/S0MaxsMesNI/AAAAAAAAADU/OZocr8Urxmw/S220/BX_FV_08.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1155680218590607209.post-3368432646832977296</id><published>2010-01-09T04:54:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2010-01-09T05:15:54.099-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='memories'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='thought'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='love'/><title type='text'>One thought to another.....</title><content type='html'>One thought went from one thing to another thing and so on until I came to here.  In the last few years I've lost a lot of things in my life.  My wife of thirty years died from cancer, I had to sell our house and my four legged companions that gave me much love and affection went on to new homes.  Of course when I look back a lot of negative happenings are there, but most of my memories are of the good times.  Times spent with the granddaughters on vacation in Plattsburgh, family cookouts, holidays and even doing yard work.  When my memories go back farther I remember playing tag with my mother, teasing my brother and sister and riding my bike that sounded so clankity clank.  Not once though do those memories contain the love of, or for, money.  In fact money doesn't seep into my memories at all.  Now of course it takes money to do anything, even buy food for cookouts, but the real pleasure for me was in the living.  The living and wonderful pleasure to be a part of my little section of the universe.  Things change with time and now I've got different companions at a variety of levels.  Some I have contact with are physically close friends, shoppers in stores, waitresses, sale clerks, tweeters and email friends.  The one thing that will never change is my love for them.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1155680218590607209-3368432646832977296?l=woodamongtrees.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/feeds/3368432646832977296/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2010/01/one-thought-to-another.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/3368432646832977296'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/3368432646832977296'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2010/01/one-thought-to-another.html' title='One thought to another.....'/><author><name>W J Wood</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04095066540237917135</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-FCK19pjCEY/S0MaxsMesNI/AAAAAAAAADU/OZocr8Urxmw/S220/BX_FV_08.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1155680218590607209.post-2447588397694991246</id><published>2010-01-08T04:21:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2010-01-08T04:32:05.640-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='saving money'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='politics'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='cooking'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='food'/><title type='text'>Power to us.....</title><content type='html'>In my local paper recently it stated that the price to feed a family of four had decreased.  The consumer voice of the people has spoken and now each and every one of us should take notice of our accomplishment.  We brought the price down by better choices of food items and being creative with our menus.  It isn't by chance that we choose food to save some money on.  It's because of everything else going up so much.  Just about the only thing that most of us can cut back on in any way, is our food expense.  But this should be a barometer to measure just how effective we can be when we act as a community together.  Do you really think that the money grabbing food companies don't want to get more and more money to satisfy their needs and mostly egos?  They try to charge top dollar for every little thing.  They don't bring prices down just to be good people.  No, we did it and we should use this power to bring about the right changes for us in the near future.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1155680218590607209-2447588397694991246?l=woodamongtrees.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/feeds/2447588397694991246/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2010/01/power-to-us.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/2447588397694991246'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/2447588397694991246'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2010/01/power-to-us.html' title='Power to us.....'/><author><name>W J Wood</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04095066540237917135</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-FCK19pjCEY/S0MaxsMesNI/AAAAAAAAADU/OZocr8Urxmw/S220/BX_FV_08.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1155680218590607209.post-2319979886680384828</id><published>2010-01-07T04:43:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2010-01-07T04:59:32.772-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='money'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='thought'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='thought of the day'/><title type='text'>One sentence, many thoughts.....</title><content type='html'>I read a sentence the other day that took root in my subconscious mind and this brought about something I hadn't really thought about lately.  First the sentence was this, "Most times the act of accumulating wealth is far more satisfying than spending that money."  Now this statement has got to do with self made millionaires or those very rich.  Us down to Earth peoples working to survive really do get a sense of enjoyment when we can eat, watch television or buy clothes.  It also explains a lot about how employers treat their employees.  If it's more like a game, employees are just expense items, nothing more.  I'm sure that there has been many exceptions to this, but I'd say in general this holds true and is probably going to be that way for many years to come.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1155680218590607209-2319979886680384828?l=woodamongtrees.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/feeds/2319979886680384828/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2010/01/one-sentence-many-thoughts.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/2319979886680384828'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/2319979886680384828'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2010/01/one-sentence-many-thoughts.html' title='One sentence, many thoughts.....'/><author><name>W J Wood</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04095066540237917135</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-FCK19pjCEY/S0MaxsMesNI/AAAAAAAAADU/OZocr8Urxmw/S220/BX_FV_08.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1155680218590607209.post-1218687930673210075</id><published>2010-01-05T04:31:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2010-01-05T04:45:58.845-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='thought'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='simply living'/><title type='text'>Little pieces of paper.....</title><content type='html'>Old man winter has come for a visit here in the Northeast, as well as most parts of the United States, which has been a catalyst for me to get my shredding up to date.  I've been adding to my shredding pile for months now.  Ever since I moved after my wife died I've been wanting to whittle that pile down using my handy, dandy, cross cutting shredding machine.  With the cold wind blowing it's wintry tune and warm coffee at arm's length I've begun.  It's funny when you think about it.  Most identities are stolen online or when people use their credit cards for purchases in stores and not by garbage diving robbers during the dark of night.  Yet we feel better by shredding up all those receipts, bills and maybe some xxx poems or photos too.  Plus what I've found out is that it fits nicely into my simpler life style now.  Years ago I would be saving every bit of paper just in case.  Now I am letting it go to expand my livable space and mind set as well.  Even the actual act of shredding has an added meditative aspect to it.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1155680218590607209-1218687930673210075?l=woodamongtrees.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/feeds/1218687930673210075/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2010/01/little-pieces-of-paper.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/1218687930673210075'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/1218687930673210075'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2010/01/little-pieces-of-paper.html' title='Little pieces of paper.....'/><author><name>W J Wood</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04095066540237917135</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-FCK19pjCEY/S0MaxsMesNI/AAAAAAAAADU/OZocr8Urxmw/S220/BX_FV_08.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1155680218590607209.post-2091429734591602527</id><published>2010-01-03T04:33:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2010-01-03T04:49:11.674-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='political'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='thought'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='thought of the day'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='politics'/><title type='text'>Winds of change.....</title><content type='html'>Very windy during the night.  So windy in fact that it woke me up and this in turn starting my mid-night thinking process.  I starting thinking about this wind of change that happening more and more lately.  That change is a lot of us feeling that last straw as more and more politicians play the, blame the other party, game.  Especially in these hard, and getting harder, times we need people in public office that pledge their service to the peoples of the United States.  We do not want, shouldn't allow, politicians to vote with their political party just for the sake of voting with their political party.  For that matter I think that our political system needs to end this party system once and for all.  We should be at a level in our history where we can use the many news outlets to find out about persons running for public office and make an informed choice using only that information.  We don't need the money sucking, lying and back stabbing Democrat, Republican or whatever to deliberately confuse us.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1155680218590607209-2091429734591602527?l=woodamongtrees.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/feeds/2091429734591602527/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2010/01/winds-of-change.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/2091429734591602527'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/2091429734591602527'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2010/01/winds-of-change.html' title='Winds of change.....'/><author><name>W J Wood</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04095066540237917135</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-FCK19pjCEY/S0MaxsMesNI/AAAAAAAAADU/OZocr8Urxmw/S220/BX_FV_08.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1155680218590607209.post-217046745653500992</id><published>2010-01-02T04:25:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2010-01-02T05:00:12.596-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='theory'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='time'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='thought'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='thought of the day'/><title type='text'>Time, a man made monster</title><content type='html'>Now that this new year is upon me I find myself once again thinking about time.  Yes the past year has seemed to fly by and it seems like not so long ago that I was among much younger trees.  These thoughts are my usual for this time of year plus this year I've begun to develop a theory about how time affects humanity.  Even though the scientists need to use a measurement of time to make calculations about just about everything, time is a man made thing that ages us more than anything else.  There's even a saying that comes closest to my theory.  That is, "You're only as old as you feel."  More and more lately I've heard and read about how much visualization affects us in so many ways.  Plus how negative thoughts can cause harm to our immune system so much that it takes years of our lives.  I think that keeping track of our age doesn't directly due us harm, it's only when we add to this the assumed negative aspects of getting older that it does harm us in many, as of yet, undetermined physical and mental ways.  It's because of my new theory that I think the first thing anyone should do to go about anti-aging is to, develop a way to feel free of feeling like any age whatsoever.  If we can find a way to really, truly believe that time only exists and that it doesn't control us, that part of us that's inside of us, our soul or if you like, our inner child, it will take over and we'll feel younger and more at ease with the world.  We're all different from each other.  We'll all spend different amounts of time here.  That amount of time should be spent feeling the way we want to feel and not fighting the process of aging as we do now.  It might only end up as being only an illusion, but I've seen a lot of magicians make me believe what I saw was real.  This is just a theory of my own.  Only time will tell if this theory works in actual practice for me, and then I'll be the only one to know if it did or not.  Which brings up another theory.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1155680218590607209-217046745653500992?l=woodamongtrees.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/feeds/217046745653500992/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2010/01/time-man-made-monster.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/217046745653500992'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/217046745653500992'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2010/01/time-man-made-monster.html' title='Time, a man made monster'/><author><name>W J Wood</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04095066540237917135</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-FCK19pjCEY/S0MaxsMesNI/AAAAAAAAADU/OZocr8Urxmw/S220/BX_FV_08.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1155680218590607209.post-8696372077924887600</id><published>2009-12-25T04:29:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2009-12-25T04:49:01.355-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Santa'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='eating'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='breakfast'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holiday'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Christmas'/><title type='text'>Santa eats breakfast too.....</title><content type='html'>This past Wednesday I decided to go out to my regular diner for breakfast.  I hadn't been there in a while.  I don't go out as much as I used to.  The diner was decorated for the holidays, my waitress was wearing red and a special holiday apron plus just about everyone had that Christmas smile on.  Even before I was seated my waitress had my first cup of coffee on the counter and asked if I wanted my regular order.  It was great to be back.  My breakfast was very good as usual.  I have their breakfast special.  That's two eggs, home fries, toast, coffee and orange juice.  I have my eggs over medium with rye toast.  It was much appreciated when she offered me a third cup of coffee which was great to go with this very cold morning.  As I sat there daydreaming a little while drinking that third cup, Santa was at the check out to pay for his breakfast.  I don't know if he was a regular or not, but the owner of the diner said that his breakfast was on the house.  Now there wasn't any kids in the place to prompt this goodwill gesture, only the spirit of Christmas in these two men came together to bring this present to those in the diner that felt it.  Just like the hearts of those holiday giving people, our hearts filled with that special warmth of knowing that, "yes Santa really does exist".  "And he eats breakfast where I do!"&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1155680218590607209-8696372077924887600?l=woodamongtrees.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/feeds/8696372077924887600/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2009/12/santa-eats-breakfast-too.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/8696372077924887600'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/8696372077924887600'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2009/12/santa-eats-breakfast-too.html' title='Santa eats breakfast too.....'/><author><name>W J Wood</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04095066540237917135</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-FCK19pjCEY/S0MaxsMesNI/AAAAAAAAADU/OZocr8Urxmw/S220/BX_FV_08.JPG'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1155680218590607209.post-5790764463067822863</id><published>2009-12-20T06:41:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2009-12-20T06:56:33.533-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='gift'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Christmas'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='late wife'/><title type='text'>My 2009 Christmas gift to me.....</title><content type='html'>Each year for Christmas since my wife died I give myself something special. It had to be something that no one would know that I wanted or needed and wouldn't cost an arm and a leg to get. Sometimes these gifts would be just a quiet time spent some place I wouldn't normally go to. Other times it was a special book or spending time with a friend I hadn't seen for a while. This year my gift to myself is a very special gift that I've been a little afraid to give to myself. It's a few written notes and letters that my late wife wrote to me at the very beginning of our relationship that she never gave to me. I found them when I was going through her things just after she died.  These writings are now over thirty years old and I haven't read them fully. Until this time I just read a few words here and there. I just haven't been able to read those words without feeling like I would explode with my emotions. This is the year I plan to read those words on Christmas Eve.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1155680218590607209-5790764463067822863?l=woodamongtrees.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/feeds/5790764463067822863/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-2009-christmas-gift-to-me.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/5790764463067822863'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/5790764463067822863'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-2009-christmas-gift-to-me.html' title='My 2009 Christmas gift to me.....'/><author><name>W J Wood</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04095066540237917135</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-FCK19pjCEY/S0MaxsMesNI/AAAAAAAAADU/OZocr8Urxmw/S220/BX_FV_08.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1155680218590607209.post-3140160005860141131</id><published>2009-12-11T06:54:00.004-05:00</published><updated>2009-12-11T07:17:34.807-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='food for thought'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='thought'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='thought of the day'/><title type='text'>The Holiday Season.....</title><content type='html'>I think all of us should try to give gifts to others that come from the heart more than money. These gifts can sometimes be so apparent that all around see them. Such as, opening a door for someone, letting a person check out ahead of you or just being polite to the waitress or waiter. Other times the gift is less noticeable. Such as, calling someone just to say hello, thinking of a person who has moved away or died. These gifts are also gifts for the giver. We feel better about the holiday season which in turn affects how we interact with others and also helps to boost our immune system. Other gifts could be, finding a new friend on facebook, tweet on the positive for the whole holiday season or email those people that you haven't for a while. Let's all think of ways to give from the heart and not the wallet.  I don't think that it makes much sense to read or watch heart inspiring stories and then cut others off in traffic, yell those foul four letter words at kids in the store just because they're full of the holiday excitement or try to walk over others physically or verbally in the stores.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1155680218590607209-3140160005860141131?l=woodamongtrees.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/feeds/3140160005860141131/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2009/12/holiday-season.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/3140160005860141131'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/3140160005860141131'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2009/12/holiday-season.html' title='The Holiday Season.....'/><author><name>W J Wood</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04095066540237917135</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-FCK19pjCEY/S0MaxsMesNI/AAAAAAAAADU/OZocr8Urxmw/S220/BX_FV_08.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1155680218590607209.post-9210106526270386608</id><published>2009-11-09T06:05:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2009-11-09T06:11:17.697-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Obama health care'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='thought of the day'/><title type='text'>Afford?</title><content type='html'>Who decides what affordable is for you?  How can advertisers claim, affordable price, for this or that?  The government apparently does the same thing when it comes to Obama health care.  How can anyone decide for someone else what is affordable for them?  Now whenever I hear the word, affordable, I listen to something else inside of my thinking.  I don't need or want someone to dictate to me what I can, or can't, afford.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1155680218590607209-9210106526270386608?l=woodamongtrees.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/feeds/9210106526270386608/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2009/11/afford.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/9210106526270386608'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/9210106526270386608'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2009/11/afford.html' title='Afford?'/><author><name>W J Wood</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04095066540237917135</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-FCK19pjCEY/S0MaxsMesNI/AAAAAAAAADU/OZocr8Urxmw/S220/BX_FV_08.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1155680218590607209.post-3224374648531698555</id><published>2009-10-13T05:01:00.001-04:00</published><updated>2009-10-13T05:01:41.592-04:00</updated><title type='text'>KHS Tiger Marching Band places second at competition - The Daily Freeman News: Serving the Hudson Valley since 1871(DailyFreeman.com)</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href=http://shar.es/1Z7bN&gt;KHS Tiger Marching Band places second at competition - The Daily Freeman News: Serving the Hudson Valley since 1871(DailyFreeman.com)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Posted using &lt;a href="http://sharethis.com"&gt;ShareThis&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1155680218590607209-3224374648531698555?l=woodamongtrees.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/feeds/3224374648531698555/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2009/10/khs-tiger-marching-band-places-second.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/3224374648531698555'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/3224374648531698555'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2009/10/khs-tiger-marching-band-places-second.html' title='KHS Tiger Marching Band places second at competition - The Daily Freeman News: Serving the Hudson Valley since 1871(DailyFreeman.com)'/><author><name>W J Wood</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04095066540237917135</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-FCK19pjCEY/S0MaxsMesNI/AAAAAAAAADU/OZocr8Urxmw/S220/BX_FV_08.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1155680218590607209.post-4574392036657447135</id><published>2009-10-01T05:57:00.004-04:00</published><updated>2009-10-01T06:07:30.458-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Fall'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='memories'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='thought'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='thought of the day'/><title type='text'>Fall into a moment.....</title><content type='html'>Even the very first day that the temperature gets to that, cool enough to be fall, my thoughts turn to soup, the smell of burning leaves and the first snow fall that turns my little part of the world into a life size snow globe. I can't help myself. Those feelings all come so quickly that they seem to be in my head all at once. Of course those thoughts bring memories of snow sledding, cold hands and feet and coming into the house when I was young to smell the food that my mother was preparing for supper. It's funny how thoughts of the cold mixed with my thoughts of the warmth of my childhood make me feel warmer no matter how cold this old body feels at the moment and it doesn't cost me anything except the time to think it.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1155680218590607209-4574392036657447135?l=woodamongtrees.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/feeds/4574392036657447135/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2009/10/fall-into-moment.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/4574392036657447135'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/4574392036657447135'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2009/10/fall-into-moment.html' title='Fall into a moment.....'/><author><name>W J Wood</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04095066540237917135</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-FCK19pjCEY/S0MaxsMesNI/AAAAAAAAADU/OZocr8Urxmw/S220/BX_FV_08.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1155680218590607209.post-7541872028335713634</id><published>2009-09-23T05:55:00.003-04:00</published><updated>2009-09-23T06:06:50.382-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='food for thought'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='thought'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='thought of the day'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='food'/><title type='text'>Eat to live, live to eat.....</title><content type='html'>What category do you put yourself in?  "Eat to live", or "Live to eat".  Where we put ourselves stays with us for our entire life.  That along with an amount of creativity and an adventurous nature, determine, not only what we eat, but also how often we do takeout or buy convenience foods.  If you're also single like me and only have to please yourself, well the sky's the limit as far as our meals go.  I also enjoy getting more and more out of my cooking than I did ever before.  I hardly ever now throw anything edible away.  I even find myself using the liquid from pickled hot peppers, that last bit of mayo and even my bacon fat.  The only thing that I don't do is bake.  I really don't see myself eating a dozen muffins or a whole chocolate cake.  For me it's far better to buy what I can eat of these things.  Not only is it much cheaper, but I don't have to carry the extra weight either.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1155680218590607209-7541872028335713634?l=woodamongtrees.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/feeds/7541872028335713634/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2009/09/eat-to-live-live-to-eat.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/7541872028335713634'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/7541872028335713634'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2009/09/eat-to-live-live-to-eat.html' title='Eat to live, live to eat.....'/><author><name>W J Wood</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04095066540237917135</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-FCK19pjCEY/S0MaxsMesNI/AAAAAAAAADU/OZocr8Urxmw/S220/BX_FV_08.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1155680218590607209.post-1410161785471447295</id><published>2009-09-16T06:31:00.003-04:00</published><updated>2009-09-16T06:42:20.671-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='kimchi'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='salsa'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='cooking'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='food'/><title type='text'>Multi use.....</title><content type='html'>I love having my multi use food items on hand.  With some of these I can whip up various tasty meals on a moments notice.  Their versatility is ever growing as I challenge myself to come up with more choices.  I'm also loving my fusion cooking that allows me to tempt my creative urge as well as my taste buds.  The main two multi use items I use are, kimchi and salsa.  With these two items I can make every meal different for a month.  All I need are a few other ingredients in the kitchen to add to them.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kimchi:&lt;br /&gt;-soup, stir-fry, side dish, bowl dish, many more.....&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Salsa:&lt;br /&gt;-omelet, Spanish rice, quick chili, on hot dog, bread pizza, many more.....&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1155680218590607209-1410161785471447295?l=woodamongtrees.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/feeds/1410161785471447295/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2009/09/multi-use.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/1410161785471447295'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/1410161785471447295'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2009/09/multi-use.html' title='Multi use.....'/><author><name>W J Wood</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04095066540237917135</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-FCK19pjCEY/S0MaxsMesNI/AAAAAAAAADU/OZocr8Urxmw/S220/BX_FV_08.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1155680218590607209.post-2626109406922121025</id><published>2009-09-07T05:58:00.003-04:00</published><updated>2009-09-07T06:07:25.741-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='thinking out loud'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='memories'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='thought'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='things'/><title type='text'>Things.....</title><content type='html'>Things. Somethings are more important than other things. Anything can be something of importance to someone because of something that's connected to it. Those things become an important part of our lives and can last a lifetime. Sometimes we can't remember exactly why those things are so important to us, or why they bring such happiness just to be with us, or a part of us. We should have a national thing day. A day to remember those things that give us great peace of mind or bring memories of loved ones and friends, two and four legged. I vote for a THING DAY!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1155680218590607209-2626109406922121025?l=woodamongtrees.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/feeds/2626109406922121025/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2009/09/things.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/2626109406922121025'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/2626109406922121025'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2009/09/things.html' title='Things.....'/><author><name>W J Wood</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04095066540237917135</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-FCK19pjCEY/S0MaxsMesNI/AAAAAAAAADU/OZocr8Urxmw/S220/BX_FV_08.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1155680218590607209.post-5538618650836904509</id><published>2009-08-22T06:20:00.003-04:00</published><updated>2009-08-22T06:32:13.202-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='thought'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='thought of the day'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='mind&apos;s eye'/><title type='text'>Thought.....</title><content type='html'>By seeking my own communication I am coming closer to hearing those true answers to my inner questions.  It pays to live with blinders on every once in a while.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1155680218590607209-5538618650836904509?l=woodamongtrees.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/feeds/5538618650836904509/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2009/08/thought.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/5538618650836904509'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/5538618650836904509'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2009/08/thought.html' title='Thought.....'/><author><name>W J Wood</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04095066540237917135</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-FCK19pjCEY/S0MaxsMesNI/AAAAAAAAADU/OZocr8Urxmw/S220/BX_FV_08.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1155680218590607209.post-4056011520773120676</id><published>2009-08-17T07:21:00.002-04:00</published><updated>2009-08-17T07:31:54.657-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='thinking out loud'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='thought'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='food'/><title type='text'>Local/organic food.....</title><content type='html'>Why do you have to pay more money for local food?  Is it me or do other people think of this also?  They don't have to ship their food to sell it locally, therefore it should be cheaper, right?  They usually man their rented farmer market space themselves, so they don't need to hire someone to man it.  Where's the logic except that they too want their fair share of the financial pie and price their food accordingly.  I would love to be able to afford to buy local food a lot more than I do, but I can't and it just makes me a little angry that the local farmers are pricing their food items the way that they do.  I also don't like the fact that organic food items are two to five times the amounts than non-organic.  I can only hope that people with more money to spend buy local and organic foods long enough so that the prices come down to a more sensible level and I too can afford to eat a more healthy diet.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1155680218590607209-4056011520773120676?l=woodamongtrees.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/feeds/4056011520773120676/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2009/08/localorganic-food.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/4056011520773120676'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/4056011520773120676'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2009/08/localorganic-food.html' title='Local/organic food.....'/><author><name>W J Wood</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04095066540237917135</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-FCK19pjCEY/S0MaxsMesNI/AAAAAAAAADU/OZocr8Urxmw/S220/BX_FV_08.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1155680218590607209.post-511532459187272868</id><published>2009-08-06T07:19:00.003-04:00</published><updated>2009-08-06T07:31:04.769-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='thinking out loud'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='thought'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='cooking'/><title type='text'>What Came First.....</title><content type='html'>What came first, the chicken or the egg?  Well in my apartment it depends on what is in the refrigerator.  I might also have the urge to have something else, or a combination of somethings.  Years ago my mother was horrified when I combined ketchup with mayo or mayo with mustard to go with a sandwich or use as a dip.  I would also add soy sauce or some other condiment that was there but mostly not used by my mother's cooking technique.  She bought lots of things and didn't use a lot of those things.  Or she bought it for a recipe and didn't use it anymore.  She was a person that had to use the exact items in a recipe and didn't think twice about a trip to the local market to get those items for that one time recipe.  In those days she didn't especially like to cook.  She cooked because it was required by her.  Somewhere along my teenage years I started to get creative with my snacking and came ups with quite a few variations.  There's one that I still have on occasion.  It's a peanut butter sandwich with mustard and mayo.  It's one of my comfort foods that I need to have at those special times.  So what came first, the chicken or the egg today.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1155680218590607209-511532459187272868?l=woodamongtrees.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/feeds/511532459187272868/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2009/08/what-came-first.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/511532459187272868'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/511532459187272868'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2009/08/what-came-first.html' title='What Came First.....'/><author><name>W J Wood</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04095066540237917135</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-FCK19pjCEY/S0MaxsMesNI/AAAAAAAAADU/OZocr8Urxmw/S220/BX_FV_08.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1155680218590607209.post-7646155519260345273</id><published>2009-07-30T06:57:00.003-04:00</published><updated>2009-07-30T07:06:45.498-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='thinking out loud'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='thought'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='cooking'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='food'/><title type='text'>Kitchen: Melting Pot</title><content type='html'>Kitchens are getting more and more like the melting pot of America.  We now have Mexican pizza, Korean/Hawaiian sliders, Korean tacos, Chinese fries and Southwestern everything.  Fusion is the new age word that comes closest to describing this fairly new culinary technique.  I find that this opens up so many new edible ways for me to be so creative with a medium that I have to buy anyway to survive.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1155680218590607209-7646155519260345273?l=woodamongtrees.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/feeds/7646155519260345273/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2009/07/kitchen-melting-pot.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/7646155519260345273'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/7646155519260345273'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2009/07/kitchen-melting-pot.html' title='Kitchen: Melting Pot'/><author><name>W J Wood</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04095066540237917135</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-FCK19pjCEY/S0MaxsMesNI/AAAAAAAAADU/OZocr8Urxmw/S220/BX_FV_08.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1155680218590607209.post-843310809878447145</id><published>2009-07-11T07:25:00.003-04:00</published><updated>2009-07-11T07:55:24.156-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='dowsing'/><title type='text'>Master Dowser.....</title><content type='html'>Before my father died he taught many people the art of dowsing including myself.  It almost felt like magic the first time the rods moved on their own in my hands.  That feeling will stay with me for the rest of my life.  My father was a 'Master Dowser' who not only found water, he also moved water from nearby veins into dry wells and away from basements to dry them up.  Plus he dowsed for missing people or pets and he could dowse using a map.  One of his interesting techniques was to dowse another person's property without actually being there.  My father would have the person walk the area as he visualized that person walking while holding his dowsing rods.  When the rods crossed he told the person to stop.  He would then ask the rods for the depth after first determining if the water was good for drinking.  He would even give them the approximate gallons per minute.  He had a good percentage of success no matter if he was actually there or not.  Many local newspapers and magazines interviewed him for their publications and he visited many local schools to show the kids how to dowse.  I still have many of the letters sent to him from his clients telling some pretty amazing things he did for them.  He also followed up on the sites that he dowsed to make sure that they still had water and everything was as he told them.  To my knowledge, not one of his dowsed wells has gone dry.  He used all kinds of dowsing devices made of wood, plastic and metal.  He died in 1993 and was so well known that my sister still gets phone calls from people around the world asking for him.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1155680218590607209-843310809878447145?l=woodamongtrees.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/feeds/843310809878447145/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2009/07/master-dowser.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/843310809878447145'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/843310809878447145'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2009/07/master-dowser.html' title='Master Dowser.....'/><author><name>W J Wood</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04095066540237917135</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-FCK19pjCEY/S0MaxsMesNI/AAAAAAAAADU/OZocr8Urxmw/S220/BX_FV_08.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1155680218590607209.post-1010123523011924516</id><published>2009-07-10T06:26:00.003-04:00</published><updated>2009-07-10T06:43:56.265-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='silence'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='thought'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Mother Earth'/><title type='text'>Silence.....</title><content type='html'>The coolness of the night had made it's way into my apartment via the intake mode of my fan in the window to the point where it woke me up two hours earlier than I usually do.  I'm one of those people that need a noise of some sort to help me sleep.  It's the a/c, the fan or my noise machine that I use for that purpose.  This time I was so cool that I had to get up and turn the fan off and then the loudness of the silence was apparent.  I decided to go back to bed without turning anything on.  After a few seconds the absolute silence became a welcome place to be.  Not even the refrigerator made a sound.  I became aware that it's been a very long time indeed since I heard this amount of silence.  When I lived in the country I heard it many times during my early morning, walk the dog, days.  I was surprised not only by the fact that there was no traffic, no people talking on the street below or no sirens of any kind, but I was also becoming aware of the fact that not the smallest hint of a breeze was there.  And also no early birds were singing, cats yelling or dogs barking.  There was only me and the silence.  A silence so peaceful that I just lie there with extreme contentment.  It became obvious that I haven't been aware of the amount of noise that I've become used to.  I swore to myself that from now on I'll try to listen to that silence more often because of that feeling of total connection to myself and Mother Earth.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1155680218590607209-1010123523011924516?l=woodamongtrees.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/feeds/1010123523011924516/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2009/07/silence.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/1010123523011924516'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/1010123523011924516'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2009/07/silence.html' title='Silence.....'/><author><name>W J Wood</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04095066540237917135</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-FCK19pjCEY/S0MaxsMesNI/AAAAAAAAADU/OZocr8Urxmw/S220/BX_FV_08.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1155680218590607209.post-6447057857919391586</id><published>2009-07-09T06:17:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2009-07-09T06:25:43.030-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='thinking out loud'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='thought'/><title type='text'>A Thought</title><content type='html'>Upon awakening today I had a thought.  I thought about a thought and thought how many times a thought leads to another thought and to another until the original thought wasn't there to think about.  With this thought coming to mind I decided to think about this thought and not think of any other thought.  I thought more about this thought, just the thought and nothing else.  It didn't take long for me to think only of that one thought, but it did take a while to keep my train of thought on this one track.  With this one thought I was meditating.  Think about it.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1155680218590607209-6447057857919391586?l=woodamongtrees.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/feeds/6447057857919391586/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2009/07/thought.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/6447057857919391586'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/6447057857919391586'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2009/07/thought.html' title='A Thought'/><author><name>W J Wood</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04095066540237917135</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-FCK19pjCEY/S0MaxsMesNI/AAAAAAAAADU/OZocr8Urxmw/S220/BX_FV_08.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1155680218590607209.post-2546312346338223533</id><published>2009-07-08T06:41:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2009-07-08T06:58:12.412-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Tillson'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='kids'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='imagination'/><title type='text'>The Sahara of Tillson....</title><content type='html'>I was pretty young when we moved from Port Ewen, New York to Tillson, New York, about six years old I think.  Along with one boy living next door and the many cats living in my Grandparent's garage, was the sand pit just across the street.  This was one of the two places in Tillson where they were getting sand to build the New York State Thruway.  For a short time the machine they used was still there to fill the trucks coming each day, and then they were gone and my newest best friend and I had a place to explore and use as our stage for our imagination's.  Most of our time was spent throwing dirt bombs at each other or imagining foes who had come out of the past or future to fight the mightiest of foes, namely us!  Everyday, when it didn't rain, we used the sands of our Sahara to the best use that we could think of.  At the day's end we always took some of that Sahara home with us to share with our Mothers who gladly swept up the dirt that didn't cling to our skin, lodge in our hair and hid in other places too numerous to mention.  The sand pits are now invaded by the outside world and hold many homes to new explorers to maybe find some our remains that we left as kids.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1155680218590607209-2546312346338223533?l=woodamongtrees.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/feeds/2546312346338223533/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2009/07/sahara-of-tillson.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/2546312346338223533'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/2546312346338223533'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2009/07/sahara-of-tillson.html' title='The Sahara of Tillson....'/><author><name>W J Wood</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04095066540237917135</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-FCK19pjCEY/S0MaxsMesNI/AAAAAAAAADU/OZocr8Urxmw/S220/BX_FV_08.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1155680218590607209.post-8103114744318249570</id><published>2009-07-07T06:44:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2009-07-07T07:17:57.032-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='feelings'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='death'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='thought'/><title type='text'>Not Happy....</title><content type='html'>After my wife died many people have asked the question, "Are you Happy?" I'm sure that they're trying to help me in some way by asking. I gave up trying to find just the right answer that would really tell how I was truly feeling. Most times I just ended up tying my tongue in knots and ended up saying, "Yes". Maybe with the written word I can fair better. Here goes. Imagine you're taking a trip with that special someone in your life. The excitement has been building ever since you decided where you wanted to go. Each day the excitement builds more and more until the point where you feel that little kid inside of you wanting to jump up and down. On the way there you're both talking about what you can do and hope for fair weather. Upon reaching your destination you look around and face the horror of not finding your partner. They're nowhere to be found. Then the reality of knowing that you will never again see them sets in. Do you really feel happy to be at your destination? Now imagine that you can't go back home. You're stuck in a place that has now become more like a nightmare than the pleasant dream that you had of it before.  Days go by and you find yourself exploring your new surroundings.  You meet new friends, take up new hobbies and even feel better.  Happy is a word that I still find difficult to use instead of better.  Yes life goes on and I enjoy seeing each new day, but the word 'happy' isn't in my vocabulary at the present time.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1155680218590607209-8103114744318249570?l=woodamongtrees.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/feeds/8103114744318249570/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2009/07/not-happy.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/8103114744318249570'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/8103114744318249570'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2009/07/not-happy.html' title='Not Happy....'/><author><name>W J Wood</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04095066540237917135</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-FCK19pjCEY/S0MaxsMesNI/AAAAAAAAADU/OZocr8Urxmw/S220/BX_FV_08.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1155680218590607209.post-8952399149488026218</id><published>2009-07-06T06:35:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2009-07-06T06:47:06.467-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='life writing'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='family trees'/><title type='text'>Life Writing</title><content type='html'>Life writing for me is like attending a life drawing class with a mirror in the middle of the room for me to see me.  At various times I'll see more of this or that.  The light of my mind's eye will give subtle variances to enhance or diminish what was seen before.  Catching that moment with words is my quest.  Within this quest are more quests waiting to found by a deeper understanding that comes from my life writing quest.  With one word at a time I'm beginning this journey among the many family trees on Mother Earth.  Each one has an impact on another.  Let's begin...&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1155680218590607209-8952399149488026218?l=woodamongtrees.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/feeds/8952399149488026218/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2009/07/life-writing.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/8952399149488026218'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1155680218590607209/posts/default/8952399149488026218'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://woodamongtrees.blogspot.com/2009/07/life-writing.html' title='Life Writing'/><author><name>W J Wood</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04095066540237917135</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-FCK19pjCEY/S0MaxsMesNI/AAAAAAAAADU/OZocr8Urxmw/S220/BX_FV_08.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry></feed>
