Conk Fruit Exploration

Mushrooms on the Trail
Photos by: Chandra Brown

It's always interesting walking the 360 Trail. The terrain always gives up its secrets but you have to go at different times of the year to see all that it has to offer.  These glorious mushroom varieties were all taken at different times of the year.  It's said that one sign of a healthy forest is by the mushroom population.

We noticed many polypore mushrooms growing on the fallen trees. Their job is to help in the decay process, balancing the carbon cycle in the ecology of the forest.  Mushrooms are fascinating subject matter. I could spend hours studying their ornate growing patterns. Their dual function of helping in the death process for trees and their life giving properties for human ailments adds to their interesting complex nature. They bring balance to the forest and human ecosystem.

Look at this wonderful list of nutrients mushrooms provide: "Mushrooms are rich in B vitamins such as riboflavin, folate, thiamine, pantothenic acid, and niacin. They are also the only vegan, non-fortified dietary source of vitamin D. Mushrooms also provide several minerals that may be difficult to obtain in the diet, such as selenium, potassium, copper, iron, and phosphorus."


They taste great too! 

I have always loved sautéd mushrooms on my cheeseburger, and tell my daughter and husband to save their mushrooms for me when we eat a meal that adds them as an ingredient.

I'm not confident enough to forage in the wild for mushrooms just yet, picking a poisonous one scares the bajeebees out of me. For now I'll admire them from afar while in the wild and stick to buying them at the store for consumption. I may try to grow some from a kit, as a fun solution to my mushroom habit.

Natures' Instrument

Mom: " What did you think of our adventure on the 360 trail this year Alex?"

Alex: "It was pretty good, I saw some cool stuff, things got real when we got to the water."

Mom: "Yes, I heard the rushing water and the sound made me want to find where it was coming from so I could see what was making that loud noise. I knew in the back of my head large rocks had to be ahead in order to make that sound. Amazing how the terrain is like an instrument and the water plays off of it making a distinct sound. What name would you give Natures' Instrument or what instrument you know of would be the closest to a river bed and water?"

Alex: "Hmmm… (thinking)…. it sounds like the Spacedrum.

Mom: "Most people haven't heard of the Spacedrum, but you are right. I do think the space drum sounds like small water droplets running over rocks but also sounds like those small water droplets collect into a bigger cohesive sound like water rushing down a river filled with many rocks. How would you describe the space drums sound?"

Alex: "Well it sounds natural, it reminds me of caves, crystals and waterfalls."

Mom: " Yes, when you hear one played the high timbre gives a glass clinking sounds that would remind you of crystal and the water reflecting light also gives definition to the look of water. Can a look  be defined by sound?"

Alex: "Yes, this happens to me all the time. When I draw, sometimes the sound in the music inspires me to draw a certain picture."

Mom: "Interesting! Art, nature and music all have a certain relational aspect. I would love to see more of your drawing inspired by music. Sometimes nature inspires me to write and the sound of certain music calms or excites me. I think creativity has inner and outer levels, wavelengths and stimuli that can be individually interpreted, yet have meaning others can imprint their creativity on as well. Any thoughts on this?"

Alex: "Yes, We both see the river with scientific eyes that make us think of natural laws but we also see the river with artistic eyes that makes us think of beauty. One thing I noticed was the deception water conveys with depth. When we walk the river bed when it's dry, we are on solid, flat ground, once it fills with rain it shows that certain parts of the bed are deep and can cover your head even though you can see the bottom clearly. Adding the element of water changed the entire river bed canvas."

Mom: "I love being in nature, one thing I like about hiking a flowing river path is I tend to lose track of time and don't feel the need to be anywhere else but where I am at. Noticing all the different aspects of the terrain and how it interplays with you in the mix tends to make me think of God, who created it all for our good and pleasure.  I love that we noticed the sound nature makes this time on our adventure."

Enjoy this 'Spacedrum' Solo (technically called a Hang, pronounced Hung) by Yuki Koshimoto

Can you hear the 'water droplets' converge into a river in this song?
I can!

Tend Your Garden - Winter Gardening Post #7

Planning Our Winter Garden
Photo by: Chandra Brown

A winter garden, those two words almost sounds like an oxymoron especially when you grew up in Colorado, attempting a winter garden wasn't even a thought. You let the snow blow and just waited for the first signs of life in Spring. Living in a warm climate like Texas has opened up a whole new world of gardening possibilities for me and lends meaning to terms such as winter gardening.

For some odd reason a winter garden makes me think of setting down roots. Maybe this correlation is due to the fact our family transplanted from Colorado ten years ago to a new environment. I think of how our family cultivated a new life on our own away from anything we knew. We were like individual plants transferred from cool hardy zone 6 to a warm hardy zone 8. Adaptability was key to survival and thriving in this new environment.

Laying Out The Greens

Just A Spritz of Water

I must admit, my husband and daughter have transplanted better than I have. I like to say I have far extending roots that stem from Austin to Denver. This winter garden concept has made me realize the unique aspects of the place I live in and if I take the time to dig in and learn about them my Austin roots may just grow a little stronger and help solidify me in the present state of being.

So in honor of our family roots and our new found enthusiasm for winter gardens, Alex and I took advantage of a rare 81 degree day (ha, not very cold) and planted our first winter garden. We learned leafy greens although delicate and soft to the touch are perfect for cool weather. They have a tendency to uptake more nutrients during the cooler months which cause them to flourish in the taste category. They can also yield quit a bit of produce even after the first harvest.

This information caused much delight, our family goes through large plastic tubs of spinach and kale. If I can successfully grow my own this will help cut back our quota of plastic in the recycle bin, add dollars saved at the check out line and last but not least, I can revel in the convenience of fresh, organic pickings literally a hop, step or jump away.

Winter Garden Produce

• Winterbor Kale
• Romaine Lettuce
• Bonnie Spinach
• Carrots
• Broccoli
• Cabbage
• Cauliflower
• Beets
• Onions
• Leeks
• Legumes

"Nature has undoubtedly mastered the art of winter gardening and even the most experienced gardener can learn from the unrestrained beauty around them." -Vincent A. Simeone

UPDATE: A couple of weeks have passed, and some darn bug has eaten all my spinach. Good in that the bugs want it because it's organic. Bad, because I can't tell what kind of bug it is to treat the area. There are a lot of different bugs that LOVE spinach. I've got my homework cut out for me.

Bucket List: Item Number 55

Seven wrinkled shirts are beckoning for my attention in the laundry room and I should make sure they get done before the dinner bell tolls but I just can't seem to find the gumption to pull out the iron and do this chore.  I'm not very good at it although I should be, my Grandpa Koch owned Band-Box Cleaners, a dry cleaning store and my Mom ran the place in high school, you would think that skill would have rubbed off on me at some point growing up. So here I am skirting my duties to play in my own thought world for a few minutes.

Recently I had to listen to myself and take my own advice and I am glad to say it was good advice and I was right.  I wrote a post a long time ago about not letting circumstances get in the way of a possible passionate adventure and my word came back to haunt me, or maybe I should say, taunt me into casting care to the wind and just go with the flow.

A dear friend of Nathan's presented him with an outing that was right up his alley. The tickets for the outing were free, the only catch was the parking, food and babysitter for the day. Nathan was excited, I could tell, with the light dancing in his big brown eyes as he told me about this fun day. I got excited because I was going to be included; a date with the hubs is like winning the raffle at the fair for me. We don't get out much with work and school schedules.

Pace Car leading the racers after the crash
Formula One Austin 2014
Photo By: Chandra Brown

We were excited and grateful at the amazing thoughtfulness of 'Fat Jon' and his wife Teresa for inviting us to the Formula One race here in Austin. They won the tickets through their Combat Vet Association and of all their friends, they asked us.

For those who know,  Formula One is not your typical venue. It wreaks with money and the ticket prices alone, in my humble opinion, should cause mini-heart palpitations. Well, when you research the parking lot tickets a massive heart attack should follow. A general ticket runs about $139 per person. Parking, according to the website was anywhere from $95 to $200 buckaroos. Although I survived the initial sticker shock, I did find that element of crazy to laugh about. I envisioned pulling up to the parking lot in our falling apart VW Passat, that we don't spend a dime on because the old gal just isn't worth it anymore, dole out a $100 dollars and in James Bond bravado tell the parking attendant not to scratch the baby.

The parking tickets got me thinking about the food prices and that's when I went ballistic. If parking is that much, food has to be horrendous and it's probably BAD food. I was threatening to wear baggy clothes and store food in my not so conspicuous parts in order to thwart the food cart scammers.

Then the battle of the babysitter came tumbling down the thought stairs hitting me square in the back of the head. It has not been our luck solidifying babysitters, all of the ones we use are amazing but they tend to be so good they are too busy and we end up not winning the scheduling battle, even when we pay premium prices and have an easy kid to watch. So I try, knowing the end result ends back at square one.  I'll just say, the whole dating scene living here in Texas for the Browns is easily summed up in the Myth of Sisyphus.

Nathan and Chandra Brown
'Kicking Sisyphus in the Nuts'
Photo by: Chandra Brown

Admittedly, we could deal with the monetary problem, eating beans isn't beneath us but finding the child care was looming in our face.  I called two babysitters and to no avail. We were stalled out at this point moving forward.

Now this part is where it gets interesting. Our lovely, generous parents (in-laws) were in town when we were discussing this event. They know we are frugal and responsible and don't do things that are rash, like spend $100 on a parking spot. We chatted about the pros and cons and their over 50 years of wedded wisdom was much appreciated; they said GO! Little did we know they left a little advantage in the form of money to tip the event in our favor which I found in a Bible after they had gone back home. Sneaky, sweet parents!

Problem solved, right? Not really, and here is where the interesting part begins. The part many may not understand and I still am grasping it myself but I know the lesson has to do with obedience and sacrifice and testing. This is where passion may begin to have a deeper meaning for me. I don't like being vulnerable and telling it like it is to the www or to strangers or even people I know for that matter, but this lesson hopefully will show God is in control (something He specifically has said to me, but that's another story)

Even with all the initial hurdles seemingly taken out of the way, there was one last dilemma to encounter. It had to do with loyalty. We were both excited to finally have a date and one that was on our bucket list. Nathan's birthday was around the same time and he tends to take the back seat for celebrations because he has to work or we are a little tight in the budget. This event was beginning to pan out perfectly, when the thought occurred to me, "You forgot to tithe this month."

Don't we know it!
Photo by: Chandra Brown

I did the quick bank check and realized if we went to the event even with the gifted money we would be cutting it extremely close, and mortgage is in the beginning of the month, leaving us with virtually zero in the account. The hounding thought of not giving our first fruit to God nagged me, we've been faithful even during these hard years of struggling financially. I had to be honest with Nathan and be the bearer of not so fun news and make a decision from there.

We would forgo the event and be obedient to God instead.  I sent the tithe check and we went about the next couple of days in our usual way. No complaining, no boo hooing.

Then our friend sent a link he found for parking that was only $20 for motorcycles. This renewed information put that light back in my husband's eyes and got me to put out the S.O.S to my very busy neighbors. Two angels heard the call and said they could split the day and take care of Alex. It looked like we were going to have that long awaited date after all.

Bugatti
A step or 100 up from the VW Passat
Photo by: Chandra Brown

Mama Mia-Ferrari
Photo by: Chandra Brown

Highlights of Race Day:

The first lap of the race a Formula One car crashed and had to be lifted off the track by a crew and a crane. Nathan and I were glad the driver was not hurt but it brought an exhilarating adrenaline rush knowing 2.6 million dollars was put out of commission right before our eyes and we didn't have to care about it.

We made out like bandits, the Formula One event cost us $42 dollars when all was said and done.

Nathan and I got to see so many beautiful cars. One of our favorite at home date nights is to sit and watch Top Gear together. We actually got to see many of the cars Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May and the Stig drive.

I say this was opportunity executed with SUCCESS, we totally scored in the passion adventure factor! 

Re-Purposed Shovel Head

The end of Summer is the time for yard projects here in Austin, Texas. Recently, my Dad visited and helped me accomplish some goals in the yard. When you are completing projects you are bound to run into problems.

Our dilemma occurred early on, literally the first dig of dirt delayed any further progress because the handle on the flat head shovel busted under the pressure. We laughed over the ironic nature of the problem. How could we proceed to dig out gnarly roots and accomplish our plan without the correct tool?

We had a razorback shovel hiding in the garage to keep the project moving forward and mid way through the day the neck bent due to those darn, gnarly Nandina roots. We took that as our cue to take a break and succumb to buying brand new shovels.

Instead of chucking the old broken shovels in the trash bin, my creative Dad hatched a brilliant idea. See the fun yard art he came up with involving the flat head shovel below. This new piece of Texas art now hangs on my back fence gate. I can see it from my kitchen window and it looks fabulous!

I have some quirky ideas for the razorback shovel, it definitely has an Austin feel to it. The bent neck gives way to the famous city slogan, "Keep Austin Weird". I have a bunch of bottle caps saved up for a craft project, maybe I'll meld the two together and see if I can make it weird enough to pass the Austin standards.

"Use it up

Wear it out

Make it Do

Or Do without"

Viking Revival

Spring Break has always been a challenge for me, how do I fill the time with fun without having to spend an arm and a leg? One of the benefits of living on a strict budget is the brain power you put into  dredging up the imagination. I've come up with a principle for fun in the Brown house that has become a tenet for successful, happy living. In technical terms the principle would read like this; The ratio of imagination to monetary investment should show that more effort was put into the imagination part, making the monetary investment give residual returns that achieve pure satisfaction which should lead to hours of merriment when reflecting upon the event.

The Brown girls achieved this ratio with mathematical precision the other day and we thought we'd share our success, it just keeps within the tenets of our happy living lifestyle by passing along our merriment through story form.

Photo By: stpierre 

A dear friend called to see if we wanted to spend a day exploring nature during Spring Break, it involved canoeing The Colorado River (we call it Town Lake). The weather was going to be perfect and a couple of hours on the water sounded more adventurous than sitting at home. At first, I envisioned paddling the canoe a little, kicking back and relaxing, watching the birds and other people. A picture of Huckleberry Finn with his fishing pole and raft came to mind. I mentioned to our friend that we would join them but to be forewarned that we were out of shape and if they wanted to explore without us we wouldn't be offended. We didn't want to be anchors to their fun due to our weak muscles causing us to rest more than we should.

Alex and I were a little hesitant at first as we fiddled with life jackets, oars and a wobbly boat as we left the shore. It was Alex's first time paddling, I was giving her basic tips while re-orienting myself with steering the beast. We inched down the passageway to the river entrance and were happy we didn't run anyone aground or get in the way of other experienced river goers.

Our friends were patient and stayed near giving us quiet support as we maneuvered by countless Turtles, Swans, Ducks, American Coots, Grebes, Loons, Egrets and Herons. Alex was learning a rhythm for her strokes and the wind was behind our backs pushing us along. We were quickly becoming accustomed to the feel of the cool water, the pace of the river. We looked up from the horizon to see hawks, kites and airplanes. We overcame the short learning curve and began to really enjoy ourselves when a thought from deep in the recesses of my imagination flooded the forefront of my brain. My usual docile self took a backseat to the overwhelming desire to conquer.

The spirit of competition rose up as I looked at our unknowing rowing mates across the river. I said, "Alex we are going to win the race, hone your Viking skills because we are going to own this river." She looked at me quizzically. I gave her a crash course in long ago family history, we have Danish blood which means we most likely have Vikings in the branches of our family tree and today we we're going to honor them by kicking butt even if our competitors were clueless to the game we were involving them in.

I gave her our first objective, we were going to row hard and make it to the island that just lay before the damn before our rowing mates did. If we made it there first we could claim the island for our own.  We deployed our oars in the water with well-timed precision as Alex giggled and counted the rowing measure methodically. Our canoe gained speed, I looked behind us and saw the gap widening between canoes. We made it to the spindly trunk branches of a cypress tree at the tip of the island, as we were getting ready to claim victory a huge copperhead snake came in to view draping itself over the spindly branches. Yikes, we back paddled as fast as we could, the snake could have the island.

Our second objective was to make it back to the docking port before our rowing mates. This was our toughest challenge by far. Now that we were on the return voyage, the wind was working against us. We literally were blown sideways and pushed into low hanging branches near the shore a few times. Nevertheless, we righted the boat and rowed with 'Ben Hur' vigor.

Our competitors were gaining on us as we turned to enter the inlet that led to the docking port. Obstacles in the form of kayaks, boats and animal life blocked a straight path to our victory. We were maneuvering our canoe like pros, total victory insight when a greenhorn mother and son team obstructed our path not once but numerous times as they zigzagged their canoe dauntingly in front of us. The erratic handling of their vessel caused them to collide with the side of our canoe, I shoved them off with my oar undeterred from the goal of beating our rowing mates.

Alex rowed like a machine, I dug my oar in the water, the canoe turned sharply but smoothly as it glided into the port and grounded ever so gently. We unloaded the canoe and had our life vests off before our rowing mates parked their vessel. I beamed at Alex with motherly Viking pride, our eyes glanced at each other, we both giggled and knew the old conquering adage rang true, "We came, we saw and we conquered!"


Note: Our mathematical ratio for fun worked well in our favor. Somehow our bill for 3 hours on the river was only $12. We were honest Vikings but we think the fee taker smelled our distinct Viking essence and made the decision to have us move along quickly in the best interest of business and her nose. HE HE!

Natures' Amusement Park

Mom: "So, Alex what did you think of today's adventure at the 360 Trail?"

Alex: "I discovered a free passage to mother natures amusement park but you may have to pay at the end of the day. Mother nature will give you a bill of foot sores."

Mom: "Yes, there were a few pebbles that made me wonder if our trek was worth it, but I had a ton of fun arriving at our water destination. The water was chilly at first but I got used to it quickly. What did you think of the water?"

Alex: "One of the strongest forces of nature for sure. I  got dragged off a rock just because I was in a
certain position."

Mom: " I saw that, I heard you kind of squeal in a scared voice at first, then you landed in the pool below and I could tell you thought it was fun. That was why I was laughing. I thought the water looked menacing but once we got in and started interacting with the rocks and water it was a piece of cake. We conquered this day and had fun doing it. Do you want to do it again?'

Alex: "Yes although I skinned my butt and bumped it on rocks a few times I still had a blast!"

Mom: "Those are natures' kisses. We will take dad next time, he will love the adventure too. You can be his tour guide. I love you and love spending time with you."

Alex: "More like natures' bites.Thank you for interviewing me."

Mom: "You are welcome!"

The Great Museum Experience-The Blanton (2)

I chose a piece by Matias Duville he was born in Buenos Aries, Argentina in 1974. He likes to depict landscapes and nature in his art. The art he displayed at the Blanton is called, Guardian spirit. It was a forest scene, with a bunch of trees but they had no leaves. There was a lake, a car, a few cabins and there wasn’t much grass. I think a natural disaster happened in the painting. The effect of a mighty wind could be seen in the way the items were painted on the wood. The painting looked like the aftermath of a storm. It made me feel calm like a light breeze against my face. It made me want to jump in the painting and live in one of the cabins.

The Great Museum Experience-Blanton Museum of Art

I went to the Blanton Museum of Art. The piece of art that stood out to me was called, How To Build A Cathedral. It was made of 600,000 pennies, 2,000 cattle bones and 800 communion wafers. The artists’ name was Cildo Meireles.  He is a Brazilian, Contemporary artist born in Rio de Janeiro in 1948. He wants people to interact with his art. I got to touch a handful of the 600,000 pennies. At first, I thought the communion wafers were plywood chips. After I read about the piece it made sense why wafers were used. 

I felt like I was on a cruise ship with sweet tea and lounge chairs and Jazz music playing in the background.

Mission/Missions/How To Build A Cathedral
By Cildo Meireles
Photo by: Chandra Brown

This particular installation is a permanent exhibit at The Blanton in Austin, Texas.

Fun Facts About The Artist:

Cildo Meireles is also known for his political statements through his Coca-Cola Project and re-stamping bank notes with politcally charged messages and inserting these pieces of "propaganda" secretly back into the population. A clever way to voice against the censorship of government and promote free speech. Although these clever antics are not considered art, they are highly sought after by museums.