Look to the heron

What do you think of this picture? (on the left)
Look closely at the passenger side window of our van. If you can make it out, it looks like a big white body, with two legs, feet and a small tail. Above the body, but not connected is a long graceful neck topped by a small blob of a head and even a beak.
To my way of thinking, it can't be anything but a heron.
Or maybe it's a miracle. The miracle heron.
The image appeared one morning a few days ago and only recently washed off in the rain. The medium is, appropriately enough, bird crap.
It was so clearly a heron that we just decided to leave it on there until it washed off. No point upsetting the spirit world.
Yes, I've considered that it may have just been someone messing with us. It could have been someone out there drawing on the window, late at night. But then, they would have to have been willing to finger paint in bird poo. And excuse me, but we just don't know anyone that twisted.
On one level, it was nice and amusing to point out to people. A pleasant diversion. But, as an aspiring optimist, I feel compelled to seek out something hopeful in this sign.
So on to the Internet and animal symbology.
And wow. The heron is a good thing. According to a site called Wildspeak/Vilturj, there are quite a lot of lessons the patient, silent, balancing heron can teach us. And I quote:

"Heron teaches us the value of watching and waiting in order to get what you need. In other words, heron teaches us the value of patience. It is not a passive patience, but an active one. We wait in our lives to grab opportunity when it arises, it is not a passive patience waiting for life to happen to us."

Yeah, that seems apt enough. So maybe a heron is my totem and it will be my gentle guide into the middle world, teaching me to balance my emotions and perform martial arts and...oh, wait. Am I straying into the occult again? Dang. But if people can line up to see images of the Virgin Mary on a grill, a grilled cheese, a lump of chocolate, a hospital window, a turtle (click here for some pics) and if a guy in Australia can claim that a Mary and Jesus in his lava lamp turned his life around, then why not my little heron teaching me the lessons of patience and quiet reflection?

Free food update

The free food outlook was grim this past weekend. I was out in the car for several hours Saturday morning, interviewing people for the garden book when I needed to make a stop at the Toon Shop in Prairie Village for some piano books for students.
As luck would have it, there was an art show with lots of booths. Should be some free food, right?
So I walked around with all the people enjoying their day off and deciding what to spend all their extra money on.
Art. Art. Art. No food. I stopped in the Better Cheddar--usually generous with the pretzels and dip. What's happened to that store? There were only some miserly crackers.
Back out on the street, a nice lady gave me a tiny free bottled water with a store coupon. Thanks, I was getting thirsty.
In desperation, I made one last lurch through the Hen House Market. Things looked hopeful when right away I was able to score a big piece of some kind of sample muffin. But alas, the only other sample table had only an empty wrapper for hot dogs.
People, people, people. Tsk. Tsk. Tsk.
One day, when my heron guides me to power and riches, we'll remember. Oh, we'll remember.

The Grocery Store Epicure

I remember eating out. Mike and I used to do it often--when we both had full-time jobs in the early 1980s. Ah, the prosperous '80s.
That changed when we had kids and I went to part-time self employment. We'd get the kids McDonald's once in a while, of course. But the sit-down restaurant experience for us became restricted to a couple of times a year. A birthday, graduation or anniversary.
Now that we're both part-timers, well, I was beginning to despair that I'd ever see another non-home cooked meal.

But despair is an emotion that shouldn't be in an optimist's repertoire. It should be possible to have fun in the midst of a depression. Our grandparents did. Forget the cheap restaurant meal. It should be possible to eat for free (or almost free). It should be possible to do that without taking a spot in line away from someone truly needy.

It should be. And it is.
No need to be beaten down by circumstances. I declare this the Year of the Free (or almost free) Meal. It is my goal to find somewhere each week to eat something free.

First up: Costco.
Yes, Costco has a snack bar right up front. That is not what I'm talking about. That is not free.
To have a Costco meal for free, grab a cart at the door and start strolling. (Caveat: To do this you must be a member. My membership is paid through August, so I consider this "free" for the time being.)
The first thing I learned about Costco dining is that it matters what day of the week you visit. My first trip was on a Thursday--just before payday when groceries were getting low. I found the selection that day to be cheese-heavy and somewhat disappointing.
Still, I was able to have a helping of Kangaroo Pita Chips and hummus, followed in short order by a square of delicious queso blanco fried to a golden tan. The next starter, some Bel Gioioso fresh mozzarella, seemed a little bland by comparison, as did the Sensible Portions garlic and chive pita bites. The Rice Works sea salt crisps were toasty and satisfying, though. The whole thing was washed down by a cup of Tree Top orange, cherry and mango juice.
This was a so-so trip. But I think most diners would agree there's a lot missing from the menu.

So okay. Maybe Costco is one of those places that doesn't get cranked up until the weekend. Maybe the kitchen was having an off day. I decided to make two more trips, Friday and Saturday, just to be fair to the management.

Friday was more like it. The starters, salt and pepper Kettle Crisps, and Raisin Bran Crunch, were a nice yin and yang of sweetness and salt. And the Veggie Straws were an airy, ethereal delight. The entree, salmon sauteed with McCormick seasoning, was perfectly done and paired nicely with an in-house 3-potato salad. The portion size was also a welcome change from smaller fare of the previous day.
Zarda baked beans were good but a bit spicy to be an apt compliment to the salmon. Still, when you add it all up with some Fuze tea, I left the store feeling that the edge of my hunger had been blunted.

Saturday, though, was the real jackpot.
I began with three appetizers--Cambozola Triple Cream cheese and cracker, Rotisserie chicken salad with rice crackers and La Terra Fina spinach and artichoke spread with Snack Factory Original Pretzel Crisps. All were excellent, but the cambozola was the real standout with its creamy texture and hint of bleu cheese bite.
From there I moved to the salad course. The Earthbound Farm Organic Caesar was good but a little over-dressed. The same was true of the Zarda cole slaw, which was a bit on the sweet side. (there was a choice of cole slaw or potato salad, but they were temporarily out of the potato)
The entree was a meat trioka--a slice of Tyson Polish Kielbasa, a half sausage patty from Jones Dairy and almost half a Coleman hot dog. Sadly, the bacon slices weren't done yet when I went by. The cured meat was set off nicely by a slice of mango, which also upped the health benefits.
The meal came to a satisfying conclusion with a serving of Kirkland vanilla ice cream, topped off with a perfect foil, a Sugar Bowl brownie bite and finished with a good sized cup of Kirkland Green Tea.
As would be expected in any grocery store meal, the ambiance was problematic. Lighting tended toward the garish and did little to improve the mood, and the occasional bird flying above the warehouse pallets was a worrisome sight. And there were occasional glitches in service--the missing toothpick in the hot dog, the long lines and traffic jams in front of some stations. At one point, I had to wait patiently while an older gentleman inquired whether cream of mushroom soup would come back on the menu.
But I have to say the servers were without exception friendly, courteous and unobtrusive, some going so far as to point out where the menu items could be purchased.
By the time I was finished, I felt comfortably full. In fact, a little overfull. As providence would have it, some Benefiber Drink mix was available as a kind of after-dinner mint. Although I skipped this offering, the store's consideration of their patrons' digestive tracts has to be noted here with approval.

So there it is. Costco can be a great dining experience. But come on the weekend.

Roxie's rating: Five out of five stars.