Tales of strawberries, gratitude, and the little things that light my world

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First a tale of strawberries... A man traveling across a field encountered a tiger. He fled, the tiger after him. Coming to a precipice, he caught hold of the root of a wild vine and swung himself down over the edge. The tiger sniffed at him from above. Trembling, the man looked down to where, far below, another tiger was waiting to eat him. Only the vine sustained him. Two mice, one white and one black, little by little started to gnaw away the vine. The man saw a luscious strawberry near him. Grasping the vine with one hand, he plucked the strawberry with the other. How sweet it tasted! -A Zen Koan I found this koan in some Leo Buscaglia book back when I was in high school and trying to sort through all things enlightening.  Or maybe it was my friend who found it and shared it with me.  Either way, it hasn't left me in all these years.  I often fail miserably at practicing the art of strawberry tasting...but I'm working in it.  Things that I am working on include: learning how to deal with an endless to do list living in the present seeing the beauty in the moment If you have any advice, feel free to share it. Then a tale of gratitude... Many thanks go to my husband and the "Keeper of this Website."  He's a sweet husband, a talented cook, a loving life partner, and a patient man.  There are many other things I am grateful for A healthy pregnancy.  I am due in October 2008.  our home, which is starting to come together and feel genuinely homey after all kinds of work our pond, which I find calming and beautiful, even when it is frozen. friends family a job that is one of the most wonderful challenges of my life...even when everything about education in America can drive me crazy   And the little things that light my world... Can Strainer:   Literally, it is a little strainer that a can fits into.  You open the can, put the strainer on top of it, flip it over, and shake.  It is wonderful for draining canned tomatoes or beans.  I'm not much of a kitchen gadget person.  (Nevermind that I am married to the "King of All Kitchen Gadgetry.")  This is my favorite kitchen utensil/gadget/whatever of all time. Pot Strainer: My brother-in-law found a reversible handled pot strainer, the kind that you just hold over the edge of the pot or pan while you are trying to drain it.  I can use it with either hand.  I love it because it means I don't have to clean out a colander when I'm done.  I hate cleaning out colanders. While we have a pretty red colander that my husband uses all the time, I would just as soon it stay hanging as a decoration. Quorn:  Being a bona fide omnivore, it has been interesting to be married to an herbivore.  While he is fine with my meat eating habits and even offers to cook meat for me, I usually prefer to eat the same meal as he does when we are at home.  There are many decent meat substitutes out there made of soy, but my favorite meat substitute is made out of fungus.  Quorn is available in regular grocery stores.  It cooks and tastes like meat.  I swear that when I first tasted the non-breaded chick tenders, I swore that we must have made a mistake and bought organic chicken...not fake chicken.  I literally dug the bag out of the garbage to check.  If you are a vegetarian...love a vegetarian...or are interested in eating less meat...check out Quorn. Podcasts: This American Life (http://www.thislife.org/), Radio Lab (http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/), Story Corp (http://www.storycorps.net/), Selected Shorts (http://www.wnyc.org/shows/shorts/), Bill Mahrer (http://www.hbo.com/billmaher/downloads/ ) Naked Scientist Podcast (http://www.thenakedscientists.com/ )   Video Podcasts: Terra (http://www.lifeonterra.com/ ) FM Transmitter: Carl has a handy gadget that enables us to transmit info from a stick or mp3 player to every radio in the house.  No matter what room we walk into we can hear the music or podcast. Wiki: We are using a sort of internal message board to keep track of chore lists, grocery lists, and other things via an intranet wiki.  Yes, this is one of the ways we communicate with each other.  We also use 30boxes.com as our calendar.  Carl can keep his calendar, I can keep my calendar, and by adding each other as buddies, we can see each other's stuff.  Whee.