Don’t Store Vinegar in a Mason Jar!

Rosemary Vinegar

The other day I finished the vinegar in a fancy bottle on my kitchen counter and needed to use more.  So I looked in the cupboard to see what I might have.  I found a Mason jar that had a sprig of unidentifiable vegetation in it and took it out for a closer look.  It had a label on the lid that said “Rosemary Vinegar.”  Well, that sounded just dandy.  But when I looked at the jar from the side, it looked like there was something white in the bottom, under the sprig of rosemary.

Side View of Vinegar Jar

Looking closer, I noticed that there didn’t appear to be any liquid in the jar.  Now, who would put an empty jar back in the cupboard?  Notice that I live alone so there weren’t many candidate answers to that question!

The next thing I noticed was that the top of the jar appeared to be filigreed.  That’s when I identified the “white stuff” at the bottom of the jar as the enamel from the inside of the Mason jar lid.  The jar had had vinegar in it when it was placed in the cupboard, but the fumes from the vinegar ate away the lid of the jar and then made good their escape!

So if you plan to make your own herbal vinegars, you’d probably be well advised not to store them in Mason jars!

Sometimes Ya Just Hafta Groan

A husband and wife tried for many years to have children, to no avail.  Finally, after they had almost given up hope, the wife got pregnant.  They were ecstatic!  However, when the baby was finally born, there was only a head.  They decided that they could still love it and take care of it for as long as possible and so they did, naming him after his father.

When the boy reached 21 years of age, his father decided to take him to a bar to introduce him to “a man’s drink.”  At the bar, he proudly announced that his son was now of age and ordered a Scotch for each of them.  They sipped and talked for a while but when the son finished his drink, suddenly a torso popped out beneath the head!

The father could not believe it!  “Your mother will be so excited.  She has always prayed for such a day.”  They decided to have another drink to celebrate before going home to share the good news.  When the son finished his second drink, suddenly arms popped out from the shoulders of the torso!

Well, this clearly called for a third drink.  After which legs popped out of the bottom of the torso.

Father and son hurried out to the parking lot to head home to share the miracle with the boy’s mother.  But in the parking lot, the boy was hit by a truck and killed instantly!

The moral of the story is:  You should always quit while you’re a head.

What Qualities Define a Hero?

I have just finished reading A Captain’s Duty by Richard Phillips about the taking of his cargo ship the Maersk Alabama by Somali pirates and his subsequent rescue.  It is a fascinating look at his command style and also a blow-by-blow account of the whole event.  At the end of the book, everyone, predictably, says that Captain Phillips is a hero because of his actions.  He, also predictably, says he is not.  That he was just doing his duty – hence the title of the book.

In thinking over other books I have read and accounts I have encountered, I noticed that people who are labeled heroes frequently deny that they are.  They do not consider themselves heroes, but think that anyone in their shoes would have done the same.

So I began to wonder just what constitutes heroism.  We tend to think of heroes as people who are bigger than life.  Who do things we don’t think we ourselves could or would do.  Usually there is personal danger involved.  We don’t think the caregiver who selflessly takes care of a handicapped or seriously ill person over long periods of time is heroic, although perhaps we should.  But if someone acts in the face of (and ignores) personal danger, we might label them heroic.  There tends also to be an element of saving other people’s lives or preventing harm to them.  And, finally, a short time frame.  If action needs to be taken quickly, the action appears to be more heroic than long-term effort.

Qualities which Captain Phillips exhibited include:

·         thinking ahead to what your adversary might do and figuring out ahead of time how to counteract it;

·         doing what is right, even when it is difficult and perhaps personally dangerous; and

·         disregarding his own personal safety to protect the people who depended on him.

All of this implies a high degree of intelligence including the ability to think quickly.  It also implies being able to think under pressure.  He did not allow the situation to overwhelm him, but was able to continue to think and plan under extreme pressure.  Are these traits learned behaviors?  Can they be taught?  Or do they just “come with the territory?”  In other words, can we inculcate certain virtues in our children?  Or do we just have to hope that they are “born with” these abilities?

What are your thoughts?

Has the 6th Commandment Ever Really Been Upheld?

OK.  I know that was unfair.  Many of you are scratching your heads wondering just which one is the 6^th commandment.  But, you’re in good company.  Biblical scholars don’t all agree on the numbering of the commandments themselves.  So to put you out of your (and their) misery, I am referring to Thou shalt not kill.

Let’s look at it closely.  Both the Bibles (plus the on-line lists) I consulted, quote the commandment that way.  Note that it does not say Thou shalt not kill people.  Nor does it say Thou shalt not kill people, except for your enemies.  Nor does it say Thou shalt not kill unless the person you’re trying to kill is already trying to kill you!  It just says Thou shalt not kill.  Period.  End of commandment.  Now if you really want to uphold it, that means you can’t kill the enemy who has invaded your country, the mosquito that just bit you, or the weeds that are strangling your precious food crop.  Of course, since you can’t kill your food crop to eat it, that last part is probably moot.  (Strictly speaking, you can’t even kill the bacteria and viruses that are doing their best to kill you!  So you are violating this commandment every time you wash your hands with anti-bacterial soap.)

If you believe in an all powerful and omniscient God, and you believe that God was the author of all the commandments, then you have to take him at his word and not kill anything.  So the only things you can eat are

·         leaves since you can selectively take leaves from a plant and not kill it,

·         fruit that you don’t eat the seeds of (apples, pears, cherries, etc.),

·         unfertilized eggs since they wouldn’t be growing into anything anyway,

·         milk products, and

·         honey.

But you can’t eat

·         meat, poultry, or fish;

·         fruit whose seeds you eat (berries, nuts, etc.);

·         fertilized eggs;

·         grains; and

·         root vegetables.

Alternatively, you can say “Well, God didn’t mean it that way…”  But, I’m sorry.  If God is omniscient he should have been able to craft a sentence that said exactly what he did mean.  Unless, of course, God didn’t really write the commandments which calls into question the whole God-given-ness of the Bible.  But that’s an argument for another blog…