Grasshopper thoughts - Vol. I, June 2010

Photo courtesy of
 http://www.blm.gov/

You're wondering what in the world 'grasshopper thoughts' are, right?  This is my way of describing how my mind works.  If you've been outside on a hot summer day, walking through a field, then you know that grasshoppers possess a remarkable ability to jump in the most bizarre, unexpected ways and angles seconds before you walk upon their location.  This is how my brain activity functions.  I have several blogging friends who label these blog posts things like "Popcorn Posts" (Anahid Boghosian's Fireside Moments) and Pleasantly Disturbed thoughts (Duane Scott).  These posts happen when we writerly types have a slew of thoughts that don't really settle into one nice, cohesive, smoothly communicated line of prose. 

As I admit that I am, at times, more serious than I need to be, I decided after a couple of conversations with the two friends mentioned above that I would adopt this format and make it unique to me.  You may enjoy the disjointed thoughts that take sudden, quirky jumps in a completely unexpected direction, only to fly off at another bizarre angle moments later.  You may not like this format at all - I just know that I'm enjoying the sheer freedom this concept provides, so here goes...the first Grasshopper Thoughts epistle!

Golden raisins - who, other than myself, is a fan of these little jewels?  Do many even realize they exist, overshadowed by the more traditional dark raisins?  Golden raisins are actually called Sultanas, a fact I just learned by going to my old friend, Wikipedia. Take a moment to click on the link and learn some fascinating information! I just happen to prefer these golden lovelies because they're not so overpoweringly strong in flavor and lend themselves to various foods better than the darker raisin variety.

Photo courtesy of
 http://www.galtmuseum.com/

Spinning wool into thread - I just have to wonder about this one.  Who was it that was musing in the fields of sheep one fine day and decided, "I do believe I'll shear those critters, do complicated things to the wool and even more complicated processes to produce this thin filament and call it 'thread'!"  Whomever this intrepid soul was, my hat is off to him/her.  This then makes me ponder the next thing in line, which is who came up with the concept and design of the spinning wheel.  See what I mean?  A typical grasshopper line of thought.

Photo courtesy
 of Bing Images

Dark chocolate & raspberries w/ salt.  Need I say more?  I think there is no more sublime a combination than melted dark chocolate - of at least 80% pure cacao - and ripe raspberries with a sprinkling of sea salt.  I'm not really a sweets eater as a general rule, but when I do want something sweet, this is it. 

Photo courtesy of    
 http://www.tclawnservices.com/

Honeysuckle mornings....ahh, nothing better!  You are not reading the blog of a true Morning Person, just know that right here and now.  On the rare occasion that I'm up with daybreak, it is generally due to the fact that I've been on a writing jag through the night and haven't gone to bed yet.  This post is being written in the midst of June 2010 and East Tennessee is in the grips of an early, hot summer.  Humidity is thick enough to cut with a knife, stealing oxygen from the air we breathe, stifling the lungs as we step outside.  In the wee hours of dawn, however, that same humidity coaxes delicate, heady fragrance from the honeysuckle that climbs the hill behind my patio.  I sit, eyes closed and breathe the fragrance in as I listen to the day awakening around me....and my heart is still....my mind, for a brief moment at least....calmed from grasshopper thoughts....temporarily.

Photo courtesy of
http://www.cpsqdp.com/

Mascara - it's all about the brush, people.  Ladies, I have no doubt that you get this immediately.  Gentlemen, I doubt you get it at all and that you probably don't care to learn!  For those of you who worship cosmetics with gleeful abandon (I'm guilty, yet proud to be in this sisterhood), you know that perfect brush is the secret to long, full, curled-just-right eyelashes.  I am on an eternal hunt for the next best creation, but I always come back to a tried and true favorite.  Thankfully, it is one that has a cult following and has been on the market for close to twenty years, so I believe I am safe from the dreaded "DISCONTINUED" disease that is rampant in high end cosmetics!

I declare this to be as good a point as any to stop with my grasshopper journey.  Never fear, this will be a continuing post.  I'll be curious to see how it is received and how many of you out there have similar jumbled thoughts running through your minds at any given moment!  There is absolutely no unifying theme or purpose here, other than to jot down my thoughts as these topics flit with maniacal grasshopper gymnastics along the fringes of my conscious mind. 

I think it's healthy to give these grasshopper thoughts voice - I'm sure, in fact, that my gray matter is probably breathing a silent sigh of relief that I'm bestowing some semblance of order here.  Yes, I know...our brains don't breathe sighs of relief, per se.  Which brings up a grasshopper thought......to be continued in Vol. I, Part II....