Some people like to make whoopee. I like to make hummus. Its a great snack. It makes a perfect lunch. It easy to make and fills you up fast.
If you would like to make hummus like I make hummus I will then let you in on my top secret recipe. You have to promise, though, that you will not share this recipe with anyone else! You can share the hummus but you cannot share the recipe. My recipe is top secrets. Governments will stop at nothing to get this recipe. So, no funny business. Make the hummus, share the hummus, eat the hummus but don’t share the recipe. Just remember what happened to Jimmy Hoffa. He was told not to share the recipe but he did and now he’s gone. And, no one will ever know where he is. He sleeps with the fishes.
Here we go…
#1. Open up a can of garbanzo beans (chick peas in spanish). Pour the garbanzo beans with juice into a blender.
garbanzos
#2. Get two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and throw into the blender…
extra virgin olive oil
#3. Take two tablespoons of sesame paste or tahini and throw it into the blender…
sesame paste
#4. Throw 1/4 teaspoon of cumin into the blender…
cumin
#5. Throw 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt into the blender. That’s NaCl if you’re a chemist, I think…
NaCl
#6. Give two small squirts of lemon juice into the blender…
2 small squirts of lemon juice
#7. Take two to three garlic cloves and throw them into the blender…
garlic, garlic, garlic! Heaven sent!
#8. Take a pinch of fresh Italian parsley and throw it into the blender…
fresh italian parsley
#9. After everything I’ve noted is added to the blender, blend the crap out of it until it looks like the top picture. Below is just before the blending occurs…
blend the crap out of this stuff for really good hummus
This is some really good hummus. Remember: you can make the hummus, you can share the hummus, you can eat the hummus but you cannot give the recipe to anyone. If you do you will have 7 years of bad luck. If you share this recipe with two people you will have 14 years of bad luck. If you share this recipe with 3 to 4 people liquid hot magma will melt your brain. If you share this recipe with 5 to 6 people bigfoot will come out of hiding and stomp all over you in his smelly feet. If you share this recipe with 7 to 8 people aliens will abduct you and probe your anus. If you share this recipe with 9 to 10 people…I think you get the message…Don’t share this or unpleasant things will happen.
My world was changed in May of 2008. That was a difficult month. That was a difficult year. I do not want to focus on the year, though. That’s not what I want to write about. What I do want to write about is my discovery of the Dairy Farm which happened in May 2008. A woman I briefly dated shared this beautiful place with me and my world has never been the same since.
The dairy farm is a mere 3 to 5 minute drive from my house and yet for four years of living in this house I never knew that such an oasis was just a hop, skip and jump away from me. Is that not sad? How many heavenly places are just within reach of us and yet we do not know it? How many treasures are hidden just beyond the fence and we yet do not know of them? That’s the way it was with the dairy farm.
Proud old one
I live just four streets away from this magical place called the dairy farm. So many years I lived within arms reach of this beautiful place, – these 156 acres of undeveloped land within the heart of Savannah and I did not know that it is on the back-side of my hand! How boxed in my vision has been! Its crazy.
Two years ago, though, I learned of this place and it has become my favorite destination in Savannah, Georgia. This is the place I go to for pondering and for peace. This is the place I go to grieve the losses in my life. This is the place I go to commune with God, to feel a closeness to His Majesty and creation. My beloved dog, Maccabee is buried there. One day, my other beloved dog, Maccabee’s life-long partner, Isabella, will be buried there.
Isabella next to Maccabee's grave, July 21, 2010
Last July, on the 2oth of 2009, I buried Maccabee out there with the help of a few friends in the middle of a downpour. The dairy farm had become Maccabee’s favorite place in the world. Even as he grew more and more frail just hearing those two magical words “dairy farm” would breathe life into his dying body and a glimmer of his former, youthful self would re-emerge even if it was just momentarily. I would take Maccabee and Isabella there every day the last seven months of his life. I took Maccabee and Isabella there even if it was just to sit within the grounds of the dilapidated dairy farm that had long ago ceased to serve its purpose. Mr. Roberd’s, the owner of the land, told me that at one time there were two-hundred cows at the dairy farm. No one that I know, other than Mr. Roberd’s remembers when the Dairy farm provided the milk that the Savannah natives once drank. Mr. Roberd’s, God bless his sweet soul, not only allowed me to bury Maccabee at the dairy farm but also leaves it open for people to enjoy the land. The dairy farm has become the unofficial dog park of Savannah. Its such a wonderful place.
Maccabee ten days before he died
There are these big and old, Spanish moss ridden, oak trees at the dairy farm that have long stretching limbs that look more like the tentacles of an ancient creature than of a tree. These trees have character unlike any other tree or thing I’ve seen in Savannah. If these trees could speak can you imagine the wisdom they could enrich us with? The history they have stood sentinel too. The stories these trees could tell us, both the horror and the beautiful. The dairy farm and its majestic oak trees remind me of a Rilke poem…
The weeks stood still in summer.
The trees’ blood rose. Now you feel
it wants to sink back
into the source of everything. You thought
you could trust that power
when you plucked the fruit;
now it becomes a riddle again,
and you again a stranger.
Summer was like your house: you knew
where each thing stood.
Now you must go out into your heart
as onto a vast plan. Now
the immense loneliness begins.
The days go numb, the wind
sucks the world from your senses like withered
leaves.
Through the empty branches the sky remains.
It is what you have.
Be earth now, and evensong.
Be the ground lying under that sky.
Be modest now, like a thing
ripened until it is real,
so that he who began it all
can feel you when he reaches for you.
The sentinel
The dairy farm is this old person called land making note of the history of Savannah and sharing its majesty both sad and pleasant with us. It nourishes us with vitality and purpose. It gives us hope and wonder. It gives us peace. It well pleases our four-legged creatures we love so much and, when their time is fulfilled it drinks them in and nourishes the land with their blood and flesh. It breathes life back into us as it whispers the names of our beloved and gone friends in the wind that stirs the leaves of the trees that we fall so in love with.
As we walk through her open fields and through the trails carved between the tangles of briars and small trees the spirits of our beloved pets waft through the air playfully, encircling us, darting between our legs -going to and fro. Their tongues lick our hands and our cheeks. And, when we reach for them they pull away knowing that this is as much as we can embrace them until we lay our heads’ down one last time. Then, they will be ours again for eternity.
the conductors
The dairy farm is very special to me. And, I know that it is very special to many, many more. How many pets have been laid to rest at the dairy farm? I do not know. Maccabee has two companion on either side of him. One day, Isabella will join him. The grounds of the dairy farm are rich and fertile due to the life force of our beloved pets that have been laid to rest there. This is why I believe that the dairy farm is not only so special but so peaceful. It is like a slice of heaven. Its magical. It is a place that I go to find myself. It is a place that tugs at my heart and feels the ache in my soul and allows me to weep out my sorrow before sending me back to the world with the reassurance that life is good and beautiful. It reminds me that the only way to know joy is to swim in sorrow for a short while. It tells me that it is ok to drench my hands with tears due to heart-break. Through my tears I see the brilliance of the rainbow as the sun warms my heart and introduces me to love again.
a walk on a rainy day
In the last two years since I discovered the dairy farm I have closely known love and sorrow. As my dog, Maccabee enriched the soil of the dairy farm with his flesh I watered it with my tears. I have shed many tears for my dog at the dairy farm and for a love that just did not work out. As I ached and ached for her the dairy farm met me with open arms and held me as only a soothing mother could. Even now, as the memory of her fades further and further into the darkness of my mind the dairy farm comforts me and reminds me that is how life works…the old goes, the new comes -do not fear it! Embrace it!
hiding in the grass
I don’t know how long the dairy farm will be there. Who knows…one day a residential area may reside over our beloved dairy farm. A gas station may one day stand where once the old sentinal oak stood proudly recording the history of man, hiding its wisdom in hardened planks that sink deep into the ground. A postal worker may walk on a sidewalk that has been rolled out over the grave of Maccabee to deliver mail to a young family that lives in a small house a few feet away from where I used to pick blackberries.
blackberries!
The farm will be gone one day just as surely as I will be gone one day. That is the way of things. But, as long as I am alive I will always remember and cherish this wonderful and magical and majestic place that we call the dairy farm. I will carry her in my heart always. And, I will visit her for as many years as she and I are here.
Maccabee & Isabella, June 1, 2009
Mr. Roberd’s, thank you so very much for sharing this beautiful place with us. God bless you, sir! Thank you.
Ok, today after work I cruised over to the dairy farm, parked my car, stretched and ran from there. My run took me up Larkin Ave to Delaware until I reached Bonaventure st and then, I hung a louie. I followed Bonaventure to Mechanics ave to Victory and hung another louie. Running on Victory Drive during 5 o’clock traffic can be bothersome enough without having to hop-scotch through mine fields of shards of glass all over the shoulder of the road while having vff’s strapped to your feet. Then of course, the occasional rock that I landed on while trying to avoid getting run over by a distracted phone-talking soccer mom in a tank-sized suv and, not landing on a sharp piece of broken beer bottle. Whew, I need a beer!
Yeah, That small stretch of Victory from Mechanics ave (where Coach’s Corner is) and the Thunderbolt bridge is quite dicey. Once I get on the Thunderbolt bridge its no problem. The shoulder is quite wide -about four to five feet wide and, you get one of the most spectacular views of the Wilmington River with the fancy boats and the beautiful and expansive marsh. If I’m lucky, I’ll see a dolphin or two cruising the river as millions of seagulls, egrets hang by the piers and docks far below me. Its a pretty steep bridge. Its about the only hill training I’ll get in Savannah until theSavannah River Bridge run this coming December.
5.58 mile run in Thunderbolt
Any way, I always enjoy running the Thunderbolt bridge even if my left calf and right hip were causing me considerable discomfort. I don’t dig discomfort. It gets under my skin and makes me want to Chuck Norris somebody!
The Thunderbolt bridge took me to Armstrong Isle (or whatever that’s called). I did a nice pleasant loop through a peaceful and pretty neighborhood before jumping back into the tumultuous hwy 80. Then it was back over the Thunderbolt bridge and hitting Dogwood Ave on the other side of the bridge and back into my safe home turf. I did one quick loop around the dairy farm, running alongside the Cha Bella garden. Again, I saw a couple of lovely familiar faces at the dairy farm as well as a not so lovely but familiar face of a mastiff looking dog that for some reason just doesn’t like me nor Isabella. I do not understand what is wrong with that dog. I know the owner. She’s a very sweet older lady. I see her hiking at the dairy farm with her dog, Macy, just about every time I go there. And, every time that dog sees Isabella or me it lunges at Isabella and gives me the evil eye. I don’t get it. Maybe, it doesn’t like me because I eat too much garlic. Isabella eats garlic too. Any way, as I ran past Stephanie (that’s the sweet older lady’s name), she held Macy (mastiff-looking cujo dog) tightly. The whole time that dog just glared at me. Evil.
Savannah gnat
Well, I finished my run and stretched for about five minutes before having to run for dear life and dive into my car to avoid getting sucked dry by Savannah gnats. That’s right. Those horrid creatures from the darkest pits of hell have returned to Savannah to suck our souls dry and make our lives miserable during the spring. I really do not like those demonic gnats. Why do they exist? What good do they bring to the world? If we rid the world of these gnats would we throw the entire ecosystem out of whack and cause the universe to implode? My question is, what good are they? What purpose do they serve if not to make our lives miserable during the spring? Ok, back to running.
That’s it. Oh, wildlife inventory:
1 red female cardinal
13 seagulls
1 pelican
1 mocking bird
17 dogs: 1 beagle, 2 dobermans, 1 annoying pomeranian, 1 mean mastiff looking dog named Macy and whatever else
Thanks for taking the time to read my running blog. I’m sorry about the savannah sand gnat rant.
PS: btw, I bought a new running watch the other day because I lost my other one. I’ll tell you about it next time we meet here on the internet on my site..;-)
Gosh, it seems like forever since I last wrote an entry in my running blog. Well, to be honest, I haven’t run much this month. So far this month I’ve logged only 18.33 miles running. That is not good at all. Why am I running so little these days? I want to blame the weather and work and my house hunting but that would just be an excuse(s). Truth be told, its been laziness. I have been very lazy lately…
Actually, I’ve been quite lazy most of this new year. Shame, shame, shame. I can come up with a hundred different excuses as to why my running is not up to par but as you know excuses are like buttholes. Everyone’s got em and they all…you got it – STINK. I have fallen prey to inconveniency. Making time to run has become inconvenient to me due to house hunting, weather conditions, work, other things that just come up. I am a firm believer that we have time for the things that we want to do & have to do and, never enough time for the things we’re not crazy about doing. So, what does that mean? I don’t like running? I love running but it can be a bit strenuous especially, when cold outside or cold and wet and windy. The thought of strain sometimes makes me think twice before stepping outside and going running especially, in adverse weather conditions. What are your thoughts on that?
Any way, I’ve been lazy and it reflects in my running log…bad, bad me. I gotta pull myself out of this rut. How do I do that? I have to make myself do that. I once read that the difference between an overachiever and underachiever is will and determination. I believe that. Why then, do I not live by that? I think that human nature is to be lazy. It seems its just hard-wired into us. What I mean is, that most of us take the path of least resistance. Or, if we achieve a goal we pat ourselves on the back and take a little vacation from our hard endeavor and enjoy the fruits of our labor. Other mammals seem to do that as well. Cats, big and little, wild and domestic are masters at this. A cat will over exert itself to bring down a gazelle or a mouse. And then, it will relish its catch and go to sleep for the next 18 hours. You see what I’m gettin at? Then again, the question begs to be asked, why are some people overachievers and the rest of me, a lazy glutton? Maybe, they’re just freaks of nature, kind of like the X-Men. Who knows?
So, are we like cats? Am I like a cat? Actually, I see myself more like a wolverine…feisty, temperamental, always hungry and usually, just wants to be left alone. Wow, that’s not very appealing is it? Maybe, that’s why I’m still single. Hmm.
my run route in Thunderbolt
Any way, I ran 8.38 miles yesterday in Thunderbolt which is where I live or, I should say, live just on the edge of. My run started at the parking lot of the Bonaventure cemetery and took me up Bonaventure road to Delaware Ave and then to Tennessee where that led me right into the Dairy farm. At the dairy farm I saw a couple of familiar, lovely faces as I reached the end of the narrows and then turned back around and back to Tennessee and continued my run deeper into Thunderbolt. The run took me to a small park and pier on the west side of the Wilmington river and then over the Thunderbolt bridge and to a pier on the east side of the Wilmington river. I then headed back over the bridge and to my car that awaited me anxiously at the parking lot of the Bonaventure cemetery.
Trail at the dairy farm (the narrows)
It was a very good run. It wasn’t a fast run but very enjoyable. I ran in my vff’s with an 8:20 pace and the temperature was a very pleasant 65 although, there were wind gusts of 25mph. I did not have an upset stomach. That was a great thing. If any of you have kept up with my sporadic running blog as of late, you will recall that I’ve battled upset stomachs quite frequently during my runs…no pun intended – “runs” get it? Get it? Never mind.
Well, the weather is turning very nice. A warming trend is coming…I can feel it. More running is in store for me, I foresee it.
In the mean time, here’s yesterday’s wildlife inventory:
Ever woken up with a song in your head and do not know why?
I woke up this morning with Bob Dylan’s “Just like a woman”.
I love this song but have no idea why I woke up with it stuck in my head. Anyway, here it is. Now, you can have this song in your head all day just like me.
This is like our “collective”…we are all attached to one another due to this song: Just Like A Woman
Back by popular demand, how to clean your vff’s.
This video is a bit higher quality than the last one, more professional, more serious.
Your community will thank you for taking these small steps in cleaning your vff’s.
After 30 minutes of soaking in the fizzing water, rinse out and hang to dry.
that’s it!
Your vff’s will be clean enough to put in your mouth and, will smell good too.
Well, I’ve been running with my vibram 5 fingers for a little over three months. In those three months I’ve completed a half marathon in them & have logged 67.67 total miles since I bought them. Contrary to misguided belief I have not gotten any faster. My pace is about twenty seconds slower per mile than it was before I started running with them.
At the start of my vff experience I actually injured myself because I slapped those whacky looking shoes on my feet and shot out like a cannon for my initial run. I spent the next two weeks nursing my right calf. I then took my time building up the strength on my calves and feet and inching up my miles. As previously stated I did the Tybee half marathon in February with a time of 1:43:13. That was a better time than I expected.
The starting line of the Tybee Island half
It is quickly approaching mid-March and I’m exclusively running with my vff’s. My beloved Mizuno’s have been shelved. They sadly watch as I grab my vff’s every afternoon and head out without so much as a second thought of the lonely and neglected Mizunos.
As the Spring kicks in and weather warms up my running usually cranks up a good bit. I’m definitely a warm weather runner. I’ll do good in a global warming world. Where I had said that I wanted to give myself three months to make a good judgment on the vff’s I’ve decided that to be truly fair to this experiment I should go six months with the vff’s and then pass my final judgment on them.
good on hard ground
I love running with the 5fingers but I’m just not doing very well in picking up speed with them. But, to be fair, I’ve not been doing any speed training. And, my running has not been as consistent this year as it has prior years.
You have to be careful where you run with vff’s -that I’ve learned the hard way. Running on concrete or asphalt is fine with vff’s. I have no problems with that. Actually, I kind of like running with my vff’s on the road or on paved paths. And, I feel a great deal of comfort running on hard surfaces like road and paved paths when wearing injinji socks with my vff’s. I picked the wrong color for my injinji socks, though, but I still like them and like how my feet feel with them on while running with the vff’s. You see, the color I chose for my injinji socks (both pairs I bought) are olive green. And, wearing them with my vff’s gives me a “Shrek Feet” look. I’ve had several women tease me about that. And, I have to admit that I do have that “Shrek foot” thing going when I’m wearing my injinjis with my vff’s. But my feet are comfortable -so, I don’t care what people think. I’m happy.
just call me shrek feet
I’m seriously toying with the idea of running a marathon with my vff’s. I don’t know how many people have run a marathon with vff’s but I think that I may be one of the few in Savannah to do so. I just haven’t run into many vff runners in Savannah. During the Tybee half I saw one other vff runner. He was a young guy who looked to be in his twenties.
I have gone running twice at the rails to trails here in Savannah with my vff’s and both times it was a miserable experience due to all of the rocks on the trail. Its impossible not to step on golf ball-sized rocks at the rails when running. It hurts to step on these rocks in conventional running shoes -you can imagine with vff’s. At the bonaventure and greenwich cemeteries the terrain varies from asphalt to soft dirt to hard-packed ground to very rocky. It has been a good place to train with my vff’s. Running at the cemeteries I can say that I’ve hit just about every terrain.
vff imprint
After my half marathon, I had blisters on the balls of both feet. That’s because there was slight friction between skin and rubber. With the injinji socks that disappeared. When its cold, your toes will freeze in vff’s. If your feet get wet when its cold, your toes will go numb. That’s happened to me several times.
I was a religiously devoted heel lander when running. I thought the transition to landing on the balls of my feet would be difficult. I should not have worried about that. Within a quarter mile of my first run with my vff’s my body naturally adapted to landing on the outside balls of my feet. The most difficult part of getting used to running with vff’s has been how it impacts the calves.
The vff’s will give your calves one heck of a workout! I’m starting to get some killer calves. Also, my quadriceps are getting very well-defined. The vff’s will workout your legs…no doubt about it.
Where do I see the vff running craze going? My view is that running with vff’s is going to be limited to a few hardcore runners. I do not think that vff running will become a mainstream thing. The reason I say that is because it takes time to get used to running with vff’s. People just starting to run with them may quickly grow tired of the discomfort you feel on your calves after each run with them when you start off. Advanced, serious runners may not want to change their running routine just to test out the vff’s. These type of runners (the serious ones) are interested in improving on their times and, I do not think that slapping on some vff’s is going to do that -at least not as fast as they would like.
my vff's in grass
I think that the vff’s are for adventurous people who like to try new things and/or are hardcore runners that want a different perspective on running. The vff’s will certainly give you that different perspective. I think that a sub-culture of barefoot runners will grow out of the mainstream running community and those quirky runners will be the vff clad runners.
What does that mean for me and my vff’s? I like em. They have been a pain in the calves getting used to but I like them. I’m actually slower with my vff’s than I am with my conventional running shoes but, what can I say…I like my vff’s.
my vff's are #1
How far will I go with them? Well, I’ve signed up for the NYC 2010 Marathon Lottery. At the end of March I find out if my number is picked. And, if my number is picked I will run the NYC 2010 Marathon in vff’s. After a marathon, then what? I’m an adventuresome guy – I might run an ultra with them. Geez, next year I’m going to climb Kilimanjaro. I might climb to the roof of Africa with my vff’s. Who knows…
I’m at the dairy on a beautiful Sunday morning with Isabella. My vff’d feet are dangling below me as I sit on a concrete wall that crosses the canal that is adjacent to the bonaventure cemetery. There seems to be a symphony of birds taking place at the dairy farm this fine morning. Birds of all sorts chirp away. A red-tail hawk flies overhead as a king fisher skims the surface of the water searching for a fish to eat.
Earlier, I watched as a large school of inch long fish cascaded through the water with sun light capturing some in the school here and there with a brilliant silver reflection.
me and my vff's dangling off the wall that crosses the canal
Three crows just flew overhead. I only noticed them because of their reflection on the water as they flew overhead. To the trees on my right (where Bonaventure cemetery is) a flock of robins chirps away delightfully. On the trees to my left, little greenish birds dart back and forth from limb to limb as a serious mocking bird warily watches them. The king fisher continues to do his (or her) thing, looking for fresh fish but not fully focused on the task at hand because I’m a distraction that it would rather stay away from.
Enjoying the dairy farm with Rilke
Isabella is basking in the sun after a quick dip in the canal. Life is good.
Its so beautiful and peaceful here today. A slight breeze wafts through carrying the first hints of spring. The temperature is a delightful 68 and not a cloud in the sky to hold back the warmth of the sun on the back of my neck. I feel as I’ve died and gone to heaven… Perhaps.
A happy Isabella after a dip in the canal
The dairy farm is a magical place. Any minute now I expect Maccabee to appear in all his regality…only to shed it off quickly the moment he sees me and Isabella and bursts happily into my waiting arms. Maccabee’s spirit is here. I feel its warmth wash over my heart.
The love I once had, I see her too. No inhibitions any longer. Its our time.
My favorite Rilke poem
Life is good.
peace,
dh
03/07/2010
There is a king fisher in this pic. its hard to make out
