My Billings Gazette

I arrived in Phoenix today for a conference - and had a lovely walk to dinner (ancho beef and mango salad, VERY yummy). On the way back, I took some lovely photos of bougainvilleas - planned to write about being ADVENTUROUS (another of the It's All About You messages, as well as a wonderful presentation that I heard this afternoon on authentic happiness).

However, when I got back to my room, my trusty MacBook was DEAD. And, I am on the first day of a four-state, four-presentation "tour" - with no computer. It's not as bad as it could be - all my data is backed up at home!

So, I have an appointment with the Apple folks tomorrow - and am busy imagining how to get files from home and cope with lousy hotel computers.

Now is the time for all of the balance and calm that I have been practicing at yoga to seriously kick in. It's probably not a time to be particularly adventurous nor a time to do a lot of blogging. I did borrow some bougainvilleas - since this may be my last entry for a while here.    

What really helps motivate me to walk are my dogs, who are my best pals. They keep you honest about walking because when it's time to go, you can't disappoint those little faces. Wendie Malick

Some more cynical folks might think that this entry is merely a ploy to publish a photo of my adorable grandpuppies - Loop (a border collie) on the left and Rok (border collie/Welsh terrier cross) on the right. Honestly, I have to admit that I have been wanting to post a photo of them. That being said, I do have at least three other reasons to talk about Loop and Rok.

1. From a very personal point of view, having a dog around increases MY chances of getting the walking time my body craves. Rok is staying with me ... and I had already walked for an hour and a half BEFORE NOON today.

2. Thinking of dogs as a treadmills with fur can improve fitness on many levels. In most cases, dogs can benefit from an activity upgrade as much as their owners! Getting serious about dog walks is good for humans and pets alike.

My suggestions: If you are both out of the shape you would like to become, start slowly and take it easy. A couple of shorter, vigorous walks (20-30 minutes) may be more effective and easier to fit into your day.

No dog at home? No problem! Walk a friend's furry treadmill (I walk Emma and Maisie for my friend Linda whenever I can) - or contact your local animal shelter or pet rescue group. If you are new to the idea of being a volunteer dog walker, the Heart of the Valley Animal Shelter in Bozeman (MT) has an excellent Dog Walking Volunteer Orientation Handbook. 

 3. Dog walking got me thinking about a popular health message campaign a few years back: IT'S ALL ABOUT YOU.  The campaign had five simple messages ... which I am going to take a look at this week in terms of my own food and fitness progress. The first, and probably my personal favorite, was:

BE ACTIVE: Walk the dog, don't just watch the dog walk.

Thanks to Rok and Loop and Maisie and Emma and Bob and Max ... I have been getting plenty of walk time, on the ranch, in city parks, and down our neighborhood alleys (Rok's fav). THANK YOU all my furry friends! (Sadly, more than a few dogs and their people are not as lucky as I am!)

I clearly remember sitting in the movie theater and thinking - "I would like to do that and I think I can. It would be good for my aging brain and fun too."

Everyone says that getting better at crosswords, like anything else, is all about practice. So I started practicing - a very humbling experience, when you can barely complete a Tuesday LA Times puzzle (they get harder as the week goes on). As I traveled I picked up all kinds of puzzles from all kinds of papers - easy, hard, and the gold standard, The New York Times.

Now, almost three years later, I'm actually pretty good. I'll never be competition materials, but I can easily do through Friday on the LA Times and usually through Thursday on the NY Times. I can even do most Sunday puzzles. All it took, like anything else (yoga poses or food choices) was some discipline and lots of practice.

Until I started working on this entry, I hadn't really made any other connection between crossword puzzles and life. Then I found this quote by Nora Ephron. I'll have to think on it a bit, but it may explain why I sometimes do 5 or 6 crossword puzzles on an intense travel day. A little certainty in the crazy world of airports ...

“What I love about cooking is that after a hard day, there is something comforting about the fact that if you melt butter and add flour and then hot stock, it will get thick! It's a sure thing! It's a sure thing in a world where nothing is sure; it has a mathematical certainty in a world where those of us who long for some kind of certainty are forced to settle for crossword puzzles.”

       

A comment on my last post got me thinking about beets (and a possible way to embrace the red look of the blog format). First, for beet lovers and haters alike, consider these "money beets" from Purdue University's Horticultural Department.

And just to clear up the question about beets coloring urine, it's true and it has a name - beeturia! According to the National Library of Medicine, beets, blackberries, and certain other red foods can indeed turn your urine red. (If you have recently eaten, be thankful that I resisted the temptation to post the photo of different colored urine for your edification!) 

But it's really my own personal beet backstory that I want to discuss. I grew up hating beets. Not to unfairly place blame, I have vague memories of home-pickled beets on my grandmother Beinhorn's farm in the Central Valley of California.

Fortunately, those slightly nauseous, squishy memories have been completely replaced by thoughts of grilled beets at East Rosebud Lake: Slightly crispy and caramelized from some EVOO brushed on their surfaces, soft and sweet on the inside ... sprinkled with a little Maytag blue cheese and maybe a pine nut of two (served with a lovely Shiraz, of course).

How did I overcome my early aversions and embrace beets of all shapes, colors, and sizes? A blind taste testing in Vermont sometime in the early 1970's did the trick!

My now-husband, then a student at Dartmouth College, had a beautiful New England garden - with golden beets as one of the featured vegetables. I tried them, I liked them - but still claimed that I hated the red ones. Challenged one night to a blindfolded taste test of fresh beets of varying colors, I could not tell the difference between red and golden beets.

Moral of the story: Don't let early memories and preconceived notions of food keep you from enjoying the garden of veggie delights. Try out new cooking methods (and do a blind taste test if you have to!). Now is the perfect time to start thinkin' beets - and get a few varieties into your summer garden.

Need some garden motivation and/or compost tips?

• Check out the most recent Eat Right Montana newsletter (written by yours truly) Gardening in Big Sky Country: From Backyards to Community Supported Agriculture
  

How about more specifics on grilling beets?

• Speaking of EVOO, Rachel Ray has a yummy looking recipe for Apricot-Balsamic-Glazed Chicken with Grilled Beets
  

• This Charcoal Roasted Beets and Red Onions recipe adds balsamic vinegar - sounds great!