What is Prayer?

     Imagine a time before mankind; a time when there were no top bananas, no egomaniacs, no whiney humanoids; a time when the Creator could enjoy his “garden” planet alone.

     Consider conditions now. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, one Deity or another, is called upon by millions of people all at once making every imaginable request from healing, to wealth.

     Does anyone consider this a reasonable scenario for either a Deity or mankind? Why would anyone create these conditions.

     What is Prayer? Before early man knew a God, did he pray?

     Prayer is generally accepted as the unique method humans use to communicate with Deities. Although this communication is generally a one-way street, there are some who claim to have a 2-way communication with Deities, but their only evidence for this is their word.

     Prayer takes many forms. Some prayers require ritualistic and prescribed positions at specific times of the day, while others take the form of a reverent and private utterance by individuals at any time of the day or night. Still others are very casual, without any formality, and take the form of a conversation with a friend. The various form prayers take is usually influenced by the culture or religion in which it is taught.

     There was no prayer until the fears and superstitions of conscious mankind encountered invisible forces which were causing unexplained and mysterious events affecting their existence. These mysterious and harassing events took many forms such as lightening, erupting volcanoes, earthquakes, floods, fire, unexplained deaths of members of the tribe, etc., were all events early man could not explain or predict and were attributed to the actions of unseen forces. Eventually these unseen forces were identified as Deities and given appropriate names such as, rain God, fire God, underworld God, God of thunder, etc. Attempts were made to communicate with these Gods for mercy, for help, for protection from enemies, etc., and these unique communication supplications eventually became known as prayers.

     The unseen forces, “Deities,” soon became associated with visible and earthly objects. A tree that managed to survive a lightning strike became considered as “sacred.” Animals also became associated with Deities as sacred, i.e., sacred cows, sacred monkeys, sacred eagles, etc. Even some people took on an air of sacredness.  Statues and images of all kinds were created depicting not only some Deities, but most if not all of the sacred objects as well.  Eventually, even the sacred objects were worshiped in the same manner as the Deities. Today, sacred objects are worshiped and prayed to in every culture in the world. Every religious and many secular buildings contain images of sacred objects that are used in worship and prayer.

     It’s impossible to ever know what the percentage of prayers answered in the manner requested by the petitioner, versus the percentage of prayers unanswered since the beginning of mankind. Based on personal experience it would be fairly reasonable to say many more prayers have been unanswered than answered in accordance with the petitioner’s request. I believe this has been the case from the beginning of the first prayers uttered by mankind. Because Deities have not granted the requests of mankind very often, mankind incorporated a very human trait with his prayer to help the Gods listen and make decisions in man’s favor; and that was to sweeten the request with gifts. Gifts began accompanying all prayers to gain favorable results. The types of early gifts would have been the same kind of gifts that might have been exchanged or given to other members of the tribe; a favorite bauble, a prized tool, a pet animal, a collection of feathers, etc.

     As cultures became more sophisticated, highly specialized individuals who were deemed to have a unique relationship with Deities were elevated to the position of religious leader. These medicine men, witchdoctors, shaman, priests, etc. were first recognized as having magical healing powers and were the natural inheritors of the later position of religious leader as well. They were eventually the final authority for setting the rules for all religious practices, including prayers, gifts and/or sacrifices, etc., offered to the Gods. These tribal religious leaders opened up a whole new chapter in attempts to get the attention and favorable responses from their Deities. Gifts and sacrifices became somewhat related to the seriousness of the supplications and requests being made.

     Mankind had always been a hunter and warrior. Killing game for food had taught mankind about early anatomy and the stages of dying of a mortal wound by observation. This same knowledge was applied to deaths of enemies as the results of battle.

     When an animal or human was mortally wounded, its blood was spilled out of the body and the victim became dead. Therefore, the strength and life of the victim was thought to be contained in the blood that was drained from the body. For many cultures it became a practice that the hunter or the victors in battle would be strengthened by consuming the blood of the animal or human that had been dispatched. From these discoveries, gifts and sacrifices to the Gods began to include the blood of animals, human enemies, virgins, babies, etc., anything the tribal religious leader decided was necessary to please their Gods.

     Today, most of the practices of animal or human sacrifice have been discontinued. Now, gifts or sacrifices accompanying prayer requests involve making a deal such as, “if God would grant me this request, I will go to church every Sunday.”, or, “If you crawl on your knees to the top of this sacred pyramid then pray to God, he will hear and grant your request.”, or, “If God would help us win this football game, I will never say a swear word again.”

     Until the Jewish Temple was destroyed in Jerusalem in 70 AD, animal sacrifices were practiced for the atonement of sins and the adoration of God. During Jewish high holy days, the priests who officiated at the alter of animal sacrifices were knee deep in animal blood. The temple in Jerusalem was the only place Jewish sacrifices could be made. When the temple was destroyed, the Jews lost their only official and approved place to make sacrifices. If, and when, the temple is rebuilt, Orthodox Jews will again resume animal sacrifices. Temple furniture, altars and accoutrements have been constructed according to Jewish law and are now awaiting the restoration of their temple.

     In the final analysis, it would appear that prayer in all of its variations of attempts to communicate with a God, has been initiated by the superstitions and ignorance of early mankind. Claims made by human beings of hearing God’s voice or words have wreaked more havoc and dissention among men than any Deity would create. I believe that if the creator of the universe wanted to make his will and wishes known to mankind, he certainly has the ability to do so in a manner that could not, and would not, be misconstrued or mistaken. The fact that there are more than 38,000 Christian denominations, cults, or sects, and easily as many non-Christian cultures in the world today, confirms my suspicions that God did not originate the Holy message that mankind thought he had received.

     Prayer is, and has become, an empathetic exercise, and expression of courage and sympathy, for and between, people. Persons in distress are comforted in the knowledge that other persons are praying for them. Personal prayer produces the same results as personal meditation; an attitude of calm and mental objectivity; solutions to problems are mentally explored during an attitude of prayer; acceptance of adverse conditions over which we have no control is softened; visions of well-being are imagined and acted upon, etc. Prayer produces the release of personal control and anxiety over situations we are powerless to change.

     Prayer has become as ingrained in our human character as the ability to verbalize thoughts. It has been our only means of dealing with the unknown and the unknowable. Until such time as we know all there is to know about ourselves and our universe, we shall rely upon conversation with the one who knows all of the answers in the hope that he will take care of us now, and in the future.

o

A Motherless Child

     A mother prepared an area for the baby she was about to deliver. She collected and placed enough food in the area for the baby to live on until she became an adult. After all preparations had been completed, she placed the baby in the midst of all of the food she had collected, then departed, sealing the space to protect the baby. She would never see the baby again. The baby would grow to adulthood in this sealed space before leaving to begin her own life. When she left her protected childhood space, she would possess all of the knowledge and skills her mother had, and would know where to find food, a mate, and how to prepare for her own babies.

     Sounds like science fiction, some futuristic method of child rearing. How could a mother ever consent to this kind of scenario? Well, there are many mothers who follow this same pattern. I’ve had the privilege of observing and witnessing one part of the procreation of a motherless child.

     I was sitting on a ground level pipe rack on a bright, summer day in a petrochemical plant site in Brownsville. My official duty at the time was “fire watch” for a group of maintenance men who were welding and fabricating new pipe in the rack.

     As I was monitoring the work being done, I noticed a black ground wasp, about 2 inches in length, flying in what appeared to be a search pattern very low to the ground, near where I was seated. She finally landed between my feet and began circling in a random pattern as if she was intent on locating something. The texture of the ground was a dirt and caliche mixture. She soon stopped and began digging in a spot that was composed of more dirt than pebbles.

     Her front legs were busily scraping at the ground in front of her, while her back legs were kicking the dirt and dust back and away from the hole she had begun. As the hole became deeper, she would dig a little, then back up kicking the dirt out of the hole and out of the way. Deeper and deeper she continued digging for approximately 20 minutes. During the process of excavation, she would emerge frequently to circle the immediate area of her mining site before continuing with her task.

     After she had apparently prepared the hole to her satisfaction, she again circled around the entrance a few times, then selected a pebble and placed it over the entrance of the hole. She then flew off in the direction of about 10 acres of mesquite brush and tall grass and weeds just outside of the plant site perimeter fence, about 50 yards away.

     She was gone for about 10 minutes before returning with a plump green caterpillar about half her size. She returned to almost the very spot of her excavation. She laid the caterpillar down and began circling the area in search of the hole she had dug. Within seconds, she located the pebble, removed it, then proceeded to carry the caterpillar down into the hole. She almost immediately exited the hole, circled the area for a second, picked up the same pebble and placed it over the hole, then flew off again.

     I didn’t think she had remained inside with the caterpillar long enough to lay an egg, so after she left and while she was gone, I rearranged the appearance of the area around her soon to be nursery. I moved some stones around and scuffed up the area being careful to leave the pebble covering her nursery undisturbed.

     About 15 minutes later she returned with a spider almost as large as she was. She laid it down near my feet and proceeded to survey the area. She made a few rounds of the space between my feet and soon located the pebble covering her den. She picked up the spider and carried it down the hole again, head first. She soon emerged, made a few circles around the entrance, then backed down into the hole. It was then that I realized that she was in the process of laying an egg. She had secured enough food for the baby to reach the pupa stage before emerging on its own as an adult.

     When she emerged and left for the last time, she again placed the pebble over the entrance and began scraping and kicking dust and dirt over the pebble to secure it. She inspected the covered site for one last time, then flew off to repeat the process again for her next baby. She would do this for approximately a dozen babies before her life ended. She would never know any of her babies, nor would the babies ever know their mother. All of her babies would have inherited their mother’s instincts and knowledge of how to live without any instruction from her.

     Many species of insects, birds, and animals have no relation with their prodigy. The young grow up with instincts that have been programmed into their genes without instruction from a parent or other adult.

     As humans, we have trouble understanding this kind of relationship with offspring – then at times, wish child rearing were more like the wasp or butterfly. The offspring of many species as well as humans require a long period of child rearing to pass on instructions for not only survival, but for achieving some measure of quality of life. In this child rearing we find more delight and pleasure, than pain; more reward and fun, than work.

And these we call, grandchildren.

A Monotheistic Diety

What do we know about the nature of the Judeo/Christian Deity?

Biblically described as: He, Yahweh, loving, jealous, forgiving, patient, omnipotent, eternal, merciful, angry, vengeful, truthful, peaceful, light, mighty, terrible, changeless, wisdom, spirit, all knowing, creator, etc.

Where did this information come from?

From the collection of ancient texts used to compile the Old & New Testament bible by a series of Bishop’s Councils first convened in Nicea in Bithynia (Turkey), by the Roman Emperor Constantine I, approximately 1,686 years ago (325 AD). Many ancient texts were submitted to be considered for inclusion in the final group of texts for biblical authority, but only a few of these texts were selected.

How old are the earliest written texts regarding the existence and character of the Judeo/Christian Deity?

The oldest texts were written approximately 2,400 years ago (600 BCE) when Hebrew elders began writing the first books of the Old Testament while in captivity in Babylon. The stories of Abraham were transitioned from oral to written form approximately 800 years after his death; and approximately 200 years after Moses and the exodus event (authors unknown). The gospels of the New Testament were transitioned from oral to written form approximately 40 to 150 years after the disappearance of Jesus (authors unknown).

How long has Modern Man populated this planet in tribes, clans, villages, or cultures?

Lucy is the common name of AL 288-1, is composed of several hundred pieces of bone representing about 40% of the skeleton of an individual Australopithecus afarensis. The specimen was discovered in 1974 at Hadar in the Awash Valley of Ethiopia's Afar Depression. Although Lucy is estimated to have lived 3.2 million years ago, it is generally accepted that the ancestors of modern humans originated about 200,000 years ago in the Middle Paleolithic period in southern Africa. By 70,000 years ago, humans had migrated out of Africa and began colonizing the entire planet. They spread to Eurasia and Oceania 40,000 years ago, and reached the Americas by 14,500 years ago. During the Abraham event, the world was populated by approximately 25 million people in various stages of cultural development.

How old is the Monotheistic Judeo/Christian Deity?

There is no written record of a Monotheistic Judeo/Christian God existing prior to the Biblical story of Abraham. The Monotheistic Judeo/Christian God has only been in existence for the past 3000 years. God and the Jewish nation came into existence at the same time in the story of Abraham. Christianity came into existence as an offshoot of Judaism and has continued the theology of a Monotheistic Deity which became expanded into a Trinity. The Christian church was born with the compiling and selection of written materials to be included in the New Testament Bible by the many Councils of Bishops who made decisions about how the first Roman churches would be organized and supported by authority. Weekly services for the proletariat became a necessary practice in order to reinforce the new doctrine and theology of “the Church.” This frequently assembled practice has permeated the Christian culture with continued mythological growth.

How does a God Myth continue to grow?

Prior to the existence of a Monotheistic Judeo/Christian God, there existed a wide array of Gods. Gods who would or could meet the particular superstitions of the people. Families often had several Gods in the form of small replicas for each member of the family. Whenever people traveled or moved it was necessary to carry these Gods with them. Choices of Gods were influenced by local cultural practices as well as geographical locations. How effective these Gods were depended upon the belief in what each God could do for you. In about 1000 BCE, the Monotheistic Judeo/Christian God was introduced as the Alpha God who was capable of being or doing everything, and even more, than any of the lesser Gods could be, or do. There was no physical replica of this Alpha God to carry around. The belief that he was everywhere made it all the more convenient to adopt this new God.

It was a common belief that this Alpha God created first man from the material of the earth and woman from his rib several million years ago; then approximately 2000 years ago the Alpha God sired a son with a human virgin female. It was also believed that the son of the Alpha God possessed some of the same powers as his father. Since it had been a long held belief that humans possessed a spirit that departed from the body upon death and made its way to an afterlife, it also held that the son of the Alpha God, being born of a human female, also had a spirit. However, the spirit of the son of the Alpha God did not follow the normal protocol of the times. Instead, it was believed that his spirit, also possessing the same powers as the Alpha God, remained and continued to exist among men. Thus was born the unique and Holy Trinity.

Today, the images, replicas, and idols of the many Gods still exist. Even the Alpha God has obtained a foothold in several cultures under many different names. How much power these Gods possess is measured by the devotion of their believers. No proof, facts, or corroborating evidence is required of the Gods existence or power, only a steady diet of myths, legends and traditions are needed to sustain a belief system in the Gods.

Belief is a multifaceted concept which does not necessarily require a basis in fact or truth.

Belief is the psychological state in which an individual holds a proposition or premise to be true.

o

Honey! You don't Want To Know

A few years ago, during a time when I was being accused of not hearing conversations of family and friends, and when my practiced façade of smiling and nodding occasionally was not convincing anyone that I had been following the conversation, and I had been tragically exposed when asked my opinion of a fish listed on the menu, and I answered that I had never participated on a panty raid in any sorority house, I was pressured into considering augmentation of my natural hearing with devices that conjured up Dumbo size ear attachments or pointy ears resembling Dr. Spock.

After a cursory investigation of devices and prices, I selected a super-duper device that had been advertised on TV, for a trial hearing run. For the investment of $19.99, I received a device that protruded out of the side of my head resembling a fender skirt of my dechromed, 1950, Bellaire Chevrolet, 2-door Hardtop, with dual carbs, dual point plate, split exhaust manifold and 2” lowering blocks in the rear springs. The device had been advertised to enable the wearer to hear conversations of persons as far away as 2 blocks.

The device worked almost as well as it had been advertised, except, when trying to listen to distant conversations, they were almost obliterated by all of the sounds in between.

And this was the beginning of a traumatizing experience from which I will probably never overcome.

While on a test outing to hear as many cryptic conversations as I could find, I decided to go out into the countryside for an experimental hearing test. I thought I might hear sounds of nature that I had been missing over the past few years, and I did. Birds I could not recognize; insects I had not heard before; frogs that echoed with a threatening bass voice; etc.

That’s when I heard a strange sound coming from the direction of several beehives. As I approached the hives with caution, the sound became increasingly definable. It sounded like a city full of people retching their guts out. I had never heard such a sound before, mostly because I had never been this close to a beehive with a super-duper hearing aid.

After I arrived home I began to research the “life of bees.” The part about flying from flower to flower to collect nectar, that everyone knows about did not shed any light on the sounds coming from inside the hive. Finally, I got to the honey part of the bee’s life. It described in vivid detail how the nectar, and some pollen, is ingested by the worker bees of the hive and partially digested. It is then regurgitated and stored into cells of the honeycomb as food for the hive inhabitants, workers, nursery attendants, growing larva, and all. Surpluses are accumulated to last them through the winter months when there are no flowers to harvest.

When I read that honey is nothing but bee puke, I almost did. I liked honey, but I really did not intend to find out how it was produced. I had used honey quite liberally on and in everything requiring a little sweetening. If it had not been for the historical documentation of man’s consuming and use of honey as a natural medicinal poultice, and mummification agent for thousands of years, I would have sworn off of honey for life. I still get a little quizzy when I think of eating honey. I try to use only homogenized honey products instead of the more popular and less expensive raw honey.

It is amazing that honey is the only human food product that does not need refrigeration or preservatives. There are caves in Spain with 8,000 year old cave paintings of people gathering honey. There are birds on at least 2 continents that have developed symbiotic relationships with man and honey badgers. The birds locate bee hives and alert the honey harvesters and badgers with their calls, then lead them to the hive. The birds are not as interested in the honey as they are in the bee larva contained in the nursery combs.

As an amateur naturalist, I still enjoy observing nature in action, foraging, hunting, taking care of the juveniles, etc. I even enjoy bees and the knowledge of their life and products, I just don’t wear my super-duper hearing device near the beehives anymore. I found out more than I wanted to know.

And, now, so have you.

P.S. -- You don't EVEN want to know how eggs are produced!!!!!

o

He probably isn't where you think He is.

Where Is God?

     The world's major religions developed during a period of transition between oral traditions of epic events and the development of written texts.

     Most, if not all, stories were embellished for purposes of persuasion and perpetuity. The duration of a story was dependent upon the memory and skills of the teller, as well as the interests of the hearer.

By the time these stories were written into history, they had little resemblance to the original events and were shaped to meet the interests and understanding of the tellers and scribes who recorded them.

     Yet, religious adherents today easily approach the point of combat in defense of their understanding or belief in a particular theology.

     Today there are an estimated 38,000 Christian sects or denominations in the world. All of which base their "theological truth" on one or more versions of the same New Testament. Like wise, there are a number of varied interpretations and philosophies among adherents of Judaism or Islamic faiths based on their own common books of religious law.

     Most of these divisions in religious truths are attributable to geographical locations, whether it is by race, country, village, tribe, or part of town. A person raised in Alabama is more likely to be associated with a Western style Christianity; where as a person born in Iran will likely become an adherent of Islam. Their religious experiences are acquired by cultural influences, rather than conscious choices of truth.

     Today, millions of dollars and immeasurable energies are spent to evangelize or proselytize others to our beliefs. Multiple theologies that have been declared by the many sects and denominations as the "real" truth.

Eventually one has to ask, are these the results intended by a benevolent Creator? Or is this the result of human attempts to perpetuate a particular ideology?

     When you weigh the human desires for religious truths against the reality of our existence as a micro-dot in the space of billions of galaxies and even more planets, where is God? In the measure of time, our whole organic existence on this planet isn't even a tick's (or tock's) length or speck on the celestial clock.

We and every living and non-living thing on and in this island planet is made of material produced by the death of stars. What and who we are has been shaped by the circumstances and events of this planet. This planet was not created to suit our life forms.

     As products of this planet, we possess the same basic physical traits and behavior as every other animal. Two eyes, 2 ears, 1 mouth, 4 limbs, oxygen dependent, experience hunger, seek safety, feel pain, procreated by male and female, mortality, etc. As humans, which are but one notch above the animals, we have developed additional philosophies that we have honed and perfected over hundreds of years; immortality in a reward based after life.

     In the time before there were any religions or gods, survival fears fostered superstitions to answer the unknown and uncontrolled events in our world and were attributed to mystical forces of good or evil. Today, although our well developed sciences have answered most questions about our past, present and future, there is still a significant element of our behavior that clings to many perpetuated superstitions.

     Conclusion:   God exists in the mind of man.                    KC 1/2012 

A Genesis of Gods

     Every culture has evolved slowly over the past 100,000 years, through many of the same paths. Very early man did not know a deity. They learned the art of survival and how to deal with unknown natural phenomena in the school of hard knocks. Fears and superstitions controlled most of their lives. They began to attribute mysterious events to invisible forces who seemed preoccupied by surprising human beings with experiences they could not understand.

     After a few thousand years, and lacking any tools to determine otherwise, mankind began giving these unseen powers names related to their specific personalities. Some unseen powers seemed to control fire, some seemed to control lightning, some seemed to control the effects of rain and water, etc. By observing the behavior of these many elements controlled by unseen powers over the years, they began to piece together the probable risks of each. When things went bad, it was assumed that the unseen power was angry. When things went well, it was assumed that the unseen power was happy. It didn’t take very many years until humans began to associate their own behavior with the good and bad times exhibited by the unseen powers and attempted to influence them to avoid the bad times.

     This same behavior can be found in practices today; i.e., some sports participants use the same rationale as ancestors of 30,000 years ago. When on a winning streak, they sometimes wear the same clothing or eat the same foods whenever competing in the hopes that this behavior will bring them luck, or appease the unseen powers for continued wins. Go figure!

     Eventually, attempts to appease the unseen powers and keep them in a happy mood included offering them gifts. The type of gifts depended on the name of the unseen power and probably included such things as fruits, grains, or a cherished bauble. As the unseen powers continued to behave occasionally in an angry mood, these simple gifts became more serious until they included the sacrifice of animals or humans.

     This is where the Biblical saga begins. Early legendary figures such as Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Moses, etc. all were in the habit of making animal sacrifices on an altar to appease their monotheistic unseen power and as atonement for disobedience, or to honor their God. Sacrifices of the Hebrew culture varied from agricultural products, to birds, to animals, depending upon the resources of the persons making the atonement sacrifice, but only the Temple priests were allowed to slay the animals used in sacrifice and place sacrifices on the altar.

     Hebrew sacrifices could only be made on the Temple altar in Jerusalem. When the Temple was destroyed in 70 CE, sacrifices could no longer be made. If, and when, the Temple is rebuilt, Orthodox Jews will resume the practice of altar sacrifices according to ancient tradition handed down through more than 8,000 years.

     When Christianity came into existence, the philosophy of sacrifice was continued as atonement for disobedience. Jesus’ death became the ultimate sacrifice for all of Christianity. Today, when communion is served, the elements of bread and wine represent the symbolic body and blood of a sacrifice for the forgiveness of disobedience, or in remembrance of the one who was sacrificed.

     In an age when there are few natural phenomena that we cannot explain, unlike 10,000 years ago, we still practice rituals for keeping the Gods happy in order to avoid their potential wrath, and for this obedience we expect a reward of spiritual immortality in return. Today, we have a huge collection of knowledge about the world we live in as well as the universe surrounding us. We know the awesomeness of creation and generally attribute it to a creator. Yet, we continue to acknowledge this creation through rituals that were developed by superstitions out of fear and ignorance.

     Early man had no concept of the physical nature of the world he lived in. Only in the last 100 years has our knowledge been accelerating by enormous strides in the fields of science and mechanics. We now know that everything in and on this planet, including all life forms, is composed of elements (atoms) that were created in the death of stars billions of years before us. And, that these elements are eternal. Atoms do not die; for all intents and purposes they exist forever. We (all life forms) do not, but the material of which we are made, does.

     The atomic composition of our brain produces neural energy resulting in the creation of thought, visions, imagining, creativity, memory, etc., which are not confined by the physical materials of which we are made. These neural products reflect our character, experience, and knowledge. When our bodies expire, the neural generation of these reflections cease. Our bodies decompose, releasing the elements of our physical composition back into the atmosphere to be used again. Our atoms are recycled into new life. Our thoughts, visions, imagining, creativity, memory, etc., continue to exist only in the minds of people who knew and remember us.

     With today’s archives of knowledge, why are we continuing to practice religious rituals that are based on superstitions and ignorance in the acknowledgment of our existence?

     What would happen to humanity if it were released from the shackles of ancient superstitions and acknowledged a creator for what he/she IS, or has done? Would this in any way diminish the nature of a creator?

-- o  --

Boiled Egg

How hard is it to make Hard-boiled eggs?

You put some eggs in a pan, you add water to cover, you boil them for 10 to 15 minutes, you cool them down in cool water, you peel and use.

Sounds complicated so I decided to consult with my now primary brain (google) to find a recipe on how to boil the perfect egg.

The one I followed had an additional step which I had never tried before:

“After allowing the eggs to sit in the boiled water for 12 to 15 minutes, drain the hot water from the pan and before starting to cool them with running cold water or adding ice to the pan, shake the pan vigorously to break the shells of the boiled eggs which will allow the the eggs to cool faster and make them easier to peel”

After draining the hot water I restored the lid and gave the pan a vigorous shake.

The recipe did not include a chart to measure how “vigorously” this step was to be.

When I removed the lid of the pan to begin adding cool water, I found the eggs had turned into egg salad, which is okay, but it included all of the shells in little pieces.

In the future, I will be leaving this step out and reverting back to the “tap the eggs on the counter” to break the shells and separate them from the object of my affection.

New steps in recipes aren’t always meant to be followed by everyone, sometimes they are meant for the daintier cooks only.

Until next time

KC

The world has finally come to this, blogs filled with gas produced by anyone who has an opinion, but no pot to put it in. Is this a “social network” without any medication?

I thought FB was a wasteland where brain farts ended up on a video screen. Now they (we) can pass gas in our own pages in Blogs. Wow!

How many Bloggers are there? How many can there be? Do we exchange Blogs?

Since this is my first attempt to insert a post into the sands of this wasteland, I shall confine by thoughts to a somewhat neutral vent without the corruption of either politics or religion. This may leave only weather as a subject which either needs to be changed in several places, or relief from extremes in others.

Future posts will include comments on current events, science, religion, politics, and an endless range of subjects yet to be digested, as the spirit inspires me to do. I have no idea how frequent these emissions will be at this time. Although regularity is said to be important to health, I don’t know how that would apply to this venue.

Until next time,

KC

PS: the embedded links are not mine. Someone or something is embedding this crap after I post. If anyone knows how to prevent this from happening, I'd appreciate the information.