2 Comments + Posted in: faith

When I was in college, equally immersed in playing Freecell and writing melodramatic poetry, I wrote a free-verse poem comparing Freecell to relationships. Ten years later, I think the comparison holds true even more broadly. Life in general is like Freecell.

In Freecell, you start by assessing the big picture. You take note of where your aces are, what you’ll need to move to get to them, and how risky those moves might be. But you might have a bad hand, so careful planning doesn’t guarantee a win. At other times, the path is clear to you as soon as the cards are dealt. You move quickly and instinctively, without much forethought, and you win in minutes. Still other times, you’re a little reckless and find yourself backed into a corner. With nothing to lose, you make a move that seemed like a guaranteed dead end… and it enables you to win the game.

Sometimes, when you lose, it’s worth re-playing the same hand a few times until you get it right. But it’s also okay to walk away when you’ve given it your best and the game is still unwinnable.

Checking your win-lose stats too often is a bad idea. The fun of the game is in playing, not in your victory percentage.

I find myself thinking about these things often. So, if you too enjoy winding down your afternoons with a few rounds of Freecell, you’re not goofing off. You’re philosophizing. :)

2 Comments + Posted in: reflections

I’m unofficially compiling a muffin cookbook. It’s a slow process, because I’m selective about recipes, especially now that I’m back on the Sparkpeople wagon. They have to be low-calorie (ideally 150 calories or less apiece), decently high in fiber, and somewhat different from the recipes I already have. I tried these this week and am pleased with them!

Low-Calorie Banana Muffins
Adapted from Sparkrecipes. Makes 1 dozen. 80 calories per muffin.

Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
2-3 bananas, mashed or pureed*
¼ cup sugar
1 large egg
½ tsp vanilla extract
¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
Pinch of salt

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease muffin pan or liners.

2. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. (You can also add cinnamon or other spices, substitute flaxseed for some of the flour, or add chopped walnuts.)

3. In another bowl, combine banana, sugar, egg, and vanilla extract. Blend well, then mix in applesauce.

4. Slowly combine dry mixture to wet mixture and blend well.

5. Scoop into muffin cups and bake for 15-20 minutes.

* = The original recipe called for “1 cup mashed banana.” I assumed this meant one banana, but it’s actually two or three. I just kept adding extra applesauce to the batter until it looked right, and everything turned out okay. :)

4 Comments + Posted in: baking

Your real, new self (which is Christ’s and also yours, and yours just because it is His) will not come as long as you are looking for it. It will come when you are looking for Him. Does that sound strange? The same principle holds, you know, for more everyday matters. Even in social life, you will never make a good impression on other people until you stop thinking about what sort of impression you are making. Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original, whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.

The principle runs through all life from top to bottom. Give up yourself, and you will find your real self. Lose your life and you will save it. Submit to death, death of your ambitions and favourite wishes every day and death of your whole body in the end submit with every fibre of your being, and you will find eternal life. Keep back nothing. Nothing that you have not given away will be really yours. Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead. Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in.

— C.S. Lewis
     via lifeingrace

3 Comments + Posted in: quotes

I was only out of town for five days, but it feels like spring arrived here in that short time. I left a more wintry landscape, but came home to find daffodils fully emerged from the ground, hyacinths on their way there, and the pear trees in full bloom. Our 60s temperatures, which still felt chilly to me before, seem perfect after cold Oregon. Spring is apparent in other things, too, like sunshine after I get home from work!

Last night, right at dusk, I looked out the back door and saw an animal in my backyard. It was black and too large to be a squirrel, so I decided I better identify it. After a minute, it moved. Once my brain registered the motion, I realized it was a rabbit!! :D I’ve never witnessed a rabbit in my yard before, and to see a black one – just like my beloved Bun – roaming around is pretty unusual. I watched it for a few minutes, then decided to go out and see if I could get closer to it. I moved slowly, but of course it spooked and hopped across the yard and through a hole in the fence. I watched it cross the neighbor’s driveway before it disappeared.

I set out a carrot, where I first saw the rabbit, in hopes that it’ll come back. It might even be living under my shed! This morning the carrot was still there, but I plan to try one or two more in different locations. Even if the rabbit never comes back, seeing it definitely felt like a blessing of some kind, and a promise of spring. :)

2 Comments + Posted in: nature, spring