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Remberances & Emotions

It must be noted that yesterday marked the 39th Anniversary of one of the most tragic events to befall an academy of higher education. Yesterday, on May 4th, the tragic unfolding of social and political events lead to the shootings at Kent State University occurred. This event was a horrific event spawned by political unrest, frayed nerves, miscommunication, and governmental scare tactics. A good summary of this tragedy can be seen here, but for a more complete look at the events that was written in the era itself (and therefore not an impression altered through the passage of time), I would strongly recommend the excellent synopsis offered by Michener. Although not completely bias-free, his writing represents the best "journalistic" synopsis of the events I have ever found.

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Emotionally, I am feeling nominally "even-keeled" at the moment. I feel a significant weight has been lifted off my shoulders by having the semester conclude, and I feel a sense of hope at being able to wrangle my emotions and my mind into a submission so as to direct myself to accomplish things of merit.

Saturday marked the date my wife and I began a 30-day experience with a vegan food plan. I am a willing participant, although I am very happy with my prior diet as well. This 30 day change to a true vegan diet was brought about by my wife's concerns about the risk of acquiring diabetes (which runs rampant in her family). The book she is basing this 30-day food plan upon is House et. al's 2008 book "The 30 Day Diabetes Miracle". The foods are terrific, and we have found many new recipes we will incorporate even after the 30 days. Since I typically only eat meat perhaps 2-3 meals a week under normal circumstances, the vegetarian part is pretty easy. The loss of eggs is also easy as I do not eat eggs often. The most difficult part for me in terms of the food we eat is due to the absence of dairy. I miss my yogurt and ice cream. The second part that is a bit of a challenge is that the meal structure (to help diminish diabetes risk) has us eating most of our food at breakfast and lunch, with dinner being VERY small and with no evening snack. For me, this topsy-turvy pattern of eating (I am used to medium sized breakfasts and lunches, a large dinner, and a snack.) is tough for me. But I am persevering and doing well. I am very willing to participate in this healthy eating plan to support my wife as she strives to accomplish an important goal for her. It should make my own efforts to continue to get more trim easier to accomplish as well. The food at breakfast and lunch is excellent, and fortunately, my pipe tobacco, being a leaf, still fits into the vegan diet (grin).

PipeTobacco