Tenebrae, the darkness and the shadow

Tonight is the eve of Good Friday.  Tonight, I will attend my church's Tenebrae service.  Tenebrae, Latin for darkness or shadow.  It is a most somber event, yet in truth ("What is truth?", I hear Pilate say), it is the core of the entire Passion.  For without the darkness, we would not have the Light.

Ever since childhood, even before I believed, I have been fascinated with the last week of Christ's life, the Passion Week.  The interplay between Jesus and the Apostles, Judas, between Jesus and Pilate.  For Pilate was afraid--fearing more for his own life under Tiberius (and his Praetorian Prefects) if he allowed an insurrection in Judea.  He feared recall to Rome, and probable execution.

During the all too brief time Jesus is before Pilate, Pilate tries passing responsibility to Herod, and when that fails, he tries to get the rowdy crowd to allow Jesus to be released for Passover.  He fails here too, as the crowd is mostly the Sanhedrin's own mob.  Eventually, in order to appease his own feelings of guilt at crucifying an innocent man, he washes his hands (literally) of the affair.

Pilate was eventually recalled to Rome, at the same time as Tiberius's death, and the installation of Caligula.  Historical reports indicate Pilate committed suicide (like Judas, but for different reasons) in the early part of Caligula's brief reign.

I think sometimes, that my interest in the Passion, was God's way of giving me a gentle pop upside the head, saying, ” Hey!  Pay attention!  This IS important.  There will be a quiz, and it is pass-fail.”  It just took me a long time to finally see the Light.

Random 5 Fact Friday 3/29

Today's Random 5 Fact Friday:

1.  Wednesday night's full moon was gorgeous!  It looked like a big fat orange hanging in the sky just after dark.

2.  Patience pays off this week, with a number of purchases of "unobtanium" items.  It pays to pay attention to those "In Stock Now" email alerts!

3.  My pulled hamstring from last week's dirt moving, seems to have healed.  Last night's bike ride was uneventful.

4.  Roasting coffee beans at home smells bad, but oh my, the resulting coffee is SO much better than anything you can buy in the stores!

5. The Monkeys are starting to learn Spanish, with a CD set, The Learnables.  So far it is interesting, and bits of my own ancient Spanish is coming back to me.  Now that's scary!

Soup! Food for a chilly day.

Yesterday was not a particularly good day if one has planned outdoor activities.  With temps hovering in the upper 40's, and rain falling heavily (with hail along the 50mi route 3 times!), Dave decided discretion was the better part of valor, and declined to ride the Ataxia Ride in Denton.  He was already cold & wet just from crossing the parking lot--and that's in his good cold weather/rain gear for cycling even.

Knowing this (ahh...text messages), the cunning plan was to make soup for dinner.  Since our friend and regular Saturday evening guest and cohort in dining  agreed with me, he brought the accessory food items, and I made soup.  The choice was Barley Beef Soup.

I got this recipe from Dave's mom, back in 2011.  It cooks up quite nicely--part soup, and part stew almost.  The barley provides a lovely texture, and cooked long enough, even the toughest beef is tender.  All the big people had second helpings, and the Monkeys had a full bowl each (gotta save room for cherry cobbler!)

Barley Beef Soup

1 diced chuck roast
2 C chopped carrots
2 C chopped celery
2 T cider vinegar
1 large onion diced
2-4 med-large potatoes diced (I leave the skin on)
3-4 large spoonfuls of Better Than Bouillon mix
1 t fresh ground pepper
Salt to taste
2 bay leaves (or, 1 1/2 T Penzey's  Bavarian Seasoning)
1/2 C pearled barley
1/2 t thyme (if you don't use the Penzey's Bavarian )
1 t dried dill
If you desire a darker brown color to the soup, add some Kitchen Bouquet.

Water to cover (in my stock pot that was about 6-7 C).

Brown the meat and onion together in the pot.  Add the water, vinegar, and everything else.  Bring to a boil and cover, reducing heat to keep it simmering.  Cook until the meat is tender.  Serve with fresh bread.

Random 5 Fact Friday

So I have decided to play along with the Random 5 Fact Friday meme...

1.  The dogs need their rabies vaccines this month.  I';m not looking forward to taking two large Ridgebacks to a vet that has shop-cats roaming around!    It could turn into a real furball!

2.  The trees and shrubs around here are mostly blooming now, but the drought damage is obvious, sadly.

3.  I'm trying to let all the broken, short bits of my hair grow out, so I can either try a new style, or just get it all pulled back into a ponytail.  But I hate the process, and it looks horrid!

4.  I'm having trouble keeping up my motivation for the exercising and weight loss.  Coming up on year 2, but it is getting difficult.

5.  I'm thinking of getting some Kryptoglow scales for this knife, the BK-11.  I really like the look of the scalloped dark blue set at the bottom of the page, but the glow-scales are cool too!  Which would YOU get?

Texas Chainsaw Massacree!

No, not the bad movie, based loosely on Ed Gein, though I bet most folk who have seen the movie didn't know about Gein.  Which is just as well...

No, I am referring instead to the fun and amusement I get, from encouraging my better half to occasionally buy new tools...Stihl tools!  And the enjoyment I get, hearing him tell of the looks and comments he gets when he tells the guys at the shop, "Well, my wife said to go out and buy myself a new chainsaw!"

Turns out our almost-new Stihl MS170 14" chainsaw is very popular with our friends at the dog rescue ranch.  It is light and easy to run all day, especially for those of us challenged with various forms of arthritis.  We had been thinking of getting a second used saw, and donating it to them.  But used saws were selling for near-new prices, and honestly, you just never know how a used saw was treated.  I would hate to donate a saw that didn't run well, like a Stihl.

So I suggested to Dave that he shop for a new saw for us, and donate our existing saw, which has less than 20hrs on it (if that!), and which we know how it was cared for.  That meant my sweetie got to go Stihl shopping.  Now, what red blooded American man doesn't like shopping for a new chainsaw?

I did the legwork on the phone, checking prices and configurations at the local Stihl dealers.  He got to go buy it.  A Stihl MS180CBE, which comes with the easy-pull start.  It should serve us well.

And here is the lucky guy, with his new saw!

One of his coworkers saw this pic and said "Run!  It's Halloween!", but I favor Arlo'ing things, hence the "Massacree".

Stay safe out there folks, and have fun!