It's Christmas, so Who Stole the Merry Christmas?

I traditionally simply say, "Merry Christmas!" and I always experience all those great feeling that traditionally go with that particular cheery salutation, but this year, after having heard in the news about how saying "happy holidays" could land certain folks in Dallas, Texas on "the naughty list", where according to Grinchalert.com, your business isn’t "nice" unless you say "Merry Christmas" - and (here is the last straw) - and fully acknowledge the birth of Jesus Christ, or else!

Well, "damn it," that just changes everything for me this year.

I know who stole "Merry Christmas" from me this year - it was the creator of the Grinchalert.com, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Rev. Robert Jefress, and, of course, the smug congregation that let him get away with the theft.  By the way, y'all,  I suppose they simply forgot the Eighth Commandment reads:  Thou shalt not steal. (Exodus 20:15)

But, my Christmas is not his Christmas to steal, or, their Christmas to steal - and, I suppose the sting of the self-righteous telling me how to celebrate Christmas will numb down a bit.  Now that I think about it, now that I've bitched about it, and "put it on the Internet", I feel better.  So, damn it, "MERRY CHRISTMAS!"

Put some "Oh" in your Okra

Check out the okra seeds and empty pods in front of our "okra totem" out in the Little Red Barn - this pile of seeds was a small part of the loot we have been sharing with friends - we had two large garbage bags of the pods before we removed the seeds.  We should have an even bigger crop next season.  We mostly pickled it with onions, carrots, peppers and garlic, but we cooked some.  It grew so fast, it was hard to keep up with the picking.  If you didn't pick the young pods when they were ready - they would be too large within hours. . .

I grew up in Arkansas, Texas and Missouri loving okra - the way I loved it prepared was to have it cut into "wheels", then breaded with cornmeal, salted and peppered, and deep fried.

The scientific name for okra is "Abelmoschus esculentus" - also it has been labeled as, "Hibiscus esculentus", not only because it looks exactly like the hibiscus; but it is of the Malvaceae or mallow family along with cotton, hollyhock, rose of Sharon - and, the hibiscus

It is known by many names.

When I was in India back in the early 70's it was called Lady Fingers or Bhindi.  To this day, I judge Indian restaurants by whether they have a good Bhindi Bharta on the menu or not - (not to be confused with baingan bharta, which is eggplant).

The list of names grows, depending on what part of the world you are referencing:  Gombo, Okro, Ochro, Okoro, Quimgombo, Kopi Arab, Kacang Bendi, Bhindi (India, as well as in other parts of S. Asia), Bendi (Malaysia), Bamia, Bamya or Bamieh (middle east).

It is called Gumbo (so I am told, here in some parts of the Southern USA).  And, of course, here in SWLA, gumbo is a big deal with or without okra.  Apparently "Gumbo" is Swahili for okra. In Portugal and Angola, okra is known as Quiabo (or the plural: Quiabos), and in Cuba, it's "Quimbombo". In Japan it is known as Okura, in Taiwan it's called "Qiu Kui" (pronounced cheeoh kway), and I understand that Qui Kui is the Mandarin Chinese word for it in Taiwan.

Whatever you call it, I look forward to exploring new OKRA recipes next year.  And, for those of you living close by, Christy and I are happy to share the loot of okra seeds.  We have more than enough for next season.

WE ARE THE WHIRLYBIRD - WE ARE THE FUN

A couple miles outside Milford, Nebraska, and it's getting cold and slippery.

Jim Phillips - The Whirlybird.  Wonder what's up with The Whirlybird?  I've been telling folks, "Remember the song, "WE ARE THE WORLD" - well, "WE ARE THE WHIRLYBIRD"  The Whirlybird is not a place.  It is us.  It is our spirit.  It is our fun.  And, yeah, it is a place, too, a place for fun, and it is being worked on.... more about this later.

Most of my friends know the New Year's Resolution I have been challenging myself to satisfy for many years:  Have more fun in the New Year than I had last year.  And, for those that know me well, they know that is a tall order.

For 2011, I have been inspired to start a blog.  One source of inspiration for writing a blog is a favorite local hero - hero of the woods, and bayous and the wilds of Louisiana and beyond, Bill Fontenot - that is, Mr. William Rodney Fontenot to those of formal persuasion.  Bill not only writes one of my favorite blogs about the natural world he knows so well, Bill is just about finished writing a new rock-musical, ALRITE!, which has original music and is coming soon to Cité Des Arts.  This show is going to be a hoot - and I predict a hit.

Bill and I have been talking about how we live our lives here in Acadiana - about always making it "mo' betta", about stepp'n up the creative process, about looking for opportunities to increase the interactions between artists and writers, about dream'n up collaborations with others, about stretching our imaginations, about becoming more involved in storytelling - and hav'n more fun, of course. . .  Bill blogs about what he knows - I will blog about what I know - about the bringing to fruition my new year's resolution.  I will blog about fun and the things I have fun doing and the things that are fun to be involved in.

Most of my life, the majority of attitudes I have encountered regarding fun are not in sync with my own.  I hear one should keep fun in place, keep it where it belongs in a narrow social context - fun may be a valuable social ingredient, but, fun should not be put too high on the pedestal.  And, it should be put on hold (or at least throttled down) during a crisis; because, fun is mostly frivolous, superficial, shallow.  We must be serious about the crucial things in life.

To me - fun is crucial and fundamental to healthy human life.

Since Christy has become the program director at Cité Des Arts in Lafayette, I see so many more opportunities to crank the volume dial on the fun machine way up to 11 (reference- Spinal Tap) in 2011.  I will use this blog to explore thoughts and share ideas, and, to seek fellow fun-lovers to join me in the pursuit of the fun-da-mentals.

Key word for 2011 blogs:  STORYTELLING
  This is going to be a big year for storytelling.

Oh yeah, a little about "the place" called The Whirlybird - Glen Fields, is working with me - mostly on his own at present - to close in The Whirlybird so we can get all the Whirlybird paraphernalia and stuff safe from mother nature and her critters - hopefully, we will have an "event" before the snow melts.