Nutrition

November 24Nutrition,satsumas

I am thankful for nutrition. Having spent much of my professional life doing testing and research, as well as teaching, in support of nutrition, of course it is a topic close to my heart. I have always been interested in vitamins and theoretically believe in good nutrition when it comes to eating. However, I fall way short in following what I lectured on for so many years. But I do believe that answers to many of our health problems can be solved with proper nutrition, not only eating healthily but eating small amounts of so-called 'nutriceuticals', or those nutrients that can have very positive effects on our health by special mechanisms beyond those of carbs, protein, and fat.

The photo is of a tray of satsumas (I think), which are an orange hybrid. They are in the just beginning to ripen stage. I enjoy fruits but have a special place in my heart for vitamin C, as much of my professional career involved working with it. Vitamin C is interesting, because humans are one of the few mammals that has lost the ability to synthesize it. Therefore, I wrote this poem:

vitamin c

swimming around

in the mirky mire

the fish sprouted legs

and crawled onto the land of fire

and man emerged

certainly a marvel of evolution

to use his opposable thumb

to think with his cortex

and begin a great revolution

but of all the wonderful wonders

of that great creation

oh how could this be

man had just about everything

but had forgotten how to make vitamin c

but inside of his big brain

here’s the deal

he figured it all out

and decided to make a pill

so now rather than biosynthesis

he has to use a still

so marvelously evolved

we humans tend to be

yet we have to buy this vitamin

when dogs get it for free.

© rt tulley

nutrition

so many great tasting foods

the truth is, by my own suspicion

that the things that taste the best

are possibly the worst nutrition

and conversely i also say

the most nutritional food to eat

tastes not dissimilar to cardboard

and it smells something like sweaty feet.

© rt tulley

Nature

November 23nature,yellow jacket,rose,bee

I am thankful for nature. Nature includes plants, geology, and wildlife, or life as we know it. I love so many things about nature. From the smallest observable thing to the large and vast cosmos. We, of course, are a very important part of nature, for better or for worse.

This is a most interesting very tiny bee that I recently saw inside this rosey.  I think it is a juvenile yellowjacket, although I don't know for sure. He was very still, so he was either resting, sleeping (do bees sleep?), gathering pollin, or not alive. It allowed me to get this detailed photo of his wings and abdominal coloring. When I returned later, he was gone, so I believe he was alive. Such an interesting looking little fellow! Oh, the miracle of life!

nature

nature is a beast

a tiny creature seen

the largest dinosaur

that has ever been

nature is physical

grandiose and sublime

nature is a feel

a miracle of time

i am thankful for nature

for nature is we

and without nature

there would be no me.

© rt tulley

Security

November 22security,loose shoe stirngs

I am thankful for security. Security is defined as protection from harm. This can mean physical, financial, property, health, or personal well being. We are all familiar with security systems which protect our houses and businesses from break-ins or theft. Security can also refer to how we feel about our life and comfort level. You can feel financially poor but feel secure in your life and relationships. We all feel much for comfortable when we are secure in all of these issues.

The man in this photo gave me the idea for today's blog. I saw him in the parking lot at Towne Center in Baton Rouge. He was dragging his untied shoestrings behind him as he walked. He was not very secure in his shoe fit and stability and not too secure because of the possibility of tripping on his shoestring.

security

he was secure

in his insecurity

he was assured

of his obscurity

not much he could do

not much with which he was skilled

but never a lost moment

of sleep he had killed

he was secure

in his insecurity

and that made it right

at his level of maturity.

© rt tulley