Redirecting

It is said it takes 21 days to make or break a habit and it's been that amount of time since I have invited my regular blog readers to sign up for my new blog. If you are still in the habit of checking this one, you will have noticed that I am not updating it and have also removed a lot of older posts.

My newer blog has all of those older posts that now cannot be accessed from true indigo adventures. It also has added archives of photos (of which I only had prints, slides or negs), labels, videos and tons of new posts since I have started it. The topics are varied, personal and less generic.

For anyone still visiting this good ol' blog, I apologize that the new one requires a sign in process. The plus side is that I really love the added freedom it allows and enjoy that the readers are folks with whom I am in contact with.

Unless I can find another use for this blog, it should be my last post here. Please don't hesitate to join the many who have signed up to read the new one. If you lost the link or the email invite, I have no problem sending it again. Start a new habit of regularly visiting my active blog.

Join Me!

Not Tapas

Tapas

Although there are a lot of similarities, a nod goes to Alejandro for making the above differences clear. Tapas is a variety of appetizers, or snacks, in Spanish cuisine, frequently bar food. No matter how much I want Wegman's olive bar to be tapas, it really isn't.

I use the above to illustrate a reason I am changing some of my more personal blog posts. The true indigo adventures blog, I have always had to steer from using real names, locations and dates. Rather than to continue to obfuscate some of my best stories, photos and detail I am moving many posts to a blog that requires an invitation by email.

Family, friends and faithful readers, join me for the real deal. Send me your email so you may read on.

Thoughts for the Road - #28

The great thing about running is that somebody like me can go out there and actually achieve things. Particularly with this wonderful system of community races where you can enter and do as well as you can despite all that. I can work at it, I can apply myself, I can even learn stuff, my training methods and really achieve something. ~ Peter Sagal, Marathoner and host of NPR's "Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me!"

Thoughts for the Road - #64

Next time you go out, solo or with your pack, run with your eyes wide open. Play I-Spy if you have to. Notice the beauty of the moments, the scenery, the company, and the rhythm. ~ Kristin Armstrong, Author and runner

Thoughts for the Road - #14

Saurkraut is an exact analog. - Teeny Rink Men

Thoughts for the Road - #13

Love yourself, for who and what you are; protect your dream and develop your talent to the fullest extent. ~ Joan Benoit Samuelson

Thoughts for the Road - #74

I love what running does for me. I love the time that I get just to think. I love that I'm pushing myself be it on a treadmill or in the park. I love that time. ~ Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Cohost, The View

Winter Blooms 4

True to form, ours is definitely a Saturnalia Cactus.

Ho Saturnalia!

Saturnalia became one of the most popular Roman festivals. It was marked by tomfoolery and reversal of social roles, in which slaves and masters ostensibly switched places, much like the Lord of Misrule in later Christian celebrations.

Saturnalia was introduced around 217 BCE to raise citizen morale after a crushing military defeat at the hands of the Carthaginians.[1] Originally celebrated for a day, on December 17, its popularity saw it grow until it became a week-long extravaganza, ending on the 23rd. Efforts to shorten the celebration were unsuccessful. Augustus tried to reduce it to three days, and Caligula to five. These attempts caused uproar and massive revolts among the Roman citizens.

Saturnalia involved the conventional sacrifices, a couch (lectisternium) set out in front of the temple of Saturn and the untying of the ropes that bound the statue of Saturn during the rest of the year. A Saturnalicius princeps was elected master of ceremonies for the proceedings. Besides the public rites there were a series of holidays and customs celebrated privately. The celebrations included a school holiday, the making and giving of small presents (saturnalia et sigillaricia) and a special market (sigillaria). Gambling was allowed for all, even slaves.

Saturnalia was a time to eat, drink, and be merry. The toga was not worn, but rather the synthesis, i.e. colorful, informal "dinner clothes"; and the pileus (freedman's hat) was worn by everyone. Slaves were exempt from punishment, and treated their masters with (a pretense of) disrespect. The slaves celebrated a banquet: before, with, or served by the masters. Yet the reversal of the social order was mostly superficial; the banquet, for example, would often be prepared by the slaves, and they would prepare their masters' dinner as well. It was license within careful boundaries; it reversed the social order without subverting it.[2]

The customary greeting for the occasion is a "Io, Saturnalia!" — Io (pronounced "e-o") being a Latin interjection related to "ho" (as in "Ho, praise to Saturn").

Winter Blooms 3

Thoughts for the Road - #21

Remember, the feeling you get from a good run is far better than the feeling you get from sitting around wishing you were running. ~ Sarah Condor

Something in Your Stocking — The iPod Shuffle Contest

Something in Your Stocking — The iPod Shuffle Contest

There are so many cool holiday contests out there right now and I have even joined in on a few. This has lead me to being able to enjoy other folk's blogs too! Check out the above link for a running related holiday contest.

Winter Blooms 2

Winter Blooms

Potential for a lot of blooms this year!

Thoughts for the Road - #87

Thank God for running. It is the ultimate detox for me, whether my poison is bubbles, a foul mood, or a bad attitude. If I combat inertia, get out, and get moving, eventually every kind of toxin works its way out. ~ Kristin Armstrong, Author and runner

Thoughts for the Road - #79

May the road rise up to greet you, and the wind always be at your back. ~ Irish proverb

Thoughts for the Road - #83

There's no such thing as bad weather, just soft people. ~ Bill Bowerman

Thoughts for the Road - #40

A rainy day is the perfect time for a walk in the woods. ~Rachel Carson

Mountain View

One calm day last week.

Thoughts for the Road - #35

Everyone who has run knows that its most important value is in removing tension and allowing a release from whatever other cares the day may bring. ~Jimmy Carter