Found this. Sorry if it is off topic. How full is your jar? dcarch ------------------------------ A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and fills it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured it into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was. The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous âÂÂYESâÂÂ. The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed. âÂÂNow,â said the professor, as the laughter subsided, âÂÂI want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things - God, family, children, health, friends, and favorite passions. Things, that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the things that matter like your job, house, and car. The sand is everything else -- the small stuff.â he said. âÂÂIf you put the sand into the jar first,â he continued, âÂÂThere is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you...â he told them. âÂÂSo... pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Worship with your family. Play with your children. Take your partner out to dinner. Spend time with good friends. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the dripping tap. Take care of the golf balls first -- the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.â One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled and said, âÂÂI'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.âÂÂ

Good Morning, Gerry, Karen and Others. Gerry, I'm not familar with the Inn. There's a lot of fine places in Haywood County (had my mountain place there ). Waynesville is a "just the right size" sort of town. I imagine you've been in the area before so little reason to speak of it's merits. Most often when I drive out I head in the Waynesville direction rather than Asheville. I find the traffic less of a hassle. There's a coffee place called Panacea Coffee House Cafe that I enjoy. It has character and promotes a relaxed, laid-back atmosphere. I also like Maggie's Galley (not at Maggie Valley). It's in a log house; has decent food; and decent prices. Also, Bogarts is okay. I play golf at Maggie Valley Country Club fairly often. And, I play Waynesville CC maybe one a year. The weather in our area for almost the past couple of months just has not been conducive to golfing. It looks like I'll have to head toward the Santee-Cooper area. One of my golfing friends goes there regularly. He says the courses are great. I've finished all coffees except the German. I've started on the Dahlmayr (sp?) but with two others it's time I changed. Whether I've mentioned it or not lately I've not been grinding my own beans. At my coffee testing onset in October of last year I thought it would make a difference. Now I'm not so sure. I mentioned earlier maybe I've killed my taste buds. At times I can't distinguish any difference between the same coffee which was preground as to buying the bean. On a personal note I've finished getting the kinks out of my Lexus LS400. It's a fine riding car and I hope it will last. I have $9,500 in it and it's a 1994 with 99,000 miles. Typically, I looked in yesterday's paper and saw a 1996 for $10,500 with 91,000 miles. Isn't that the way things go. I can't help but look at Christmas or any special occasion with my fair share of melancholy. I'd like to be festive but people are different, are they not. Those of us who have lost someone very close, such as a spouse, parent, child, sibling, and others, have their heads filled memories that generate mixed emotions. We try our best to remember the good times because we want to be happy. It may work for a while but, as quickly as not, sometimes reality kicks in and we fall like a rock. I didn't mean to finish this note on the down side. I do wish the best to everyone and hope all have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Now, just where did I put those Christmas cards? Regards, Gene

Thank you, Henry for that link. Very good info. from Dr. Kuska's link: "Dr. Kremer further shared his thoughts on the big claim of the biotech industry that we need GMOs to feed the world. He also discussed their claim of decreased use of pesticides. There has been a 527 million pound increase in pesticide use since the introduction of transgenic crops." More info. from Dr. Kremer, a soil microbiology professor: " They noticed that every time that they checked this GMO crop that the roots were loaded up with the fungus, Fusarium. Fusarium is a fungus that can be potentially pathogenic. He said his concern was that here we have this new release of crops that are tolerant to Glyphosate yet their root system are piled up with this fungi. He has evaluated several GMO crops over the past 17 years and continues to see increased fungi on their roots." I wish people would quit messing up nature, or what God has created. I find out that I'm allergic to the oil-wax used to coat citrus fruits (esp. lemons). When I use ORGANIC lemons without the oily wax, I have no problems. I find out that they also use cottonseed oil and fungicides to wax lemons. I have a history of being allergic to preservatives such as fungicides Sodium Benzoate and Potassium Sorbate in foods. To be safe, I no longer dunk lemons into water like I used to. Here's an excerpt from below link: " There are 21 fruits and vegetables that may be waxed: apples, avocados, bell peppers, cantaloupes, cucumbers, eggplants, grapefruits, lemons, limes, melons, oranges, parsnips, passion fruits, peaches, rutabagas, tomatoes and turnips. The waxes sometimes contain fungicides. Both the waxes and the fungicides are used to prevent spoilage, the former to retard moisture loss and prevent shriveling, the latter to prevent mold. Any fungicide allowed on the produce as it is grown may also be applied after harvesting, whether under the wax, in combination with it or alone. Seven fungicides are approved for use on food crops after harvesting. Of those only one, benomyl, has undergone a complete review by the EPA. Others are: thiabendazole, ortho-phenylphenol, sodium ortho-phenyl phenate, imazalil, dicloran and sodium borate. The EPA has classified benomyl a possible human carcinogen. In test animals, the chemical has caused birth defects, low sperm counts and mutations. Benomyl is registered for post-harvest use on apples, apricots, bananas, cherries, citrus fruits, mushrooms, nectarines, peaches, pears, pineapples and plums, either with wax or alone." http://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/32358/does-wax-on-citrus-fruit-make-the-zest-unsafe-to-eat-or-compromise-its-flavor Another excerpt from above link to solve the problem with wax on citrus fruits, which impart a bitter taste to the citrus zest. "I've always just used warm (not hot) water, dish soap, and a soft brush to de-wax before zesting, and I've always been happy with the results. However, this question made me curious; in addition to beeswax, apparently carnauba (familiar from the carwash) and shellac are allowed."

As a southerner we have a history of telling stories and it was very much a part of my upbringing though trying to fit all those tales into some sort of coherent history is another matter. We practiced our own history with my mother starting "remember whens" My mother was a spoiled only child and most of her stories were about how special she was to her doting father. My father did not talk much about his childhood though I know they moved frequently as my grandfather was a mason and builder. I spent a good deal of time with my mothers step-mother-my Grannie- and learned as much about her life as I could. She was a child of the depression-something that for her on a prosperous farm in the south was just something they heard about happening elsewhere. Grow your own food and make your own clothes and you only need money for taxes and coffee and salt. I loved hearing about her life. she was one of a big family of girls and they had to work like boys. Their father did not want them to leave home so for each of them it was an adventure to leave. I don't have children and have always lived all the way across the country from my kin so I have had no one to pass on what I know nor about my own life but there you are. I love social history and yet historians will use the lives of the rich and famous thinking they are telling you how people lived in the past-the one tenth of the one percent.