My Soul's Ocean

By Robert W. Hamilton

In awestruck madness I am captivated with majesty as the distant sun sets on the mirroring ocean with gentle kindness. All the while, my heart surrenders dreamingly as it causes me deeply inherent emotion and I ponder days gone by and loves rescinded reminder of tragedy and the imprisonments of yesterday. They awaken me from vast solitude to lucid contemplation. The hues of orange and red horizon tapestry sink into the darkening and placid ocean. The shimmering yet subtle breeze against the whitish waves, cause's me unfathomable and reminiscing sensations within. As it covers an endless bounty of lives lost and memories sunken, amid a thousand unharmed and ageless graves I am still left to my whispering thoughts and hollow ballads that my own ghosts possess. As the watery blanket falls in teams, it pitches calming echo’s on the stony and infinite shore until the beams of light huddle across the distant sphere and loom so silently, yet abruptly. The smell of salt water and the tinge of smoky mix remind me of passing ships and endless days spent at sea. Its glows beckons inside me the hope of days anew, of a baby’s soft pausing cry, and the feeling of the first drop of rain upon my warm and inviting skin. The golden glow of the settling sun invigorates me to new levels and brings my very existence to new and colorfully tempest horizons.

Stuffed Chicken Legs

A few months ago my husband John and I decided to try to make one of Gordon Ramsay's recipes. This recipe was stuffed chicken legs. It looked so delicious that we just had to see if we could do it. We got all the ingredients minus the nuts and hubby went to work at deboning the leg. Needless to say, this was time consuming but John kept at it and did not give up even with me there with a camera taking picture after picture and telling him to "hold it" a zillion times. Of course Mr. Ramsay makes it look so easy and I had to keep reminding hubby that he has not had twenty years experience doing this, but he was doing rather well any way.
Once the meat was off the bone the stuffing was not hard to do. The bacon we bought should have been much thinner because it was harder to work with the thicker slices. He then wrapped tightly with foil and poached three at a time for 25 minutes. We let them rest and then put them in the fridge for 30 minutes before taking them out to pat dry and sautéed the bacon wrapped chicken so the back would be nice and crisp.
Now eating this was a test on its own. We noticed little things that we would have done differently if we choose to do this recipe again. First of all, thinner bacon. The bacon was way too thick and was hard to work with and took awhile to crisp and it was pretty greasy. The second thing is to not eat a whole one! We should have just had slices of it between us. I was so full and I did not even eat a whole one. We have some in the freezer that we will take out when we have company and just slice it. I think about three slices per person is a good portion. It was fun but when I asked John if he would do it again, his face answered for him. I will take his look as a polite "no."

Feels Like Spring In August

Here it is August 14th, and we have been sleeping with a light blanket on at night. I am not complaining by far so don't get me wrong. I love it! Bring it on! The weather has just been so strange all over the place. I know someone in Seattle that just in July it was hitting 100 degrees and hardly anyone there has air conditioners so needless to say, they were sweltering! It has gotten warm here in Southern California but not by our usual standards of heat. My husband is from Canada and he hates the summers here and he is usually one unhappy hubby around this time of year. He loves sleeping with a blanket, especially in August! I usually do not bake anything in the oven during the summer but last week I baked a bunch of chocolate cupcakes and they were so delicious. I am loving our summer so far!