Saturday I went to a Gourmet Chocolate Tasting Event with Connie! It was my birthday present to her.
What I learned: Chocolate only grows within about twenty degrees of the Equator, whichis to say, where it is hot! Growing and harvesting Theobroma Cacao is very labor intensive work, and there are many references to "the natives" in the descriptions of how the growing, harvesting, preparing for market, transporting, and such are accomplished. For example, a tree may produce 6,000 blossoms, of which 200 will set fruit. Each fruit pod contains 2 to 4 dozen beans. They are cut open by "native men, who hold the pod in one hand, and whack it open with a machete held in the other hand. They have to be careful just to crack the hull, ..." There is no mention of great salaries for "the natives", though they "are really devoted to their work."

Chocolate Gourmands place a small piece of chocolate on their tongue, and press it gently against the roof of the mouth to begin the melting process and release the flavor and aroma near the nose. The melting temperature of chocolate is just below human body temperature. The chocolate will melt faster if there is a higher milk or cocoa butter content, and more slowly if there is a higher cocoa powder content.

I've always known I didn't much care for milk chocolate, but I never knew what a purist I am until this tasting, where I learned from experimenting thatI really prefer the intensely rich flavor of unsweetened chocolate. There is a lot more to say about this, and it raised political issues that were not surprising, but very uncomfortable for a chocoholic like me. I must go sleep now, because I'm off to a funeral at early o'clock. but I will write again, time providing.

Last night we had 73 people at our P.A.D.S. homeless shelter. P.A.D.S. is an acronym for "Public Action to Deliver Shelter". Seventy three is two shy of our fullest capacity, and thirteen more people than we own sleeping pads for. It’s starting to get colder here, and the group is only going to get bigger. There are homeless folks everywhere. Make the time to go volunteer at the shelter near you, or, failing that, donate your spare change for a month. (Do NOT run out and buy lots of little toiletries unless they are requested.)

Donate clean, used blankets, sheets, socks, underwear, (assorted sized, five times more men’s than women’s), your old winter coat, should you be lucky enough to have more than one. Our shelter has a trade-in policy. If we have coats, and they’re warmer than the coats folks are wearing, we trade them for their current coat. We clean the older coats, repair them, and send them to shelters in warmer areas. Donate cash, if you can, because a shelter uses lots of food and paper products.

It’s cold outside where I live. Someone donated eighty assorted pairs of new winter boots, which we gave out last month. These replaced shoes and boots that were so worn out, some of them had cardboard covering the holes. How long has it been since you worried about that? Never? Go volunteer out of gratitude.

Donate your old clothes. This goes double for the larger sizes. At our shelter, fifteen percent of our guests are bigger than the average bear. These are the things most shelters really need.

I have volunteered at the homeless shelter for a couple of years. Now my sister is homeless in Madison, Wisconsin, and I volunteer more frequently than I used to, in gratitude tor the folks who take her in. Someone you know, or knew once, is homeless. You could be just a few paychecks away from homelessness, yourself. Reach out, folks. It's good for what ails our culture. Happy Friday.

There came the big noise and the dark, the loud, mind-numbing noises, and the heaviness of air, the pushing down on me. Soon I had lost myself. The storm raged on, and a calmfriendly voice suggested calling the doctor. I did that. And she was there, and knew, and the noises rages and I raged and cried, and she talked about things, but I don't know what they were, except that I followed her voice back to this place/time that is the right one where I usually live. She is a good leader back. She gave us directions for a magic potion, and some tablets. "Sip slowly, and call when you can." Two servings of both and the noise was moving outside the house. The Moral Support Squad Leader called a few times, and night closed in, and morning came, a new day. The noise is still outside.