Greek Honey

In 1976 I was in Greece for a week on the way back from a trip to Egypt with 21 other teachers from Iowa.  We were there to study the Egyptian culture.  We were allowed one stop on our way back to the United States and I chose Greece.



I had written to a few Masons to see if there was anything Masonic occurring when I would be there.  One of them invited me to be his house guest while I was there and I gladly accepted.  George and Margaret Hatzaras were wonderful hosts.  George was the Secretary/Recorder of the Grand Chapter and Council of Greece and I was the Grand Principal Sojourner of Iowa at the time.

They liven in a beautiful home on a hill near Athens and I was given their son's bedroom. Among other things they introduced me to Greek honey.  It was the best honey I had ever eaten.  When my visit was over they sent me home with a tin of honey.  It was my best souvenir from the trip.


It is not easy to find Greek honey in Iowa.  the next time I was able to purchase it was when I went to the National Education Representative Assembly in Detroit, Michigan.  They had a "Greek town" there.  I went there specifically to find the honey and I lucked out.  I was telling the counterman how much I enjoyed the honey.  Noticing my Masonic belt buckle he said that was because the bees got their nectar from the thyme fields that grew on the hills behind Hiram Abiff's palace.

With the advent of the Internet I have been able to find some other sources for Greek honey.  The honey that I get is described as "of top quality. It is organic and has not been produced by feeding the bees sugar as is often the case. It comes straight from the Pine trees of the mountains of Vytina, Greece"

I got two jars today.  I get it from the Eliki Olive Oil Company.  

They do a nice job packaging it.  I have never had a problem.

I take one tablespoon full and mix it with Ceylon cinnamon  ( Ceylon, or "true" cinnamon, has a much different flavor. It is less sweet, with a more complex, citrus flavor. The special flavor of English and Mexican sweets comes from Ceylon cinnamon.)  I get it from Penzey's Spices.

I started mixing the cinnamon with honey because a friend said it would help ease the arthritic pain in my shoulder.  I think it helps and even if it doesn't it is a great way to start the morning.

So I am a honey and cinnamon "snob" but there are some things that are worth it.  A person who settles for less than the best, even if it is just a spoonful of honey and cinnamon is missing one of life's little pleasures.

If you want to know more about honey click here.

Union Pacific #844 is in Iowa - Photos by Bob Kelly

The Union Pacific Number 844 is the last steam locomotive built for the Union Pacific Railroad, and was delivered in 1944.  It was placed in freight service in Nebraska from 1957 to 1959, then was saved from being scrapped in 1960.  The Union Pacific Railroad is celebrating its 150th birthday this year, and this historic train is making a goodwill tour of the western states, through the midwest, and will end its tour back in Cheyene, Wyoming on August 18.

On August 8 and 9, it will be parked along the tracks in the area of Dean Avenue in Des Moines, just south west of the far south west corner of the Iowa State Fair grounds.  It IS indeed worth a look if you are at the fair, and journey down to that corner of the grounds.  It's steam whistle is dramatic!!

And here are some additional photos which were taken on Wednesday.

Full of Sound and Fury

That Palin Woman seems to have to insert herself into every right wing controversy that there is on this planet.  It seems to me that the world would be a better place if she and those like her were to follow the Christ and His teachings.  Of course she would actually have to be accepting and loving to do so.

I was reminded of what Gandhi listed:  "Seven social sins: politics without principles, wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, and worship without sacrifice."  He also said "A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes."


Why do we give people like her and her ilk any time or thought? I have no time for homophobes and haters in my life.  They are polluters and I prefer to avoid pollution.

Found this statement form a very wise woman on Facebook.  

Molly on Monday

 Good Morning, Molly here.

 Miles is still staying with us.  I have fun with him. The other day I got my rope and gave it to the Big Guy.  The rope is kind of fun.  I enjoy tossing it in the air and catching it over and over.

BG thinks that I had to play by myself a lot when I was younger.  But that is all right I have him to play with now and even though I don't always do what he wants me to.. (I mean I see no point in running down the hall after a stupid ball.. I mean really I am a lady you know.) I do enjoy playing with him some of the time.  Sometimes we play tug!

The other day I got the rope and he and I tugged.  Then Miles wanted to tug and then the sneaky BG pulled a fast one on us.  He had me tugging on the rope and then he slipped the other end to Miles.

We were tugging with EACH OTHER,  Really!  Oh well it was fun.

Sometimes he won and sometimes I won.  We had a blast.

We also like to play with Bailey's bear. Miles steals it from me and then I steal it from him. We played so much we got tuckered out.

It was really a nice day on Sunday.  BG left the AC off and let fresh air in. It got up to 77 degrees inside the house but that wasn't bad.

Miles has been off his food a couple of days.  He had to go outside a lot and one time he didn't make it.  BG had to clean it up and he was not pleased.  He did it though.  We will both miss Miles when he moves to AZ.. We hope his human will send us pictures.  Thanks for stopping by. Big hugs to all of you.  Have a great week.

Sunday Salute XIX

 Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States of America.

From Wikipedia

"Harry S. Truman was born on May 8, 1884 in Lamar, Missouri, the oldest child of John Anderson Truman (1851–1914) and Martha Ellen Young Truman (1852–1947). His parents chose the name Harry after his mother's brother, Harrison "Harry" Young (1846–1916), Harry's uncle. His parents chose "S" as his middle initial to please both his grandfathers, Anderson Shipp Truman and Solomon Young. The S did not stand for anything, which was a common practice among the Scots-Irish...

As a young boy, Truman had three main interests: music, reading, and history, all encouraged by his mother, to whom he was very close. As president, he solicited political as well as personal advice from her. He got up at five every morning to practice the piano, which he studied twice a week until he was fifteen." 

Truman was a Mason and served as Grand Master of Masons in Missouri. You can read his Masonic Record here.

He stated: "We represent a fraternity which believes in justice and truth and honorable action in your community...men who are endeavoring to be better citizens...[and] to make a great country greater. This is the only institution in the world where we can meet on the level all sorts of people who want to live rightly."

                                                                                                                       Harry S. Truman

I remember this man from my childhood.  He was president while I was growing up and I was aware of the Berlin Air Lift.  I can still remember seeing the newsreel in the movie theater showing the planes taking supplies to Berlin. I was and still am very impressed with him after he left the White House.  Returning to civilian life without a pension and determined to live to his high standards.  He remains my most admired president.

Truman Quotes:

A bureaucrat is a Democrat who holds some office that a Republican wants.

A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities and an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties.

Actions are the seed of fate deeds grow into destiny.

All my life, whenever it comes time to make a decision, I make it and forget about it.

Always be sincere, even if you don't mean it.

America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand.

I have found the best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it.

I remember when I first came to Washington. For the first six months you wonder how the hell you ever got here. For the next six months you wonder how the hell the rest of them ever got here.

I would rather have peace in the world than be President.

I've said many a time that I think the Un-American Activities Committee in the House of Representatives was the most un-American thing in America!

In reading the lives of great men, I found that the first victory they won was over themselves... self-discipline with all of them came first.

It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.

The only things worth learning are the things you learn after you know it all.

I do not believe there is a problem in this country or the world today which could not be settled if approached through the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount.

More at BrainyQuotes

Previous Salutes
John Shelby Spong    Nelson Mandella     Rachael Maddow   Matt Damon  
Jehan Sadat   Jane Goodall    Mohandas Gandhi  
 Eleanor Roosevelt    Lyndon B. Johnson      Michelle Obama
Helen Hayes   Marion Wright Edelman     Bishop Gene Robinson
Bishop Desmond Tutu       Rachel Carson          Helen Keller
Martin Luther King, Jr          Dalai Lama         Dag Hammarskjold

Mystic Journey

I was going to write something profound tonight *taking my cue from Dr. Spo) but to be very honest the kids got me up early this morning and I am having difficulty staying awake.  So instead I am going to share some magical illustrations I found on the web. Ponder and enjoy!

Pause here and ponder this one.

 Take the first step on your journey today!  Love be your guide.