Good food is a celebration of life
CONTINUING THIS WEEK ON HOW CELEBRATING EACH DAY IS GOOD FOR OUR HEALTH? PLUS, THE BOOK TEN-MINUTE RELAXATION FOR MIND AND BODY.
Hello Followers,
Happy Hump Day!
During the holidays, Dan and I are getting homesick for Mexico.
We had spent seven impressive years there and met some amazing friends.
As I continue with some traditions of Christmas.
This rang out to me, since I am getting homesick and miss my friends in Mexico.
Poinsettias!
America’s Christmas flower, these plants native to Central America were brought to the United States (and given their name) by the country’s first U.S. ambassador to Mexico, botanist Joel Roberts Poinsett, in the 1820s.
It was a California horticulturist named Paul Ecke who brought the traditionally red and green plants to the masses one hundred years later.
He donated the plants to TV shows, and, according to the Los Angeles Times, the poinsettia became the best-selling potted plant in the nation by 1986.
Born in 1860 in Germany, Albert Ecke began his professional life as a schoolteacher.
He was a health-minded vegetarian and later, using an inheritance from his wife Henrietta, opened a sanitarium or long-term health care facility, meant primarily for tuberculosis patients.
The sanitarium was a success, but Icke and his wife longed to escape Europe for a milder, more salubrious climate.
They decided to set sail for Samoa where they would open another sanitarium.
However, just before embarkation, they learned about the hospitable climate of Southern California from a friend who had visited there.
The Eckles changed plans, and with their four children set sail from Genoa, Italy, for America, arriving at Ellis Island from where they made their way to Southern California, settling in Hollywood in 1902.
In Hollywood, they leased ten acres for $150 a year and developed a dairy farm on the property.
They also grew melons and tomatoes, as well as chrysanthemums for cut flower bouquets and poinsettias, whose stems with the colorful bracts were cut and sold on street corners this time of year.
But they could not make much profit with their dairy products or anything they grew except poinsettias.
After the death of his father, Paul Ecke took over the family business.
He decided to devote his energy exclusively to growing poinsettias and began looking for property closer to San Diego, where real estate was much less expensive, and the climate was more conducive to poinsettia growth.
In 1923, Paul Ecke purchased forty acres in Encinitas, for $150 an acre, which would become Ecke Ranch and the hub of the poinsettia industry.
Initially, he continued to harvest stems from field-grown plants and would ship them by train to St. Louis, Chicago, and New York.
Soon, however, he began to grow potted poinsettia plants exclusively.
In the 1990s, Paul Ecke’s son would expand the company’s operation to Guatemala where the lion’s share of its poinsettias, close to twenty million plants annually, are now grown.
Although Albert Ecke, who died in 1919, did not live to see poinsettias shipped as compact live plants, it was his innovation that made this possible.
Poinsettias in their natural habitat are gangly plants that grow to a height of fifteen feet, like the height seen in a row of them on display in Camarillo.
As we continue to celebrate this holiday season, Dan and I are starting a new series; HOW CELEBRATING EACH DAY IS GOOD FOR OUR HEALTH?
Continuing from yesterday, find a gratitude prayer you like and say it often.
It does not have to be religious, but it should be recited religiously.
Committing your prayer to memory, posting it in places where you will see it often, will remind you to celebrate what you have instead pining for what you do not.
Until tomorrow-
DECEMBER 14th, Dan, and I thought on continuing this segment with the series with some fun; What is it about December that is so significant during this month?
More Good Today Day – December 14, 2022
More Good Today Day is a special holiday celebrated on December 14 every year in the U.S.
The holiday aims to encourage more people to practice kindness and generosity.
It reminds people to take the time to think about the people around them and help in any way they can.
This day reminds people to focus on the positive things in the world.
This holiday is the perfect opportunity to have influence in someone’s life.
A small act of kindness can go a long way in making people’s lives happier.
It can be holding a door for someone, getting someone a cup of coffee, or just sharing a smile and being polite.
Doing good can be a small act or a grand gesture.
Either way, those actions have a positive impact on society.
Certain rules of conduct govern correct behavior among members of a particular social group.
Every culture tends to write its version of the rules of behavior.
These can be laws or traditions.
Good manners have been in demand for many years around the world.
Codes of dress, behavior, and etiquette usually distinguish social classes in a community.
Good manners can be the codes of conduct that helps to preserve friendships and other relationships with people.
The unspoken rules help to create a sense of peace and security.
A person’s social skills, good manners, and etiquette intelligence allow them to succeed.
Adopting etiquette was a self-conscious process during the Age of Enlightenment in the 18th century.
People tried to acquire the conventions of politeness.
They also adopted normative behaviors that symbolically identified the person as a cultured upper-class member.
Time is precious and is priceless, so Dan and I will continue each day to pull from a box of 365 inspirational quotes, one quote and share with you.
Today is:
THE HUMAN RACE HAS ONE REALLY EFFECTIVE WEAPON, AND THAT IS LAUGHTER.
Today Dan and I will be continuing the book, Ten-Minute Relaxation, For Mind and Body by Jennie Harding.
Whenever you are feeling under pressure, ten minutes is all you need to relax totally, using tools that are always with you; your senses.
This book is packed full of wonderfully simple ideas and exercises for using sight, taste, smell, hearing, and touch and that vital sixth sense of intuition to rebalance your energies and bring you back into harmony with the natural world around you.
Identify your favorite sensory relaxation solutions and combat that stress!
Per Dan and my experience this is another component in keeping ourselves healthy, meditation.
By using your five senses, you can learn to relax in just ten minutes.
CHAPTER 2; THE SENSORY JOURNEY; TOUCH
TOUCH THE ESSENCE OF CARE-
SWITCHING ON THE SENSE
Today, TEN-MINUTE SOAK
If you have time, an effective way to prepare the feet for massage is to put six pints of warm water into a large bowl with four drops rosemary essential oil and soak your feet for ten-minutes.
This is an excellent way to relax your feet and legs if you must stand for extended periods during the day.
Tomorrow, FOOT MASSAGE BALM
The PHRASE TO REMEMBER; Health is Wealth.
We stand by this and continue to do daily; walk, meditation, and Qigong.
If you would like to follow with us; hash tag words #walk, #meditation #Qigong on the right of the main blog page.
Until Thursday, the more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.
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