BOB'S RED MILL, MILWAUKIE, OR.

Three or four miles west of I-205 and just off of Oregon Highway 224 is an interesting, and healthy, whole grain emporium known as Bob's Red Mill. This is a unique store where any serious cook or baker can find a treasure of healthy, natural foods for even the most challenging recipe.

This now famous, and nearly iconic employee-owned business touts itself on their business cards as a place where the careful home cook can find "Stone Ground Whole Grain Foods For Every Meal of the Day"! And they back up that claim with hundreds of selections of grains, oats, legumes, dried fruits and nuts, and seeds in almost every form and possible variety of preparation.

The clear wrappings highlighted with the bright red and yellow labels are easily identified and are now commonly seen in most grocery stores that carry a line of grains and baking mixes. The picture above only captures a few of the many similar rows where varieties of rice or beans or flours or meal or soup-mix combinations are on display. First time shoppers should arrive with some idea of what they hope to purchase or risk being overwhelmed by the vast range of products offered. Want a small package? No problem. A larger quantity? OK. How about a mini-case of four or six of those? There it is! Need 25 pounds? Fifty pounds? Sure! Right down at the end of those rows against the far wall. And on this side are several hundred selections of similar products in the bulk bins.

We looked around first and then took a break to order lunch - healthy grain based offerings - in the in-house cafe. No fries here. Our sandwiches came with tasty grain tri-crackers and mini carrots, and a dill pickle spear with my Reuben. All around the room are displays and illustrations and informational posters and experienced (antique) pieces of equipment, most of which relate somehow to grinding or processing grain from the hard berry stage to some form of flour or meal.

It should be of no surprise to anyone who noted the title of my blog that I should gravitate to the collection of millstones on display throughout the store from the entrance to the aisles to the second level display ledges. Pictured above is an historic set of stones which produced wheat flour for many years before becoming an educational centerpiece. They sit near a room where an old-fashioned mill driven by a massive waterwheel is a featured showcase of the history of food mills. A careful search of the entire store would turn up another half a dozen millstones of varying sizes and types. Although they are just on show now, each of them served honorably as is shown by the wear and aged patina they each carry.

How about dropping by some day? Its part museum perhaps, but it's a great visit, and I don't think you can leave without having purchased something you will be eager to try out at home. BTW, as Kristi notes in her comment below, if you are interested in glueten free (GF) products, a visit to Bob's Red Mill is a must for you.

RESTORING AN "OLD APPLE TREE" A Living Metaphor

BEFORE

Unfortunately, the effects of time and circumstances are unavoidable, even if you are merely a favorite backyard apple tree. Battered by years of storm and climbing kids and other big family events, even the most venerable of stock eventually yields to age and decay. So it is with this beloved tree. It still stands tall and proud even though it has been wracked by loss of limb, and untold attacks on its strength and structural integrity. In recent times it has suffered major loss and now depends upon props and trusses and reinvented strategies to maintain its posture and purpose. The challenge now is how to most effectively renew its function and restore its vigor. Both will take time and TLC.

Fruit trees all benefit from a periodic, seasonal "pruning". Last year's dross and ineffective portions must be removed to promote focus on this year's renewal. With an apple tree that requires cutting away unwanted growth and outbursts (watersprouts and suckers) that sap the strength in unproductive ways, removing limbs that crossover and impede other parts, branches that "rub" others wrong, and the dead and decayed parts that are dead weight robbing the tree's strength. Every effort must be employed to thin out the excessive clutter of potential fruit spurs to allow for full and desired growth only on those branches most likely to produce full-sized, healthy fruit. This may result in fewer apples, but in return those which do develop will be larger and more mature.

AFTER

Once the goal is understood, pruning begins and the plan begins to emerge. Every part of the tree must receive equal attention. The strong sides of the tree which have faced the sun will show the effect of preferred growth and will demonstrate greater strength and density. The other side will be weker and will need more help to achieve recovery. The tendency is toward such crowding of those smaller branches that the leaf canopy which results will shade out and inhibit the growth of any fruit which may set for the new season. Judicious pruning will open up the upper portions so light and air can both penetrate into the tree and reach even the other side. The outcome desired is for a more even distribution of fruit throughout the tree which shares the stress of producing a crop with all the branch system. When the task is completed, a lot of material will have been removed, and focus and attention will have been restored to all the crown. Hopefully the tree will continue to bear good fruit - perhaps fewer apples, but better ones. At the same time we strive to extend the fruitful service of the older tree, we should also be looking toward a new generation by planting younger trees now that will be able to bear their own crops in the future. That planning ahead is also a part of a life plan so that current apple supply does not need to end if the "old apple tree" should completely fail.

THE METAPHOR

If I were more confident, I would leave the story above to be discovered and unpacked by those who know me best and who know who my dearest friends are. However, just as severe events can bring sudden and horrifying damage to the structure of a tree, sometimes the storms of life bring unexpected and devasting injury to those who have carried enormous weights of duty and stress for so long. As a tree struck by wind or lightening is cleft beyond much hope, a man's life can be abrubtly and crushingly altered. What has stood so strongly for so long is suddenly broken and in the direst jeopardy. What seems unassailable becomes victim to unforseen mortal ills. Such a mighty stroke fells the tallest tree to the ground. I have a friend like that.

Still, even in the darkest winter days, hope prevails. There are trees, and men, that do not give up. In spite of their plight, these are the ones that continue to strive and which will indomitably blossom and fruit in their season, and which will continue to cause and encourage growth in every possible way. Though stricken, they find the strength from within and from above to overcome adversity and enter a time of restoration and renewal. Their comeback may be halting and measured, and they may need considerable help and patience, but their spirits will not accept defeat. These individuals are an inspiration to me. My friend is one of these heros.

Life and the apple tree are parallel in many ways; both our trees and our lives benefit from judicious, timely pruning. It is a period of rejuvenation during which the ineffective or the impossible or whatever else hinders must be pruned away. What remains must be refocused, and redirected, and encouraged so the the strongest parts which survive have the greatest chance of attaining a few more seasons of "apples". There may be fewer achievements, but they may be life's most important fruit and they are often the sweetest of all. Yes, we should set goals, and when troubles interrupt we should be quick and willing to refine both our purpose and our procedures, achieving, perhaps, fewer good works, but those which are more important and more essential, and thus more valuable. In these latter seasons of productivity there still remains opportunity to prepare a new generation the "fill the orchard" with future crops. I think my friend has this in mind.

It is April; both apples and heros are begining to bloom again. I can't wait to see this year's crop. And By-the-Way, the tree in the pictures is in his backyard.

PUZZLES, PUZZLES, PUZZLES

Comes a time when it rains 29 days out of 31 in a month, a body needs to lose it's mind in something thoughtless to avoid going stir crazy. Comes a time, after six weeks without seeing the sun when even I will do jigsaw puzzles. Really!!

We have friends - Lois and Nancy - who are huge puzzle fans. Ordinarily they employ rigorous methods of efficiency and discipline to solve even the most difficult kinds of puzzle problems. My method, however, is in great contrast to theirs, for I like to study an individual puzzle piece, look closely at the illustration, determine exactly the orientation and precise location of that unique portion , and place it as closely as possible to where it belongs in the overall scene. Then I do it again and again until the solution is reached. That system is way too tedious for these sisters and much too inefficient for their tastes.

So, when they ran into this gem illustrated above, and their preferred approach didn't function very well, the puzzle and all of its pieces was promptly forwarded on to Betty and me for our systematic attack, and, indeed, it was an intriguing challenge. First of all there are an enormous number of little visual gimmick and "jokes" in the picture, and secondly, there are several diabolical color and pattern combinations that almost made the whole task impossible. The cut of the pieces is non-standard (although the whole thing could be picked up intact by any edge once it was completely assembled).

Nevertheless, bit by bit, chunk by chunk, the individual pieces were diligently compared to the fairly faithful rendering on the box lid and eventually the job was completed. Each specific piece yielded sufficient clues to reveal its eventual placement, excepting perhaps a dozen or two which were placed by mere blunt trauma, i.e. repeated trial and error until a fit was found. It made us realize what a seemingly impossible task Noah had to not only build the ark* but gather the critters to populate it sufficiently.

By-the-way, the really dreadful poem on the bottom of the box, in its own bizarre brand of Biblical parody attempted to answer such odd questions as to why, for example, the dinosaurs which are in the picture were denied passage once the craft was "launched". [ Answer: "They didn't bring a date to the party". No kidding!]

This one was actually fun. Thanks, girls! We appreciated the challenge.

* = "What's an Ark? - Bill Cosby