Aloha my FS Ohana! I have a quiet moment to myself AND a signal - what a coup. Thought I would share a few very random photos. First was my view one morning from the loft at my folk's house as I was drinking coffee. The second is the most amazing garden snail I have ever seen...apparently they are poisonous if their slime is ingested. The third is a beach on the Hilo side of the island where we had a picnic on Monday. And the last is a gecko I came across this afternoon in Kona. You canLt see them, but the markings in red were amazingly vivid.
I have been reading Michael Pollan's
The Botany of Desire, which is proving very intriguing reading. After reading
Erikag's comments about his books, I decided I needed some quality nonfiction since tackling
War and Peace is proving a tad unrealistic at the moment. I somehow haven't yet figured out that reading needs to be "light" when there's a toddler in the mix...anyhoo, Pollan's
Botany has some thought-provoking insights.
I found the following paragraph particularly interesting:
There may or may not be a correlation between the beautiful and the good, but there is probably one between beauty and health...Evolutionary biologists believe that in many creatures beauty is a reliable indicator of health, and therefore a perfectly sensible way to choose one mate over another. Gorgeous plumage, lustrous hair, symmetrical features are "certificates of health," as one scientist puts it, advertisements that a creature carries genes for resistance to parasites and is not otherwise under stress. A fabulous tail is a metabolic extravagance only the healthy can afford. (In the same way, a fabulous car is a financial extravagance only the successful can afford.) In our own species, too, ideals of beauty often correlate with health: when lack of food was what usually killed people, people judged body fat to be a thing of beauty. (Though the current preference for sickly-pale, rail-thin models suggests that culture can override evolutionary imperatives.) (p. 74-75)
I have read this before, that bodyfat in cultures where starvation is a real fear are cultures in which a degree of heft indicates a probable gene pool to which a family lineage can be attached and nearly guaranteed a family tree with multiple and lush branches. The caveat here seems to be in cultures where starvation is a real issue. For the American sensibility, starvation (other than self-inflicted), is a rarity. We have all manner of food available. Not necessarily healthy food, but food nonetheless. For $1.00, you can buy a hamburger or taco. Most people can find $1.00 worth of change on the ground and then go eat something. Where starvation is an issue, the transaction of money for a hamburger is as foreign as the idea, for many Americans, of actually needing to hunt for meat or grow or forage for plant foods. Food is in abundance = fat is in abundance = the crave for a beauty ideal that trades in metaphors of starvation. The irony being, in many cases, that when one is "thin" and "fit" it is because they can afford the "luxury" of that lifestyle. How often do we bemoan the time it takes to work out and plan healthy meals? How often are the foods that are actually good for us (organic, fresh, unprocessed) the more costly choice?
The western world and it's requisite & accompanying abundance have turned the idea of beauty and health on it's head. This I find fascinating. It speaks volumes for priorities as a culture...our struggles to right this imbalance are recorded and hashed out and discussed daily right here on FS.
Anyway, that is my thought for the day. I hope everyone's week has gone swimmingly :) Thanks a million for everyone's words of encouragement about my weight woes. I know it's temporary, so I am trying to remain conscientious, give in to the situation when I need to without going to crazily overboard, and sticking to my guns when I can.
<img src="http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac247/mswahine/1264040051.jpg" border="0" alt="Morning Gaze" width="400" height="600">
<center><b>Morning Cuppa Joe</center></b>
<img src="http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac247/mswahine/1264040008.jpg" border="0" alt="Now that's what I call escargot!" width="400" height="600">
<center><b>Hawaiian Garden Snails</center></b>
<img src="http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac247/mswahine/1264039758.jpg" border="0" alt="Honoka'aka'a Beach" width="600" height="400">
<center><b>Honoka'aka'a Beach, Hilo</center></b>
<img src="http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac247/mswahine/1264041937.jpg" border="0" alt="Gecko" width="400" height="600">
<center><b>Kona-side Gecko</center></b>