New Discoveries

It took me long enough, but I finally discovered that there is a church in Jamestown that has a fish fry every Friday during Lent. St. John's Church, at 270 Newton Ave., has been doing this for 16 years. Tom and I enjoyed going out for a good fish fry when we lived in Cleveland, and it's one of the things we've missed since moving here.

This brings me to a recurring problem we are always running into as we adjust from a metropolitan environment to a "small town in the middle of nowhere" environment: communication is different here. And some of our habits are hard to change.

There are no local TV stations. There are local radio stations. But my radio is usually set to NPR, and around here, the public radio station is out of Buffalo and the "local" news is Buffalo-centric. However, in the past year, I've become acquainted with Jason Sample of WRFA, the local low power "radio for the arts," and I do hear about lots of things via his Facebook postings. So, I guess this is a case of "whom you know."

The local daily newspaper leaves a lot to be desired, and I don't regularly scan the weeklies. I miss the Chautauqua Word, the indie paper that I loved, but it fell by the wayside after losing Steve Lafreniere as editor. 

There is no single website that serves as a "go-to" place for all things happening local. In fact, irritatingly enough, most websites here do not get updated in a timely manner and cannot be relied upon for correct information if you want it in a hurry.  In Cleveland, there was a regular collection of local blogs I could scan daily for important information. Not so much here. So, for people like me who have come to rely on being plugged into the information highway via the internet, a clunky and time-consuming process of surfing is required. And the result: "I find out about a lot of things I would have liked doing only after they happen."  Wish I had a quarter for every time I've heard somebody say this.

Anyway, now that I've discovered the fish fry, I'd like to go to one, but our new diet may pre-empt it. My interest in nutrition and health, and my friend Bonnie, have led me to Dr. Joel Fuhrman and EAT TO LIVE, a high-nutrient, high-fiber (mainly) plant-based way of eating that is touted as an answer to the obesity epidemic and remedy for other lifestyle diseases like diabetes, heart disease and cancer. We've been trending veggie in our food choices for quite a while anyway, and I'm old enough and heavy enough to be motivated by a chance to throw away my blood pressure and cholesterol-lowering medications.  The bonus in this book is some great recipes for combining veggies in new and delicious ways!  I was always a sucker for new recipes.

After the first few days...it's great. I find myself spending a LOT of time in the kitchen right now...chopping veggies. There are frequent trips to the store for MORE GREENS, and the nightly soaking of the dried beans.  My food processor, seldom used until now, has become my new BFF. Eating involves a lot more CHEWING and savoring.  And this is the really cool part (and it doesn't necessarily happen this fast for everybody): I'm not having any cravings for the things that have always tended to bring me down: sweets, ice cream, mac and cheese (with white pasta).  I'm loving the new variety.  I'll let you know how it's going later. After all, this is Week 1, and the novelty hasn't worn off. But these foods MAKE SENSE. And I feel good.

Finally, without reasonable segue, a word about our local hockey team, the Ironmen.  I confess that we haven't been to any of the games. Tom and I rarely go out in the evening, but I hear lots of complaining about "nothing to do" in Jamestown, which is just wrong, and probably actually means, "I'm not getting laid." Whatever.  We have this minor league team that's WINNING, and an opportunity to watch some future stars of the NFL in action, tickets are reasonably priced, and yet they're having trouble filling up the seats in the arena.  What is wrong with this picture? There's still time to catch a game or two this season: they're playing on the road now, but will be back in town for the last two weekends in March.  So, gather up your friends and make it an outing. Do something different for a change.

We're going up to SUNY Fredonia this afternoon to hear Dr. Anthony Ingraffea from Cornell present some actual facts about fracking. Meanwhile comes the news that the Chinese Petrochemical Corp. is buying a 50% share of Chesapeake Energy assets. Any questions about who will benefit from the destruction of our environment?