This Animal Lover, Changes Her Spots

I have always been an animal lover.  As a kid I almost always had a dog in the house and we always played with most of the neighborhood pets, but we never had a cat in the house because my mom hated cats.  But I, lover of almost any kind of animal, broke away from the all dog idea when I first moved out on my own.  I got a Siamese cat who I loved.  But of course when I fell in love and decided to marry I had chosen not only a “dog” person, but had a man who did not understand cats, nor trusted them, I believe.  So my lovely little Siamese cat had to be given away and I again became a dog person.

When I went out on my own again recently I knew I  had to make a choice of a very small dog, or a cat.  After exploring the various shelters and playing with both I discovered the cats were by far the most prevalent and the quieter of the two.  Apartment living does not work well when you have noisy neighbors, be they dogs or humans and though the small dogs can be taught not to bark, most of the dogs found at shelters are larger breeds or tiny barkers.

After my third visit I discovered I was drawn to the funny felines that I began to encounter.  I had totally forgotten their penchant for destroying paper bags and boxes and crazy cat-astrophes they often can create in a home.  Humor and silliness are often traits I find the most endearing in my animals.  I’ve had my share of crazy dogs that would often have us laughing at their antics over the years, but by far in my opinion a cat can more subtly grab attention and make you question if there is a mini human within those furry bodies.  It is said that Jim  Davis loved cats so much but because of his allergies could not have one of those little furballs so he created Garfield as a cartoonist to fill us with all the laughter of what never could happen with a cat – right??  We who know cats have a secret.  Often what he shows daily in his Garfield strips is total truth about our furry feline friends!!

Food, We All Love It!

America has become obsessed with the food from around the world and have take it to the crazy degree that fresh is king – which is great for those monied few who no matter the season can afford. I’m not mocking the craze because we all need good cooking, and veggies to our diets.  Food is the center of every home, and of course we often eat boxed lunches at work.  But it usually isn’t very fresh.  So how can you do both?  Well one way that is quite common along ALL U.S. coastlines – it’s the fabulous food trucks.  If you don’t believe it check out the show Eat Street on the Cooking Network!  But the small towns in the Midwest have somehow lost out on this often chef driven food that is above and beyond in taste.

So why have we missed out on this food phenomenon?  One of the reasons has to be the MANY food laws that are different in both towns, cities, counties, and townships.  Though there are reasons of health food laws are necessary I certainly wish they State could get together on the laws to facilitate the food trucks that populate our nations big cities!  If you think I am a foodie, you’re right.  Good food from all over is a great way of sharing our cultures.

The great thing about food trucks is it expands ANY local food scene and keeps all the area restaurants on their toes.  So why are they seen as a passing fancy?  They have certainly been around for ages as much as fast food has been and have fed people around the world.  if you think of food in the Asian world you see food being sold out of little family restaurants or off carts and bicycle driven trucks.  People KNOW the good ones and always frequent the very best ones.

But one of our biggest communities in West Michigan has a strong history of the food vehicle lunch.  The Hispanic food found here comes from so many cultures within these communities, and I would love to see great food trucks in our business districts as well as downtown in the cities along Michigan’s West Coast.  Is this a cultural need in our area?  Probably not.  I it something that might expand our lives as well as our tourist base?  Oh, YES!

Hello, Hello

New is sometimes good.  I’m going to be sharing about anything and everything that interests me and grabs my attention – so welcome to my world.