Better U, better me

It seems every blog I read these days, people are trying to get healthier. Mir, over at http://wouldashoulda.com/, recently posted about going gluten-free. After I read her post, I realized I had the same symptoms: bad skin, problems with my gut, fatigue, etc. I looked into going gluten-free, which I've known for awhile was something I needed to do because I did it once before several years ago and felt much, much better. Guess what! It's way easier now to be gluten-free than it was the last time I did it. The first thing I did when I thought about giving this a try was to check http://traderjoes.com/. I know they have gluten-free products and that they would be cheaper than Whole Foods. Imagine my surprise when I found their gluten-free product list is SEVEN FREAKIN' PAGES! I knew right then and there that I could this no problem. Betty Crocker is coming out with gluten-free bake mixes, Starbucks now has a gluten-free orange muffin. This is excellent. My favorite site so far is http://bobsredmill.com/. I like to bake and they have so many products to bake with, I'm a happy camper right now.

I went gluten-free last Wednesday and it has been a blazing success. I haven't have indigestion once, my fatigue is gone, my skin is clearing up and feels fantastic. I'm never hungry because there's so much I can eat and I'm eating more variety because I'm not eating a turkey sandwich or a burrito (flour tortilla) or pizza. I'll still be able to have those things, but it will be my home-made gluten free bread and pizza dough and a corn tortilla for the burrito.

Visitor

I live in a fourth floor apartment that has a balcony. Just beyond the balcony are the top branches of a tree. Through the floor to ceiling windows, I often see birds of all sorts; squirrels and the occasional opossum. The other night, I looked out and saw this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_tailed_hawk

He was gorgeous. His head was turning and turning as he scoped out his situation. Then he looked directly at me sitting on the couch in my living room. I could see the predator thinking "If I were just a bit bigger and you were just a bit smaller, I'd have you for my dinner."

I've never been that close to a wild animal that wasn't in a zoo. He was staring at me from about six - eight feet away and we were on the same eye level, given that I was sitting. I've heard that birds are the direct descendants of dinosaurs and I believe it. It was like being stared down by a mini, feathered T. Rex.