Tour de France Dinner

I don’t need much of an excuse to celebrate.  Life is a celebration!  Robert and I enjoy an adult beverage just about every evening, and we always start with a toast.  We might toast something as big as a holiday or some good news.  Or we might toast something as small as the day’s bicycle ride or the first fresh peaches of the season, which really are big things when you think about it.

The Tour de France is cause for celebration at our house.  One of the three grand tours along with the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelte a España, the Tour de France is the pinnacle of cycling.  It’s mind blowing to see what these professional cyclists can do day after day for three weeks.  The non-cyclist might have some appreciation for the Tour, but any semi-serious amateur cyclist has so much more awareness of just how grueling and spectacular the Tour de France is.

We used to subscribe to the largest channel package available from our satellite TV provider just because that was the only way we could get the channel that carried the Tour de France.  We now have access to a different provider that allows us Tour coverage with a smaller channel package.  These days we also can watch the Tour on the Internet.  Either way, I know exactly where to find Robert during most of July.  If he’s not at work or on his own bicycle, he’s watching the Tour de France.  Occasionally, he works on his bicycle while watching the Tour de France:

Doesn't everyone pump up their bicycle tires in the den?

Besides cycling, something else I greatly enjoy is cooking.  About 10 years ago I was obsessed with cooking theme meals.  I did everything from garlic to the Beatles to entropy – 106 theme meals in all, which I compiled into a self-published cookbook entitled Bean’s Theme Meals and Other Convivial Vittles.  Even now, I come up with a new theme every once in a while.  So, it’s not surprising that a few years ago I decided to cook a special Tour de France dinner for Robert and me.  It was so much fun that I had to do it again the next year and the next, and now it’s a yearly tradition that I look forward to every July.  With the 100^th Tour de France being this year, tonight’s Tour de France dinner was an especially special celebration!  By the way, the Tour de France is actually more than 100 years old; the first one was in 1903.  However, this is the 100^th year that the Tour has been raced because it did not occur in 1915-1918 during World War I or in 1940-1946 during World War II.

I cook a particular dish for our Tour de France dinner: Poulet a la Basquaise.  The recipe came from my sister, who speaks fluent French.  It’s a rustic dish of chicken and vegetables, served over rice.  I especially love the tarragon in it, one of the few recipes I regularly make with this very French herb.  Poulet a la Basquaise was already a favorite of mine before I started making it for our Tour de France dinner.  Then I realized just how appropriate it is for this celebration.  The name of the recipe translates to “chicken in the Basque style.”  For a long time I’ve been fascinated with the Basque region, which straddles France and Spain.  It has a unique culture, separate from both countries, and it even has its own language that is unrelated to the Indo-European languages that surround it.  A famous Basque team, called Euskaltel, races in the Tour de France every year, and I always pull for their riders.  Robert even got us Euskaltel cycling kits!  So, I don my Euskaltel jersey for cooking and eating Poulet a la Basquaise at our Tour de France dinner.  Also, Robert and I have renamed the dish to Euskaltel Chicken.

In addition to Euskaltel Chicken, I serve a mixed green salad with Dijon mustard vinaigrette.  This year I even tossed in a few fresh blueberries that I picked earlier today!  (Picking blueberries at a nearby farm is another annual celebration of mine.)  We also have a hot, crusty baguette.  And it wouldn’t be a proper Tour de France dinner without some champagne.  Actually, we go with less expensive sparkling wine from California, but it’s delicious nonetheless.

Finally, there’s dessert.  In the years that others have joined us at our Tour de France dinner, I have made a simple yet outstanding recipe called Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding with Bourbon Ice Cream Sauce.  Yes, it’s as good as it sounds.  Since it was just Robert and me this year, I made a different wonderful treat, Chocolate Éclair Dessert.  Chocolate éclairs are one of the greatest things that the French have given to the world, and this is a light and easy version.  I paid tribute to this year’s centennial Tour by placing candles on top of it that were arranged in a "100":

Because this year the Tour began on Robert’s birthday, I got him a special 100^th Tour de France gift.  It’s a jersey from Rapha, a company that makes very good cycling clothing and sponsors Sky, one of this year’s top teams in the Tour.  They came up with a design denoting each of the 100 years of the Tour de France.  It’s a mosaic pattern that includes symbols representing the Tour winners and their countries.  Robert wore his navy blue Rapha jersey for our dinner.

When I ordered the jersey for him, I couldn’t resist getting something for myself, too.  I got a neck scarf with the same special mosaic design.  I didn’t actually wear the scarf tonight because it clashed with my Euskaltel jersey, but I put it out for decoration:

Vive le Tour!

Happy Birthday, USA! (and Cosmo!)

Happy 237^th birthday to the United States, and happy 13^th birthday to my greyhound Cosmo!  I’m particularly happy to be celebrating Cosmo’s birthday today because it’s a miracle that he’s still with us.  In August 2011, Robert and I came home from work one day and found Cosmo in terrible condition.  He could barely stand up and kept drinking water almost without stopping.  We immediately called the vet, who actually came to our house.  She got him stabilized, and Cosmo recovered substantially over the next few days.  However, the vet cautioned us that Cosmo had significant heart issues and probably wouldn’t live more than about six more months.  That was nearly two years ago!  I’ve been very careful not to stress Cosmo physically.  That means that he’s had to retire from Greyhounds & Grey Hairs, and he doesn’t get to go to meet & greets anymore.  So, we make the most of our occasional (very slow) walks to the mailbox or his trips to the office with me every now and then.  By the way, when it’s time for his breakfast, you’d never know he’s had any difficulties; he bounds up the stairs from the basement to the main floor like a herd of elephants!

Cosmo has a special bat connection.  To honor his birthday bat-style, here’s the BCI Member Snapshot from the Fall 2010 issue of Bats magazine, published by Bat Conservation International (BCI):

“BCI Member Betty Jean Jordan of Monticello, Georgia, has a retired racing greyhound named Cosmo that is a bit of a kleptomaniac.  ‘Fortunately,’ she says, ‘Cosmo doesn’t chew on anything he steals; he just likes to collect stuff.  And he is obsessed with my stuffed vampire bat,’ which resides on a bedroom windowsill.  If the door is left open, Jordan says, Cosmo is almost certain to show up with the bat.  In fact, ‘sometimes Cosmo stands and stares at the closed bedroom door, and I can almost hear the cogs in his brain turning as he thinks, “Bat, bat, bat.”

White Nose Syndrome

Bats often struggle to survive because of human ignorance or indifference.  Sometimes people exterminate colonies of bats, mistakenly believing that the bats pose a threat or portend evil.  In some countries people even eat bats and overhunt threatened species.  Here in the United States, mines have been closed improperly, trapping thousands of bats inside or eliminating significant winter roosting sites.  (Thankfully, BCI has mitigated such mine disasters in recent years by working with appropriate agencies to install special bat-friendly gates over closed mine entrances.  These gates safely keep people out but allow bats to pass in and out freely.)  Even if a bat gets into your house, there is no need to kill it.  Just carefully place it in a closed container and release it in a safe place outside.  Make sure to never touch a bat directly; put on some gloves and gently scoop the bat into the container with a newspaper or something similar.

A particularly alarming threat to bats was discovered in 2006: White Nose Syndrome (WNS).  WNS has caused “the most precipitous wildlife decline in the past century in North America,” according to biologists.  It has killed more than 5.7 million bats, spreading to 22 U.S. states (including Georgia) and 5 Canadian provinces.  WNS continues to spread to new areas.

WNS is caused by a cold-loving white fungus typically found on the faces and wings of infected bats.  It makes bats awaken more often during hibernation and use up their stored fat reserves that they need to get through the winter.  The bats emerge from hibernation too soon, usually freezing or starving to death.  Bat mortality rates from WNS have approached close to 100% at some hibernation caves.  A few of the hardest hit species include the endangered Indiana myotis, gray myotis, and Virginia big-eared bats.  Many more bats across North America are at imminent risk.  Because bats are crucial in maintaining the health of nearly all terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, WNS indirectly jeopardizes many more living creatures (like…people).

Scientists believe that the fungus was brought to North America from Europe by people, probably cave visitors who transported it on their gear or clothing.  European bats have adapted to the fungus, but North American bats do not have immunity to it.  This is reminiscent of diseases like smallpox that ravaged Native Americans when Europeans first colonized.

BCI and partner organizations have been working tirelessly since WNS was discovered to understand and stop the disease and to begin restoring decimated bat populations.  Only last week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced grant awards of $950,000 to 28 states to fight WNS.  You can help by never bringing caving gear from a WNS-positive state to a WNS-negative state.  Also, your donation to BCI will help fund its work to combat WNS. www.batcon.org

Test Your Bat Q

Welcome to Bat Conservation International (BCI) month in A Year of Centuries!  I’m really looking forward to sharing some bat information with you over the next few weeks.  I hope you’ll come along for the ride and gain a greater understanding and appreciation for these marvelous and important creatures.  To kick things off, test your current knowledge with this bat quiz from the Educator’s Activity Book about Bats:

A.    True or False?

1. Bats swoop down and become caught in people’s hair.

2. Bats are the only kind of mammals that can fly.

3. Bats are flying mice.

4. Bats are blind.

5. Most bats are dirty and carry rabies.

6. If you see a bat on the ground during the day, it might be sick.

7. There really are bats that feed on blood.

8. Bats produce several litters a year, just like mice.

9. Bats are ugly animals.

10. A single bat can catch 600 mosquitoes in just one hour.

B. Bats around the world eat which of the following things (select all correct answers):

Fruit

Nectar

Insects

Fish

Blood

C. The biggest bat in the world has a wingspan of what size:

1 foot

3 feet

6 feet

50 feet

D. The smallest bat in the world is the size of what animal:

Ant

Mouse

Guinea pig

Bumblebee

E. Worldwide there are about ____ different species of bats:

10

100

500

1,000

F. In the United States there are about ____ kinds of bats:

5

10

40

100

G. Bats are what kind of animals:

Birds

Reptiles

Amphibians

Mammals

H. Most bats produce ____ baby(ies) a year

10

5

1

25

I. Bats are found in which of the following places (select all correct answers)

Tree holes

Caves

Attics

Plant leaves

Bridges

Mines

Tree bark

Rock crevices

J. Bats live in which of the following kinds of areas (select all correct answers)

Mountains

Deserts

Rain forests

Cities

Prairies

Wetlands

Farmland

Polar regions

K. Bats are important to the environment because they: (select all correct answers)

Pollinate flowers

Distribute plant seeds

Eat insects

Answers:

A

1. False – Insects often hover around people, and a hungry bat may seem to swoop down in hot pursuit of a pesky mosquito.  Their sonar ability is sophisticated enough to find such an insect in complete darkness.  They certainly are not going to blunder into a person’s hair.

2. True – Mammals such as flying squirrels are actually gliders.  Bats are the only mammals capable of sustained flight.  There is a great diversity of flight patterns among the nearly 1,000 kinds of bats.  Some can hover like hummingbirds while feeding on nectar, and a few diurnal flying foxes are able to soar on thermals just like eagles.

3. False – While bats may resemble mice with wings, they are not closely related to rodents.  Both bats and mice are mammals, but studies indicate that bats are more closely related to primates (and humans) than to rodents.  Flying fox bats have a brain organization very similar to ours.

4. False – All bats have vision and see well.  Insectivorous bats often have small eyes and depend primarily on their echolocation (sonar) to navigate and find food.  Fruit bats, especially flying foxes, have excellent vision and a good sense of smell, which they use to find ripe fruit.  Flying fox bats, who have large eyes, are not able to echolocate.  Sonar is not needed to find stationary food.

5. False – Bats are very clean and groom themselves several times a day just like cats.  The issue of bats and rabies is greatly exaggerated.  Bats can contract rabies just like all mammals, but they are not asymptomatic carriers of rabies, and they quickly die from the disease.  The incidence of rabies in bats is less than half of one percent.  In more than 40 years of record keeping in the U.S., only 20 people are believed to have died from contact with bats.  People have little to fear from bats if they never try to handle them.  An important message for children, especially when they come to like bats, is that bats are wild animals that should never be touched.  Any bat or wild animal that can be approached is more likely than others to be sick.

6. True – see information in no. 5.

7. True – Vampire bats feed on blood from livestock.  The bat bites through the host animal’s skin and laps up the blood.  Vampire bats comprise a very small portion of the world’s bats.

8. False – Bats usually produce only pup per year.  This is one factor that makes bats exceptionally vulnerable to extinction.

9. False – Various species of bats can look vastly different from each other, but all of them are beautiful in their own way, just like people!  Besides, can you really call this bat ugly?

10. True – Bats help control insect populations that feed on crops that are important to people and keep farmers from having to use so many pesticides.

B. All are correct.

C. Nearly 6 feet, a flying fox bat from Java

D. Bumblebee, the bumblebee bat from Thailand

E. 1,000

F. 40

G. Mammals

H. 1

I. All are correct.

J. Bats live in all of these areas except polar regions.

K. All are correct.

The Price Is Righteous

I love game shows.  It began when I was little when I watched them with my mother.  One of the first ones I watched was Match Game, with Gene Rayburn, Brett Somers, Charles Nelson Reilly, and Richard Dawson in all their groovy 70’s glory.  I even remember the original Wheel of Fortune when Chuck Woolery and Susan Stafford were the host and hostess – isn’t that a blast from the past?  However, I have even more memories of watching Wheel of Fortune in later years when I went to visit my grandmother.  Pat Sajak and Vanna White had taken over (good grief – how many years have they been on there now?).  Grannie poked fun at Pat, noting his beady, little eyes and pointy nose.  Also, she always critiqued Vanna’s outfits, which always seemed to have multiple gathers, pleats, etc.  Thus, her nicknames for them were Possum and Pucker.

When I was in high school, sometimes my mother and I would stay up late – on school nights! – and watch Nightline and Love Connection.  Strange juxtaposition, huh?  I guess the laughs and silliness of Love Connection were a good counterbalance to the serious news on Nightline.

These days, I only have time to watch game shows while I’m lifting weights in my basement.  There’s not a whole lot worth watching on TV, but the Game Show Network is usually a pretty good bet to keep me going while I pump (clap!) me up.  (I like Saturday Night Live reruns, too.)

I’ve been able to parlay my affection for game shows into a number of events at my church.  Most of them have been for Family Night Supper, when we meet for a covered dish supper followed by a program.  I’ve done take-offs of Jeopardy, Family Feud, and The Newlywed Game (G-rated and revamped as The Oldiewed Game).  Once I even hosted Reformation Rickshaw, based on Cash Cab, in honor of John Calvin’s 500^th birthday.  The “cab” was actually a wheelbarrow in which I toted contestants around the fellowship hall.  Presbyterians are sometimes called “the frozen chosen,” but I beg to differ; we know how to have a good time!

Probably the best birthday cake John Calvin ever got

Rindy, our pastor, was one of the contestants on Reformation Rickshaw

It's John Calvin himself!

There he is again!

He's everywhere!

Although I don’t have any pictures of it, one of the most elaborate game show events I did at church was called The Price Is Righteous.  It was a benefit for the ML&J Fund, incorporated into our collection for needy families at Christmas.  Before some of the toys, clothes, and household goods were given to the families, they were used as “prizes” for the various contestant games in The Price is Righteous.

Come on down!

I was the hostess “Drucilla” Carey, and my friend Stone was the announcer.  Contestants bid on items for a chance to play various games that were based on real Price Is Right games: Hole in One, the Race Game, the Range Finder, the Money Game, the Clock Game, and Pick a Pair.  Several of the games featured grocery items, which we donated to the Jasper County Community Food Bank afterwards.  And of course we had to have a new car!  (Hot Wheels)

Music and sound effects added to the game show atmosphere.  Stone and I made our grand entrance to the Price is Right theme music.  Throughout the show I played sound clips from The Price Is Right, which I had found online.  If a contestant won, bells ding-ding-dinged to announce the victory.  http://wavcentral.com/sounds/televis/price_is_right/tpir-dings.mp3  But if a contestant lost, sad horns signaled defeat.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ytCEuuW2_A   I even played The William Tell Overture during the Race Game, just like on TV.

Speaking of music from The Price Is Right, there’s a connection between it and cycling that inspired the whole idea for The Price Is Righteous.  One day Robert and I were riding our bicycles together and going up a pretty steep hill.  Robert started imitating the mountain climbing yodeler from the Cliff Hangers game on The Price Is Right.  Once I recovered from my fits of laughter, I started thinking about The Price Is Right and how I might do a version of it for church.  By the way, although we didn’t play Cliff Hangers at The Price Is Righteous, I simply had to use the yodeler music somewhere.  So, incongruously, the yodeler yodeled during the Ranger Finder game. http://www.televisiontunes.com/Price_is_Right_-_Cliff_Hangers_Game_(The).html

After the first three contestants played their games, we had to determine who got to go to the Showcase Showdown.  Since I didn’t have a giant wheel they could spin, they drew slips of paper out of a bag.  The slips had monetary amounts ranging from $0.05 to $1.00.  Each contestant tried to get as close to $1.00 as possible, without going over, using no more than two draws.  We repeated this process with contestants four through six to determine the second person for the Showcase Showdown.

The Showcase Showdown was filled with fabulous prizes!  Showcase number 1 was called Here’s to Your Health.  It featured a jigsaw puzzle for a sharp mind, a child’s bicycle, an Ingle’s gift card, foam letters and numbers to play with in a relaxing bath, Iron Man 2 pajamas for a good night’s sleep, and a Bible to stay in tip-top spiritual shape.

Showcase number 2 was an All-American Showcase.  It included a child’s shopping cart, some blue jeans, a football, a toy pizza, the girl next door (a doll), Mom & apple pie (a picture of Whistler’s Mother and a can of apple pie filling), and Colors and Shapes Bingo.  Then came the Showcase Showdown show stopper: a “trip” to Hillsboro, an unincorporated town in the south end of our county, complete with U-Haul rental from Ozburn’s Wrecker Service and a tour by “Mayor” Preston Wynens of several buildings.

At the end of the show, I reminded everyone to spay or neuter their pets.

Saturday Morning Cycling Adventure

During the warmer months I love to go for a Saturday morning bicycle ride and stop by the square in my hometown.  I visit our farmers market and have a cup of tea at The Vanilla Bean, our wonderful local coffee shop.  It’s gotten to be a highlight of the week that I really look forward to.  As much as I enjoy this routine, I discovered today that it’s even more fun when Robert goes with me.  Today’s adventure was extra special because it was also his birthday and the beginning of the 100^th Tour de France!

I planned our cycling route to include a particular point of interest.  A Little Free Library has just opened on one of the rural roads in our county, not far from where we often ride anyway.  A Little Free Library is a small structure built for public access that holds a small collection of books.  People can give a book and take a book at no charge.  Bikes and books – two of my favorite things!  I brought a book to swap with one at the Little Free Library:

This one looks like a real treasure:

However, I opted for a smaller paperback that would fit in my jersey pocket.  This one seemed apropos for several reasons:

Robert and I rode together for about 25 miles and then reached the square.  At The Vanilla Bean I ordered some white orchard tea (a nice floral, fruity tea for a summer day) and a morning glory muffin, which had carrots, apples, coconut, and raisins in it.  This muffin looked and tasted delicious anyway, but it also reminded me of the morning glories I had seen earlier on our ride, commenting to Robert that they have the perfect name.  By the way, one time I made some morning glory muffins.  Mine weren’t nearly as good as The Vanilla Bean’s anyway, but a weird phenomenon occurred.  I used some pre-shredded carrots that I had on hand.  Cooked inside the muffins, the pieces of carrot turned green at the edges.  I made a note on the recipe to shred the carrots myself next time.

Robert had waited to eat breakfast until we got to The Vanilla Bean, and so he ordered plenty to fuel himself for the rest of his ride: a latte, a shot of espresso, a ham and cheese scone, and a strawberry cupcake to celebrate his birthday:

This espresso cup has special significance.  It's one of a pair that came from a time trial that we did.  There were all kinds of great raffle items following the race, and Robert had his eye on these espresso cups.  They were made by Assos, a high-end cycling equipment company.  Words on the inside of the cups read, "Have a great ride!"  Robert's number wasn't called at the raffle, but our friend Jeff Licciardello's was.  Jeff picked the cups and then generously gave them to Robert!  Robert donated the cups to The Vanilla Bean and made a special arrangement with them.  Any cyclist who comes by the coffee shop can get a free shot of espresso in one of the Assos cups, and Robert will pay for it with his monthly tab.  That almost makes me wish I liked coffee!

Robert planned to ride a while longer, but I needed to get on home.  I stopped at the farmers market briefly to get a watermelon.  I thought about trying to balance it on my helmet for the ride home but decided it would be better to leave it at Jordan Engineering and pick it up later in the car when I went grocery shopping.

Speaking of grocery shopping, there wasn’t much in the cupboard for lunch.  I did scrounge around and put together this rather European lunch of cheese, crackers, fresh peach, and leftover wine:

Vive le Tour!

Bicycle Shipment Day!

What a terrific day!  I got to take part in a special event: Bicycle Shipment Day with Bicycles for Humanity (B4H)!  B4H was the charity that I highlighted in March.  It collects unwanted yet still usable bicycles and sends them to countries where they are greatly needed for transportation.  Today’s shipment of bicycles is on its way to Walvis Bay, Namibia!

While I was riding my March century, which was for B4H, a realization struck me.  It’s easy enough to try to put the word out about my twelve charities or even to make financial contributions.  Those are certainly important things, but I found that I want to give in more tangible ways, too.  So, as I was pedaling down the road that day, I resolved to look for opportunities this year to do actual work on behalf of the people and animals I hope to serve.  Helping load the B4H bicycles into the shipping container was just such a chance.

Volunteering to help load the bicycles almost didn’t work out for me.  The original shipment date was May 24^th, but I wasn’t able to get off work that day.  It turned out that the shipping truck got double booked that day, and so B4H had to reschedule.  I got to go today!

Mary and Davis Harwell are the primary organizers of the Georgia chapter of B4H.  I had been in e-mail contact with Mary in recent months, but it was so good to actually meet her and Davis today.  They have coordinated Bicycle Shipment Day for several years now, and so they know just what to do to make the process as smooth and efficient as possible.

B4H rents several units at a storage facility to keep bicycles as they collect them.  There were also wheels, tires, and various boxes of bicycles parts to include with the shipment.  In fact, a bicycle shop in Arkansas was closing and heard about B4H.  They donated their entire leftover inventory!  You can see some of it on the right-hand side of this storage unit:

Someone even donated some in-line skates:

I hope there are enough paved roads and/or hard-packed dirt roads in Namibia so that the skates can be put to good use along with the bicycles.

About a dozen of us were on hand to load the shipping container.  The first thing we did was to get all of the bicycles out of the storage units and group them by adult and children’s sizes.  The bikes had been prepped beforehand, which involved removing the front tire and pedals and zip-tying them to the frame:

This makes the bicycles more stackable, allowing a greater number to be placed in the shipping container.

Here are all of the bicycles waiting for the truck to arrive:

That’s two different groups of bicycles – over 300 in all!  Wow!

As we volunteers loaded the truck, we divided up by task.  Some of us rolled/toted the bicycles to the truck.  Other lifted them up into the truck.  Still others stacked them inside the truck.  The heavier bicycles went on the bottom.  Lighter bicycles (mostly the children’s), wheels, and tires filled in spaces toward the top of the container.  Also, one volunteer took inventory as we loaded each item into the container.  This information has to be included with the customs forms.  Here are Mary (left) and Kristie (right) making sure that these boxes are inventoried correctly:

We also had Allie the helper dog with us!  She belongs to Mary and Davis.

Here are before and after shots of the shipping container:

Empty truck

Loading the last few items

The truck headed on its way to the port in Savannah, and in a few months the bicycles will be in their new home in Namibia.  I pray that they truly will transform lives, helping people collect water, go to school, and get items to market more easily.

After we finished loading the shipping container, I met my father for lunch.  He lives near Chattanooga, and since container loading was in Alpharetta, north of Atlanta, it was a good opportunity for us to get together.  (It’s about a three-hour drive between our houses.)  Daddy and I had researched where we might meet.  Can you believe that – independently of each other – we both came up with the Marietta Diner?  It was good food and even better company :)  By the way, Guy Fieri has featured the Marietta Diner on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives on the Food Network – cool!

As I was driving home after having lunch with Daddy, I tuned my car radio to a classical music station.  My love of classical music is largely due to him, and having just spent time with him, I felt like listening to it then.  It was grand riding on the interstate through downtown Atlanta, listening to Aaron Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man.”  Daddy called after it began, and I told him to tune his radio to it.  Right after it was over, he called me back, and we talked about what a great piece it is.  It was also the perfect way to end today’s wonderful adventure.  It reminded me of the interconnectedness that we all share whether we’re in the United States, Namibia, or wherever.

Hear "Fanfare for the Common Man" here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NjssV8UuVA