Day 3788: Kevin Cooper and "Salzburger Nockerl".

"No party": junk mail & digital collage.

 

Want music?

Click here: Jackson's, Show You the Way

then click back on this blog tab or here to listen as you browse, or not?

 

 

 

2GN2S ...

America’s most remarkable kid died in Newcastle, Utah — his legacy never will.

Kevin Cooper squats on dusty, fallow land near his home in Beryl, Utah.

 

By Daryl Gibson

In the heart of flyover country, surrounded by dusty roads never driven by the power brokers of America, a small group of mourners sits on folding chairs in a town hall that has seen better days. They are here to remember a 14-year-old boy.  

The men wear jeans and white T-shirts — in solidarity with the boy whose own wardrobe included little more than that. Some of the women are in church dresses and others in jeans. There’s a smattering of cowboy hats and ball caps, boots and flip-flops. They recite The Lord’s Prayer in unison. They murmur soft assent when reminded of the boy their community has lost. They smile as a video shows highlights of his short life, accompanied by the strains of Bobby McFerrin — “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.”

Outside, the sky over Escalante Valley, Utah, is blinding blue and cloudless, promising no rain as it has for nearly a year. There are two Escalantes in southern Utah — the spectacular color country of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, and this one in Iron County, equidistant from St. George and Cedar City. Here, dust blows across fields lying fallow. Single-wide trailers dot the landscape looking as if the trucks that towed them there ran out of gas before they found a final resting place for someone’s home. Surrounded by low hills and mountains in the distance, this Escalante — the other Escalante — sits on an aquifer that is draining, and farms that are running out of water. If anyone was going to save this world, it was Kevin Cooper.

But on a hot day last June, at nearby Newcastle Reservoir, Kevin drowned in a kayaking accident at a friend’s birthday party. At 14, he had just published his autobiography. He was making plans to expand his 350-acre farm to buy up surrounding farms to convert to regenerative agriculture. He was saving money to build a house for his parents and another for his autistic older brother. He was polishing a movie script and a series of children’s books teaching business literacy for kids. He was looking for a celebrity to endorse his line of luxury toiletries made from the milk of his goat herd. He was breeding heritage turkeys. He was writing guest essays for notable bloggers higher up the political food chain. And, in his spare time, he had the task of grading the road to his farm using the John Deere tractor he bought new for himself for his 11th birthday. All of this is true.

A tire swing hangs from a tree in the yard of Kevin Cooper’s family in Beryl, Utah

   Also true is that Kevin was the only member of his small family who was not disabled. His parents, Billy, a disabled veteran, and Tina, who is partially blind, are just beginning to fathom what their future will be like without the boy who had that future in his hands. They never wanted to rely on him, but there is no getting around the fact that Kevin had big dreams for the whole family and for rural America, and a list of accomplishments behind him that most adults don’t pull off in a lifetime.

* I hope when you have time, you might read the rest of this incredible story, I promise, you will be amazed. HERE

Wow??

 

2GN2S #2

A new years treat from Elenor, across the planet. 

Good friend, and artist,  Elenor sent me photos from 

her cooking in Austria, and allowed me to share.

"You asked for our food traditions at New Years Day.  In my family we don't have one but we have a tradition for New Year's Eve. After a French onion Soup we have "Salzburger Nockerl". It's a most delicious sweet dish, it isn't difficult to prepare. 

 

All you need (per person) is ...

1 egg

1 tablespoon of sugar

1 tablespoon of flower

 a pinch of salt

Separate the egg whites from the yolks.

 

 Whisk the egg whites while slowly adding sugar till very stiff.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Mix in sugar and flour very gently.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scoop the mixture in heaps into the buttered baking dish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and bake until golden brown.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Serve and enjoy immediately!

 

 

 

Thank you, Elenor!

 

 

 

Resolutions are not for me. They are setting me up for disappointment in myself. Not a good place to go. I have friends who instead choose a word as a direction for their year. Today I was reading Washington artist's Amy Duncan's newsletter, here. She says "I’m a big fan of choosing a word for the year. Instead of making resolutions ... I like the idea of a word that serves as a guidepost, a gentle nudge to keep one moving along." I've never chosen a word before, but I'll give it a try this year. I spend too much time thinking and planning and not enough executing, so I choose, MOVE! I need to walk, so it fits for that too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A fun 2-minute video, Peck-Pocket, here.

 

Just because ...

 

 

Northern Red-billed Hornbill

 

 

Smiles for Monday ...

 

 

  

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

                             Thanks for coming by today