Sounds Good

For 40 years the Texas Renaissance Festival has been a rowdy, muddy, musical, creative adventure for me and mine. I can’t get enough of it and you can get your fun in weekends through Nov. 30.
I’ve loved this festival since before the French High photo club headed out there in the ‘80s. But I’ve skipped a few. This time around I enjoyed the Magic Garden area, a quiet, dark path lined with bamboo and with cul-de-sacs featuring oversized mosaic-tiled benches and bromeliads in orange, purple and gold that look like a disco garden in an Alice in Wonderland type of fantasy.


Does Gratitude take practice?
Some blessings are obvious. Take time to be appreciative of that cup of coffee; breathe; and know anything is possible. “Sunrise Sunset: 52 Weeks of Awe & Gratitude” is a little book offering Kim Weiss’ photos of, sunrises and sunsets, of course. It also has some nuggets of thought from several contributors who remind us of what makes a glorious day. I love M.J. Rose’s practice of imagining which painter may have painted the sky that day. Monet? VanGogh? Magritte? A big old “thank you” goes to Kim Weiss for this book from Health Communications Inc.
Other kinds of beauty:
·         Warming Honey Cleanser from Cleanse is the name that sounds like it says it all, but that's just the starting point. Papaya enzymes and green tea extracts. Warm up on your face and you just won't want to stop cleaning. That warm feeling gives way later to an appreciation of pore minimalizing, protection of your ceramide barrier, etc.
·         Weleda gives you your oats. Why do you want them in your hair? You do. The company has been developing anthroposophic medicines and natural cosmetic products since 1921 and now they’re bringing us the scent of mimosa flowers and tonka beans while organic oat extract and jojoba seed oil gets to work restoring, protecting and smoothing the hair’s surface. I’m enjoying the shampoo and the replenishing treatment with sea buckthorn and coconut oil. If you do an internet search for all the ingredients and philosophies of this product, you’ll be occupied with interesting information until it’s time for your next shampoo.
·         Environ Intensive Hydrating Oil Capsules are teeny packages of vitamins, soy protein oil, green tea, etc. that go deep to nourish stressed, aged and sun-damaged skin. It’s very, very nice to smell, feels great going on and, since I’m the tester, I have to add that I look pretty good.

Surf Sweets
Know how they say to get Halloween candy you don’t like so you’ll stay out of it? Surf Sweets has ruined that for me. Spooky Spiders, Sour Worms, Organic Fruity Bears and such are made with organic fruit juice so guess what, they don’t taste all artificial and yucky. It’s a healthy alternative to a lot of the scary stuff that’s out there. Treat yourself.
ddoiron@panews.com