1. I've read six of the ten chapters of Patricia Nelson Limerick's 1987 book, The Legacy of Conquest. She doesn't put it this way, but I'm understanding "conquest" as bending something or someone to one's will. As the people from elsewhere moved into the American West, the conquests were numerous. Whether we are talking about armies, farmers, ranchers, miners, loggers, train track builders, missionaries, engineers, scientists, over time, whether we are talking about the wealthy and the powerful or the everyday laborer, those in the military or those in the world of science and industry, over time, these pioneers, soldiers, workers, and others racked up an impressive array of conquests.
Those coming West conquered waterways to be navigated or repurposed to irrigate arid (or semiarid) land or dam them to control (conquer) flooding, provide power, and open up recreation; they conquered the land itself, turning once unproductive land into areas to be farmed and for cattle to graze upon; scientists conquered the atom, resulting in powerful weaponry and another energy source; armies conquered the Native people living in the West and moved them to reserved lands and undertook the project of cultural and spiritual conquest, delivering, in their minds, these people from savagery and paganism; prospectors and miners and mining companies conquered the veins of minerals snaking through the mountains and hills of western states and it wasn't long before mining companies began to bring the labor force under its control, increasing production, efficiency, and (often) profit (but rarely wages).
What I've listed in the above paragraph is not exhaustive. Nor did any of these conquests turn out to be singularly positive. With each conquest, numerous difficulties arose. What is to be done with nuclear waste? How does the government deal with those Indian tribes gutted by dislocation, loss of hunting grounds and fishing waters, increase in disease, and the growth of poverty, among other complex challenges? What's do be done with land damaged by cattle grazing? With waterways polluted by different nature conquering industries? With the disruption dams cause to fisheries? With the depletion of nature's bounty? With restless workers demanding better wages and working conditions? The difficulties are countless.
The legacy of conquest in the west is the story of never being able to bend nature or other people completely to the will of anyone or any entity -- not to the government, not to those in private industry, not to engineering, not to churches, not to business, not to activist organizations, not to anyone or anything. There are always what we call in medicine, side effects. Unforeseen consequences. Unending conflict, tensions, and dissatisfaction.
So what I've written just now is what I've learned from this book so far.
I'm eager to see what more lies ahead in the last four chapters.
2. I started getting hungry around 4:00 this afternoon. I thought about my leftovers. I suddenly realized that I had quite a bit of the garbanzo bean, tomato, onion, garlic mixture I fixed the other night and served over rice. I also have a good supply of rice cooked and stored in the icebox. Then it hit me: I also have leftover baked yams from when I made that yam and couscous dish for family dinner.
Of course! I'll coat the yams with cinnamon and allspice, mix it with the tomato garbanzo bean thing that's ready to go, heat it up and serve it over heated up leftover brown rice.
But, wait! How about if, while the rice is warming up, I put some of the shredded Mexican cheese blend I have in a package over and in the rice? Great idea! One bowl of cheese-rice covered with the tomato based garbanzo bean and yam mixture not only tasted great, but satisfied my hunger for the rest of the evening.
3. I'm not much of a baker -- I bake muffins and cornbread and that's about it -- but Christy and Carol love to bake and really love doing it as Christmas Day draws near.
So, late last week, Christy brought me over a plate of Silo cookies and sesame butter cookies, both capable of putting me almost instantly into a sugar coma. My challenge has been to eat a cookie on occasion, often accompanied by a cup of hot black tea and milk, and not gobble the whole plate of treats in one or two sessions.
I've succeeded. It's been about four or five days since Christy brought over those cookies and I still have two Silo cookies left.
This evening, Carol added to my stash of sweet things. She's been working to replicate Mom's holiday fruit cake.
I've probably written this before, but I grew up absolutely befuddled by the bad reputation assigned to fruit cake. I loved Mom's fruit cake -- I think the secret was the way she soaked it with brandy. Not only was Mom's fruit cake moist, with the fruit and nut pieces cut really small, but it had this kind of perfect boozy flavor -- not overpowering, not dominant, but not hidden either. Her fruitcake was sweet, nutty, boozy, never dry, and absolutely delicious.
Carol left me a loaf of her fruit cake in the newspaper box on the front porch.
I brought it in and I uttered a brief prayer, beseeching the Trinity to combine their forces and bestow discipline upon me, to free me of the gluttony I knew was near at hand as I unwrapped the fruit cake and immediately smelled the fruity booziness of brandy and saw that Carol had made cakes that looked just like Mom's.
I prayed for more strength and my prayer was answered as I sliced two thin pieces from the loaf and immediately wrapped up the loaf again and put it in the refrigerator.
I bit off a piece of the first slice and like Christy's Silo cookies and like her sesame butter cookies, the taste of the fruit cake filled me with a mild euphoria and I simultaneously fully embraced the pleasure I felt while beseeching myself to leave the remaining fruit cake in the refrigerator. I instructed myself to enjoy these two slices fully now, but to be an adult: DELAY YOUR GRATIFICATION!
And I did.
I returned to watch the Zags stumble a bit in the second half as they trounced Northwestern State 95-78, but I did not stumble. My strong will, in union with the will of God, remained firm and I did not eat another slice of fruit cake, nor another cookie, and tried to plot out in my head when I might next avail myself to these nearly irresistible disks and slices of earthly paradise.
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