Hot September | Florida Notes

Dewy midnight runs, mosquito bites— I’m in Florida. Humidity aside, there’s something thrilling about slathering myself with sunblock when most are pulling out their fall boots and sweaters.

Sometimes leaving a familiar place behind helps to illuminate it and I have a new-found eagerness to re-explore Tampa Bay. After moving away, it dawned on me that what is common in Florida is not so common elsewhere and as I look around with fresh eyes, I appreciate many of the things and places I used to take for granted.

Don’t wait till you leave your city to realize how lucky you are to live there now.

The Art of Sweating

Photo | Teresa Queirós | ♡ Her Work

While melting into the flat cedar bench, stretched along a wooden wall in the sauna at Dragon Tree Spa, My muscle knots sweated straight out of my body in the swelling heat.

Most proper Eastern Europeans are devoted to the practice of sweating inside the sturdy wooden walls of a banya. They do it for health, out of habit, for social purposes, and as a beauty treatment. The benefits are worth whatever discomfort some complain of, and until now, I forgot well suffocating heat relaxes.

If you haven’t experienced the benefits of sweating, let me tell you why this practice keeps doctors away.

Wet + Dry Saunas

There are two types of saunas: wet and dry. Both are heated to high temperatures from 150-175 degrees Fahrenheit using a stove or electric heater and volcanic rocks to keep the heat.

In the wet sauna, water gets splashed over the rocks, as it vaporizes hot steam rises. The steam helps to open pores in our bodies causing us to sweat, unwanted toxins get released, and since viruses cannot survive high heat, illnesses decrease when practicing this peculiar art of sweating regularly.

In a dry sauna, there is no steam— just dry heat making it more tolerable for longer sessions. Dry heat reaches the body more directly. The body sweats in the same way, removing toxins, tension, and stress while stimulating blood circulation, and rejuvenating skin through perspiration.

What to Wear

The right way to dry sauna, as I learned from my dad, is to wear a funny, triangular wool hat made just for this purpose. The intense heat is good for the body, but not for the head. The hat keeps your head from overheating and from drying out your hair. If you don’t have a hat, just wrap a cotton towel around your head.

If you’re wearing swimsuits or shorts it’s best to choose fabrics made of natural fibers— synthetics can melt or shrivel, while metal buttons or zippers can scorch you.

Water + Aroma

Drink lots of water— this is vital for the sweating process. Hot tea is another popular sauna drink. The hardcore Russians will down a shot of Vodka, but I highly don’t recommend that.

Adding essential oils isn’t necessary, but they make all the difference. Just remember that undiluted oils should not get placed on the hot rocks undiluted. Use four drops or pure essential oil to 1 liter of water then splash it on the heated rocks. A regular 1-liter water bottle can get used, just add the essential oil, close the lid, shake it up and splash the water on the rocks once they start to sizzle.

The most popular oils for saunas are eucalyptus, pine, birch, peppermint and citrus varieties. But you can use whatever, sandalwood, clary sage and bergamot are also fragrant and healthful.

The Venik

Then comes the most important part— The Venik. A venik is a bundle of leafy birch or oak tree twigs tied together to form a broom-like bouquet. After your body is well-heated, the venik gets dipped into a wooden bowl filled with water and someone whacks, strokes, lashes, rubs or waggles it over your hot, hot skin.

This is no joke, a venik massage releases phytoncides— the biologically active substance that kills or depresses growth and development of pathogens and improves blood circulation, intensifies skin capillary activities, and metabolism.

I’m completely sold out on the health benefits of the sauna. Plus, there is nothing quite as bonding as the lightheaded conversations that happen while sweating your soul out with a few close friends. I mean, this beats sitting a cold and sterile doctors office visit.

The Rose City | Portland, Oregon Notes

Photo | Karina Chegarnova

Everyone talks about the rain in Portland, but it contributes to the natural beauty of the city, it waters the roses and keeps the city fresh. The vibrant food scene, walkability, and overall look and feel are just a few reasons to visit, despite the rain.

They call Portland, The Rose City and it’s not for nothing. The city is covered with roses. Plump English roses and pale pink tea roses adorn the city, wild roses climb fenses, and gardens get filled with them. The city is not all flowery, but innovative, exciting, and sometimes flat-out weird. The topic of Portland is long, but a here a few things of note:

The Food

You can never go hungry anywhere in Portland. The city is a cornucopia of food catering to every taste, ethnicity, and eating style. Chic vegan eateries, classy fine dining establishments, and ethnic food establishments are scattered everywhere, and anywhere a restaurant is not, a food cart fills the gap.

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I knew nothing of food carts till I moved to Portland, where in the span of one city block any cuisine can get purchased from a little serving window built into a truck, strategically parked along the sidewalk for “walk-through” convenience.

The carts are parked in pods covering entire city blocks, or conveniently sandwiched between office buildings. The idea is brilliant for owners and customers alike. The owners have a mobile enterprise with low overhead expenses, while the client gets ready meals anytime, anyplace.

There is African, Brazilian, Cajun, Ethiopian, French, Greek and to avoid the complete alphabetic list of nations, any other cuisine you could crave. Over five hundred food carts spread throughout Portland, and new trucks can show up at any given moment.

But the carts aren’t just divided by cuisine types. Grilled Cheese Grill is devoted to making creative grilled cheese sandwich concoctions. And forget the old peanut butter and jelly. A food cart, called PBJ’s offers PBJ’s that would have left your school lunch the envy of the cafeteria. Their sandwiches get created from an incredible variety of bread, butter, and jams. Originals like The Oregonian, a sandwich of challah bread, pan-seared duck, hazelnut butter, blue cheese, and Marionberry jam. I don’t eat such sandwiches, but I’m altogether impressed with how they slap the things together.

Food cart pods are a food lover’s haven— no, heaven. The biggest problem is the variety. All the aromas beckon, “pick me, pick me” and how do you do that when you’re hungry?

Walkability

I did plenty of wondering, and one of my favorite things about Portland is how walkable it is. Hundreds of people opt out of owning a car to walk, bike, and use public transportation because it’s convenient, healthy, and green. And Portland is all about being green.

The Color

When it comes to the overall look of the city, Portland is entirely photogenic. It’s a beautiful composition of sleek modern architecture mingled with the dull tones of historic buildings. The best part is the natural backdrop of vibrant greenery and mountains shooting up behind the city skyline.

The natural color scheme is ever-changing, from verdant green, to burnt orange, to bare brown giving the city a slightly different look for every season. It’s always beautiful, always fresh, and always picture worthy.

Resources

Travel Portland Blog: www.travelportland.com | The Oregonian: www.oregonlive.com

If moving to Portland is on your mind, I recommend the “Newcomer’s Handbook for Moving to and Living in Portland.” I read it before moving. It covers virtually everything a newcomer could wish to know.

Living it Down— Comfortable Minimalism

Even a tiny studio can get comfortable, once you get comfortable with minimalism.

Minimalism half allures me. I like clean, open space, and disregard for mindless consumption, but empty homes with blank walls and sharp lines make me shiver a little. I like having scope for the imagination, things to roll my eyes over.

Aesthetics aside, minimalism grew practical after moving into this smallish 350 square-foot studio in Portland. For the first time, I realized how comfortable a small space can be. It took a while to figure things out, but in the end, I unraveled the mystery of maximizing space without sacrificing style.

I am on the verge of moving out, but before I leave, I want to share the big things I learned in this small space.

Less Is More

This overused phrase means exactly what it implies. Less junk means more space. It means shopping mindfully, canceling the Costco membership and buying only what is needed, when it is needed. I just stuck to one soap variaty, one shampoo instead of all of them. It was enlightening to find that one good bar of soap and my favorite shampoo will last many months. Once I use that up, I can get another. It’s the tiniest things that cause the most clutter.

Give and Get

The best way to avoid overcapacity is the habit of giving. The concept turned into a sort of rule: every time I buy something, I give something else away. Giving is the best way to keep any space alive. Not only is it ever changing, but there is strong energy that comes from giving and I always want to have that energy flowing through my home. Hoarding has the opposite effect. All of those deadlocked things are lifeless; they become burdens weighing down space and the people living in it.

Quality over Quantity

Focusing on quality allows at least eighty-five percent of all things sold to get crossed off the list. It makes shopping easier and things more enjoyable. Buying good quality usually costs more at first, but pays for itself seven times over. Quality lasts longer and saves the time, energy, and money of constantly having to replace the same thing over and over. Then, of course, it’s more pleasurable and if it gets tiresome, it can be passed on to someone else because many well-made things can last a lifetime. Poor quality quickly becomes an eyesore and you keep replacing it, because why not it was cheap and then starts the never-ending cycle of consumerism.

Color Consort

In a small space, color is important. Too many loud colors have this way of overwhelming a room and lack of coordination makes any space look like a bazaar. Even when there is not much stuff, the discord of color makes a room look cluttered. Subdued tones create a comfortable ambiance and sticking with natural hues makes everything flow.

Studio living was an enjoyable experiment, but I miss having space to really stretch out in. You know, to scream without alarming the neighbors.

Word Power | What Gives Written Words their Power?

Photo | Jonas Hafner | THIS IS CAPTIVATING — THANKS!

Words should not be an end in themselves, they are purveyors of things which far exceed them. They are messengers of thoughts— therein lies their power.

Writing has a bad reputation. Not with everyone, but I frequently come across people who view it as a torturous task, a thing to be done only when it cannot be avoided. But come on guys, writing is no more dreadful than talking.

At the core, writing is based the same principles as talking. It all starts in the mind. You have an idea, a thought, a question, and you want to communicate it. When the thing being communicated sparks your own interest, moves you, awakens an emotion, enlightens the mind, tells a story, proves a point, settles a strife, or kindles a fire– communicating it is easy. Whether voice or pen, the thing will flow out of you.

Having to “write” when you have nothing to share is a problem just like having to give a speech on a topic you know nothing about. This where people run into the biggest writing problem, they want to write for the sake of writing, but can’t figure out what to share.

What to Write About

When choosing a topic, choose something that moves you first because your words can only move your reader to the degree that they move you as the writer. The same thing happens in conversation. The story being told is interesting to us as listeners only to the degree that it interests the speaker.

I often catch myself being delighted by the most unexcitable topics only because the person speaking shows genuine interest in what they are talking about. I’m not into golf, but there were times when the person, delectably describing a golfing session, sweeps me away. Not because golf suddenly becomes fascinating, but because the passion in that person strikes that chord in me. In the end, it is not the golf that interests, but the emotion behind golf.

Sometimes people have bad associations with writing carried over from their school years when they were obligated to write essays about things they were not interested in and topics they knew nothing about. As they wrote the un-writable they bored themselves to death. The next step was to proofread, the higher of torture. Here the problem is not the writing, but the lack of interest. Ever hear a foreigner communicate beautifully with virtually no vocabulary? Regardless of whether pen or voice is your medium, when you have something to say, you will find a way to say it. And when you have nothing to say, even the most elaborate vocabulary won’t help you.

Experience First, Write Later

Don’t think about writing. Think about living, learning, researching, and when your mind fills to the brim, it will pour words with beautiful fluency.

Words cannot be an end in themselves, for when thoughts are not attached to them, they are only interesting as a thesaurus. But when they act as messengers of thoughts, they take on the nature of the thoughts you are conveying. In short, word power is thought power.

The Russian

Conquer from Within