Encyclopedia of Moi: E

Enter here for the next Exciting Episode of the Eclectic Encyclopedia of Moi!

E*:  (aka Dad) Himself says Dad and I are a lot alike. From our appearance to what he calls “the look”… which is apparently what one gets when one is being annoying or when we are thinking hard about something. From Dad I have gotten my love of history, my ability to figure out a problem, my stubbornness (we like to call it being firm in our opinion), and my love for ‘cool tools’… just to name a few traits!

 Etouffe:  Crayfish etouffe. That stuff just makes my mouth happy. I would love to find a good recipe and learn how to make it.

 

Eagles:  One of my memories of my trip to the Aleutian Islands, Alaska is all the Bald Eagles. They were everywhere! One afternoon I sat on the jetty at Kuluk Bay and watched the 30+ eagles all around me. Some landed with 20 feet of me. This beauty was one of them.

 Emeralds:  My great grandparents had a summer home in Burnsville, NC. We had visited them a few times when I was a small child. My great grandmother made jewelry from gemstones she and Grand Dad found in the various area mines. She gave me a small uncut emerald still in the matrix. It was treasure indeed! I still have that emerald.

 

Ethiopian food:  Himself discovered Ethiopian cuisine on military trips to Ethiopia and introduced it to me on a trip to Washington DC. I was immediately hooked! Thru circumstances we became friends with two guys who had an Ethiopian restaurant in Nashville. There have been a lot of good meals at their restaurant “Horn of Africa”. We later discovered another Ethiopian restaurant “Gojo” – in the building that was housed the guys’ first restaurant – and enjoy it too. Hmmmm… I feel a run for some Lega Tibs might happen this week…

 Eclipse:  I’m talking the incredible natural phenomenon… not the nasty movie (I find anything of the occult nasty… just saying). Sun or moon, if they are happening where I am at you can be sure I will be watching. I’m excitedly awaiting not one but TWO total solar eclipses that will be visible from here – the first on 21 August 2017 and the second on 8 April 2024. How’s that for some advance planning?

 

Elephants:  In the late 70s, the circus came to town. And I cut classes to “run away to the circus”. It is one of those life experiences that doesn’t come very often and I wasn’t about to let it get past me. Regretfully I wasn’t into photography at that time. The shots I could have gotten! My “job” was to help with the elephants… and a large part of that was watering them. Later I was able to help with their baths. It was then I was struck with the intelligence of these animals. Much later in life while planning a trip to Kenya, I discovered the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/ . It is an organization in Kenya who takes in orphaned baby elephants. To raise funds they have set up a sponsorship program where one can foster a baby elephant. We fostered Zurura and even got a chance to spend one-on-one time with him during our visit (Zurura is now living free in the Tsavo National Park). And now I see there is going to be a movie released this spring that shows the work of the Sheldrick Trust http://www.imax.com/borntobewild/ 

 Editor:  In college I was part of the school’s newspaper staff as one of the editors… not THE Editor, but one of the scut monkey proof reading editors. And I loved it. Now I edit the articles Himself writes before he sends them in for publication.

 

Eggs:  One of my favorite foods and ingredients, tho it wasn’t always true. As a small child I hated eggs and for years would not eat them in any recognizable form. But by golly, I still wanted my Easter Eggs to hunt! The photo is of a wild ostrich nest in Kenya. 

Elderly:  As a child you would more often find me in the company the elderly rather than children my own age. One time when I was around 4 years old I went missing for several hours. I was finally found next door visiting with the old folks who lived there. Even now I enjoy visiting with the “senior delegation” and look forward to our yearly ‘pilgrimage’ to visit Himself’s aunts & uncles.

http://shannonsswell.blogspot.com/