Being Welcomed

It was a day of volunteering at the Temple to help clean the community dinning area. While I haven't attended a significant number of teachings over the past year I have spent time just walking around the Stupa. When I do I find it gives me a chance to simply think about whatever comes to mind. It gives me a sense of balance and I'm usually relaxed when I leave, with a clearer sense of what I need to do in this life. After a few hours of working I had time to walk in areas I'd not explored before. It's going to sound odd, but I felt of sense of "belonging" there. The closest I can describe it is when I walk in specific forest locations back home in Pennsylvania, or the park next to our home. It's like I'm in my most natural setting.



#dharma #buddhist #buddhism #learningthedharma #meditation #puja #soulsearching #training #findingmyself #monastery #stupa #meditation #holyplace #holy #peace #namaste #buddha

Ezekiel Choke from the Closed Guard

​

Bring your opponent down using your thighs. ​Sink in your cross collar choke either thumb in or out. (I find that with it IN & on the down side the next step is easier for me). Thrust the same side elbow upwards above their neck. At the same time your free hands wraps around the back of their neck to your raised elbow. Apply pressure downward with that forearm as you lock your free hand onto your raised elbow area. CHOKE.

#bjj #bjj4life #brazilianjiujitsu #jiujitsulifestyle #jiujitsu #graciejiujitsu #martialarts #grappling #bjjlife #jiujitsulife #fitness #bluebeltproblems #bluebelt #gym #fighttraining #Selfdefense #bjjtraining #martialartslife #fitnessjourney #artesuave #oss #mma #graciejj #bjjmadison #bjjwisconsin #riseup #riseupmartialarts

Smoked Whole Chicken

Ingredients:

1 - 4# or so, whole chicken
2 - whole cloves garlic, cut in half
1 - 1 lemon, cut in half
1 - bunch of fresh herbs, any combo of Parsley, Basil, Sage, Rosemary, or Thyme that you want...
1 or 2 Tablespoons of olive oil
Kosher Saltv Fresh Cracked Black Pepper

Directions:

Take your bird, and after rinsing it out and patting it dry, place it on a 1/2 sheet pan. Take half the lemon and squeeze it as you rub it all over the chicken, and then cram it up inside the bird, the skin side towards the neck opening. Hold the chicken open end up. Sprinkle in some salt and pepper. Take your garlic cloves, cut them in half, and throw one clove in. Cram in the fresh herb combo of your choice. Drop in the last of the garlic, and then place the other half of the lemon into the bird. It should form a sort of closure to the opening. Lay it down. Pour a little olive oil over the bird, and rub it all over the skin. Tie the legs together using butcher's twine, closing the opening over the end of the lemon. Tuck the wing tips behind the back of the bird. Sprinkle on some more salt & pepper. Let this sit out for up to 45 minutes while the grill gets hot.

Prepare you charcoal grill. I use a Weber kettle. I also use a chimney starter to get my natural hardwood coals as hot as possible. Soak either apple wood or hickory chips in water until needed. I create a "snake" out of aluminum foil, and wrap it around the base of a shallow aluminum tray. (It's reusable. Mine is 6 years old! See how Alton Brown makes a similar one in Grillus Domesticus) Once your coals are hot, place the tray inside the foil rectangle. Distribute the hot coals all around the outside of the tray. Place the grill rack over top.

The bird goes breast side down over the tray below. Cover the chicken with a deeper aluminum pan placed upside down. It'll form a sort of oven in your grill. Open the grill's grates on either side of the bird and sprinkle on half of your soaked wood chips. Close the grates, put on the lid with the vents all open. Don't forget to place a whole sweet onion on the "head-side" of the bird.

After 30 minutes flip the bird, add more chips, and cover with both the foil tray, and the lid. After another 30 minutes test the temperature using a probe thermometer in the deepest part of the thigh. If it's at, or near 170°F take it off the grill. Cover it with loose foil, and let it rest for 15-20 minutes before carving.

An Early Thaw

It's a very sudden and early thaw here in Mount Horeb. I'm still too injured to go train at any of the gyms where I usually find myself on a Monday. After weeks of not getting any better I am finally admitting I need to see my Doctor. So after making an appointment for later this morning I took a casual stroll into the nearby park. The quick thaw has left all the fields flattened and easy to navigate. There is a foundation from an old, small barn that I usually visit each year after the thaw. Someday I may have to try and get a grant to build a semi-permanent bird-blind here. It'd be an excellent spot to document small prairie birds.

Love Creek Hike

An unseasonably warm day found us on a nice, short hike in the Love Creek Fishery Area. There are no real trails aside from deer paths. What it lacked in scale it made up for in solitude. We've noted a couple of nice spots for future picnics.

#wi #travelwi #discoverwisconsin #wisconsin #wisco #madisonwi #madisonwisconsin #wisconsinphotographer #driftlessarea #lovecreek #hike

Prairie Dogs @ Play

It looks like event the prairie dogs are getting into Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Nice side control position! Oss!

Black-capped chickadee

The black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) is a small, nonmigratory, North American songbird that lives in deciduous and mixed forests. It is a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is the state bird of both Maine and Massachusetts in the United States, and the provincial bird of New Brunswick in Canada. It is well known for its capacity to lower its body temperature during cold winter nights as well as its good spatial memory to relocate the caches where it stores food, and its boldness near humans (sometimes feeding from the hand).

#chickadee #Poecileatricapillus #wi #travelwi #discoverwisconsin #wisconsin #wisco #madisonwi #madisonwisconsin #wisconsinphotographer #driftlessarea #wisconsinlife #birding #birds #bird #birding #Audubon #birdsofinstagram #birdstagram #wildlifephotography #birdphotography #igbirds #birdlover #bestbirds #bestbirdshots #your_best_birds #instabirds #wildlife #wildlife_shots #ornithology