OMSI and The Fried Onion

Time Travel - it makes me dizzy.  Time travel is how I feel when one of my senses magically transports me back in time.  It is usually smell - earlier this week I smelled some flowers from a tree that were intoxicating.  I couldn't quit smelling them - I realized they reminded me of jasmine and being at my Grandma Goodwin's house in San Luis Obispo.

It was one of these pancakes -
Is it silly to take photos of my food?
I have done it for years, but it has become
a real habit with my iPhone.

The first time I had this sensation I was just 7 years old and lived in Reno, NV.  I was walking to school with my brother, Tom.  He was 9 and bragging about how he would be a decade old on his next birthday --Wow!  I was impressed and wondered if I would ever be a decade old???  Then we passed Randy's house (this was his friend who was ALREADY a decade old).  There was a smell in the air and we were both transported to Grandma's house - I was so intrigued!  Last weekend I was making pancakes and as I flipped one of them... (this will sound silly)... it looked just like my mom's pancakes used to look.  I felt dizzy, staring at the griddle and feeling quite sure that I was 16 and making breakfast for my family.  I was intrigued again... our brains are So Cool!  Maybe I was dizzy because the sense was sight - when a smell transports me it is more gentle...  Hmmm, I will probably not sleep tonight trying to figure that all out.

OMSI with David

One-on-one time with my children is always a favorite pastime.  Last week I spent a day at OMSI with David.  The IMAX movie was Unseen Mysteries of the Universe and we were both captivated.  I had been captivated earlier by an exhibit on Nanotechnology.  (Here I would like to add how nice it was to be at OMSI with one mature child - rather than trying to keep track of several small children.. or worse, on a field trip with several children not-my-own.)
Nanotechnology - and cancer.  I am thinking we may have been born just a few years too soon.  I am hopeful that my grandchildren will be spared from the suffering my children have experienced.  We do live in an age of wonders --I watched several videos about treating cancer with gold nano shells which - when injected into a cancer patient - will migrate to the tumor/cancer cells.  After just a few hours they will add light/laser and the nano shells will heat up to the point that the tumor cells will be destroyed.  We could have sure used that eight weeks ago, rather than cutting Jackie hither and thither.  Additionally, Iron nano particles will travel to lymph nodes and tell doctors whether or not it contains cancer.  My dear friend has a husband who has been treated for an advanced stage cancer... and now can only watch and wait for those suspicious lymph nodes to do something.  A few iron nano particles would really be helpful.
As interesting as the research is - it was the story of the researcher that was truly inspiring.  Her name is Dr. Naomi Halas from Rice University.  Here is a link to a video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSObY7dlSaY

The Fried Onion with David

It is the same as shown at the OMSI exhibit.   Exciting is the part of the video when she describes her breakthrough with the gold nano shells.  It came to her in a dream!  She had been very frustrated, and then woke up one morning at 2:30 with the knowledge that she needed... she went to work the next day and knew what to do - and it worked.  Some people would say that her brain worked it out in her sleep, but to me it sounds like personal revelation.   Dr. Halas was excited as she spoke of her dream and my first though was "The Glory of God is Intelligence".  I believe that when there is a breakthrough that benefits mankind, its source is Divine.  This story combined with the IMAX film - Wow - I was feeling very aware of the incredible beauty and intense "awesomeness" of the world around me; and of course of the Creator of it all.  He knows everything and shares it with us little by little as we are ready (at all levels)... it is so cool.

The Rachael - YUM!!

The real fun began as we took Mark's advice to eat at The Fried Onion.  David had been here twice before with Mark and it was fun to let him show me how it all worked.  The Fried Onion used to be a food cart and has moved to some sort of garage surrounded by warehouses.  Not my favorite location, but it made it more of an adventure.  It is run by an extremely nice couple who seem to love baseball - New York fans I think.  If you are a Red Sox fan there is a surcharge... I had the "Rachael" which was amazing - grilled pastrami with cole slaw and spicy Russian sauce.  David had a pastrami burger.  The buns are soooo good - I like good bread better than good meat - and this was all delicious!

Speaking of good buns - I
love to make homemade hamburger
buns - what a difference!!!
We had these last week with pulled pork.

Several days later - I have been thinking about senses/time travel.  There is a difference between seeing/smelling/hearing something that reminds me of another place and that rare, dizzy feeling that comes along when the sight or smell tricks my brain... Maybe it is just my brain... so often when I share ideas like that my friends or family will raise their eyebrows and give each other that "knowing look"...  But, it just happens that I walked past that same tree with David a couple days ago.  I hadn't mentioned it to him (and I didn't even smell it yet)... he stopped and said, "Wow, how did we get to California?"  (His grandma also grows jasmine in San Luis Obispo.)  No wonder my kids are my favorite dates (after Mark of course)... we understand each other.  As for time travel - rather than getting up to go fix dinner (which I am about to do), I wish we were all back there at the Fried Onion about to take a bite of that delicious sandwich!!!