Feeding the Hungry Ghosts

Hungry Ghosts are pitiable creatures.  They have huge, empty stomachs, but their mouths are too small to take in food.  They are doomed to live with incessant craving. 

It is believed for one long lunar month the Gates of Hell are opened and restless spirits released to roam the Earth.

Tracing back to the Ullambana Sutra and the Buddha's disciple Mahamaudgalyayana, Yu Lan (Hungry Ghost) Festival is a traditional Chinese festival and celebrated by Chinese in many countries.  By luck, we just happened to be visiting Hong Kong during this time and were able to participate in giving these poor creatures some relief.

During the seventh moon in the Chinese lunar calendar, the living make efforts to appease these restless spirits/transient ghosts, while feeding their own ancestors - particularly on the 15th day, which is the Yu Lan or Hungry Ghost Festival. 

To celebrate, roadside fires are lit and people burn offerings for ghosts and ancestors to use in the afterlife.  Our celebration included the burning of incense and offering of joss paper which included faux money (Hell Money), gold bars, silver bars, flowers and brightly colored clothes.  In other roadside fires, we saw wine and food also offered.

What an amazing experience, we were honored to learn about this tradition and join in the city's living culture!

Freedom, Family and BBQ Sauce

“You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism.” ~ Erma Bombeck

On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence declared US independence from Great Britain. Every July 4, Americans around the world celebrate with family, picnics and fireworks.

For my Rea family, 4th of July would not be complete without a BBQ with the perfect BBQ sauce. So, I share with you my latest recipe. Created out of utter desperation to find the ultimate homemade BBQ sauce, I found many recipes, tried many, failed many and finally found one and tweaked it to make it my own.

Wishing you a wonderful BBQ (sauce)!

~Stacy

Extraordinary Women

I recently was asked to join a panel conversation in paying tribute to the generations of women whose commitment to nature and the planet have proved invaluable to society. 

Of the questions I received in advance, I was asked to be ready to discuss a woman who has inspired, motivated and/or encouraged me to reach my full potential. 

How do you choose ONE woman who inspires, motivates and encourages when there are so many?  I start to jot down names...

Sandra Rea
Virginia Woolf
Ann Rand
Wilma Rudolph
Sally Ride
Amelia Airhart
Anais Nin
Eleanor Roosevelt
Susan B. Anthony
Marlo Thomas
Condoleezza Rice
Sarah Palin
Hilary Clinton

...

The realization that I could continue to list women who have left their mark on history is comforting, but I know that I can only pick one.  I go back to the first person who entered my mind when asked.  Sandra Hale Rea.  Yikes, too personal.  Pick another.  But, I can't because she is the one woman on the list and in my life that helped shape me into the woman that I am today.

Introducing my Mom

My mom, Sandra Rea, worked full time and never missed a beat, birthday, speech or basketball game.  When her three kids were old enough, she put herself through collecte at night still working full time during the days.  She received her teaching credential and taught many grades, but found a love for 4/5 grade where she invested in her students each and every day.

What she has in common with the list of women above was a sense of purpose.  And like those women, what she taught me was to be fearless in my dreams.  To be ambitious.  that I could be anything I wanted to be.  She modeled hard work, integrity, passion, loyalty, servitude and the importance of not just leaving, but in LIVING a legacy.

In all the roles we play as women, I leave you with this "Sandra-ism" on living a legacy.  My mom would say, "Do not live anyone's life except your own so that when you look back at the end of your years you will be proud of the unique design you have created. Appreciation that every decision you had made through the years had lead you to this palce.  Serenity that your life was on purpose and by design." 

About Women's History Month
Women’s History Month had its origins as a national celebration in 1981 when Congress passed Pub. L. 97-28 which authorized and requested the President to proclaim the week beginning March 7, 1982 as “Women’s History Week." Throughout the next five years, Congress continued to pass joint resolutions designating a week in March as "Women’s History Week." In 1987 after being petitioned by the National Women’s History Project, Congress passed Pub. L. 100-9 which designated the month of March 1987 as “Women’s History Month." Between 1988 and 1994, Congress passed additional resolutions requesting and authorizing the President to proclaim March of each year as Women’s History Month. Since 1995, Presidents have issued a series of annual proclamations designating the month of March as “Women’s History Month.”


From the Law Library of Congress' guide to the legislative history of Women's History Month.

Information about Women's History Month was copied from http://womenshistorymonth.gov/about.html.  Visit year round to be reminded of the amazing women who paved the way for women's rights.