ENKINDLER

Imagine a chocolate that increases in taste upon digestion. An exotic chocolate that is delectable and full of guilt-free pleasure. So mouth-watering, that you crave it long after you’ve eaten the last bite. As it melts in your mouth, you begin to feel the rhythms of its origins vibrating within you. Chocolate that is this great, can only be created through passion, love, and obsession.

With Cacao from Ghana, Madagascar, and Peru obtained through fair trade practices; eating chocolate designed by TCHO is truly a guilt free experience. When you look at the chocolate isle at the store, you will find that very little of the offered products are made with high quality ingredients or produced without the use of slaves.

The Founder and Chief Chocolate Officer of TCHO is Timothy Childs. He is a chocolate creating wizard who characterizes the definition of obsessed in Mirriam-Websters’ Dictionary. His fascination with the perfect chocolate began during his time as a software engineer on the Space Shuttle.

I first met Timothy at a party where his chocolates were served.

Timothy says, “Making chocolate is complex. Three elements must exist to create perfect chocolate; Art, hard science, and intuition.”

Add passion and you begin to understand a bit of what makes Timothy Childs tick. He is obsessed with making chocolate from start to finish. From the Cacao tree growing on an independent farm in Peru to his Refining Factory in San Francisco, he is involved in every step.

Like coffee beans, chocolate goes through many stages before it becomes consumable. These stages include fermentation, drying, conching, tempering, and most crucially crystallizing. Crystallization is the process of creating a crystal lattice structure where fat molecules can fuse producing the perfect blend of chocolate. Timothy exclaims, “Crystallization is what gives chocolate it’s snap!”

Timothy has also invented a program to be able to read and manage the weather systems in Peru (through the internet)from his home base in SF. It helps produce beans under the perfect conditions. He takes the best beans and studies what makes them grow well and shares this information with the farmers. He remarks, “Most of these farmers have never tasted chocolate, so to teach them proper methods to measure fermentation and drying is essential to them.”

Timothy Childs is a socially conscious chocolate obsessed genius who just may change the way we come to think about chocolate. I noticed in Napa this chocolate is available Vallergas in The Redwood Plaza.

For more info visit TCHO.com

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Clarity does not come as a whisper kissed wish

It comes through the trauma of birth and rebirth

Invisible certainty that blankets the intentions

It is a glowing presence in warmth

It serves to measures the spaces between the cold and comfort

it battles from a distance to heed

it is the most precious gift in time of need

It arrives in layers

like layers upon layer of unstated prayers

Like a ladder

from here to where peace resides

It paves the path to a productive

progression of processing

worthy of manifesting passion

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People throughout history have marked themselves by tattooing for many different reasons. It’s an ancient urge. According to Health Day News, a recent study done in Germany found that the tattoo method of delivering vaccines produced stronger antibody and cellular response than intramuscular injection, even when an adjuvant was included in the injections. Three doses of DNA vaccine given by tattoo produced at least 16 times higher antibody levels than three intramuscular injections with adjuvant, the study found. Who knows, maybe tattooed people know more than some may think?

Laura Bennett Johnson has created art for a living for nearly two decades; her canvass is peoples’ skin and she loves her work.

“I love what I do; this is what I’d do for fun after work, if I had to have a job.” She’d say with a Cheshire cat-like smile.

As a young woman, her father told her he would help pay for college. When she chose Art School, he said “try again!” Eighteen years later she is still making art her life through tattooing at Flying Colors Tattoo in the Napa Valley. She’s owned her business in the Napa since 1992 and was the first professional shop owner in the Valley. She has been at her current location at 3373 California Way since 2004. She is exactly who she always wanted to be as a young woman.

“I like being my own boss,” she says, “If I want to donate to a charity, I just do it, no board meetings necessary.” She often donates tattoos to charity or causes near to her heart. After 9/11, Laura donated all earnings on Sundays to the Red Cross for a year.

“When I have the opportunity to raffle a tattoo; it gives me the chance to meet someone new. They may win the raffle, but I win the person!”

She enjoys her conversations with clients and says many of them have become her close friends. Her clients chair often becomes a place where they share personal details of their lives that they may have previously withheld. “Tattooing is an intimate profession, it’s hands on
and for the most part, permanent. It’s a form of art that gets under your skin!” She says.

The Tattoo Studio can be a place of transformation, of remembrance, or inspiration.

At Flying Colors Tattoo; Laura makes it a place of fun also, as if you are part of her family.

She adds, “I feel a strong connection to the people I’ve tattooed.”

As for being tattooed by Laura; I can tell you from my own experience, it hurts! What did you expect me to say? Tattoos’ hurt; it’s still needles in skin. Seriously, I can say her hands are gifted. Her skill and touch is truly unique. She is doing what she was put on Earth to do!

Laura is one of the most intelligent people I’ve met so far in this life and is an excellent writer. Her insights are unique and her wisdom her own.

Please read her blog at: http://wordworldoflaurabee.blogspot.com/2009/08/bicycle-men.html

To visit her business site: http://www.flyingcolorstattoo.com/

Best, James

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Kathleen West Haugen loves to take photos. She has been keeping a camera at her side since High School; it has been her passion and hobby. I caught up with her at her favorite coffee spot Ritual Coffee at Oxbow Market, where the mocha far exceeded expectations.

“It’s about catching a moment in time,” Kathleen says, “I never leave the home without my camera, I feel naked without it!”

Shakespeare said, “Love adds a precious seeing to the eye.” Kathleen has an eye for precious things.

“I love finding the beauty in everyday things, referencing a print she took called “Shower Water”. She doesn’t like posed images as much as spontaneous pictures. Catching random beauty can make the simple appear sublime. She says, “I try to capture the essence of a person.’’ She then shows me some of her photos stored in her PDA. The first is of a father and bride sharing a Traditional wedding dance. The picture captures the proud father’s countenance perfectly as he contemplates letting go. I ask her if she was paid to take the photo, she responds, “No, I just offered to take it since I was there.” And if Kathleen’s around, then she’s got a camera in tow.

Check this link for more of Kathleen’s pictures with animals. http://jamescurtbyrum.com/?p=1302

Her current dream shot is to capture a close up photo of a Bull in action. “I find them to be powerful and amazing animals.” Since we are at Oxbow, I’ll finish by encouraging her to “grab the bull by the horns.”

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When I was in Middle School, my parents made me go to church on Wednesday nights.  I’d usually go kicking and screaming. Every now and then, we’d catch some pretty amazing live shows in the local gym where Calvary Chapel held evening services.  Most of the time, I’d just listen to the preacher ramble and wait for loose change to fall through the pews and gather them after the parishioners left. I was a mischievous heavy metal-rap kid… so what do you expect? There was always a bunch of other teenagers that I knew from school… so I didn’t mind going too much.  It was the early 1980’s, I would listen to my Walkman (It was like an IPOD kids) playing The Clash with my Van Halen T-shirt and my parachute black pants.“I was so cool.”

One Wednesday night at the church they held a concert featuring the band Undercover. Out onto the stage walked this hard rocking fever pitched guitar player named Gym and a guy named Ojo who played bass lines and keyboard at same time. The front man had some pretty descent charisma and vocals. He was a skinny dude with funny looking misshapen mohawk. This guy could belt out some punk rock diatribes based upon bible verses with teen angst fervor. Bill Walden, formerly of Undercover and Fourth Watch was that guy.

Undercover was one of the first Christian bands that got my attention.  Though some of the songs they played were corny, they made up for that by being so passionate and energetic. With lyrics like “you’ll have to excuse us, we’re in love with Jesus!”  and “Last time water, this time fire-the-day is coming down to the wire—God Rules!” , it certainly made me turnoff my Walkman®.

He has been pastor of Cornerstone Church in the Napa Valley for almost eighteen years. His approach is hands on. For years Bill would meet with people at coffee shops, living rooms, and parking lots; anywhere that someone needed to talk, needed to pray, or just wanted to hear what motivated him.

He has never been one to press too hard on the religious front.  He shows people through his actions and attitude how much he loves God. While I attended Calvary Chapel Bible School (CCBS) in Lake Arrowhead,  I would travel down the mountain and attend Pastor Bill’s college and career group at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. I was impressed with his desire to reach the lost. When I graduated from CCBS, I thought I’d never run into him again, unless it was in heaven.

I got to know Pastor Bill better in the Nineties when I attended church in his home. When he and his wife Debbie first arrived here in Napa, I knew something exiting was about to happen. The great thing about Bill is that he is truly genuine. Whether you agree with him or not, you will most likely find common ground with him. While he is not hesitant to express his beliefs about Jesus, he is more than  just a demagogue. He seeks to dig into the community by actually involving himself with people’s lives. Through Cornerstone, he reaches out to single mothers, the homeless, other churches, and the community. Through his dedication to God he has produced a ripple effect throughout the community. So many people tell me how blessed they have been by Pastor Bill.

Even though Cornerstone has existed in Napa for nearly twenty years, they have seldom required a building of their own to worship God or serve the community. This is pretty amazing considering that Cornerstone sponsors and helped to build a sister church in Vizcaino, Mexico.  Pastor Tacho and Cornerstone Church has remained in constant contact since 2002. If you cannot make it to church, you can catch Bill on demand video channel 28 through Cornerstone Ministries www.napavalleytv.org. If you desire to learn more about Bill or find out what’s in his head, read his blog at www.pastorbillwalden.com.

Pastor Bill is currently reading Martin Lloyd Jones in his daily devotionals. He enjoys the approach that some of the older pastors have taken. M.L. Jones uses a logical and analytical approach to dissecting scripture. He tells you what it doesn’t mean or can’t mean before suggesting what it does mean.

It is a privilege to know such a humble and resilient man. When he moved to Napa in 1991 his daughter Sarah was seven, she recently has had a child of her own with her husband Caleb. When I interviewed Bill, he was still ripe with the Grandpa Glow. Not a bad life for a punk rock pastor! I’m glad to say I’m friends with Bill W.

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Climbing to the top of the ridge in Tahoe National Forest, overlooking the high end of Cedars. I look down in the dirt as I write my prayers in the Earth. Just below the surface, crystal chard’s. I dig them up and hold them in my hands. I sit on a rock beneath the Great Pine. My mind begins to release the thoughts of life and it’s complications. The sound of birds invite me to join them in songs of flight and freedom.  Hummingbirds fluttering above my head, leading me to the floodgates of joy. Woodpecker’s keeping time. The music of nature is magic.

I begin to breathe.

I begin to chant deep within my cluttered brain.

Thank you, thank you, thank you….

Until this is the only thought I recognize.

The spirit of thankfullness..the only feeling I emote.

I reach my hands towards the Sun and lower them, forming a  cross of redeeming light. Pondering the weight of memories which I carry like worn out luggage. Accusing thoughts arrive that challenge my focus. I picture tossing them off of the edge of the mountain.

“Let go! Let go!” My soul beckons.

I forgive my enemies and pray for my friends.

The business of life often keeps me from experiencing the natural wonders of our planet.

Compounding the fears, doubts, and the grip of despair, like clouds encompassing my inner clarity.Then in the distance…rushing winds remind me that change is inevitable and part of the splendor of being alive. The birds grow silent as the trees clamour. In awe of the power of the invisible spirit of air.

Pass over me, pass over me.

Wash away these tragedies, hurts, losses, and worries.

Wash over me until there is no past , no future.

Only present exist. Only hope persist.

Forward, I move through into the future unaware of time. As I stand up and begin to walk back down the mountain I am enamoured by silence. I begin to walk down my path slowly. alert and awake. aware of lighter footsteps. Less thoughts.

In the distance moving in the opposite direction, I spot a small brown bear.

My heart skips a beat as I watch it make it’s way up the mountain.

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Impatience is my cage

bound by time…

Yet, I do believe stillness is beautiful

The River carves it’s path patiently

unaware of time…

Yet, in a moment it appears as smooth as glass

almost unmoving…

Arteries are our common connection

filling the emptiness between us and the ancient pathways of the Earth

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Contemplating compartmentalization of conscious circumstantial curriculum certainly ceases from coercing calamity, so in conclusion…craving common clarity clearly circumvents catastrophe.

Courage could be the challenge if certitudes create creeds causing charismatic conviction to conclude. Consider continuing cautiously, ’cause carefully chosen changes could create chronic cheerfulness!

Change is contagious.

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