Maison Tranquille Blog

  July 18,2025 I am reading Sixty Million Frenchmen Can’t Be Wrong: Why We Love France but Not the French by Jean-Benoit Nadeau and Julie Barlaw.  The authors are journalists from Canada, one French speaking and one English speaking.   Nearly every page gives insights into the cultural and economic differences between France and the USA and Canada such as this one:  “The French believe in equality, but they don’t embrace the lowest common denominator.” There is an important part of French cultural values around the idea of equality. The French are committed to the principle of equality, (Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite).  The French form of equality emphasizes that everyone should be treated equally under the law, and that merit should determine access to opportunities, especially in education and public service.  It doesn’t mean that everyone must be the same, or that society should be lowered to the simplest and least demanding  “lowest common denomina...

 June 2, 2025 A few days ago while I was getting in my steps by walking around the neighborhood I snapped a photo of some wild yellow flowers blooming among the leaves and tangled grasses on the side of the road.  The image was natural and real, but I felt like the beauty of the flowers was not being fully seen. So I enhanced the photo. I did not add anything artificial to the photograph.  I only removed the distractions, brought in more clarity and emphasized what mattered most. Here is the original image: Here is the enhanced image: In the edited photo, the yellow flowers are still in the same place. The leaves and grasses still frame the scene.. But now, your eyes go straight to the beauty. The light is more generous. The clutter is less visible. What’s important comes forw And isn’t that exactly what we try to do in our own lives? We don’t need to change the whole picture. We just need to see it differently. We can: - Let go of what pulls us away from our center - Foc...

 May 21, 2025 Here I am in front of the Sydney Harbor Bridge Sept 11, 2011 Our raw foods group didn’t begin as a social gathering. It began as a search for healing. In 2009, after becoming seriously ill, I began looking for answers beyond what conventional medicine was offering me. That search led me to Dr. John Fielder in Australia, a natural hygienist and teacher with a strict but deeply rooted philosophy of healing through food, rest, sun, and natural living. I met up with him in Houston in 2010 and began to study closely with him. His visits, the lectures I organized, and the community that began to form around those ideas eventually gave birth to our Raw Foods Group in 2011. For years, it felt like we had discovered something powerful—a way of connecting with food, and each other, that felt nourishing on every level. But over time, my path shifted. In 2020, I made the personal decision to take medication for my health. That decision ended my working relationship with Dr. Fiel...

 May 20, 2005 There is a quote going around that I have seen several times.   “You cannot follow both Christ and the cruelty of kings. A leader who mocks the weak, exalts himself, and preys on the innocent is not sent by God. He is sent to test you. And many are failing.” — Pope Leo XIV It was bold. Convicting. And honestly—it spoke to everything I believe about compassion, justice, and moral courage. I almost shared it immediately. But something made me pause. Just about everyone knows who Pope Leo XIV is by now. He was chosen to be Pope in May 2025. He is the former Cardinal Robert Prevost, a man known for his heart for the poor and his commitment to pastoral care. But here’s the thing: this quote doesn’t appear in any official statement, homily, or address he has given. It seems the quote has been circulating for some time, likely before his election, and was attributed to “Pope Leo XIV” as a way to give the message weight. This attribution causes confusion. And tha...