Author: Manny Kagan

 Whom Do You Know That Might Benefit From Our Tailored Mortgage Solutions?

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On a recent photography trip downtown, I encountered a huge demonstration against abortion.  The next day, I found information about the event online and in the San Francisco Chronicle.  Apparently, some people drove over 30 hours from the Midwest as far as Tulsa, Oklahoma to demonstrate their stand against abortion.  One of the reasons for the demonstration was because Congress voted to defund Planned Parenthood in January, due to some release fabricated “undercover videos”.  Another reason was that it was the 43^rd anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade, the court decision that legalized abortion in the United States.  Many protesters were young men and women carrying the same placards stating “I Am The Pro-Life Generation.”  On the sidewalk, there was a small group of women and a few sympathizing men with their own homemade placards.  One of them stated, “Women Make Moral Choices”.  My question is, “How do we know which choice is or is not moral?”  Online, I learned that morality (from the Latin word “moralitas”, meaning “manner, character, proper behavior”) is a differentiation of intention, decisions and actions between those that are distinguished as proper and those that are improper”.  Since moral teachings are primarily based on the religious doctrines (even the word originates from Latin), I decided to find out what the Torah, which is the basis for the three major religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, teaches about choice.  “I have placed life and death before you, blessings and curse, and you should choose life, so that you will live, you and your offspring” (Deuteronomy 30:19).

Sounds straightforward.  Choose life!  The Torah also has the Ten Commandments, which were given to the Israelites by God at the Biblical Mount Zion as a moral compass for their life journey (which translated from Hebrew as “the ten words”, or “ten matters”).  One of them clearly states, “You shall not kill”.  At the same time, the Torah has a number of stories that involve killing.  One of them is about the High Priest Aaron’s grandson Phinehas, who because of their immoral behavior kills another Israelite man and his mistress.  Phinehas’s action was rewarded.  “And it shall be for him and his offspring after him a covenant of eternal priesthood, because he took vengeance for his God, and he atoned for the Children of Israel (Numbers 25:13).  Through the generations, the Jewish wise people taught that the Torah (which means “Instruction”, “Teaching”, but also “to shoot an arrow” or to hit the mark”) needs to be interpreted.  (The same goes with the Christian Bible and the Quran).

As a result, many people follow the moral interpretations of the scriptures by the wise teachers of their generations.  Meanwhile, some claim that they do not need any moral teachings; they can just follow the laws of nature (after all, animals manage somehow).

One thing is for sure – we all have many choices.  Choose wisely.  Enjoy and share.

P.S. I tried to photograph the images that would get your attention. I hope I succeeded.

Enjoy and share.

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Cheers,

 Whom Do You Know That Might Benefit From Our Tailored Mortgage Solutions?

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Restaurants’ menus are often divided into four groups of food; appetizers, soup and salad, main courses and dessert. All four groups are prepared based on the recipes of the ingredients, which are grown on the farms.
In the United States, farm and ranch families, which operate the majority of the agricultural production, comprise of just two percent of the U.S. population. Mexico’s agricultural industry accounts for more than 18% of the nation’s employment, not counting the Mexicans who work in the fields of our country. Last week, I wrote about our dining experience at the ACRE restaurant in San Jose del Cabo, Mexico. After having dinner there two nights in a row and befriending the owner and his staff, the next day we were invited to visit the farm to see from where they grow the food they prepared for us. The current owners bought 25 acres of a mango grove three years ago, which was damaged during a hurricane. Our tour guide was Kevin Luzande, a young and talented chef, who while living and working in different restaurants in Los Angeles, also owned a hydroponic farm, there.

Hydroponics is a method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions, in water, without soil. To have hydrophonic farms you need to build a specially designed building. There, plants grow vertically year-round, immune to weather, under optimal conditions (In San Francisco you can find such a farm at 1549 Custer Avenue). I first learned about this technology from the book “Abundance” written by Peter H. Diamandis and Steven Kotler. In the book, the authors describe different technological innovations in various spheres of our lives, including agriculture, which create abundance for a sustained growing population.

While we had our dinners the nights before (trying out different foods every time), with every dish we exclaimed, “This is amazing!” On our tour that morning at the farm, we said the same thing. The farmland is divided into 11 parcels, for different crops, attended by six gardeners. Kevin told us that by planting different vegetables next to each other, they not only absorb the qualities of the neighboring plants, but they also help each other deal with the pests. One plot was planted with forty different spices, while another, had different kinds of potatoes and cabbages. There were different types of sunflowers; one of them will grow 9 ft. tall (Kevin is using every part of the plant in his culinary alchemy). Everything is grown organic, without the use of pesticides, sewage sludge, genetically modified organisms or ionizing radiation. Even corn was planted from seeds that were not being genetically modified by the American company, Monsanto. The farm is still young, but in a few months, plants will grow tall and fill the plates of the lucky diners with delicious results. In the future, guests will be invited to visit the farm and pull out ready vegetables to be eaten right there or to be prepared with their favorite dish.

I am planning to come back to ACRE on January 13th 2017 to celebrate my 70th birthday. Why would not you plan to join me there?

P.S. It is said that “a picture is worth a thousand words”. At the same time no picture can convey the experience of being in the farm pulling a radish from the ground and eating it right there, smelling the aroma of the freshly cut herb and just looking at the pile of soil, knowing that within a short time it is going to be covered by beautiful green growth which will end up in the kitchen, to be transformed into a delicious meal.
Enjoy and Share.

Do Not Keep Me As A Secret!
Smile And Please SHARE It With A Friend!

Cheers,

 Whom Do You Know That Might Benefit From Our Tailored Mortgage Solutions?

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There is nothing extraordinary about going on vacation to Mexico. But Mexico is an extrordinary country. If not for a historic fluke, we would be living in Mexico today. The Mexican-American war ended with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848. As a result, Mexico ceded to the United States area, which consists of present day California, Nevada, most of Arizona and half of New Mexico. The annexation of Texas occurred two years earlier. The length of the border with the United States is 1,954 miles (no wonder Donald Trump wants to build a wall – it can be very profitable business). But even the remaining part of Mexico is huge. It is almost= three times the size of Texas, about half size of Russia, slightly smaller than China and more than twice the size of the European Union. Besides many natural resources, Mexico has beaches, which are popular tourist destinations. In the past, we visited Cabo San Lucas, which became very developed and touristy in recent years. This year, my wife Elfa got a time-share exchange for a week in December in San Jose del Cabo, at the Grand Mayan Resort. We visited this town before on day trips on previous vacations to another “Cabo” (which means “cape” in Spanish); but as we were staying in San Jose Cabo on this trip, we had time to explore and to discover the area. Our resort was located toward the end of the hotel strip bordering the beach of the Sea of Cortez, which is beautiful but has dangerous surf. Therefore, swimming and typical water activities were not permitted. However, there is something very unusual there – a bird sanctuary. It was located a fifteen minutes walk from our resort on the beach and it was magical (particularly, if you like to watch and photograph birds, like I do).

Every morning I would go on very long walks, and since there were not many people and activities on the beach, the birds served as good models. Before coming here, our friends who come here every year gave us some recommendations. One of them was to visit Villa Valentina, which was developed by a husband and wife team, and in the last 20 years, has become one of the extraordinary places on my list. It is a compound consisting of a small hotel, coffee shop, art gallery and a marvelous antique store. The family members all run it. One day, I came here at the end of my walk to have a cup of tea and I met delightful owners Daniel and Juliet.

There are many restaurants here offering typical Mexican food, especially in the old town, which is a conglomerate of galleries and jewelry stores, all catered for the tourists. But one day I stumbled into a health food store. There I learned about Flora Farm, where we could have lunch, but it was a ten-minute drive, on a dusty, unpaved road.

When we got there, we were really surprised to find an oasis. It was a truly extraordinary experience. The meals were prepared from the food grown right next to you. A very talented saxophone player, David, delighted us with beautiful music, as we savored our experience. While driving on the dusty road we noticed a small wooden sign with the word ACRE pointing past the” Flora Farm”. I was curious, so we went to investigate. When we got there, we discovered a concrete road that twisted among a newly planted vegetation, and lead somewhere from the parking lot. The mystery was ahead of us. After climbing up some wide steps, we entered an open space which was the brand new restaurant to be opened that night. We made reservations for dinner, not knowing what to expect. It was not just a dinner – it was an extraordinary experience. The restaurant is named ACRE, since it is located on 25 acres off of the farmland. Everything on the menu is locally organically grown. The fish of the day is caught and served on the same day. They also prepare goat and chicken dishes, which were grown on neighboring farms. Besides a very friendly ambience, the food prepared by the very talented chef Kevin Luzande and his staff, whose prior experience was at well-known restaurants in Los Angeles, was amazing. For us, it was no-brainer – the next day we were back for another culinary experience. We returned again the next morning, before our flight home for a personalized tour of the farm (they do not serve breakfast or lunch there, yet). You will learn about this unusual experience in the next week of “My Encounters”.

P.S. Since the bird sanctuary was the first one of my encounters with the extraordinary places in San Jose del Cabo, I am sharing some of my bird images here.
Enjoy and share.

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Cheers,

 Whom Do You Know That Might Benefit From Our Tailored Mortgage Solutions?

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Most of us are waiting for something to happen in our lives. Do we actually know what that something is? What will make us healthier, richer, younger, slimmer, more beautiful, loving, more patient, more considerate, smarter or anything else you want to add to the list? To get richer is easy. You just need to win the lottery (as long as you buy a ticket). Or to be younger, smarter and luckier, you just need to invent some revolutionary product or idea. Of course, a rich uncle can also be a possible solution, but that is almost like winning the lottery; it’s unlikely. We can learn how to manage what we already have. If you find that challenging, call or email my friend Kathryn Amenta, (415) 333-6972. If you want a new job, do not wait for your manager to die, instead update your resume and take courses to acquire new skills. Want to be healthier? Easy, just change your eating habits and start moving, rather than waiting for a miracle (they stopped those in the Biblical times). Of course things can be more mundane. Like waiting for the sun to set.

As I previously wrote, we visited one of our favorite places for the New Year celebration – The Sea Ranch. After a long and tiring drive, and feeling drunk from the fresh sea air, we could not wait until midnight to toast the New Year; so instead, we greeted it upon waking the next day. We went there for a bit of rejuvenation. Walking along the cliffs two to three times a day did the trick. I do not come here to photograph, but since (according to my wife) my camera is permanently attached to my hand, I have no choice. Some might think, the nature looks the same every time we come here, and there is not much to photograph, especially in winter (when there are no flowers). I guess it depends!

One of the benefits of going to bed early, is it’s easier to get up before the sunrise. Waiting for the sun to rise, might be like waiting for a new job. You have to be ready, and in spite of the clouds, just for one minute, light will appear for you to capture it (as I did, here). And then, we waited for the whole day for the sunset. Of course in between, to fill the time, we had lunch and even took a nap. And then the wait was over. According to our clock, there was supposed to be a sunset. I looked at the horizon. Yes, there was some light, but it was not the spectacular sunset I had hoped to capture. I put on all my layers and a warm jacket, and went out onto the bluff. It was cold and windy. I got there and waited. After photographing thousands of sunsets, I knew that not every time it is spectacular. Photography instructors teach that you have to wait half an hour after the sunset for the special light, but not this time. Nevertheless, I was still waiting. What I could not know was that a group of young people would come to the bluff as well. The battery in my camera was almost dead, there wasn’t any memory left on the card, so I had to delete one image to make space just in time, a young woman put on her red scarf and separated from the group. My wait was over, I had my sunset image.

P.S. Of course I did not have to just to sit and wait until the sunset and I had an opportunity to photograph during the day as well. You can see some of the results. Enjoy and share.

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 Whom Do You Know That Might Benefit From Our Tailored Mortgage Solutions?

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I will start this story with a riddle. When do we say “hello” and “good-bye” at the same time? The obvious answer is when the clock strikes midnight on December 31st. Traditionally, the New Year signifies the end of a previous year and the beginning of a new one. But when does the year actually begin? The answer will differ if you are a religious Jew or Russian or Chinese Orthodox. This can be confusing because not everyone follows the Western or Christian calendar. To simplify matters, the Gregorian calendar, which was first introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, in February 1582 C.E., became the internationally accepted civic calendar. Prior to this, there was the Julian calendar, which was introduced by Julius Caesar in 45 B.C.E. However in 67 C.E., the Council of Tours declared that starting the year on January 1st was an ancient mistake that should be abolished. The beginning of the count is supposed to be from the birthdate of Jesus Christ, but he was actually born around 7 B.C. (I found all this information in an article online titled, “History of Our Calendar”). How about the date for Christmas, December 25th, which is supposed to be Jesus’ birthdate? If this is the case, why does the New Year start eight days later, on January 1st? One of the reasons is that this is the day on which a Jewish boy named Jehoshua (later known as Jesus Christ) was circumcised. For a very long time (from 1568 to 1596), this event was celebrated as the 1st of January feast, called “The Circumcision of the Lord and the Octave of the Nativity”. I suspect that you probably did not know about all of those facts, but they are a very good illustration of how different opinions, stories and traditions have formed our way of life. The same is true with the tradition of celebrating New Year’s Eve. Some like to wait until midnight to drink Champagne and yell with joy, in the anticipation that the next year is going to be better than the previous one. Unfortunately, according to a AAA estimate, during the holidays travel period at the end of the year, 27,900 Americans will be seriously injured in auto accidents. Therefore, our family chose a different way to greet 2016 – quietly. Our original plan was to stay home, but on December 30th, our daughter Alona, who was visiting us from Paris, suggested going to our favorite place – The Sea Ranch. We were fortunate to find the last house available to rent for the holiday weekend.

But we do have a tradition for this special date in the year, which is to wear something new. It can be socks or underwear, or any other item of clothing. This year, my wife Elfa wore new shoes and I wore my new 36″ pants. The other tradition is to reflect on the past 12 months, and ask ourselves how we would like the next 12 months to look. As I wrote last week, I write down my goals every day. However, January 1st is a good day to set the course for the next year (but you can do that on any day of the year). The Russian proverb states, “Horosheye nachalo pol dela otkochalo”, which means “Well begun is half done”. Whatever traditions are yours, Enjoy and Share.

P.S. To remember our experience in The Sea Ranch, I photographed the last sunset of 2015 and the first sunrise of 2016. Luc and his son Ian, the first people I met in the New Year, helped make the beginning of the New Year very special.

Enjoy and Share!

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Do Not Keep Me As A Secret!
Smile And Please SHARE It With A Friend!

Cheers,