( greening up—a farmtastic mooove )

by gillian slater

with the advent of pink slime and foodborne illness, where can you turn for quality moo meat ? consider the playfully titled bendy brook farm. 
 

located in oley township, bendy brook farm joined berks county as a dairy in 1941 through levi and miriam mast. this lush, green farm took its name from miriam who felt inspiration in the sight of a winding brook running through their land. today, it is her son, nevin mast, who single-handedly operates bendy brook farm, which has transformed into raising beef, goat meat, and poultry. it is also green—quite green and chemical-free.

( at bendy brook farm, the cows never have to come home because
they’re already there, tucked into the oley valley in berks county
all photographs by gillian slater )

mast had always kept himself open to new ideas and ways of thinking, so when he noticed his cattle becoming sick decades ago, he took one field off of chemicals, encouraged through an advanced biological concepts meeting he attended. he gleaned that the chemicals he used destroyed the good bacteria and earthworms needed for healthy grass and cows.

“the earth was meant to be covered, and it will cover itself unless you put so many chemicals down that nothing will grow,” he says.

mast stretched his concept of care a step further when he received a request from a customer to raise soy-free broilers, or chickens bred for eating. allergic to anything soy-related, the change mast offered to make in feeding habits meant a lot to her. before that, he never gave soy-free feed much thought. then he read ty bollinger’s, cancer: step outside the box. according to bollinger’s book, soy can contribute to the development of cancer, so mast revamped the diets of his pigs and chickens.

bendy brook farm has now been soy-free for more than a year.

once, someone asked mast to figure out his unfair advantage in life. he claimed several—his animals are far away from the road, close to the buildings. having the main portions of the farm so far set back keeps the area safer for children, with that security as an asset that might not be noticed right away by those visiting this treasure to oley and berks county. although, it could be easily argued that mast’s truest unfair advantage is his mind.

“the older you are, the harder it is to change, but you have to be open-minded,” he says. “think outside the box. never confine yourself to think like everyone else.”

when mast needed a way to transport feed and a coop for his chickens, he renovated an old van—a wrecked van. what started off as a useless hunk of scrap metal became a valuable tool on wheels.

( moving chickens from pasture to pasture is a cinch with this van—

given a new chance at wheels & life )

farming is more than just early mornings, hard work, and late nights. it requires research, too, and that led mast to shift from grain-feeding to primarily grazing in 1990. grazing, as it turns out, is much more relaxing for both farmer and animals. fortunately, grazing animals practically take care of themselves.

it was this reshaped approach to thinking that also steered mast away from black angus cattle. although black angus cattle are widely considered cream of the crop-worthy, they don’t fare well in the sun-spent heat. summer temperatures are brutal on these dark delights. so most of what you’ll see at bendy brook farm are red devin, white park, and angus cows bred to birth a smaller animal. smaller animals mean less maintenance and the ability to raise more on less land, with better care per animal. 

while working on a farm, it is important to really know what people are eating, out in the world. in the united states, the demand for goat meat is twice that of what is produced, mast says. while goats have less fat and cholesterol than beef, there is also an increase in cross-cultural cuisine experimentation to weigh. today, this country is a bubbling melting pot of different ethnicities and cultures, where goat meat is quite sought after. that’s smart for a farmer with livestock to know, in the meaty realm.

though admittedly, mast originally brought in the goats to chew down and mow the weeds of his grassy acres, they found mast’s blend of orchard, fesque, matua, and blue grass quite delicious.

through speculation, experimentation, and a reverence for research, mast pinpointed a magic breeding combination that stirred success. as a result, the goats at bendy brook farm developed into a curious cross between spanish and boar because the former are wonderful parents, while the latter make for a better meat.

to mast, farming is all about finding what works. his laying chickens, the rhode island reds, live primarily outdoors in his repurposed van. they happily enjoy a combination of soy-free feed, bugs, and beautifully-bladed grass.

mast is an example of a person who understands the all-encompassing value of ecological efficiency, or the smarter brand of going green, as it’s now called. the history of these efforts right on his oley valley farm date back to the early 1980s, showing a wise mind blossoming ahead of others.

and a final plus is that his grass-fed cattle carries a taste of old times long gone, according to one bendy brook farm enthusiast—a taste that mast never expected to experience again.

to find out more, visit bendybrookfarm.com, search for it on facebook, or visit the collegeville farmers’ market any saturday till november 17, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. the market is located along east main street near clamer avenue not far from west fifth avenue.

( birds know best with bruce rodgers )

by jennifer hetrick

bonnie and skittles are a bit famous around the boyertown and douglassville scenery, for those who see the winged ones with bruce rodgers of earl township.
    
the cool colors tucked into bonnie’s feather supply are specific to her being a blue-crowned conure, while skittles is a sun conure. both are parakeets native to south america.
    
“they go everywhere with me—ace hardware, home depot, lowe’s, the drive-thru at dunkin’ donuts, rita’s, and wawa for the sunday paper, coffee, and donuts,” rodgers says.
    
the birds are also fame-worthy at sciacca pizzeria & restaurant on route 562 in boyertown.
    
“and they’ve got their own van,” rodgers says—a 1981 volks wagon, to be specific.
    
rodgers crafted car seats for them out of cat carriers with perches added to the top, along with food dishes for eating on the go.
    
bonnie and skittles have their own room in rodgers’ home, and they don’t sleep in cages because he doesn’t believe in caging animals.
“when i was a little guy, my great-grandfather had an amazon parrot,” rodgers says.
    
his own birds may live to age 30, but amazon parrots are able to live to be 100.
    
companionship is what rodgers appreciates most about the winged ones in his household. but then there’s also the perk of their comedic efforts and how smart they are, which often shows through their language-tossings.

 

( all photographs by karl mcwherter ) 

"they know where the bank is," rodgers says, “and they'll holler 'eat' because they want to eat donuts at wawa. they don't know that they're not donuts but blueberry muffins; but i'm not going to tell them."
    
when rodgers walks into wawa on route 422 in douglassville to get a cup of coffee, he sometimes won't leave till an hour later because bonnie and skittles cause such a stir of interest and socializing in the people there.
    
most people know bonnie and skittles by name, but not rodgers. they call him the bird man, and he’s a-okay with that.
    
“people don't realize how intelligent they are,” rodgers says about his adored birds but wing-swept ones in general, too.
    
“when the phone rings, bonnie will say hello. she'll start talking in some foreign language, putting syllables together that don't mean a hill of beans, really,” rodgers says. “but she just jabbers on.”
    
it’s fair to say bonnie can be somewhat prolix, when the phone buzzes to life.
    
“that's why i think she's a girl,” he jokes.
    
and skittles offers the courtesy of announcing when he has to go to the bathroom, saying poo-poo.
    
morning is their time to shine and squawk, as in the winter, when they see rodgers put on his hat, they throw a flurry of a ruckus. they like to signal that they're ready to go out into the world for the day.
    
in the warm season, the trigger is when rodgers puts on his shoes.
    
although by 5 or 6 p.m., bonnie and skittles are ready to call it a night, making friends with sleep.
    
as a veteran of the navy, serving from 1968 to 1971, rodgers takes his birds to veterans’ hospitals around the region. the veterans are big fans of his birds, especially with the change of pace and an invite from some of nature’s finest, waltzing feather-wise into the hospitals.
    
but the veterans (and anyone, actually) who see bonnie and skittles, admiring them for their visual beauty and charm, have to give them their space. that’s what they’re used to, and anyone bumping into their pre-measured yet invisible space is likely to learn the unkind way of an attack, beak-wise. so it’s best to appreciate them from a bit of a distance, for their unique and curious personalities and whimsical little dances.
    
skittles is known to be considerably protective, too, rodgers notes.
    
the birds have proved themselves as a delight like no other in rodgers’ life, enjoyed equally with his wife, tina.
    
one gift bonnie and skittles have given rodgers’ is the encouragement and motivation to quit smoking after 45 years. and for such small creatures as they are, that feat speaks so much more of their special meaning to rodgers. these waterproof joy-stirring types have certainly made a home for themselves in berks county and in a household where they are truly cherished.

( putting some healthier chomps first at good eatz green café )

by jennifer hetrick

rick allebach wakes up every day with the intention of bringing fantastic flavors to those who stop into his eatery, catering kindly to those who prefer or need a gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian or vegan chomp-fest. he and his employees kick-start their days in west reading at good eatz green café on penn avenue.
    
recognizing that life isn’t just about meat and potatoes, but happy to give attention to a great angus burger on the menu, allebach knew years ago that the berks county landscape could use the type of restaurant he envisioned. saturday lunch hours, busily bustling with footfalls and happy bellies, show the success of what he glimpsed in his mind. allebach delivers, too.
    
with many people not even realizing they have sensitivities and allergies to certain ingredients in food, not seeing that sluggishness and intestinal discomfort after eating is unnatural and can be avoided with healthier meal-time options, the variety of breakfast, lunch, and din-din options at good eatz green café is something beyond treat-status, especially considering the boastful way the food tastes so impeccable. it certainly helps that allebach and his staff work with as fresh of food as possible each bright new day, and of course, even on rainy ones.

( ahi tuna sashimi plate, italian caprese panini, black angus burger, carrot cake & orange-affection ) 

    
allebach looks at his food-swept endeavor as a dive into a social responsibility of sorts, bringing people the healthiest possible food choices for a better quality of living, no guilt needed, with the bonus of it all being delectable and something to look forward to via fork, spoon, and knife labors.
   
“when you’re cooking for somebody, they’re trusting you with their lives,” allebach says. “that really sticks with me.”
    
his staff is thoroughly trained in preventing cross-contamination, too, to be sure that those with certain food allergies are never in jeopardy while they eat, which is something those with sensitivity to gluten often worry about when they go out to eat, because of the severe and painful reactions caused by ingesting the protein found in most grains. sometimes, the reactions are so extreme that it causes those with the allergy problem to avoid going out to dine at all. but that is exactly why those who visit good eatz eatz green café are so enthusiastic to enjoy some table-time in the haven created by allebach.
    
a bit of care for our sweet old earth also plays a part in the café’s operation. the napkins are made of recyclable material, and the to-go containers are compostable. green beckons well in small but serious ways, so that less makes friends with landfills, in the end.
    
café hours are monday, tuesday, wednesday, and friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., thursday and saturday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., and sunday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. visit www.goodeatzgreencafe.com to easily eye-peruse the menu and learn more.

( serenity junction—an emphasis on best function )

by jennifer hetrick

sleepless nights and a beyond-words degree of pain she couldn’t bear led graphic designer shannon anthony to switch careers. the scoliosis plaguing her body and the disappointing results of traditional approaches to her condition, along with a healthcare system that would only cater to her chiropractic costs so much, eventually became inspiration for what is now known as serenity junction at 127 east philadelphia avenue in boyertown.

anthony heard her diagnosis of scoliosis at age 20. dealing with and managing the pain of it as well as she could, she noticed the severity of it growing so exponentially over a period of years that even her employers, jim & kim herman, saw how unbearable it had become, affecting her constantly at work. her health insurance provider stopped covering costs for her chiropractic adjustments at one point, because she went so often, to ease her suffering. once the coverage ended, the hermans, owners of ultimate printing service, inc. in barto, began to search online for alternative approaches to back pain relief because they had such concerns for her. the hermans are also good friends of anthony’s parents.

their first find stood as an inversion table, where ankles are safely latched into place, and a person hangs upside-down to reverse the stressful effects of gravity pushing down on the spine.

“your spine is constantly under pressure from gravity,” she explains.

anthony recognized some relief from her symptoms just a few short days after trying out the table. but this made her curious to learn more about other alternative approaches to her condition—ones not normally known about or advocated by traditional medical professionals.

while perched on the sofa, wide awake at 4 a.m. one night, anthony watched a news broadcast about vibration exercise machines, something unfamiliar to her at the time. they would soon be hers.

in the past, anthony just housed a few vibration exercise machines at serenity junction. but with growing demand and walk-ins at the storefront every day, she recently brought in more and now has six of them, ready for use. with the quickly bumping and powerful movement of them, only 15 minutes on one of the vibration exercise machines equals to the effort of having worked out for 60 minutes at a gym. the machines are great for therapy work, too, and for those who have mobility restrictions, as they do a lot of the work for the body, mid-exercise.

anthony also found a hydro-massage bed where a person can rest, fully-clothed, and feel the better pressure of strong jets moving up and down the backside, with adjustable levels of the movement, customizable to each user’s liking. this is what anthony calls the treat after 15 minutes on the inversion table and also on the vibration exercise machines.

 ( shannon anthony, owner of serenity junction, works the muscles 

of her right leg on this vibration exercise machine; she advocates a variety 

of exercises and styles of propping onto its surface, with more than 500 exercises 

available to consider, to work out different parts of the body in different ways )

these three components offered to the public are something unique not only in the region and in pennsylvania but also in the country, as these alternative exercise and therapy pieces of equipment are not found in any one retail outlet for consumers elsewhere but are usually instead seen in hospitals and chiropractic offices—usually, only one or another of the machines are in each of those kinds of settings. this keeps serenity junction matchless not only on the local level but on the national level, too.

and the far-reaching persuasion of the location speaks for itself, as anthony has clients around the county but also from longer distances, including a woman whose day job is as a breast cancer surgeon in new york city; she pines for the opportunity to get away from her work, easily one of the most stressful professions in the world today, to give herself the gift of what serenity junction has to offer, different from traditional exercise routes.

“when i wasn’t in pain, i didn’t know how to react to that,” anthony says in reflecting on how her life has reshaped since blossoming into better days.

it’s easy to see then just why she felt so passionate about sharing her success with others who are in a constant and real battle of physical suffering; she wanted to help others understand that there is hope and that life can be something well-worth enjoying—and that pain doesn’t necessarily have to be chronic or unfixable.

anthony has also seen a bit of an addictive effect with the environment where she’s made her work-home. people who come in seem to be ecstatic to be there and often comment on how they could never find the motivation to want to stay at a gym for long or to even go to one at all, and yet they have a curious energy and enthusiasm for wanting to make their way to serenity junction on a regular basis. this is most likely in no small thanks also to the personalized touch anthony provides, showing how she really does care for each person, wanting them to find new perks of happiness in their life again the way she experienced after she finally began to feel relief from her own back and bodily pain.

the environment is also plenty full of social-smart possibilities, too, as personal parties are available with one-on-one training and assistance—this is something women have been learning to appreciate on weekends, anthony observed, as people are looking for new and exciting chances to spend time with their friends while creatively thinking of efforts to be good to their bodies, which in turn affects so much else en route to happiness in life-days.

one great benefit clients have mentioned to anthony is that the more they visit to exercise, the less they take the medications they were reliant on for so long, for pain. some are even able to go off of their medications, because of what this alternative approach is doing for their health, and that’s something anthony finds very rewarding to know she is helping to coax along for the better, locally.

two-week free trials are available. for more information, visit www.serenityjunction.com or call 610.367.heal.

( burger mania—an extravaganza for the burger-geared palate )

by jennifer hetrick
 

burger for your thoughts ? this quick toss of phrasing fits cd’s place well for anyone visiting 237 north reading avenue in boyertown on a thursday or friday between the deliciously-aimed hours of 4 and 7 p.m. those precious for the palate minutes are when burger mania takes the stage under the kitchen direction of restaurant owner chris dietz.    

 
not intending to pat his own back but having to do so anyway out of the sheer winning knowledge and accuracy of recognizing that he makes a damn good burger, dietz whipped up the idea of burger mania more than a year ago. believing in a crave-worthy burger done with such taste-ready success, and with topping choices a bit beyond the norm, dietz wanted to bring his affection for the almighty burger to the audience of locals. and it’s proven to be a sly decision because dietz has quite a fan club continually growing for the burger-love that starts at his grill but also for the food musts on the rest of his regular menu, including a number of entrées and specials that have won over his strictly pennsylvania dutch eaters who were a challenge when it came to getting them to try unfamiliar flavor-sets. if anyone can woo taste buds to the other side, it is easily dietz, in the 19512 zip code.

but the beckoning burgers are an appeal all their own as each new weekend nears. those who stop in for burger mania are welcome to choose from three total toppings, with a number of them a bit unexpected yet clearly made for these american classics per plate—evident after just a bite.

 

five cheese choices (provolone, swiss, cheddar, american, and pepper jack) and three pepper pluses (green, sweet, and hot) are on the burger mania menu.

also on that toppings list are fried onions, mushrooms, the cali set-up—known as lettuce and tomato—bacon, fried salami, pork roll, fried egg, pizza, wing, and barbeque sauces, sour cream, blue cheese dressing and even taco seasoning.

gimme toppings are ketchup, mustard, onion, mayo, relish, and pickles.

this variety of toppings makes it easy for a different lineup of flavor combos every time you visit, and thankfully, these burgers are incapable of inching toward boredom for a mouth that likes to live on the edge and try something new, on repeat, while still savoring the gift of a great burger.

a small drink and small set of fries come with burger mania for $6.95 per person, but it can be super-sized in a snap for $7.95.

and as a strong believer in supporting locally, dietz buys his fresh, never frozen 80 percent lean, hand-formed beef from brooke meat plant in bechtelsville, which is just three miles away from cd’s place.

he also sources greens from butter valley harvest in bally, a little more than six miles from him. when tomatoes are seasonally available in the hydroponic operation’s greenhouses, he puts those on his burgers for the cali set-up, juxtaposed with a lettuce that yells of its own green-happy lure via gustatory cells.

and it’s probably at least decently fair to say that the atmosphere and the very shape of the cozy restaurant are a lot of what make people happy to stop in and check out the food scenery. as is easily visible while driving past on route 562, cd’s place is one of three former cup-shaped restaurants built around the early 1940s, with the other two in pottstown and pennsburg. but the ode to all things rock and roll also speaks a bit of soul-sound comfort in the space, as dietz has the walls decked out in posters of history-stirring, iconic musicians, the countertop is home to copies of his old albums and concert tickets, and guitars pepper the restaurant as a reminder of his love aside from cooking a good meal—music done well from decades ago.

after a former career as a postal clerk, dietz just celebrated nine years in running cd’s place and knows putting out fabuloso food but especially a delish burger is where his heart sings its best with the lyrics of life. and if you have to use the bathroom while in the restaurant, you’ll notice many a line from time-hugging songs penned across the whole inner side of the door, at least in the ladies room.

to find out more, visit www.cdsplace.com or search for cd’s place restaurant& catering on facebook. and love up a local burger, while you’re at it.

( migraine: pain of the body, cry of the spirit )

by marian frances ordway

migraine headaches slam hard, like a freight train smashing into a mountainside. despite doctors, head scans, and meds, they can hit again and again. if you or a loved one feel like you’re just waiting for the next migraine to hit, there’s a book waiting for you at www.migrainehealing.com. hope in a book; a way to conquer chronic pain-- migraine: pain of the body, cry of the spirit.

( carry your heart-smart footfalls to the seventh annual boyertown wellness fair )

when: saturday, 31 march, 2012—

10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

where: the boyertown area senior high school, 

120 north monroe street, boyertown, pa 19512

the best part ? it’s free. quite free.

a celebrated highlight:

running of the bears school walking competition 9.30 a.m. to 10.30 a.m.

for more information, contact

carla haydt @ 215.292.5866

www.boyertownwellness.org

this event is proudly presented by 

the boyertown area community wellness council.

• free family fun 
• healthy snacks, mmm ! great demonstrations 
• kid-friendly activities, including an obstacle course & moon bounce 
• lots of door prizes !!!

( boyertown paranormal: an investigation at durango’s saloon )

by jennifer hetrick

now into their second year since organizing, members of boyertown paranormal have found themselves conducting investigations both local and regional. a prominent spot in town where they’ve studied subtleties is at durango’s saloon at 120 east philadelphia avenue.

restaurant owners pete and sandy haberle asked the group to see what they could pinpoint after a slew of odd happenings continually irked those who work on the main floor as well as those who rent apartments above.

the building is known as one of the closest to the rhoads opera house where a devastating fire trapped 171 people indoors on a blustery day in january of 1908. what is today durango’s saloon, among other surrounding buildings, served as a temporary morgue. following the fire, bodies were housed in the cold of the basement.

other less than cheery stories have also been told, over the years, about incidents of deaths in the building’s history. this included the local legend of a hanging.

since buying the 1847-built brick-lined structure years ago, a few difficult to explain situations have stirred around those who work there. sandy once sliced lemons, limes, and oranges and pushed the lengthy container of them back to the customer end of the bar. after she went into the kitchen, she heard a crash and found the citrus pieces and the container on the floor. in that same 15-minute span, pete placed two full cases of beer on the bar top, with only a small portion hanging over the edge. when he left the room briefly, he heard a crash and came back to find the cases smashed, on the floor—behind sandy who heard it, too, but had her back turned when it happened, with no one else there.

in another instance, a bartender noticed her purse fly out from a shelf, onto the floor. she picked it up and slid it all the way to the back of the shelf, which had a lip at the edge, and a non-slip grip mat, also. when she walked away, she heard the purse hurtle toward the floor once more.  

and a woman renting an apartment on the third floor says she often hears footsteps late at night, when her roommate is sleeping, and sometimes even while watching a movie with him—although he never hears those same sounds that plague her ears, he says.

boyertown paranormal brought in amber anderson, a new jersey medium unfamiliar with berks county history, to see what she could pick up on during a tour through the building. 

“she sensed the dead bodies and the smell of burning in the basement—and that gold teeth and jewelry were stolen,” investigator gary schlegel says, noting that the group had heard of rumors about thievery from those who burned in the rhoads opera house fire. 

she also picked up on the struggle of a tenant dying, not long ago. pete and sandy both reacted emotionally to this, as they were very close to the tenant during his time renting from them; he had also worked at the restaurant, in the past.

one of the only intelligent voices perceived, after reviewing sound recordings, came as someone saying “not yet” when gary asked other paranormal members if they wanted to go outside for a break and some breaths of fresh air.

“they definitely have something going on there, but not enough to say it’s haunted,” says investigator kevin hojecki.

“i think they have a lot of residuals in there," gary adds. residual hauntings are said to be those of spirits who repeat the same actions again and again and don't seem to know that anyone alive, from today, is in the same space.

with so many small noise factors around even when everyone is trying to be quiet, and some energy-actions so challenging to detect in the first place, gary and kevin admit that it’s very difficult to conclusively affirm much. and realizing that evidence of video and sound footage can be easily manipulated or misinterpreted, without exact clearness, the group strives to nitpick with their findings, always aiming for what’s rare.

to reach out to the investigators—seeing and hearing their findings—search for them on facebook.

( an eye into encaustics )

by sydney hetrick

lisa gauker, a freshly funky artist who calls blandon her home, spends time laboring away in her own studio but also teaches in the 19547 zip code. a lot of her magic happens at clay on main, which is nuzzled into the main street of the oley valley.  at the nonprofit known for its tenacious and heartfelt support of all sorts of art-inspired fun for the insides, she teaches, paints, makes jewelry and ceramics, and dabbles her weekly minutes passionately in many an artistic endeavor, making her mark in the berks county art-swept landscape. as a young girl, she found herself “inadvertently drawn to art,” she says, as her face turns up with a glowing smile.
    
inspiration arises for gauker through a sort of biological thought process. she recalls a time in her life whilst veterinary medicine nearly wooed her heart and intrigued her intellect. when gauker’s art teacher joked that she’d never be happy with a cow-birthing lifestyle, she decided to attend the pennsylvania college of art and design in lancaster, instead. there, she earned a bachelor of fine art degree, honing her skills all the more at the academic level.
    
gauker’s art tends to gravitate toward small subject matters. sometimes, an insect will crawl into her mind and make its way into her artwork as the subject. once in a while, she’ll throw a real (and really dead !) bug itself into the composition. her old roots of veterinary-intrigue are reflected in her art, since it’s often related to animal behavior and biological processes. she titles herself a “process-oriented person,” explaining that her journey is more important than the destination mindset. to gauker, her process is often more crucial and integral than the subject, in the end.

( copper pods, encaustic, mixed media on masonite

photo courtesy of lisa gauker )

( cut short, encaustic, charcoal, mixed media on paper
photo courtesy of lisa gauker )

    
by now, she’s been at clay on main for three years. her time there began soon after she bumped into the nonprofit’s owner, dolores kirschner, following graduation from art school.  back in senior high, she’d helped out periodically at clay on main, but once she came back to the region, post-academia, she knew she felt ready to instruct. tuesdays, she says, she coaches on the basics of hand-building with clay. but, gauker jokes that she’s more of a “sounding board” for ideas with her students because many of them, she vocalizes, are rather skilled and don’t actually need much assistance in their art-ways.
    
and when it comes to her own work, it pours to life in phases, she explains. this year, she’s into printmaking, while last year, 50 to 75 percent of her works were encaustics. gauker stumbled upon the persuasion of encaustics in her college days—essentially, they are brought about through layerings of wax used to draw attention to an image. gauker loved the ethereal-organic appearance of this art style.
     

compelled with a sudden theory, she wanted to find a visual approach for presenting the imagery of industry. “i tried to humanize the idea of an abandoned building and the life it once had,” she reveals.

( skin no. 6, encaustic and ink on paper

photo courtesy of lisa gauker )

( skin no. 1, encaustic and ink on paper

photo courtesy of lisa gauker )

    

“the imagery is drawn onto paper, either from observation or a photo,” gauker says, with the coal belt in schuylkill county as a large part of her inspiration. “the wax builds from the drawing up. the encaustics i do are normally working off of paper because i like the translucency the wax gives the paper when it soaks in.”

    

the drawings themselves are ink, graphite, and sometimes charcoal.

    

not only was lisa thrilled with the way wax allowed for “romanticizing the industrial landscape” but, she also beams, “it smells great, too !”  for her encaustics, she uses unfiltered, unbleached wax—more specifically, beeswax and dammar crystals. when she’s lucky, she says, she goes to a man at the leesport farmers’ market and buys a wax supply. he isn’t just a guy with beeswax, though; he’s a beekeeper, and therefore, this wax has actual bee-body parts in the very meat of it, bringing back into the picture an unexpected connection to gauker’s old penchant for biological angles of life wrapped into art.  she is even pursuing beekeeping herself now, though at a novice level.

    

gauker heats up the wax in a skillet, applying it often with different sizes of brushes. “from there, the wax can be inscribed, melted with a heat gun, scraped back, painted on, and fused, then with more layers applied,” she says. “color is added between layers with oil paints and pigmented encaustic medium.”

    

encaustics, gauker explains, take their history from the egyptians and romans, as they practiced the art form in their days long ago. but encaustics have had a resurgence, she notes. “people are tired of traditional painting.” this bee-spent medium certainly re-livens creativity’s makings, a good pinch.  her works are more than just flat-set paint on a tired canvas. they seem to have a life of their own, as the wax drips appear almost stopped in time.

( massage-- in an introspective light )

by jennifer hetrick

a near fatal car accident eventually led judith gabriel to a new career away from her several decades as an english teacher at hamburg area high school. instead of helping young people with the gift of appreciating language, literature, and speaking, she switched into a mode of lending a literal hand (or two, actually) in allowing people of all ages to communicate better with their own physicality through the massage and bodywork expertise that saved her from a lot of chronic pain and discomfort in her own life, years ago.

a broken back and whiplash brought gabriel to know a massage therapist named dorothy blessing. after meeting, blessing told gabriel that her vertebrae were desperately out of alignment from the harsh accident and that she needed to see a reputable chiropractor to correct the issue that was affecting so much of her quality of life. as time went on, with the shift in how she treated her body, improvement began to reign, wholly, in fact. the more massage she had, the less chiropractic she needed.

knowing how the different modalities of bodily care had brought her back into the first decently pain-free part of her life after suffering for so long, and once a person in the field told her she had serious potential in helping others, gabriel took coursework to receive her certification through the former pennsylvania school of muscle therapy in king of prussia. with 25 years of teaching english under her belt, she has 23 years on top of that as a licensed and certified bodywork therapist.

gabriel operates out of alsace township in berks county, but she practices efforts well beyond massage. she also focuses on acutherapy, rebirthing breath work, reiki, reflexology, and intuitive bodywork.

“we are chemical, electrical, mechanical  machines, producing  byproducts like lactic acid—which can be toxic if not eliminated from the body,” she says about life-stresses built under skin.

“it’s an exchange of energy and cells staying in the body, appearing  as congestion,” she continues. 

what many people call “knots” in muscle-areas are almost like  little rocks or pebbles, she says, in tactile depiction.

but gabriel reveals that the term doesn’t quite live up to the reality of what muscles are coping with. instead, she describes the problematic spots as continual states of contraction brought on by different factors of the body falling out of its healthier form—life’s snowballing stressors from all sorts of starting points.

“muscles listen to your thoughts,” she explains. “the body is doing what it’s supposed to do. stress and thoughts create emotions, causing a physical reaction. it’s a physical feedback loop. and whenever the mind thinks something, the body reacts.”

this would explain why some people seem to feel like they’re in perpetual states of anxiety and can’t get away from the heavy way of weighted stress, not realizing that they are trapping themselves in this repetition of misery by their own behavior.

given how much massage and related forms of alternative therapy have bumped up the quality of gabriel’s days for years now, she says she has trouble accepting when people act as though massage is a luxury because from her experience, it is a natural part of what people owe to themselves to balance out the stiffening details of existing today, especially with the fast-paced habit of how so many never really stop to take time for themselves to just breathe or even relax, intentionally and mindfully.

( this table is a birthing place of goodness

photo courtesy of judith gabriel )

“the amish and mennonites  have always done massage and chiropractic because they don’t want to get sick,” gabriel elaborates about how certain groups of people have a lot of reverence for health-hugging approaches to a better life.

and one element people need to remember after a massage is to drink plenty of water, as the act of a massage dislodges toxins—hovering hard within muscles—dumping them into the bloodstream. drinking lots of water assists in flushing out the toxins. but if water is not sipped in serious amounts after a massage, the body is likely to ache sorely because of those toxins ache sorely because of those toxins staying locked inside, jailed to re-poison it.

and for those who either can’t afford massage or for their own reasons don’t make appointments, gabriel passionately suggests at least doing something positive for the body and mind, in a physical effort.

“swimming often in a backyard pool or doing yoga will help,” gabriel says. hiking, taking long baths, and any kind of exercise are other examples of ways to gift de-stressing. “if you feel tight or tense, pain, or anxiety, that all becomes suppressed in the body.”

gabriel points out that depression is something strongly impacted by massage. “we forget, in our culture, how important touch is. and massage is really good for the elderly as passive exercise, too.”

“when people explore their bodies and themselves, it makes their lives rich,” gabriel adds, noting that a number of her clients have told her that over time under her care, they’ve started to realize and understand more about who they are as people, recognizing particulars in themselves that they never gleaned before her massage efforts spilled into their days.

http://judithgabriel.abmp.com

also reach gabriel by phone at 484.525.6563. online bookings are available, and a detailed listing of all her different approaches to bodywork are ready for eye-scooping on her website.

( cup it up: reading coffee roasters keeps on lifting )

by marian wolbers

– coffee is personal –

for 23 years, albert van maanen has been pouring worldly coffee beans into his huge roasters. a connoisseur of the delightful drink that drives the masses, and a master of temperature control, van maanen divulges a key to his company’s success: “the art is knowing when to stop the roaster.”

     

as the beans dry and shrink, he gauges their roastedness. then, at a magical moment, he calls it ready: “let ‘er drop !”

     

says the holland-born maestro, “when you become a roaster, that’s when you get into the really good tastes.” unlike other roasters, who tend to over-roast, van maanen prides himself on knowing the preparation needs of each varietal (the coffees distinctive to each coffee-growing environment—from guatemala to rwanda) and each background coffee (the base coffee beans used straight or for blending into flavored sorts, like vanilla or hazelnut).

     

“we have the best coffee—we are the top of the top. there is no better,” van maanen asserts. coffee reviewers agree: this company has quietly evolved into a long, elegant river of top-quality, yet very affordable brew-taste.

     

reading coffee roasters’ newest marketing incursion is office coffee service, fueling local businesses—including reading hospital—with freshly-roasted drinks. (what better of a palate-rich perk ?) restaurants and other vendors offer it as well. at reading china & glass, says van maanen, “we’re the top-selling coffee.”

( to some, coffee is nothing short of love

all photos by marian wolbers ) 

( at reading coffee roasters, browned beans so alluring 

to the senses that they might as well be magic—

make a home in stretches of rich aroma, starting 

at the hands of albert van maanen & lisa  inmon) 

     

lisa inmon, who manages inside sales, adds that their coffees can be custom-packaged for fundraisers. example: the delaware valley golden retriever rescue sells coffee year-round, adorned with their own puppy-mission label.

taste-traveling

on a recent day, burundi was the brew on tap, imparting its supple, satisfyingly round and slightly fruity essence, with a linger-effect that’s both sweet and bittersweet. visitors are invited to sample a cup, making it doubly enticing to buy direct. ask where the beans are from, and you’ll get the national geographic version: burundi comes from central africa, and earned its hearty start as a super-coffee when belgian colonists planted arabica beans along the green, mountainous slopes.

     

jamaican blue mountain, the caribbean queen of piping hot dinner drinks, is also available, and so is kona at special times—“we buy directly from hawaii, from a farm,” says van maanen. “certain coffees are standards here, like ethiopian and kenyan, for example—but sometimes even they become unavailable.” when that happens, the roaster steers people to similar flavors, aromas, and body. the “tanzaniaaaan” can stand in for kenyan, for example.

     

brazilian, peruvian, costa rican, french roast—the list is alluringly long. lately, van maanen and his wife rosemary have been starting their day with a half-panamanian, half sumatra decaf.

     

coffee is personal—so the staff prepares whatever works best for each person: high test, half-caf, decaf—and all sorts of flavored blends, from very vanilla to their high-kicking highlander.

here’s how to ride this coffee river:

• call lisa inmon for office delivery details, at 610.582.224
• see www.readingcoffee.com
• visit 316 west main street, birdsboro, weekdays, 9-4.30 or saturdays, 10-2