Wow! I Want to be a Cinnamon Girl for the Rest of my Life!

Neil Young had a great hit in the early 1970’s, Cinnamon Girl. In it, he sang, “I could be happy for the rest of my life with a cinnamon girl.” Honestly, I don’t believe he knew that today, researchers would be looking at whether cinnamon was a natural Viagra or not. And to tell you the truth, I wasn’t looking for that either when I sought a few of cinnamon’s health benefits to add to this blog.

What happened was, I accidently added way too much cinnamon to my pumpkin pie recipe and was surprised at the outcome. Hold on, it’s not what you think. Unless you were thinking that more is better. It was delicious! I was pleasantly surprised at how much better my pie tasted.

To round out this blog, I looked for cinnamon folk remedies and was amazed at what researchers are looking at. According to a website called Medical News Today, cinnamon might help us fight these disorders: diabetes, heart disease, coughing, arthritis, sore throats, muscle spasms, vomiting, diarrhea, infections, the common cold, loss of appetite and erectile dysfunction. And if that wasn’t enough, Medical News Today states that researchers at Tel Aviv University (Israel) discovered that cinnamon may help prevent Alzheimer’s due to an extract found in cinnamon bark. Okay already… I want to be a cinnamon girl for the rest of my life.

Suellen Ocean is the author of the Civil War Era romance, Mississippi Wild Blue. Available here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072L2WWMR

I’m Not Black But I’ve Heard Stories

I write stories. And when I do, I imagine what it might be like to be Black and living during the Civil War. How am I able to do that? By listening to the stories of my father, who grew up during the 1920’s in the deep South. I was just a little girl when I heard his stories, but I remember them well. And I remember his emotions when he told me how bad he felt when he and his Black friend would board the bus and his friend had to go to the back. Or the way he explained to me that when as a lad, he hitchhiked across the countryside and kind, generous, friendly Black people took him in and fed him. As soon as he was old enough, he left the South and moved to California. After forty-five years of living in California, he was still shaking his head about the injustices that skin color brings. He never forgot the South. It was dear to his heart. He was born in 1920. That was only fifty-five years after the end of the Civil War in 1865.

Suellen Ocean is the author of the Civil War Era Historic Romance, Black Pansy.

Available Here:

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Pansy-Suellen-Ocean/dp/1484900278

Chivalry in the Wild West?

In 1852, in some of the gold mining towns of the Sierra Nevada Mountain ranges, rugged men raced down steep mountains on long skis that back then were called snowshoes. In this hearty backcountry, snowshoe races were big entertainment and a lot of fun. There was a lot of drinking and betting on the races and in one instance, the winning purse was a thousand dollars. A lot of money back then. When the race began, all the men took off but before long, a female came down the hill on her snowshoes. The crowd went wild, especially as she began passing the other racers. The woman won the race, and some speculate that it was because the other racers were chivalrous and didn’t want to beat a woman. When the racer removed her hat and face covering, the crowd was surprised to see that it was a man. And one man was so angry at having been “cheated,” he shot and killed the poor jokester in front of the whole crowd.

Suellen Ocean is the author of the Civil War Era Historic Romance, Black Pansy.

Available Here:

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Pansy-Suellen-Ocean/dp/1484900278