the bigger connection

We’re coming to a time of year that more than any other time is about connecting, not only with family, friends, or community, but also on a bigger level to culture and Nature.  Thanksgiving is less about eating turkey and lots of pie, or watching football, or all the prep work and cleaning up after a crowd, although it’s an important cultural aspect and expression.  

Instead, it’s about being together and feeling connected to something bigger. Thanksgiving, as any harvest festival, is about our deep connection to the Earth because it provides us with everything we need to live.  Without good soil and a good harvest, we perish.  If we tend the soil sustainably, we thrive. Everything else is icing on the cake.

Hence, Thanksgiving is about thanking the Earth, our first and foremost nurturer, Mother of all Mothers.  It is about being grateful, not only for the people we celebrate with, but for our existence, for spirit, for that which made us and put us here.  Let’s keep this bigger picture in mind this coming week with the help from the Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address: Greetings to the Natural World, which thanks all of Nature for making us possible.  

Thank you.

our antiquated mindset

It can all be so overwhelming – climate change with its scary apparitions in the form of runaway Amazon rainforest fires or melting polar ice caps, the state of our agriculture which has decimated the insect population (produce and fiber crops) and contributed hugely to greenhouse gases and earth’s warming (mainly industrial beef and pork farms, but also the poultry and dairy industries), the grip corporations have over our lives, and on and on.  

And then – we need to remember that we’re wired evolutionarily to react to danger and the negative – to escape that potential saber tooth tiger.  Such physical dangers are no longer there as we as a species have come to dominate life on earth.  Instead, the danger is our antiquated competitive mindset geared to warfare, violence, and attack mode.  Yet, as we have opened up to Eastern philosophies and meditation in the past few decades, we have learned that we can gain control over our mind. Just got to visit those gremlins up in the attic and become conscious and aware of them – and then an amazing shift can happen.

Times are changing and we have to evolve with them.  Our minds are still operating according to paleolithic patterns, while the world around has changed so much.  Because of our danger oriented thinking patterns we have a hard time appreciating the ease with which we live nowadays (i.e. running water, hot showers, warm homes and comfortable clothes, as well as abundant food), the privileges we have gained (i.e. education, freedom of speech, freedom to practice any religion), the natural beauty that’s all around us, the endless opportunities we have in this new world (i.e. choice of vocation), the amazing foods from all over the world we can get at any supermarket, and so much more.

Let’s get with the times and try to shift, one mind at a time, to a modern mindset of cooperation, appreciation, wonderment, sustainability, mindfulness, and equality so we can all enjoy the tremendous gains we have made, and heal and appreciate our beautiful planet earth together.

too overwhelming?

Climate change can seem like such an overwhelming issue, and it’s easy to throw your arms up and believe that you can’t do anything about it.  It’s just so big.

Let’s begin then at the other end, with our relationship with nature.  Climate change is a result of our complete disconnection from the natural world.  But what, if not nature, is it that nourishes us and supports our life here on earth?  If our planet earth turned into a desert, into a swamp, into a flooded ocean, or the skies turned murky and gray with pollution, we would perish.  If, on the other hand, our soils are rich, the weather temperate and somewhat predictable, the air and our water are clean, then we can live a beautiful life.  And that has everything to do with each one of us.  With you!

Just refraining from throwing a paper cup out of the car window onto the road, just refraining from carelessly accepting a plastic straw and discarding it after one use, just refraining from idling your car while you bring out the trash or sit on the parking lot waiting for someone, just refraining from buying water in throw-away plastic bottles, just refraining from accepting another single use plastic bag  – makes a difference.  That tiny difference sends a signal that you care.  And maybe next time you’ll care a bit more, and then a bit more yet.  And that’s how you make a difference, and that’s how every movement begins.  When someone cares. 

We can all do something about working towards a more sacred relationship with nature, a relationship that honors and respects it. That’s where healing climate change begins.

summertiiiiiime…..

.…and the livin’ is easy, goes the first line of Gershwin’s famous song from Porgy and Bess.  After a cool and rainy spring, and a slow start to the summer (all fine for my Northern constitution) real summer is finally here.

Summer energy is so different from the other seasonal energies, and I am so glad to be living in a place where I get to experience these four distinct energies every year again.  Summer energy is light.  Summer energy is carefree.  Summer energy is joyful.  Summer energy is abundant.  Summer energy is vibrant.  Whether swimming and being at the beach, whether wearing bright and light colors, whether enjoying lighter foods and drinks, or nature’s abundance in flowers and produce, there is something exuberant about summer energy.

May you feel it, may it pervade your life, may you enjoy it to the fullest for the next two months.

Since summer invites a lesser workload, this will also serve as an abbreviated substitute newsletter to let you know that July and August food workshops are up on my website in case you need a joyful infusion of creative cooking and food inspiration in the next two months.

the fabulousness of our existence

Walking through my garden right now, I am in awe of the fabulously opulent, burgundy peonies that are just about at their prime.  Through the open window, I hear a beautifully clear and bright bird concert that changes by the minute and is such a pleasure to listen to.  Looking at the sky I squint my eyes because the sunshine is so bright it makes me smile.

What is so fabulous about all of that, you might ask?  What’s so fabulous about it is the self-awareness that permits me to reflect on it.  A gorilla isn’t awed by the sheer beauty of the misty rainforest it lives in.  A cat isn’t amazed by the myriad smells it encounters all day long.  A giraffe doesn’t smile at the bright sunshine with thankfulness. Without self-awareness I wouldn’t notice, admire, reflect, be awed, opine on the beauty, be amazed and happy and grateful for these delightful experiences. Instead, I would go through life matter-of-factly and accepting of what is, a definite notch down from awe.

Awing turns my attention away from myself, away from my small ego to the big world out there, as Christopher Bergland observes in Psychology Today.  

 What awes you?

nature's resilience

Nature’s resilience and ability to bounce back are awe inspiring.  Five years ago, when we built our current net-zero house, we guiltily took down some trees (we’ve replanted lots and lots since), we disrupted nature all around with heavy machinery and lots of construction noise, earth moving and construction work.  

 It’s taken some time for nature to jumpstart the regeneration effort, but it’s roaring now.  This year especially it struck me how many new trees are popping up everywhere, how fast they are growing, and how many animals are coming again through our property, either for brief visits or for moving in.  Bears, racoons, deer, groundhogs, garter and black racer snakes, lizards and salamanders, box turtles, foxes, squirrels and chipmunks, in addition to hawks, several types of woodpeckers, a whole host of birds, praying mantises, and butterflies are among the visible and apparent species.

Nature is powerful, intuitive, resilient, relentless, and sustainably so much smarter than us. It knows what to do. It is flexible. It is patient. It is very forgiving, until it’s not. Nature let’s us learn, and mess up, and make good again, as long as we respect it. What has nature taught you?

2019

own it!

Cooking can be fun, cooking can be meditative, cooking is empowering, cooking brings you in touch with your body, cooking connects you with your cultural heritage and to the Earth. What’s not to love about cooking your own food?

Your body exists in a very tight and intimate relationship with the quality and type of food you eat.   It may sound dramatic, but food can heal, and food can kill – literally.  When you cook your own food you take responsibility for your health and wellbeing because you pick the ingredients and put them lovingly and imaginatively together in a soul and body nourishing creation.  

 Own it!  Take charge! Cook!  Enjoy!

food as a portal

Food is an amazing portal in so many ways.   One of the games at our children’s birthday parties was to blindfold them and offer them small bites to taste.  Then they had to guess what they’d eaten.  This got them to shift from identifying the food by sight to concentrating on taste, texture, and smell.

 In the most basic way, food as the provider of energy, is an existential requirement.  But our relationship with food would be limited and limiting, and so much less meaningful, if we saw it as nothing but fuel.  Even our pets appreciate diversity in their diet, and no gorilla eats the same thing every day.

 From a basic biochemical aspect, mineral rich and nutritious food promotes cell growth and cell regeneration.  Watch a wound close much faster if you eat superior foods, or your skin clearing visibly when you drink a green smoothie every day.  It’s a direct relationship between inputs and outputs.    

 All food comes from the earth.  Food is thus our direct connection to nature.   When we have a sustainable relationship with the environment, it’s easy to grow beautiful, tasty and nutritious food without depleting the environment.  Healthy food is the basis for good energy, good digestion, good mental health and a vigorous body. When the soil your carrot, apple or grain comes from, is healthy and mineral rich, you in turn will be thriving.

Food contributes to celebration.  It connects us to our cultural heritage, something those who celebrate Passover or Easter surely appreciate this weekend.  Through the special holiday dishes from our traditions we celebrate and enact the culture and geography we come from.   The stories behind Harozet or Easter lamb are what fills the dishes with depth and meaning, not the ingredients themselves, and participating in such traditions ties us to the web of life.

Cooking together and sharing a meal is a great way to connect with friends and family.  Food simply tastes better when shared, and the experience surrounding a shared meal is wonderful.

Food can be indulgent and imparts a deeper connection to our senses.  You can derive so much pleasure from the different tastes, textures, colors, temperatures, sights (Instagram!) and smells of food.  

 Food in its many ways is a connection to and celebration of life!

smiling by myself

Do you ever catch yourself smiling spontaneously?  I don't mean in a social setting with people, but spontaneously, all by yourself?   

Earlier I saw our resident red cardinal in the shrub with his wife - cardinals are lifelong companions - and the sight brought a spontaneous smile to my face.  On a New Year's walk a few days ago, several beautiful nature sights made me break out spontaneously into a smile.  Earlier I went outside and the winter sun shone on my face.  I felt myself smiling - no one around.  And of course the many absolutely adorable animal video clips that abound on social media are guaranteed to elicit a curling up of the corners of my mouth.

Sarah Stevenson writes in her guest blog in Psychology Today about the endorphin feedback loop that happens when we smile in reaction to someone else’s smile, “…when I smile, the world smiles back.” Well, nature and animals don’t smile. Yet, my subconscious or my soul picks up the unconditional love of animals, or the unconditional beauty of nature, and spontaneously releases endorphins and elicits a smile just like in a social setting with a person.

Stuff for thought.

the bird tree

Because of the danger of bears we keep our garbage can strapped from March to November.  Once mid-November rolls around we can let go of the straps, and at the same time we go through the annual ritual of hanging the bird feeding paraphernalia back on the bird tree. 

The bird tree is a dead upside down cedar trunk, roots in the air as branched hanging device for bird feeders and suet cages, that my husband found in the woods a few years ago.  With great effort we had lugged it back through the woods and down the steep incline towards the house.  There we placed it in a planting bed exactly opposite the big window through which we look out into nature while we sip our morning tea. During the winter months, weekend paper reading goes hand in hand with bird watching, and while the rest of nature is gray-brown and dormant, our bird tree is alive and teeming with activity and color. 

Many years ago a bird lover friend talked passionately about Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers and Cedar Waxwings, names I found profoundly silly and contortedly long.  But here we are, trying to identify and name them, the Black-capped Chickadees, the Tufted Titmouse, the Downy and Red-bellied Woodpeckers, the huge Pileated Woodpeckers who make a rare appearance, the Mourning Doves, the big Blue Jays and of course the beautiful Northern Cardinals, males in bright red uniform, females with a red beak and only subtle wisps of red here and there on their tan plumage.  The squirrels have of course found the bird feeders and hang upside down in acrobatic postures from the bird tree to snatch some seeds.

Live entertainment, a true reality show.