Breaking Open

When I was a kid one of my favorite things to do in the fall was to collect the most beautiful leaves and take them home, heat paraffin on the stove in a tin can and dip the leaves--lay them out on newspaper to dry. Then I had this collection of orange and yellow and red leaves that I could keep for some time. It amazes me today that my mother let me do that. All that paraffin, a tin can sitting on the burner, newspaper on the counter right next to the hot stove. It was a good thing we had a fire alarm in the house, sensing eyes for flickering light, a large red bell, like a school bell by the back door.

Anyway, it was the oaks that I loved the best. I'd bring home the horse chestnuts, the acorns, and of course, tiny cones, too. I think now that really if it wasn't for Audubon Park I'd been a real mess. Nature was my safe haven. I was in that park after school, during the summer, fall afternoons, on the weekends when I wasn't baking bread with Mary Ellen. I rode my bike there, swung, played ping pong and tether ball. There were crafts in the summer, there were benches and tables pushed into tunnels that we crawled through in the fall and in the winter we sledded the hill and skated on the flooded and frozen parking lot. All in a park.

And the rest of the time, I was hard at it at home, doing homework I didn't understand, practicing the organ, cooking, cleaning and warding off my step-father. Yes, this is the issue I realize now that impacted my marriage. There is a place in me that never stops being vigilant. That never completely lets go. That's why I'm so good at what I do. With the CranioSacral work, I can stay there present for the entire time, with the grandbaby, the same thing, with my writing the same thing. I'm good at watching continuously, because I had to.

But what about the garden--it's a place I can let go of, let it be, let it go wild, let it reseed. The cosmos took over much of the garden this year. It's very pretty and I liked it the year before, using it as a shade for the beans so the deer wouldn't see them and gobble them down, but this year, it didn't work. Of course we had a cold rainy summer and everyone complained about not getting good tomatoes and not getting this or that, but there is plenty of produce at the markets. Plenty of squash anyway. Someone did a good job.

As for life and love and things that go bump in the night, stay present I say. Listen to your heart and make sure your life is there for you in all the ways you need it to be. I'm taking my own advice.
Ciao!

Squash

Winter Squash
Originally uploaded by ppv918

All these different varieties, have you seen them, the squash and pumpkins that are so gloriously shining their glorious colors from the gardens and fruit & vegetable stands right now? Orange and yellow and white and green, stripped and speckled and their shapes: acorn, pear, cucumber shape. I love squash—especially the little acorn that is easy to grow in the garden.

I slice acorns in half and fill the hollowed out middle with honey and butter, then sprinkle it all with cinnamon. Loving this dish that's baked at 350 for about 45 minutes, or until tender. There are other ways to prepare squash too, cube it and put it in soup, mash it like potatoes, combine it mashed with potatoes. If you grow your own, pick them and keep them in a dry place. They'll keep for some time and even when they yellow, they will be great. Ahhhh! A lovely fall and winter dish.

Okay, now for everything else, if it could all be as easy as cutting a squash in half. The economy, the campaign, the health of the worlds food and water. These are concerns that could be keeping us awake at night. Many of us have been staying awake at night. I for one have been losing sleep. I'm curious how to be happy and healthy in the midst of all of this. Okay then, meditation, prayer, ritual—these things help. Thinking positive—couldn't hurt. Exercise and spending time outdoors. Yes this is good. Gardening. Yes, another good thing, and a way to bring down the cost of food. At NCI, Charles the chef was talking about buying local, even if it isn't organic. Organics, which I belief in, sometimes come from Chile and from Mexico. But you might have broccoli growing in your neighborhood farm—this would be the thing to buy. Saving on fuel with all that shipping and really we don't know for sure what is coming out of these other countries.

Okay, that's all I have to say today. Best for you in all ways.

Flower

Moving On

Fall is a time of reaping. There will be an abundance of vegetables to choose from, many to give away. Last year my community neighbor gardener set a box of veges outside her door for her neighbors. There is always the jokes about zucchini. There are the tomatoes and the methods of pulling and hanging a plant or wrapping green tomatoes and setting them on the window sill. In the weaker fall sun coming through the pane over the sink, the tomatoes will ripen. And then you have the vegetables that can stay in the ground for the winter: carrots, parsnips, potatoes. If you have a good potato crop dry them in the sun and rub off the dirt. Put them in a cool dark place in a bag. Light will make them sprout and turn green—of course the green is toxic. If you have grown pumpkins or winter squash you can wait for the first frost to move them to a place that is dry and will keep them for the winter. I had an upstairs landing once covered with Hubbard. Then there is the corn stalks to cut and tie in bundles and stack by the door, along with a scattering of pumpkins and you have a lovely fall arrangement. And of course acorn and butternut can come inside. If you've never had acorn or butternut halved and baked with almond butter and maple syrup in the opening try it. And then there is the squash soup and the leek soup and the potato soup and the carrot soup. Ahhhh!

On a different subject, I'm all moved. I have a locker with my furniture and boxes sitting there. I thought this would make me feel sad, but having it all there makes me feel secure. The folks were nice. It's a bit of a drive from the house, but I won't have to go too often. I was with my ex. It was difficult, for me, I don't believe for him, because he's clearly moved on. It is like summer, it has moved on. There is nothing to do about it. As far as the garden goes and my life, it is time to pull in and fortify. To rest and to heal. It's the way things go.

Cheers!

Flower