What I'm listening to

I adore Marta Gomez, a Colombian singer who uses traditional melodies and instrumentation with the most beautiful lyrics, which are out of this world. I admit, this song is sad...but so lovely it is a sweet sadness.

Christ in action

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112679029

As a Christian I'm always moved when I see people living the Word in action. I'm not particularly impressed with sermons or speeches (even though Obama's speeches do impress me) when it comes to God.

Walk the walk is my theory when it comes to religion.

So here is a moving story about a man who ministers to people in an airport....I've spent my fair time in airports around the hemisphere and never had the pleasure to run into such a man (and fortunately never been in need of help during a journey).

Heath s/care

So I've been rather quiet about the political craziness that has overtaken the nation around health care. I don't know that I can add much more to the conversation that hasn't been said.

I do want to share a smart and funny music video that says a lot...with music. Enjoy!


http://www.youtube.com/user/paulhipp

What I'm reading

I've been exploring Buddhism, dipping into books. I've just started a wonderful book "Anger" by Vietnamese monk Thich Nant Hahn. As someone who struggles with moments of fierce anger, I find this approach of compassion towards oneself as fascinating and tough.

What I'm loving about this book is the way the author uses the metaphor of gardening. Anger is like kitchen scraps that you can turn into compost to enrich the garden....it is not bad, but needs to be used appropriately to enrich and enlighten our lives.

He taps into the need to have awareness and mindfulness about the daily things in our lives...eating, for example. That is an area I struggle with, always moving in a rush through a meal. Hahn talks about taking 50 bites of food to really really savor and mindfully eat. 50 BITES.

Little moments of argh or ah

I do have a little garden notebook, made of paper, that I tote around to nurseries and gardening workshops. In my fit of seed planting I neglected to review my notes from the fall/winter gardening class. Alas, I read that lettuce doesn't usually make through a hard frost. There is nothing about beets started by seeds, except a recommendation to stick to seedlings late in the season. Argh.

I did hit up the nurseries today to buy seedlings of things that "overwinter." We shall see how this experiment goes. I have broccolli, cauliflour, kale, lettuce....I am realizing that my eyes exceed the amount of land I actually have to farm, but I'm sure I'll make it work or give away a few starts. $21 for a lot of starts.

Fede and a friend cleaned up the property line with a plastic barrier to keep the neighbor's grass and weeds from encroaching on our bed, which is partly shady and near the compost bin. With a narrow bare strip of pristine land I went to Garden Fever in a frenzy and bought a bunch of shady loving perennials. I am usually too cheap to buy many perennials, and since most of garden is in the sun, I am woefully clueless about the joys of shady gardening. Today was the day to break with my established routine. I spent a chunk of change, and almost all on shady lovers I never glance at, let alone buy.

Decided this stripe is my little expensive learning laboratory. I quickly dug some holes, filled with a bit of compost and watered them up, then stuck the plants in, tucked in with most compost on top. I did this all in the span of about 1 hour and 1/2. Impressive, imho.

The plants are pretty, and I have visions of them fill out the strip into a lovely green area where weeds can no longer find a footing at all. It will also make the compost area more scenic....it is the entry way to the patio, which is my last gardening frontier.

Fall planting journal

So every gardener is supposed to keep a journal, tracking planting dates, bloom times, frost dates, etc. I view this blog as part garden journal, and in that spirit, today I planted our winter garden, inspired by that fall/winter gardening class I took back in the waning days of summer.

In the former garlic patch (which was previously the pumpkin patch), I've sown a bunch of beet seeds. The variety is "Early Wonder", which takes 55 days until harvest. That is roughly around the Day of Dead, which is when I plan to be in Oaxaca. I guess I will harvest when I come home. I cannot have enough beets in this house!

I also planted Romaine Lettuce, under the maple tree and as an edging near the garage entrance. It takes 78 days for maturity, which is a longg time...mid to late November. I really need more lettuce in the house. So in that spirit I got a lettuce mix from Uprising seeds, also near the tree and tucked in near the sage plant's edge.

The chard is producing prolifically, so no need for more chard. Collards, well, they are HUGE. If we eat collards everyday until Christmas we could not eat them all. They make a lovely edge to the border, so they are just fine biding time until we eat them.

I would like to plant more kale and some spinach. I've not had good luck with spinach from seed.

Yet.

Thai massage

After Breitenbush's yoga class teacher told me that thai massage was wonderful for tight hips (an outcome of a lot of hip tightening activities over the years) I thought, I want to get myself a thai massage. It will help reinforce what I'm doing in my yoga class, plus relaxation. It was fantastic and a combo of yoga and massage - in one sitting. You do it on the floor, clothed....I highly highly recommend it. Here is a Youtube video that has a good demo.




That was my treat of the week, combined with 2 yoga classes!

I've really been working on building in relaxation into every single day. A long walk, swim, yoga, massage....I want to enjoy the ability to really use my body. Re-reading some old posts from last winter, I realize how far I've come from a walker and not being able to bath on my own.

I am so grateful for the healing process (and the resources that I have to help it along).