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    Unexpected Treat

    ByElizabeth

    As I was leaving my massage therapists house, his wife said, “it’s open,” walk up 15th Street and check it out.” I turned from my usual track and headed up 15th Street Between C and D Streets, SE, a young guy was standing in a freshly painted doorway calling out to see if anyone wanted free samples. Having already been given a thumbs up, I stopped and joined two others who were enjoying the offer.

    I was handed a freshly baked Philadelphia style pretzel and a squeeze container of mustard. The pretzel had been baked within the half hour, there was just the right amount of salt, and it was definitely a treat after a Saturday afternoon massage.

    “It’s a simple concept–just the pretzels, and I am still working out hours and prices. Have to work around having a two-year old at home.”

    The neighbors, who definitely were enjoying their pretzels and the neighborhood setting, said they would be happy to be in a picture for my blog.

    The pretzels will certainly appeal after the Little League games across the street, but it’s a treat for those in post massage bliss and people taking a casual walk around the neighborhood, too.

    I am happy to support this new venture. What changes and integrates our neighborhood includes the willingness to open a small business off the beaten track (340 15th St., SE) that will appeal to a broad section of the community.

    To find out information on prices (he does special orders for parties) and hours of operation, check out “The Pretzel Bakery”s Facebook page.

     

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    Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.

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    Pre-Season Gardening (and diksha)

    ByElizabeth

    In yoga practice the concept of diksha — initiation or threshold — carries with it a sense of right timing and conscious understanding of readiness for the next level.  For example, knowing I was not yet strong enough, this past weekend I chose not to try to jump from adho mukha svanasana (downward facing dog) to svanasana (headstand), but instead concentrated on doing the poses one at a time, even though I was surrounded by people who could do the transition with ease and my ego was challenged.  Until I am stronger and better able to hold the alignment in poses at that level, I would be too much at risk of hurting my neck and shoulders.

    In the garden, it is easy to be fooled by a beautiful weekend to move right to activities that are still 3-4 weeks premature.  Even though it will hit 70F this weekend, it is not time to plant (other than perhaps an experimental row or pot of kale, chard, or beets, which like the cold).  The best gardening you can do in the beginning of March when the weather is swinging wildly from below freezing to unseasonably warm is to read and plan and start seedlings indoors, just like it is best to warm up and work on strength, alignment, and flexibility before going for harder asana in your yoga practice.  It will be tempting to get out this weekend, but do the prep stuff and the clean up.

    Here are some favorite books of mine to get ready for planning.  It is mostly more practical stuff (rather than the super glossy, beautiful garden as splendid art and architecture picture book reading) with some food and yoga overlap and a bias for small urban gardens.

    The Yoga of Herbs — An Ayurvedic Guide to Herbal Medicine, D. Frawley and V. Lad (Lotus Press, 2d Ed. 1988)

    Gardener Cook, C. Lloyd (Willow Creek Press 1997) (OK — this one is kind of cooking, gardening porn)

    The Edible Container Garden — Growing Fresh Food in Small Spaces, M. Guerra (Fireside, 2000)

    The Bountiful Container, McGee and Stuckey (Workman Publishing Co., 2002)

    Small-Space Gardening — How to Successfully Grow Flowers and Fruits in Containers and Pots, P. Loewer (The Lyons Press, 2003)

    Kitchen Herbs — The Art and Enjoyment of Growing Herbs and Cooking with Them, S. Gilbertie (Bantam, 1988)

    The New Kitchen Garden, A. Pavord (Dorling Kindersly Ltd., 1996) (Also pretty and glossy, but still practical)

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    A Moment of Gratitude and Compassion

    ByElizabeth

    A friend once said that when he heard sirens while he was meditating, he used it as a reminder to share the light of meditation. It is easy to think of roads blocked by emergency vehicles and blaring sirens as disruptions, inconveniences, and annoyances when they are coming for someone other than ourselves. I had a moment of thankfulness this morning that the minor problems are the kind of problems that I have. I was thankful, too, to live where if something bad happens, strangers come to the rescue. I offered healing light to the emergency workers and the person or persons to whom these workers were rushing.

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    Windows That Open

    ByElizabeth

    When I first got to my room on the fourth floor of the hotel, the airconditioner was straining noisily, and the room was very stuffy. To My great delight — the windows not only open, but have screen and look out onto an unveveloped tract of land with trees higher than my window. I immediately opened the windows and let in the smell of fresh air and the sounds of the forest. There is occasional car noise, but it is muffled by the sounds of wind and rain in the trees.

    I thought this morning how often I end up in an office building or hotel where the windows do not open. That cutting off access to the realities of nature, of what is greater than our little world, in order to have a controlled climate seems like much of modern life.

    Many I know do not even notice that the windows do not open. Others of us, see the windows and want to know what is outside and to be with the greater energies. We seek to oprn the windows and know. Those who are able and so moved and who are able — rare beings — leave behind the buildings and go entirely on the renunciate path. The rest of us who live the life of householders, seek to have windows that open and spend time each day breathing in the sweetness of what is greater.

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