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- Art and Culture | Community and Family | Food for the Body | Food for the Mind (Yoga Philosophy, etc) | Gardening
Potage D’Ete Au Mid-Atlantic (and jivan mukti)
Could not resist the french name. More fun than summer local vegetable stew. An alternative name could be: how to make three okra and six beans into dinner for two. Or maybe four. When I was out in the garden this morning, I simply picked what needed to be picked. Featured here: three okra, six beans, one jalapeno, two ancho chiles (one partly dried on the plant), two large tomatoes (both of which are only partly viable), two ripe and one green (fell off while I was picking the ripe ones) roma tomatoes, one very small garlic clove, baby leeks, garlic chives, tarragon, parsley, dill, and herb fennel. Serve over quinoa, couscous, rice, or pasta, and it is easily a meal for two. Add some red beans or other dried beans, and it could be dinner for four.One of the things I like about eating from the garden is the necessity of being creative. Cooking from a cook book, who wants an ingredient list this long? I could also be disappointed that no one of my plants is giving me enough to create a dish out of mostly one or two ingredients. If I were getting these ingredients from the store, I would get more okra or beans or peppers. There is a great joy in finding a sense of abundance and sparked creativity and celebrating pleasure, art, fulfillment, delight, offerings with what we have been given, whether it is the food from our garden, our bodies, our talents, our families, or the time and place into which we were born. In finding the highest sense of abundance and creativity within our limitations, we are truly experiencing the yoga concept of jivan mukti, living liberation.
Found Message
I have been cleaning out old files. Mostly I keep my drawers and closets relatively free of clutter and the unnecessary, but there are occasional pockets that have lived on because they were not a priority and neat enough. Found among postcards and letters from friends was one I received from a friend of a friend in October 2001. I never got to know her well. My friend has since moved out of the neighborhood and his friend moved back to Germany several years ago to start a family. Here is what she sent:
a picture from India [not shown] and a saying for you —
Live with intention
Walk to the edge
Listen hard
Practice wellness
Play with abandon
Laugh.
Choose with no regret
Continue to learn
Appreciate your friends
Do what you love
Live as if this is all there is.
A super sweet message. Now that I have shared it, I will recycle the original piece of paper. Thank you Uta. I hope all is well.
Free Class Week is NEXT Week (and a reminder to slow down)
I woke up early this morning, all ready to go up to Takoma Park and teach free classes. I am fully prepared — I’ve been enjoying contemplating one of my favorite first class themes, practicing great ways to enjoy our bodies (when we’ve been on vacation), thinking of what I would get at the Co-op during the break, looking forward to chatting with the work studies, who I love.
Good thing I checked my email this morning before leaving the house and subscribe to a lot of list serves. Mid-Atlantic Yoga had an announcement from Willow Street that free class week is September 14-21. Feeling a little anxious about my mix-up I checked the Willow Street web site. Under today’s classes it says there are no regular classes today.
I could get all grumpy with myself. I made a mistake. I missed an opportunity to go out of town for the weekend (though I have a big speech on Monday, and it would behoove me to be well-rested). But I am happy to be here; I already have planned a massage, a Sunday brunch, and a potluck dinner. Now I also can spend a luxurious morning in the garden and have time to get seriously fun into baking for the potluck.
I also have a no harm done reminder that maybe I need to slow down a little. These kinds of slip ups, which are very rare for me, are definitely a sign of being over-scheduled.



