wisdom...

today i read, on a friend's blog:

To live content with small means, to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable; wealthy, not rich; to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly; to listen to stars and birds—to babes and sages, with open heart; to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasion, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious grow up through the common. This is to be my symphony.

William Henry Channing

to which i'd add Gandhi's "list of blunders"

Wealth without work.
Pleasure without conscience.
Knowledge without character.
Commerce without morality.
Science without humanity.
Worship without sacrifice.
Politics without principles.

...and we're back...

when the baroque orchestra i play with has a concert week, i don't get much of anything else done (though i do still teach my dozen private students). but that was last week and i have time to share a new obsession. these days the netflix envelope flies out of the house as soon as possible and is awaited with bated breath...my only regret is that this series was created for television and there are no novels to read : ( however, the site does have links to books and sites about the history behind the series.

FABEC

we've been doing so much better lately--cooking to feed the available tummies instead of a now absent army...BUT every so often it sneaks up on us again--FABEC (food acquisition beyond eating capability). at these times it seems we have filled the fridge with food only to let it "mellow" until it's a NOW or NEVER situation.

so last night jerry was too wiped out to cook and we had about 20 tired mushrooms, a slightly pooped pepper (red sweet), maybe 15 brussels sprouts that were fast approaching the other side of the hill, and some leftover asian peanut sauce jerry had made (mitigating the peanuttiness with mashed beans--pretty darn good).

i cleaned and sliced the sprouts and mushrooms, diced the pepper and half a lb of super firm tofu, and peeled several cloves of the staff of life, er, garlic. sauteed (olive oil always) the sprouts with a lot of squashed garlic and dumped 'em out. sauteed the mushrooms on high to keep 'em dry, added the peppers after the moisture was under control and then dumped it on the sprouts. dry sauteed the tofu and finished with a nice splash of tamari and recombined it all. topped each plateful with a big dollop of peanut sauce. 'twas an excellent refrigerator reclamation project. i'll probably make it again on purpose!

convergence...

for some of the world it is lent. i wasn't raised in a liturgical church, nor do i set much store by religious forms--but taking time to examine and reflect is a good thing. several small things are coming together to encourage me to "observe lent" this year---where i am in life, my budding yoga practice, a book that was waiting for me at the thrift store, how my body is doing with the physical aspects of playing the violin, the ruts i'm in that are not so healthful...examining and dismantling "auto pilot" and "multi tasking" in most settings...and THE SUN IS OUT AGAIN TODAY!

blue skies...

it's still winter, with belly dragging ruts in the alleys and cars parked so far out in the street as to make rearview mirrors kiss upon passing... BUT...BUT...after 5 pm and the SUN is still out and the sky is BLUE and this is GOOD! in honor of such an encouragingly illuminated firmament, a few sky pics--from ireland, missouri, minnesota...

one fish, two fish...

these are the hats i made and sent to our girl and her roomie at school in pittsburgh. only a blind follower am i--the idea is here. and even better--one of the intended victims, in fine fish face fettle!

food for the bod...

we've been ovo-lacto vegetarian for at least 25 years and finally cut out the rest of the animal products this past summer (except for our trip to ireland--more on that another day). my main motive, having become familiar with what really goes on in most dairy barns and egg operations, was to decrease my participation in unnecessary suffering. being a vegetarian, of whatever persuasion, can be a walk in someone else's moccasins--how most of the world lives. but we get to do it with a foodie flair most of the world can't afford. it's not about self-denial--it's DISCOVERY! next frontiers--wool, leather shoes.

"don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good"

this is a recent fave dish