Sunshine On My Shoulder

I've rediscovered John Denver.

I feel he gets a bad rap, the shaggy 60's hair and too-big eyewear, the photo shoot with his dog in a grassy field. Go ahead, roll your eyes - even I did when Steve pulled him out of the bottom of our CD pile and blasted him on Saturday mornings. But, today I just kept singing along with John.

Spring is trying to assert itself over winter. If I knew anything about boxing, I'd make a boxing metaphor: Spring vs. Winter in round 8 of the match. Spring at first kicking ass for a round or two. Winter coming back from behind and making Spring cry like a baby. Now, it's round 8, Spring is back on top, busting Winter's cold, slushy gut.

I don't know boxing that well and I'm not particularly feeling in a violent state of mind, but consider how aggressive plants need to be to survive. They start as miniscule seeds, rest beneath muck for months, then burst forth hard, because it has to. There's nothing else for it to do except curl up and die.

It doesn't procrastinate. It doesn't call it's mom to ask what she thinks it should do. It doesn't sit around with other seeds and bitch about the pettiness of the earth for it's lack of appreciation.

It does what it was created to do. It absorbs the energy of the sun, the rain, the earth and explodes with life. Small green shoots uncurl, and stretch up toward the surface, heading instinctively toward the sun.

Sometimes, it doesn’t always work out. Sometimes there’s a frost or a warm stream of yellow dog pee that squelches its budding plans.

It’s that time of year for me, except I feel more like a returning tulip bulb.

I’ve been hibernating for months, procrastinating about things I know I need to do, questioning my abilities, bitching about what’s not working in my life – a lot!

But, it’s spring and the renewed bud inside of me finally gets that it will take a burst of energy, a little aggression, and passion, and drive to move from seed to tender shoot. The mud has been warm and cozy for quite some time, but now it’s time to stretch on up and out to thrive.



Two simple ways to take advantage of these feelings of renewal and life:

1. Move your body.
Get outside. Breathe the air. Walk in the sun.

Your muscles, blood and bones have winter’s chilly air hanging
around inside. By exercising, you are building fire, sweating out toxins
and cleansing your body and mind.

2. Eat more greens.
As the world goes green on the outside, nourish yourself with greens
on the inside. Start with your usual greens, lettuce and broccoli, then
upgrade these to kale, collard greens, or swiss chard.

Greens are easy to prepare. Chop them up, add them to a pot with
water, and steam for 5-10 minutes. When they’re done, serve them
with slices of lemon and give them a generous squeeze.

According to Chinese medicine, the bitter and sour lemon helps
cleanse the liver and begin to clear the stagnant chi in the body.


By using food to help us, it can support us as we move from
procrastination to action - so that we can burst forth and bloom!

post holiday blues

my body gets greedy for holidays.

give it a four day weekend, and it only wants more. this morning, I woke up, rolled over, hit snooze three times and stared out the window at the rain. do I really have to go out there?

I'm reading a good book and am almost at the end so I'd much prefer to hang out inside and be at one with the orchid world.

And after that, Les Miserables is on my bedside table. With 900+ pages, reading 2 pages a day, it'll take me a year and a half to finish. I'd love to read more, but dragging it with me on the subway each day isn't a real possibility. Although, I have been thinking about working out with weights, and maybe this is a good way to multi-task.

ok, so I didn't check back in

it's already four months past and I don't know what happened.

I'm sipping sake and enjoying a rainy day at home
listening to a little emmylou harris... it's been a slow, leisurely day
I don't feel like talking or socializing or doing much of anything
save writing and reading and snuggling up to something warm.

tomorrow I host my girlfriends - full of plans, dreams and food.

I've spent the afternoon cleaning up, sorting papers, throwing
so much junk away - how do I accumulate so many random sheets of paper?

autumn cleansing

fall is definitely here.
with the crisp cooler weather,
warm, golden sunlight and
my body's craving for warmer, heavier foods.

I've avoided anything oaty for months.
now I can't get enough of oatmeal for breakfast,
a scoop of walnut pieces, shredded coconut with
a spoonful of pure maple syrup.

it keeps me full and satisfied all morning long.
my frozen fruit and almond butter smoothies
just don't cut it these days.

with the planets in motion, the daylight disappearing,
our bodies and minds are trying to catch up with nature.
being in cities or towns, so apart from the natural rhythm of the wilderness
this is the time when colds shiver in, aches don't fade,
and our hearts feel just a little more fragile.

doing a fast or cleanse during this time
is a great way of handling the transition.

however you cleanse, your digestion is given a
mini-vacation so the rest of your body has time to heal
and rid itself of toxins & build-up from your diet and life.

we eat so many build-up foods every day:
meats, fats, dairy, sugar & chemicals.
it does our bodies and minds good
to give them a break now and then.

try this simple fast for fall:

chose 1-3 days where you can lay low.
don't schedule a vigorous work-out at the gym,
or pick a day when a big presentation at work is due.

cleansing and fasting is a time of renewal
and rejuvenation - it's a time to slow down and reflect.

eat a combination of cooked food and raw:
raw fruit, sprouts and veggies
steamed leafy and root veggies like
kale, collards, sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips and more
cooked grains - brown rice, millet, quinoa
cooked legumes - mung beans, aduki.

include lots of water and herbal teas
and, if you like, add a few green drinks too
(you can buy green powders, spirulina or chlorella
in a health food store - mix these with pure water or fruit juices).


some helpful reminders
* chew your food very well, this gets digestion working right away,
instead of relying on your stomach acids to do all the work.

* stay warm - if you're cold, try drinking ginger tea
or cuddling up with a hot-water bottle before bed.

* avoid overeating - remember, the point is to give
your system a break, not keep it churning with food.


for more info on cleansing check out paul pitchford's book

healing with whole foods: asian traditions and modern nutrition or prescription for nutritional healing by phyllis and james balch.

I'll be starting my own three day cleanse on wednesday,
so I'll check back then let you know how it's going
and what it feels like.

hero stuff

everywhere I go, heros follow

first the book I picked up in an antique mall in georgia
The Hero Within by Carol S. Pearson

(resting on a cramped bookshelf
really, the alter-ego of my own shelves

all of those books coinciding with various phases of my own:
raw food cookbooks, spiritual goo, language lovers
it all looked so familiar)

then, an article in spirituality and health
about the hero's journey

what's there for me?
I have some vague, whitney houston love song approach to it all
like it's some grand status or place to be
I've never thought about it like a journey...
only the western white man slays dragon -
gets girl - becomes king - they live happily ever after
sort of thing

what do I have on hero?
not me - something to measure up to - responsibility
selflessness - powerful - brave - male energy
action - struggle against norm or evil
knight on horse - waiting to be rescued


maybe I felt I was not grand enough to be a hero
like only the privileged few tackle that one

pearson’s book helped me see there are all kinds of heroes
all on different paths, leading to the same direction:
knowledge of self, grasping that big "I"

hero doesn't mean slaying dragons,
doesn't mean denying my feminine nature
it is strong, innocent, self-sacrificing, lonely, trusting and magical
all at different steps along the way, all at once sometimes

why is this important?
heros in the old stories see coruption and set out
on a quest to bring happiness/love/peace back to their land

Heroism for this age requires us to take our journeys, to find the treasure of our true selves, and to share that treasure with the community as a whole - through doing and being fully who we are. To the degree that we do so, our kingdoms are transformed.
- Carol S. Pearson

what treasures are awaiting your discovery?
what jewels can you unearth and bring them back
to your world, your family, your job
gleaming and glistening like diamonds?

itchy itchy scratchy scratchy

remember that old campfire song?

itchy itchy scratchy scratchy
ooo, I got one down my backy

that's a little how I feel -
I just got back from camping in georgia

the sun was out but under all those big beautiful trees
I rarely felt the burn, but the chiggers and jiggers,
well they are another story - we became intimate friends

the weird thing is that they really didn't itch
until after I returned home, some freakish delayed reaction
and here I thought I'd gotten away relatively bite-free

all this scratching brought me to my aromatherapy bible
The Complete Book of Essential Oils & Aromatherapy
(Valerie Ann Worwood)

some great big oils to have on hand to soothe the skin:
* thyme * lavender * eucalyptus * chamomile

on chiggers and jiggers:

these are burrowing insects which attack mainly
through the feet. they lay their eggs in burrows
under the skin and also spread infection.

huh, makes me wish I'd read this before I went
traipsing through the woods and wilderness

lavender has been my number one girl
one neat drop on each bite makes them feel oh so good

for mosquitoe bites you'll need a little something more
measure out one cup of cider vinegar or the juice of 2 lemons
add 10 drops of lavender and 5 drops of thyme
pour this into a bath of water and soak
then after apply lavender to each bite

so how to prevent them in the first place?
the easiest way is to combine 2 tablespoons of base oil
(peanut, almond, etc - found in most health food stores)
with 30 drops of lavender oil

slather all of your exposed skin with this magic potion
after you shower, before a hike, before you go to bed

you can never have enough!

shoo-fly pie

butter, eggs, molasses, brown sugar
sounds decadent, no?

I just returned from hangin' with the amish in pa

what I loved:
- the farmer's markets around every bend
- kids and old-folks on the amish version of scooters
(two smallish bike wheels with a long foot pad and
a tall handles like a bike)
- cruising up and down and over the lush green hills
- all the free samples of pickled veggies and raisin bread
- rusty tin stars

what made me sad:
- tour buses
- generic knicknacks in the stores made halfway around the world
- absence of veggies on menus (except corn, there was lots of corn!)
- absolutely, 100% all carb breakfasts at the hotel
(seriously, I'm a different, crabbier person if I start my day
off with sugary muffins or cereal - ask my family, they know
and really, no veg-friendly items on menus, save coleslaw or
a "house salad"? ick.)

back to the shoe-fly... it's damn good
much less sweet than you think it might be

me, I like to eat simple foods
the smaller the list of ingredients, the better
small list usually means big taste
and somehow, more pure
even if it's pure sugar, I suppose

fewer ingredients means fewer processing
which means it's closer to it's natural state of being
which helps me maintain my own natural, health way

like humus for instance...
if you find it in a grocery store and it has only three
ingredients listed, it's probably going to taste fresher
and your taste buds and body will be grinning

find one with lots of additives or different oil blends
with preservatives and more, it's likely to be lacking
and your body wears a big ol' frown

we don't want that now do we?
:)