Posts Tagged ‘gardening’

This vegan’s world

Saturday, May 2nd, 2009

My reward for clear thinking ws my first ever orchid bloom. So Lovely.

My reward this morning for clear thinking was my first ever orchid bloom. So lovely. I didn't discover it until I was all calmed down...

Hello all.  I don’t really feel like talking about baking today. Today I feel like talking about how baking is my meditation. The place I go to create and relax.
So much can run through your mind and motivate you in your day.  So much can disturb your day!
I consider myself a well balanced and focused individual. And I truly attribute that to my love for my work and my love for my lifestyle. Yup. I love baking. And I love being vegan. I feel very lucky. I listen to the state of the world and I follow important issues. And I care. I sign petitions. I speak out. But in the end, I am a humble baker that can only affect a very small part of the world. So I do my recycling organic vegan best. And I am peaceful doing it. But sometimes that focus is my downfall. I am a baker obsessed with baking. I’m sure that that is clear to all by now. But when that one thing gets complicated, I get a little – what word should I use here – I guess I get a little tight. This heat crawls over my head and I become stone silent. And all I think about is that one thing. Until I can snap out of it, I do some mighty nutty thinking! If I carried out the plans I made when I am in this mode, well I would be a mess….
So I know this about myself and I try to remember it at those special times. Yesterday, as I brought a pan of brownies to the oven, I saw a small flame on the heating element. I was so cool. Oh this is not good. I turned off the circuit breaker and made sure it was extinguished. This means I stared at that element for a good long time making sure it was truly extinguished. Meanwhile thinking of that pan of unbaked brownies and the order I needed to fill. I went from cool and calm to tight in a heartbeat. And you know what, it all worked out. I thought all night long about what I should do. I even dreamt about it. And man I mad some crazy plans. But in the end, this one was out of my hands. And when the sun came up and the birds started singing, I made a really calm and organized plan. Thankfully I did not even attempt any of those insane convoluted plans I was drafting out!
I am back to being the cool calm and collected vegan baker. And I am off to bake……

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Posted in gardening, gluten-free baking, vegan baking | 2 Comments »

Spring is for gardening and rebirth!

Saturday, April 11th, 2009

This is a very old (in my world) cactus that has not changed for years. Until now. It has taken quite a few hits over the years as you can see. Yet come spring.....

Signs of spring are indoors too. This is a very old (in my world) cactus that has not changed for years. Until now. It has taken quite a few hits over the years as you can see. Yet come spring.....

I was all ready to publish another post, when I was looking at my garden and I was so taken by the rainy day that was being brightened by some tiny purple flowers.  Wow!  I never saw these before.  I have only been tending this garden for a little over a year.  Its past keeper must have planted them.  I  have been seeing little surprises amongst the indoor plants for weeks now, but this was my first grand reward outdoors.

Say hello to my little purple friends.

Say hello to my little purple friends.

That’s the thing about gardening, it is such a life lesson.  And the lesson is truly individual.  You feel what you feel when you view a garden.  And that is your reward.   Be it awe, pride, humility…..  You have a little patch of paradise that you can return to over and over and experience its rebirth every year.   For people who garden, there is no feeling quite like it.  Both indoors and outdoors, the surprises and rewards are plentiful.

For me, there is the  actual physical garden as well as  the gardening.   Gardening is one of my favorite times to let my mind go blank and entertain all possibilities.    Gardening, for me,  is an attempt to simplify life and regain paradise.   As gardeners, we become the seasons of nature.  Our activities are in harmony with the planet.  Gardening is truly an epiphany.  From the moment the growth begins,  we are connected to all the cycles of life.  And we grow.  And the garden grows.

I close with a simple and perfect quote from Chance the Gardener, the brilliant character from Jerzy Kozinski’s “Being There”. 

“In the garden, growth has it seasons. First comes spring and summer, but then we have fall and winter. And then we get spring and summer again.”

That sums it up for me.

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