Monday, May 28, 2012

Silence





Sorry for the prolonged silence.  Shortly after my last post my little rental house sold... I find myself elbows deep in another move.  A new adventure awaits on a little farm in the hills near the lakeshore... Hopefully I will shake off my distaste of the new Blogger format and begin to blog again with letters from our fledgling farm.


A thunder storm is rolling in as I pack boxes and clean out cabinets and drawers for the new owners.  Wherever you are, whatever the weather... I wish you joy.

Monday, February 27, 2012

What do you think about during a meal?

I have a philosophy about meal times.  While eating, I generally think about the food I am eating.  In other words, I'm not making out a to-do list, debating politics or solving major crises.  I am observant of the colors on my plate - greens, deep crimson, brilliant orange - and considering the nutrients they will deliver to my body.  I am experiencing gratefulness, that in an often difficult world, I have nourishing food available to feed myself and my family. 

I try to uphold this philosophy when eating alone or with other people.  I avoid those stress inducing conversations, and try to talk about the food we are eating; which ingredients are local, which are organic.  I talk about what we might grow in the garden this year, or some shared activities, like a hike on a favorite trail, that we might be involved in. 

It seems that my body will be more receptive to the nutrients and vitality of my sustenance, if I take it in with appreciation and good energy, rather than ingesting bitter topics and negativity along with my meal.  I may be way off base scientifically, but it works for me.  What do YOU think about during a meal?

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Someday...

 

I have a $10 garage sale desk that I hope to repaint this winter to use in my "someday classroom."  I think a personalized, hand painted desk and a chair with a seat covered in a happy fabric will be much cozier than the standard issue institutional desk and chair.  While searching the internet for ideas for painting my desk, I stumbled across a free book download.  Apparently, the author is a substitute teacher who is also an artist.  He sketches the desks of the teacher he fills in for, and this book is a compilation of those drawings.

You may find it here: http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/howardsalmon

At first, to me, the black and white sketches seemed vague or nondescript.  But as I looked closer, I saw distinguishing details such as sticky notes around one teacher's computer screen, a sketch on a pad on the art teacher's desk, and what I believe was a cow-print mug awaiting another teacher's morning brew.  I loved the little details and insights into the character of the individual who "belongs to" each desk.