Flux

My life is in flux. I am leaving in a few days for Vancouver to visit my daughter for a week and then to Australia to visit my mom. The Vancouver trip has been planned forever. Don is coming too as his daughter lives there as well. Just to Vancouver. 

Life happens and plans change. My stepdad passed away very unexpectedly last month in Australia. And less than a month later my mom was diagnosed with cancer. My visit is way more than a visit. It's me and mom. I arrive as she comes home from the hospital. We will work together to bring health and happiness back into life. 

At first everything felt so hard to do and sad. Then light shines again. Feelings change to anticipation of adventure. Healing. Movement. Joy. There is no room to brood. No time for extraneous things. Lots to do before I go as I don't know when I will be back. Two months? Three months? It seems strange to be so open to the universe. Not knowing what comes next is both freeing and scary. And every breath feels fresh and clean. The contrast between staying stuck in thinking about calamity and the open space of a still mind is huge. When I see it - it's easy to choose. I remember to choose peace. I remember to choose peace. When I remember.

Winter and spring

The birds are announcing spring today.
This winter, Sundays have become my cooking day. My brother and his lab-mix pooch, Buk, come for supper. I love to cook for him. He likes food and is super appreciative. Watching him eat makes me smile. That's my brother, not the dog. The dog has to wait to go home to eat. Today I made Jamie Oliver's Chili (with coffee as liquid). Yum!

It has been a month of "keeping death close". My ex father in law passed away 3 weeks ago, and my step-dad passed away 2 weeks ago. Death is a word we tend not to want to hear. It saddens us. It scares us. It's going to happen to all our loved ones. It will happen to us. Somehow though, it is death that keeps us close to life. My next breath may be my last. Why not make this breath the most precious, the most alive breath of all? And each and every breath after that. May I live life as if each breath were my last. I find this thought wonderful. May I keep death close and live.

Magic Moments

There are moments in life that make you grin from ear to ear. Magical. Funny. Heartwarming. 

I started writing some of them on paper. Just in case I have a day when I think that life is boring.

This one happened today.

I was in a smaller grocery store line up. Both the store and the line up were small.

The lady who came behind me was bouncy and smiling at me. She was wrinkly and crinkly, with fluffy hair, wearing a bright pink and purple jacket, and missing all her teeth. She showed me what she was going to buy and said, "I'm buying ice cream today!" She had a two litre chocolate ice cream brick tucked under her arm. I said something about it being a cold day for ice cream. She came a little closer and patted the top of my head as if to say there, there, of course she has a good reason. She whispered to me - loudly, so everyone heard and smiled, "I won $150.00 in bingo last night." I said, "Wow! That is cause for celebration!" The cashier congratulated her and said to me that they sell an awful lot of ice cream when the weather gets cold. I left feeling as if I had learned something. Perhaps wanting the innocence and the ice cream?

The lady with the 3 hairs

There was once a lady with three hairs on her head. When she woke up she looked in the mirror and wondered what she would do with her hair that day. Ah! She thought, "I will put a braid in my hair". She braided her hair and she had a wonderful day!

The next day when she woke up, she looked in the mirror and she had two hairs on her head. She thought what shall she do with her hair that day. "I think I will part it down the middle". She did and she had a wonderful day.

The next day she woke and she looked in the mirror and she had one hair on her head. She thought what shall I do with my hair. "I think I will put it in a ponytail". And she did. And she had a wonderful day.

The next day she woke up and she had no hairs on her head. She smiled. She didn't have to do anything with her hair. And she had a wonderful day!

Slut's Spaghetti

I've been making this dish a lot. Super fast for busy evenings, or late nights or afternoons.

It's a Nigella Lawson recipe that I've fiddled with a bit. I love her style!

This feeds two people well.

Start pasta pot to boil. while it's comimg to a boil, assemble the following ingredients:

4 anchovy fillets

2 or 3 squashed garlic cloves

pinch or 2 of dried pepper flakes

2 to 3 tablespoons of capers

1/2 can of any kind olives, chopped a bit

1 14 oz can fire roasted tomatoes (or any other kind)

When pasta water boils put in pasta. 

In fry pan or pot (I use an electric wok), put a bit of oil, and add ingredients in above order. 

Let simmer until pasta is done. Take out a cupful of pasta boiling water before you drain pasta. When pasta is drained add it to the sauce pot. Stir well and add some pasta water to help it stick together. Enjoy!

Why slut's spaghetti? No time to cook?

A perfect winter day

Here's McVicar creek at its finest.

It's wonderful to have sun and winter weather warm enough to walk. Just to walk for walking's sake. For the enjoyment of the fresh air. 

Gong report.: 

Barely made it yesterday. Every day I vow not to leave my practice until the end of the day. I start really eagerly and then think that there's lots of time in the afternoon. Well, you know the best laid plans....what happens to them. 

However, it's day 20, and I am enormously pleased with myself. 1/5th done!

Hang in there!

Popcorn for the road

I am going to Marathon, 3 1/2 hour drive away to teach meditation this weekend. Yahoo! A road trip. I'm not driving so I can sit back, chat, or knit, and have a snack. I made us this flavoured popcorn.

It's from the book Homemade - Winter by Yvette van Boven

1 scant cup (100g) popping corn (I used much less because I like it stickier)

Oil for popping corn

1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp pancake syrup ( I used maple syrup, but it worked well)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1tsp red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp butter

2 tbsp sesame seeds (I had black ones on hand)

Pop the corn with your method of choice. You might have to do it in 2 batches.

Heat the syrup with the spices in a small saucepan bring to a boil, boil softly for about 2 minutes, then stir in the butter. Be careful, it's hot.

Pour about half of the caramel over the popcorn in a big bowl, swiftly stirring the popcorn around so it's all coated. Sprinkle on the sesame seeds. Continue turning the popcorn, and pour the rest of the caramel over it.

You can eat as is, or spoon heaps of popcorn onto a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper and let cool.