Locally Grown

When I go to the grocery store and

see all the boxes and cans and jars of food, 

tomatoes, potatoes and asparagus and mounds of produce from all over the world, 

milk and eggs and butter and cheese

refrigerators full of pizza and perogies and ice cream and fruits and vegetables

I am impressed 

and grateful for the abundance and variety of food available

everyday and in an abundance of stores and shops!

But,

when I walk in the sun, under the trees, with the wind in my hair

to the Moss Street Market on Saturday morning,

I see a more glorious abundance.

I see neighbours and friends walking with baskets and bags in hand

stalls of locally grown Swiss chard, rhubarb, patty pans, potatoes, tomatoes, onions and garlic, 

produce from farms all around Victoria

then there are glittering jewelled jars of pickles, peppers, jams and jellies

tables with breads and rolls, cinnamon buns and crusty dark breads

the aromas of cooking street food blends with the music of live performers

booths with hand made clothing and jewelry fill a schoolyard 

beside the playground where children climb colourful swings and rope ladders

the life of community in beautiful sound and colour.

“Be seasonal, ethical and gentle.”

~ Fennel Hudson, 

Traditional Angling - Fennel’s Journal - No. 6

A Feeling

It was a felt sense ~

a felt sense grinding like sand

into the corners and shallows of my eyes.

The only abundance left in the day?

Remnants of energy hovering, carrying me toward home toward bare feet, pyjamas, thick honeyed toast and a warm cup of tea.

“We will go far away, to nowhere, to conquer, to fertilize until we 

become tired. Then we will stop and there will be our home.

~ Dejan Stojanovic

Coverup

This amazing mask created and painted
 by Ariel Clearwater, Vancouver, B.C.

I’ll keep this short tonight.

Active addiction is a coverup

A coverup that hides pain and sickness

A coverup that buries traumas and heartbreak

That’s just for the addicted, the afflicted, the ones that still suffer

Active addiction is a coverup

For professionals that can’t see past its mask, that won’t see that there is a mask

Active addiction is an abundance of coverup

for bravery and courage
for broken hearts, distorted thoughts

that beg to stay hidden

and beg to be helped.

“The irony of life is that those who wear masks 

often tell us more truths than those with open faces.”

~ Marie Lu,  The Rose Society

Fulfilled

There is living 

on the fringe

then 

there is feeling 

like a minuscule part of the fringe 

realizing one’s mortality holds a microscope 

to the troublesome emotions that bubble up and burble up

I could ignore those feelings, 

keeping pumping myself up 

so I don’t feel invisible, 

lost in the sea of humanity 

that swirls around me in 

the grocery store, at the mall, 

on these pretty days 

when the park is filled 

with dogs and families and younger thans, 

the walkers and the joggers and the frisbee throwers

but the fringe is lost when I come home,

home to the world I've created for myself, 

for my family, for my friends

living on the fringe can be really scary 

or

living on the fringe is a real challenge, 

a definite joy, and full of abundance.

“I woke up and realized life is great and 

people are awesome and life is worth living.”

~ Hulk Hogan

Plan B

There's always a Plan B - or at least there should be - 

a Plan B always on the back burner

waiting to step up, to stand up, to come into play

when a chunk of the day, suddenly a vacuum, begs to be filled

It’s easy to have a Plan B within a schedule or 

if someone else needs a new plan, 

but when time opens up with no deadline, 

when such an abundance of time stretches ahead or 

if plans were never planned, 

creativity becomes the Plan B 

for fun, for dancing, for painting a picture

making a collage, baking some bread or a typewritten journey deep into a book

so make a Plan B, or Plan C or even Plan D.

Take a deep breath and step, or roll, or dive, 

into the space that is suddenly yours. 

“It does not do to leave a live dragon 

out of your calculations, if you live near him.”

~ J.R.R.Tolkien, The Hobbit

After

After a good, long day

I feel muscles that I had forgotten

Muscles I took for granted 

Muscles that have worked for me

Without question

For decades

After these many, good long days

I am grateful for 

this intricate webbing,

this abundance of organic fibres,

this marvellously woven network

that holds me strong

that supports me

no matter what I choose to do

whether I fall or run or walk

These muscles message me

When they are stretched 

too far, too fast or too quickly ~

for that I am also grateful.

“She is a woman of muscle twisted around bone.”

~ Veronica Roth, Allegiant

Balancing Act ~ 2

News reports on radio and television and on most social media sites are filled with murder and mayhem, political upheaval and fiscal irresponsibility. Full of danger and fear mongering, horrific events and tragedy. Wikipedia tells me that physiologist, Walter Bradford Cannon, coined the term ‘fight of flight response’ - the internal response we all have to scary things. I put two and two together and decided that we spend too much time in fight or flight just by listening to the news, watching all the dreadful things on news, and constant poking at each other on our electronic gadgets.

I’m not much of a mathematician, but the next bit of addition was about our ‘specialness’. We are all special. We’re taught that since..well.. since we’re old enough to be told how special we are. And, yes, it’s true. We’re all special! The only problem is that ‘special’ people believe that they will never get hurt. We’ve all been protected from skinned knees and falling down, from having any contact with germs or anything that might hurt our little ones.

So what I’ve determined is that we are in an extremely unbalanced world. And yet we live in a world of great abundance. That abundance is either really all horrible or really cotton candy. Fight or flight. Special and protected. 

What is really unbalanced is my attitude tonight. I’ve talked about either end of the spectrum of our lives. At this writing, I realized that most of us live somewhere in-between, in the middle of that continuum. Keeping us from freezing into a fight or flight mode, or becoming unconscious and unaware of how we need to be aware of our surroundings. When we stay in our centre, we can keep our lives as safe and comfortable as possible.

“The major work of the world is not done by geniuses. 

It is done by ordinary people, with balance in their lives, 

who have learned to work in an extraordinary manner.”

~ Gordon B. Hinkley

Author's note: Edited February 10, 2024

Breath Work

Breathe in……..Breathe out

daily ease of in and out

slow and steady on the pillow

from the first crying gasp into light and cold 

even though nestling at mother’s breast to suckle

with thoughtless instinct in the abundance all around

with reflex that keeps us all alive that pulls oxygen deep, deep into the belly and core

space opened for new clean air to fill our bodies

Breathe in…..Breathe out….

feel the power of our own body 

to pull life and energy within

a gentle force in the space around you.

cleansing breaths to shine your light

to accept universal energy and pull it back in for

inspiration of the world around us and

expiration of the world within us 

until there is only a gentle continuum.

Breathe in…. breathe out….

pull in calmness and joy, gratitude and peace

push away anxiety and fear, worry and anger

to feel your self, to know your self, to be grateful for your self.

our breath is who we are, what we believe and how we perceive our world

our breath is our life, and is our joy

is each day that opens and each day that comes to a close

like the sun coming up and the sun going down

like the moon rising high and the moon slipping from the skies

Breathe in…..breathe out……

“Remember to breathe. It is after all, the secret of life.”

~ Gregory Maguire, A Lion Among Men