The Stuff of Life

The space between sleep and busy 

~ where the stuff of life lies 

plays to the rhythm of the phone, 

the doorbell’s ring, children’s voices 

asking why a million times, 

aromas of bubbling sauces and stews

without the stuff of life 

there would be an incessant hum 

or a silence with no end ~ even ones thoughts could grow silent.

So I’ll bake bread; 

listen to birds chirping happily, 

take in the aroma of my kitchen or 

from a restaurant down the street; 

hear the traffic of sidewalks and lanes

~ when it’s time to sleep, I’ll dream.

“Get busy living or get busy dying.”

~ Stephen King

One Summer Day

I seldom speak with young men on the street, but this young man ~ he was young, and not yet a man ~ maybe 5 or 6 years old. But very serious. I had noticed this slightly stocky fellow looking in my direction. It was just a couple of days ago and temperatures had soared. The lineup at the ice cream window was long. I was on my way to a hair appointment and he and his mom were at the end of the line. He stood with his little arms folded, his head tilted a little on one side. He glanced up at his mom and whispered - ‘what’s that she’s got?’ nodding towards my cane. I seldom use it, but this day between the heat and an ache-y back, it was my balancing rod. His mom looked at me, maybe hoping I hadn’t heard his whisper. But I just smiled, then looked at her little one and told him. “It’s a cane.”  Suddenly shy, he didn’t say anything so his mom asked him. ‘Don’t you want to know why she’s using it?’ Looking him in the eye, I said ‘I need it for my really sore back today.’ It seemed an end to our very short conversation so I said good-bye and went on my way glad for this serious young man's curiosity.

“To take children seriously is to value them for 

who they are right now rather than adults-in-the-making.”

~ Alfie Kohn, author of Unconditional Parenting

Homemade Granola

Cashews and almonds

Seeds and grains

Maple syrup, butter and olive oil

Cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger

A delicious crunchy bite

~ by the spoonful.

“The greatest dishes are very simple.”

~ Auguste Escoffier, French chef

(1846 - 1935)