Gratitude

"As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives." ~~ Henry David Thoreau

I have been thinking a lot about gratitude and happiness and it seems to me that they go hand-in-hand. Those who are most happy are those with the most gratitude. There are studies that show the process of controlled thought changes the synapses of the brain.... that thinking happy thoughts continuously builds deep pathways where the feel good hormones flow. This is the scientific evidence for the power of meditation or prayer or the simple practice of turning every self-pitying thought around to a thought of gratitude. I am working on teaching my children this idea with varying degrees of success.... at 13 especially, the world can seem to be out to get you personally. I will keep trying, for it has taken me decades to truly believe this and still I am not always successful. For the moment I am grateful for a roof over my head and food on my table. For the beautiful views out my windows, the fruits from my gardens, and the silence at night. I am grateful for family, for children who are full of hope and kindness, and for a husband who loves and helps me. I am grateful for a job that most days I love and feel like I am making a difference. I am grateful for the sun, flowers, thoughtful words, books, art, and music all these warm and brighten me. I am grateful for health and peace within myself and all my loved ones. I am grateful for each new day when the sun rises and I again have a chance to do better than I did yesterday, to have another day of gratitude.

October

"October is the month for painted leaves. Their rich glow now flashes round the world.

We love to see any redness in the vegetation of the temperate zone. It is the color of colors. This plant speaks to our blood. It asks a bright sun on it to make it show to best advantage, and it must be seen at this season of the year"" ~~Henry David Thoreau

It has been a perfect October with just the right portion of rain and sun. The one makes you appreciate the other. October to me is associated with home. After a long summer of being outdoors, you begin to spend more time inside. You process your harvest and engulf your house with smells of baking. The earlier darkness brings everyone together, in a cozy bond of communication.

Harvest

“The true harvest of my life is intangible - a little star dust caught, a portion of the rainbow I have clutched” ~~Henry David Thoreau
















It is harvest time, the tangible reward for all the many reasons I love gardening. We have more tomatoes than I have ever grown before and make and bottle enough salsa and tomatoes to use for stew and chili to last all the non-ripe-off-the-vine months of the year.

I never feel so alive as when I am in the process of a harvest. I do not know if it is some sort of deep down DNA survival trait from all the farmer ancestors and ancient humans who would not survive without the drive for finding and preserving food or because I have such fond memories of gardening and preserving food with my parents.

My father is the gardener to set your match to. He always has the first ripe tomato, the tallest corn, and the most abundant beans. He keeps records like a scientist and is always trying new varieties and different ideas for the best crop. As a teacher gardener he was at his best--- the most patient, the most kind, the most happy. Some of my fondest childhood memories are of planting the garden with my dad, watching the first green shoots appear, and excitedly eating the first ripe food. The stress relieving process of digging in the dirt and killing a few weeds after a day at a desk having to fill all the forms of government red tape and to be polite to people who don't necessarily deserve polite-- is both of our way to relax after a work day. I have taken what my dad taught me and made it my own. My garden might be on the wild side, not as tall or abundant, but that same love of earth is there. Greg also adds the artistic to our garden. There is always some visual point of interest... Curves and flowers, stone and wood, all make our edible landscape more than just a harvesting ground bare in the winter season of the year.

Preserving the produce of my dad's garden was my mom's domain. It was my marker to adulthood. To work side by side.... my one tomato to her five, gradually year by year closing the gap. It is time to talk, to think, to hear stories of her youth, to be together in a positive and productive activity. I am so thankful to have a daughter who loves this process. At 13 she can already match my ability with a paring knife, in ways she has already surpassed me. She has an intuitive precision and artisticness to her food preparation that I will never have.

It is a beautiful thing to watch both my children run out to the garden and pick a bunch of produce to bring into the kitchen and prepare for dinner. Both have developed a love of fresh fruits and vegetables and find creative and delicious ways to present them.

I hope they will take what we have taught them and make their own unique harvest.

August

"Sometimes, in a summer morning, having taken my accustomed bath, I sat in my sunny doorway from sunrise til noon, rapt in revery, amidst the pines and hickories and sumachs, in undisturbed solitude and stillness, while the birds sang around or flitted noiseless through the house, until by the sun falling in my west window, or the noise of some traveller's wagon on the distant highway, I was reminded of the lapse of time. I grew in those seasons like corn in the night, and they were far better than the work of the hands would have been. They were not time subtracted from my life, but so much over and above my usual allowance. I realized what the Orientals mean by contemplation and the forsaking of works."

~~ Henry David Thoreau

Summer passes quickly. Greg works on finishing the rock on the South Wall. I water and weed and mark my garden's growth.... finding contemplation in work during the early and evening hours. Soaking in the heat, enjoying the cool breeze, watching the storms that have performed for us more often this year.

Nine Mile Canyon

“We can never have enough of nature. We must be refreshed by the sight of inexhaustible vigor, vast and titanic features, the sea-coast with its wrecks, the wilderness with its living and its decaying trees, the thunder-cloud, and the rain.” ~~ Henry David Thoreau





I go as a chaperon with 9 InTech students and my daughter to a week long archeology camp in Nine Mile Canyon. We have flat tires, rain, and flooding campgrounds. The students are always cheerful, ready to learn, to help cook and clean up, and to have fun. Anyone who complains about teens these days needs to spend more time with this age group. The teens I know are intelligent, caring, fun, and thoughtful. They care about the earth and all the inhabitants and think beyond the realm of their everyday.

Summer Defined

"I have a room all to myself; it is nature." ~~Henry David Thoreau




Summer is the cool mornings when all is clear and fresh with endless possibilities... when my flowers wake thirsty for water and sunshine. The hot sluggish afternoons when all of nature takes a nap with the sleep inducing air saturated with the scents of roses, hay, and tomatoes. The evenings, when the the world has another burst of energy and the weeds call out to be picked and the sky demonstrates to catch my attention, the time for bike rides, Frisbee, and badminton. The time when the outdoors are more embracing than the indoors.... when only mosquitoes manage to drive me inside to sleep and prepare for another day.

One Year

"Each new year is a surprise to us. We find that we had virtually forgotten the note of each bird, and when we hear it again, it is remembered like a dream, reminding us of a previous state of existence. How happens it that the associations it awakens are always pleasing, never saddening, reminiscences of our sanest hours. The voice of nature is always encouraging."


~~Henry David Thoreau (1817 - 1862)

We have lived the life of Walden with Wife and kids for one year. It has been a great year. Each one of us is happier and more content. Living in a peaceful, spacious, beautiful atmosphere creates a reflection that has parallel effects on the inner well-being.

There are still many finishing touches to complete on the inside of the house. Stone veneer, patios, and the always increasing of landscaping on the outside of the house. Just as our minds and souls should always be a work-in-progress, so is our home. Now we begin a year-a-new, with all the waiting journeys of growth and joy.