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finding beauty in nature and imperfection: wabi-sabi

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Mother Earth News arrived the other day and I was drawn to an article called “Wabi-Sabi: Finding the Beauty and Peace in Ordinary Things” on page 50.  It was an unusual article for Mother, which usually has a focus on things like growing potatoes or installing eco-friendly heating systems.  This then led me to pick up a four month old copy of Whole Living that I’ve been meaning to finish for too long.  To my surprise, there was an article on page 102 called “Wabi Sabi Your Life: Simple Strategies for Embracing Imperfection.” I rarely read an article more than once and I found myself reading these two articles over and over because I felt so connected to this philosophy. What is wabi-sabi you ask?  It sounds like it should be a side to sushi.  It is really hard to find a proper Webster’s definition, but it is a Buddhist and Japanese idea that we should find beauty in flaws and connect with the natural world.  It is open to interpretation, but it seems to have …

land of sun and seals

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My first real impression of San Diego involved a very muscular guy standing proudly on a roof deck containing loads of gym equipment.  He, of course, was not wearing a shirt and I think he may have even been flexing into a mirrored window. Then the buildings cleared out and I saw an entire block simply covered in purple flowers and the muscle man was quickly forgotten.  As the taxi drove up to the hotel, all I could hear were birds chirping and I spotted the most gorgeous hibiscous. Don’t these sun worshipping Californians know it is January? Though on a work trip, the months of work-stress and winter ickiness literally started melting away with the beads of sweat accumulating on my forehead.  If I hadn’t been with a carload of people I work with, I might have just started running through the parking lot with arms wide open singing “The Hills Are Alive” like Julie Andrews.  Instead, I walked calmly to my room, passed a large sign for an herb garden (making a mental note to check it …

Toyling: 1988 – January 3, 2011

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You never see someone for the last time and realize it will be the last time.  It was Sunday night when I last touched our elderly cat, Toyling.  I didn’t realize it would be the last time I’d see his little face ever again as a living, breathing family member.  Though I wish I had a chance to say a proper goodbye, I’m glad he died as an old man in his home instead of under harsh lights at a veterinary office. A few years ago, Toyling came to live with us when Chris’s grandmother moved into assisted living and couldn’t keep him.  Our chubby black kitties didn’t know what to think when this slender, long-legged, brown, loud, and exotically named Siamese cat came to live with us.  If he was cranky, we knew.  If he was hungry, he howled!  If he just wanted love (and oh did he need a lot of love), you couldn’t escape.    Though he looked a little past his prime, the vet assured us he had years.  And years he did end up …

3 veg restaurants in 3 days

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I grew up outside of Binghamton, New York and I just went back for a visit.  I found myself feeling really proud of my hometown. Though Binghamton is not a huge city, it was quite easy to find vegan/veg fare. Now, two of these joints I will tell you about are not solely vegetarian restaurants, but they clearly cater to that crowd by making a substantial part of the menu veg instead of the traditional one veg option that many restaurants have (which is usually some lame, overpriced pasta dish). My 3 day vegan journey began in Allston, which is just outside of Boston. We were scrambling around, running some pre-trip errands and decided to head over to The Grasshopper, which is Asian vegetarian bliss.  The “beef” lo mein was so out of this world. The next morning, we set off on our 5 hour drive to Binghamton.  Black coffee, trail mix, peanuts, and Twizzlers sufficed for the trip.  Once we arrived, we stopped by a favorite of mine called The Lost Dog Cafe in the center of …

herby onion veggie gravy

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I was telling my friend, Becky, about my vegetarian gravy yesterday and she encouraged me to post the recipe.  Becky is one of my very first vegetarian friends and though I didn’t know it back when we first met, she was one of the inspiring people that–without trying–encouraged me to become a vegetarian.  She never pushed me not to eat meat.  She didn’t criticize my turkey sandwiches or tell me all of the ethical reasons I should give it a try.  She was simply healthy and had conviction about the food choices she made, which can be an even more powerful tool than steamrolling someone into giving up something that has been a foundational part of their diet for a lifetime. Thanksgiving, to me, is all about returning home to a warm place full of family and friends, yummy food, late night games of Pinochle, crunchy leaves, crisp air and sweaters, red wine, and stuffing and cranberry sandwiches for breakfast the next day. There are also mixed feelings because of the main food choice on this lovely and non-commercial …

The Kind Diet

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Last Christmas, a dear friend gave me a copy of The Kind Diet: A Simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight, and Saving the Planet by known animal activist and actress Alicia Silverstone.  Today, I picked it up off my shelf and decided to read it again. Who doesn’t want to feel great, lose weight, save the planet, and of course look like Alicia Silverstone? Before you discredit this as celebrity propaganda, I ask you to give this book a chance.  Look past her character in Clueless and look at the energy she expends being the front woman for PETA, promoting The Farm Sanctuary, and passing knowledge to the world via her book and her online community The Kind Life. Silverstone became vegan after making the connection between pets and farm animals. “Why did we buy some of them cute little doggy beds while slaughtering others?  I had to ask myself–in all seriousness–why don’t I just eat my dog?”   I think this is how many of us start and it is quite a bridge to cross …

the inevitable end of harvest

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Putting the garden to bed for the winter is a sad and daunting task.  Even though we have a small yard, we have managed to stuff it full of vegetables and flowers in both beds and pots.  We even planted a baby apple tree, though I have no idea how that will go over once it starts to actually grow. This past Sunday, we got up and did the “inventory” to see what is left to do.  We must have had a frost, as the tomatoes and peppers were officially gone.  To my surprise, there are a few plants hanging on for dear life and–shockingly–flourishing.  The amaranthus is going strong. We will still have carrots for a little while it seems. The mums are of course in their prime. The dahlias were still in full bloom and the red roses were (and still are) incredibly bright against the dull November gray background. Besides a steaming cup of coffee, crunchy leaves, and the time spent with Chris outside, what made me happiest was seeing the herbs green and growing.  The rosemary topiary went …

to start…

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 I grew up in Upstate New York on 14 acres in the middle of nowhere.  Nature was a huge part of my life.  Other kids had real neighbors and we had deer, turkeys, rabbits, birds, squirrels, and all sorts of wildlife as fellow members of our neighborhood.  My parents were gardening junkies and every year our garden grew dramatically, incorporating crazy kinds of squash, potatoes, string beans, lettuce (not just one kind, but every kind known to man), herbs, tomatoes, cucumbers, and everything you could think of that grows in Zone 5.  My father can attribute his love of gardening to my grandfather. I attribute my love of gardening to my parents. I, too, have the gardening junkie gene.    It was evident that I’d always have a soft spot for animals as a child when I became obsessed with a book called The Big Snow by Berta and Elmer Hader (first published in 1949), which tells the story of animals surviving winter.  I worried and cried about how deer would find food and wondered where …