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Breathe in. Receive. There is nothing to get, even as I ricochet, even as I list-make, even as I figure out, forage. There are bunnies, radishes, flowers. There is a woman in a robe drinking coffee, going back in the house for fresh cameras. There is morning traffic.
What
Because we are sayers. And seers. And smellers. And breathers. We shop at Price Club. We grow our own food. We scream at the television. We become empassioned about a candidate, about a seed company, about a troubadour, about our hair. We are stories, my love. Telling and being told. Dressed in pretty colors. Lighting the darkness. Darking the light.
There are radishes and onion and beets and carrots and edamame and cukes and squash and zucchini and peas that have grown from seed, first delightful little sprouts, then plants that take their place in the garden bed. Also, in the way of herbs, there is burdock and echinacea from seed, and milk thistle, lovage, borage, basil, dill, parsley, cilantro, tarragon, thyme and mint from the herb sale at Maymont a couple of weeks ago. Perhaps still to come are some fennel, oregano and marjoram. I’ve been studying up on organic gardening as I plant and — do you know — it is the soil that feeds the plants. The plant takes from the soil what it needs in the way of nutrients and minerals and is thus healthy and filled with life. And color. And delight. This garden belongs to me in the general way, in that my hands mixed the soil and planted the seeds, but in the truer sense, I belong to this garden, to this little microcosm of this beautiful earth.
Image of Elton John, Lady Gaga and Sting by http://awesomepeoplehangingouttogether.tumblr.com/ So, here’s what happened with the cleanse. I suppose it’s still happening. The first week, which was the elimination diet week, where you don’t eat sugar, dairy, corn, eggs, red meat, wheat or nightshades, felt a bit…fragile…, and I seemed to want a lot of rest. The juices and the clean food, along with the fact that I wasn’t eating foods that were apparently inducing an allergic response, were doing their magic. According to the book, after the first week, you move into eating a liquid breakfast, regular (clean) lunch and liquid dinner, eating the same foods you were eating during elimination week. I decided to stay with what I was doing, since I was already eating a liquid breakfast and it was all seeming pretty manageable. So that’s what I did, and I’m not sure when it was exactly that I realized I felt better. And I mean, better than I can ever remember feeling. I had Martha-Stuart-like levels of energy and suddenly a great deal of compassion for people who wake at 3:00 a.m. and start to design the labels for their new spice jar system. It has taken a bit of practice to manage it all. But I can see that this is a new way of life. It requires a bit of planning because it is not so easy to go out to eat anymore as most restaurants menu items in this [part of the] country seem to offer a choice between wheat or corn, plus dairy. Oy. When I eat something like that, just to be sociable, I can feel the Debbie Downer plunge that happens in my body. Thus, the menu planning. Thus, the search for others who are eating this way. If you are thinking about doing this cleanse, I would read through the whole book and take notes, download the free forms they have on the site, make sure you understand it all. I spent about a week planning and gathering the ingredients. The one thing I may have missed is the fact that you are taking in and putting out a lot of water and your electrolytes can become imbalanced. So maybe have some fresh coconuts on hand so you can crack one open and drink the water to restore them if you feel weak. (And you know this isn’t medical advice, right? It’s the other kind of advice, I suppose.) So that’s about it. Except just a couple of pieces of the other kind of advice: eat food. Real food.
Image is “Type Love” by Samantha Hahn  You know, don’t you, what it’s like to want to eat pretty colors? This Fennel, Beet and Citrus Salad from BrooklynSupper.net is literally the prettiest food I’ve ever seen. No geekery there! Just pretty food — Elizabeth Stark is a gifted photographer as well as a gifted cook. Pretty food has color to it. And color is a sign of nutrients. When a plant is grown in mineral-rich soil, it absorbs those nutrients, and is hardy and far less susceptible to insects and fungus so it doesn’t need pesticides. And it’s got the energy to bust out some serious color. So, we know we want pretty food. And keeping pretty food ready at hand takes some planning and some work what with managing ripeness for things like avocados and mangos, and wanting to eat the kale while it’s still filled with qi. Now for the geekery. I was in the midst of this planning when it occurred to me that perhaps by now someone has come along with a program that does what I’ve been wanting for years: recipe database with grocery lists and menu planning. I googled and voila: Paprika iPad app for $3. And it’s the bomb. Really, I would go so far as to say it’s iTunes for your recipes. It runs clean, lean and beautifully. It does what you want it to do without too much thinking or work. You can click a button to add a recipe from Epicurious or Whole Foods or whatnot, replete with luscious photo and recipe source. Here’s what it looks like:
And, my favorite feature: you can add all of your own categories and cross-reference to your heart’s content. Here are some of mine: crockpot, gluten-free, family recipes, holiday foods, retro-fancy, appetizers & snacks, beverages, salads, soups, superfoods, breakfast, gifts, picnic, health, medicinal & reference. Etc. Etc. I also have a category for each kind of vegetable, meat, grain, plus various cuisines, plus seasons. To me, it’s wondrous. Here’s what the salad category looks like:
Now, back up just a second and read the category called “health, medicinal and reference.” Do you see what just happened? This thing is not limited to recipes. You can copy an article about a certain food or nutrient in and categorize it however you’d like. So, if you’d seen something about beets being amazing for you, you can categorize it as “beets” and “reference,” and whatever. Then you click on the “beets” category and there you have the article AND some recipes containing beets. Helpful! Now, how about some menu planning? From within the recipe itself, you click on the meal planning/calendar icon and then pick the day from the calendar that you’d like to have that recipe. Need the ingredients? Click on the grocery cart icon and add some or all of the ingredients to your grocery list. Then all your groceries are compiled for you and yes, you can print or email the list. Or just have your iPad with you at the grocery store and check things off as you go. Can you email people recipes from within the app? Yes. Click on the envelope/email icon. And, if they have the app, they can import it right in. I’ve added all of the family recipes, like my Nana’s hot milk cake and my grandfather’s spaghetti sauce so if my sisters are very clever they will get the app and have me email them the recipes. They are not such uber-geeks as I, but they certainly have potential. Okay, out to plant some beet seeds in the garden. All this talk of beets. Pretty Salad Image Source: brooklynsupper.net via Elizabeth on Pinterest
Image of me by Kenny Crowley, taken at Big Sur last year. We didn’t bring any cameras to the river this time. Just ourselves. |
     
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