Right off I need to announce the vegan eating style is pleasing me as I continue to give up eating animals, products of animals, and processed products. I feel better, more energized daily, and I can feel the pants growing in the waistband. I have been experimenting with flavorful meat substitutes such as sausage links made from potato and apple. I am impressed since my vegetarian attempts in the 70s were terribly disappointing thanks to tofu burgers and other lame results in that era. These products I’ve tried so far are excellent and eating well and enjoying eating well are now an adventure.
With that in mind I recently bought a jar of spaghetti sauce at Rising Tide in Damariscotta to enjoy for dinner that evening. Along my way past the refrigerator cases I spied the various selections of meat substitutes. I really like spaghetti and meatballs so I found the link sausage I mentioned earlier and took it all home and had a fine dinner of pasta, sauce, and fake sausage. I was so pleased that I promised myself that I would make my own sauce and add in the newly discovered sausage. Today was the time for that. I stopped by the Hannaford in Boothbay Harbor and filled a basket with fresh veggies and cans of tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes and diced tomatoes as well as tomato paste. I used a bunch of celery, a red pepper, two medium yellow onions, two boxes of sliced mushroom, and a variety of spices and other elements I keep to myself. I intended to make at least a gallon of sauce which I will freeze in bags of about 2 cups each. The weather has been really chilly and rainy so nothing would be interrupting my project this afternoon.
During the process I put on an LP of Mozart and listened to two piano concertos while chopping, peeling, slicing, and dicing. What a fun afternoon I had. I had doubts regarding the bulk in the pot during most of the process but as the veggies cooked and simmered and reduced in size I felt confident all would be good in the end. I added the tomato sauces and other cans of tomatoes and what a delightful consistency developed! After all the ingredients and the secret elements had a chance to simmer for about an hour I took a taste and almost passed out. The best! A performance as beautiful as the concerto on the turntable. I am the maestro!
The rain continues and Mozart plays on the phonograph and the completed sauce sits cooling on the stove top. The weather and the music and the privacy of my home are all forming a symphony of life for me this afternoon. What a great life I have.
Oh, another thing. I took my old winter coat, an older L.L. Bean parka, to L.L. Bean in Freeport about a month ago to get a snap repaired. The snap is one of three that attach the hood to the parka collar. The snap has been missing since about two years after I bought the coat new in the early 90s. The coat is probably 20 years old but is in great shape. The service desk people didn’t bat and eye as I handed it to them. They packed it along with the hood and shipped it to their local repair facility. I took my receipt and headed home. Well today the postal delivery person showed up at my door with a box and inside was the parka with the hood attached and all snaps renewed, no charge! That is service of the highest order I think. I now have a “new” parka for the winter. I was considering giving it away because I’ve put on so much weight over the past few years and the coat was getting “snug”. Now with this vegan diet slimming me down the parka is going to fit just fine, thank you. Here is a link to a picture of the parka. http://www.foundmark.com/pers/gallery/parkas/extreme/Image/Maine-Warden.jpg
So it’s been a good day. My health continues to improve as the blood thinners do their job. I have a ton more of energy than before when my lungs were clotted up with crap. I have finished building the foundation for the new heating oil tank. The tank has been lifted onto the foundation and I have contacted the Monitor repair guy to come finish the connection from the tank to the house. It has to be installed according to code before the heating oil company will deliver fuel for me. So it goes.
Speaking of energy, I finally got around to putting the snow plow on the pickup two days ago. What a job that is. The rig is old and the labor to get onto the frame on the truck is painfully slow. It should be simpler but it isn’t for me. I may get rid of the truck and plow soon in order to reduce that stressful event. Who needs that crap?
Yesterday, Tuesday, was writers group night. Grace has been consistently emailing people and so have I been promoting the meeting. Last night we had eight people show up, not all writers but people who aspire to write and people who want to see what it is all about. Five people read pieces the either they had written or that they enjoyed reading enough to share. Robert was there and, as usual, he had a beautiful piece describing a walk through the high desert in northern Nevada. His writing is so somber yet filled with imagery that I can feel the footfalls and smell the air as he tells of his discoveries. Such fun. Here are two pieces I read last night. One, “Don’t Stare”, is a view of an older person. I use a tree that has begun to drop leaves in fall as metaphor. The second is “Spiral of Being” an autobiographical sketch. I hope you enjoy these. I am happy with them.
DON’T STARE
A sky filled with rain
gentle,
A figure once admired
waits,
Pieces are missing
still lovely,
Waiting to die.
Don’t stare.
A figure once proudly
posing,
A sky with warm rain
raining,
Two eyes openly
pleading,
Waiting to die.
Don’t stare.
She defiantly
straightens,
Head thrown back
proudly,
Shoulders aligned and
toned,
Not time to die.
Don’t stare.
The message softly
renewing,
What remains of her
refreshing,
She goes about her
activity,
Waiting to die.
SPIRAL OF BEING
Early on the energy drives,
Bellies up to the bar and speaks
Loudly,
Eyes wide and ears pricked,
bare sensors
on full register,
A rush,
A rush tuned in to fear,
Travels and journeys occupied
with adventures that thrill,
and shape,
and call for more.
Living the moments, each
One loosely following,
The days chase after the Sun
and Moon. Noon times become
Starting times become times
for keeping score.
The flights soar but
now are lower
and slower.
Months and years blend,
Mind and body blend,
Arms and legs grow heavy,
The brain uses the past for
validation and reference.
One notices the repetitions,
Others’ actions observed and
Mortify.
The mirror reveals year by year,
Convinces the day by day-er,
Time comes to share the life of
The Daredevil, whispers secrets of the master,
Explains gravity, physics, bar codes
and mattress tags.
Age taken seriously.
The inner truth shakes the tree,
Takes charge, grabs the wheel,
The inner truth cools the jets
and puts all seats in the
Upright position.
The brain obeys and moderates,
The mind seeks restorative
Touch, connection.
Now the energy
Flows and fills,
Eyes lidded, narrowed, wiser,
No rush to follow, no urgency,
Stillness and patience,
and tolerance govern,
A life filled with mistakes and
Lessons ignored and learned,
A fright filled ride endured.
Time has new meaning,
No more day and night,
Moments are not measured,
Events are savored, friends are
Everywhere and space is precious.
Thinking is poetic, Mozart et al are now
Companions and co-conspirators,
The new way is simple, easy,
Silently
productive.
Stand and think and wonder, molt and morph
to the Mother,
Kindness, comfort, are gifts for giving,
Time is gold,
Time is treasure,
Time is all we have left,
Time to spend with those
Who have so little.
Now flight is a tight spiral in the
Present…
Always.
Playing Fair and Being Kind 