In a Pickle

 I grew up with pickles on the dinner table every night. My sweetie doesn't like vinegar, so i sacrificed my pickle habit for 30 years.

Then my acupuncturist told me that vinegar and honey tea is a remedy for acid reflux. Pickles are probiotic. So i started eating pickles again.

What do you sacrifice in order to get along with the person in your house? What do you sacrifice in order to not make waves with members of your family? What do you sacrifice in order to fit in with your community?

Sometimes we give up things that are good for us in order to not make waves, in order to "belong."

Belong to yourself first of all. Don't put your heart in a pickle Fit in with your own true heart.

Drooping Gladiola

 "Gladiolas look so phallic," my sweetie said. Then he showed me an aging gladiolus that had broken and was drooping. "Unh-hunh," he said.

We smiled.

Later May Be Too Late

 Our friend Paul has a night-blooming cereus that blooms profusely every year. Last night i received an email: We have 7 blossoms tonight. I looked at my sweetie. "It's 9:15. Shall we go?"

We hopped in the car and drove the 15 minutes to the cereus extravaganza. Donning masks and social distancing our extrovert friends, we walked through their house, to the little solarium off the kitchen.

"Smell them," our hostess instructed. Which meant taking off our masks for a a few whiffs.

Sometimes we receive an unexpected message: She's dying now. Come quick or it will be too late.

It's so easy to think Later. But later may be too late.

The night-blooming cereus flowers begin wilting at dawn and are dead by sunrise.

A Catio for Your Cat

 

I recently met a cat named Alfred who has his very own garden. His servant, Susan, designed this "catio" just for him.

The catio is fenced both above and around the sides. Alfred can get his outdoor "fix" without running across the street or roaming among the ticks. He just hops out an open window into his catio any time he wishes.

You might say that Alfred looks caged, but another way to see it is that he is restrained. 

We can restrain our own senses by not letting them run loose with the desire du jour. We can restrain our minds by not letting it run loose and continually refocusing it on the Dharma and on the divine emotions of kindness and compassion.

Alfred can meditate in his catio, and we can meditate on our patio.

Summer Bouquets

I have a dozen bouquets in my kitchen. Sunflowers, gladiolas, and zinnias.The fullness of summer is here. The glory of the harvest is right here in our backyards.

The summertime of our lives is luscious and delicious. I myself am in the fall garden of my life--full of healthy things like kale and broccoli. Flowers are still blooming, but cool weather is coming.

Today we enjoy August. Ahhh.

Drying Onions

Time to pull onions out of the garden. The Onionman, from whom i ordered way too many onion seedlings in April, sends out encouraging newsletters about how to grow onions, and, recently, how to harvest onions.

I've pulled the onions, cut off their roots, and now they are drying in my darkened and cooler-than-outdoors garage. My neighbor is drying her onions and garlic in wire baskets under her deck.

The vegetable garden is emptying out. You know what that means: the end of summer gardening is coming.

It's time to empty my bookshelves and closets. Indoors, it's called de-cluttering. And you know what that means: the end of the summer body. The autumn body is within sight. That is, as long as i put on my reading glasses to see it, do my yoga stretches to keep it flexible, and pay close attention to people who are talking to me.

"What did you say, dear? Time to pull run-ins out of the carton?"

Harvesting Garlic

This early morning, before the tropical storm arrived, i pulled my garlic. I "only" have 90 bulbs. After subtracting 25 as seed for next year's crop, that leaves me with a little more than one bulb of garlic a week. That is not enough! What was i thinking when i planted it?

Garlic is so good as a heal-all. When i feel a cold coming on, i dice up a clove and swallow it with a glass of water. I may smell like garlic, but the cold is usually short-lived.

Dharma is our heal-all for everyday living and for these times that we find ourselves in.

Harvest some Dharma wisdom every day.