Milk Carton Collars

My neighbor walked over in her pajamas at 6 a.m. to deliver a couple of empty milk cartons. I cut off the top and bottom of milk cartons and use them as a "collar" around little broccoli, kale, pepper, eggplant, and tomato plants to defend those taste treats from voles. Those critters managed to sneak under a couple of carton-collars and polish off the pepper plant inside each one.

From the outside, the milk cartons may look like a barricade (to the voles--I hope!). The plants inside have the ability to grow big and strong.

We too grow stronger in our spiritual practice when we take time to close our self off from the world--through 20 minutes of meditation, perhaps, or through going on retreat. Meditation retreats strengthen our practice so that we can taste the fruits (or vegetables) of the spiritual life.

If we allow cyberspace to sneak into our retreat or into our morning meditation, our peace of mind will be nibbled away.

Protect your practice. Protect yourself.

The Stink of Life

While slicing and dicing vegetables for salsa (a.k.a. Garden in a Bowl. See the recipe below.), i contemplated a few rotten tomatoes, rotten onions, and rotten peppers. Usually, the rot was just beginning. I cut off the smelly, brown part and salvaged half the tomato or pepper.

It's amazing, isn't it? Out of that smelly rot springs new life. Green onion tops were growing out of stinky brown, gushy onion layers.

In our culture, we've mostly lost the smelliness of life. I grew up taking one or two baths a week with Mom washing my hair once a week. Now everyone showers every day, and we forget the smelliness of life unless we're alone in the bathroom with our bodies.

We begin to believe in the beauty of the body. We believe that cleanliness is the natural state and feel quite uncomfortable with our sweat and other natural by-products of the body.

Living stinks (bad breath, farts, post-sex juices, underarms, crotches, feet). Before we erase this lesson from consciousness with the ease of a shower and some
fragrant shampoo, we have the opportunity to look life square in the eye, smell life square in the nose, and stop deluding ourselves about beauty.
Even if we are beautiful.

Garden in a Bowl
Dice 1 cucumber into a bowl.
Add 1/4 cup umeboshi vinegar. (Or cider vinegar plus salt.)
Dice 1 onion.
Dice 1 pepper.
Mash 2 cloves of garlic.
Dice as many tomatoes as you wish.

You might also add cilantro.
In late summer, i also add tomatillos.

You can also add corn, black beans, mango, or shrimp.

Photo from blenderbabes.com