So many treats at the farm - I try not to think about the fact that we can't grow this stuff up where we live:
Here's a box of filberts that have been through the cracker (picture to come) and are ready for us to sort through and dry for preservation:
More tomatoes, some grapes, some beans (both green beans and 'orca beans.' In the steel bowl were some cherry tomatoes, but I think we ate them all! Loads more out in the fields...
Just a little memory trip - this is the last salad I made up in AK - so green! So many different good greens, (and I could easily grow lettuce and herbs here too) but quite a color contrast.
Today, I came to work at the Natural Foods Co-Op. There's no natural foods store in Homer, so it's so nice to come to it. And its wifi is faster than the one at Fred Meyers yesterday! I've never had the photos upload to blogger so fast! I didn't even need hardly to multitask while waiting on them going up! It says something very complimentary about Corvallis that this co-op actually has two branches in the town.
I was a little disappointed by how few raw products they had: I was sort of looking forward to treating myself to trying something I don't usually get access to. Maybe when I take a trip to Portland...
But they do have kombucha starter kits (never seen one of those in a store before!)
And a whole bank of liquids, oils and syrups. And they even have frozen berries and veggies in bulk.
I also love that they have reused plastic and glass containers for people to put their bulk buys in. I brought one of those amazing tomatoes from the farm and an avocado to have for lunch, but I'm probably going to have to buy some of their kim chee to have with it, and maybe get some of their very-well-priced bulk raw tahini also.
OK - Tina's reflection on self-love today is about PASSION - what an awesome topic! I've long paid lip-service to the idea that the universe wants us to be at our best (which means, doing what we love and have most affinity for), because that makes the universe its best too. Lip-service, but for a long time I've also not really lived that in my life. I feel like I'm just starting to learn how to make it real in my life. And self-love is absolutely key to that. NOt living my passion is about not loving myself enough to be my best. Tina asks, "What things are you most passionate about? How do they affect your life?"
Thank you for this question: I think it's good to ponder this question very regularly, to check in and make sure that you are in fact making the time in your life to do that which really inspires and impassions you.
What lights me on fire? Well, as this post so far shows, I'm passionate about growing and harvesting beautiful food and sharing its beauty with others. That was the bulk of what I was doing when I lived in Hawaii, one way and another. But it is only a part of my passion, and it isn't, perhaps, the most important part, although it's definitely important.
My true passion is my writing - and especially my poetry writing. Writing my blog is so much fun and so gladdening, but it doesn't give me quite the sense of being completely in tune and in the flow that sitting down and really working on my creative writing does. For me, poetry writing is the deepest work that I can do toward being my best, because it is connecting with my spirituality and with the sense of GOD as 'Good Orderly Direction,' even when the poem is all about chaos!
I've been working a lot on my translation jobs recently, and on other things, and with the trip, visiting, working on the farm, etc, I haven't been making much time for this writing and connecting. It feels so good to be reminded to think about how important it is to me. And the next step is to honor myself, and it, and make the time to spend with it!
What are you most passionate about?
