Down In Yon Forrest ~ Joan Baez

Joan Baez sings Traditional English Renaissance beautifully...

Darkest Night (willingly beguiled)

When I embraced my woman

I met my spirit child

She does not feel her life is wrong

Accepts the invite to belong

Is willingly beguiled

By Christmas trees and faerie lights

And stars in moonlit skies

She taps a well of playfulness

Is infinitely wise…

 My spirit child

She never left

The shores of fairyland

She never lost her innocence

Walks willingly and hand in hand

With anyone of any creed or hue

And knows her sisters and her brothers

Are not few

But many souls apart

Not strangers of the heart

But healers of the rift

Each soul each birth on Earth

A precious gift

 The music box, the music box

It always stirred me so

Silver metal strips that strum

On and on around that drum

On and on it played around

As I looked in from where

O I remember, my heart said

I'm sure I know that air

That air of sweet and crystal clear

Those notes of clean delight

O yes, my spirit child replied

You know that tune alright

For that's the tune our Mother sang

As you skipped by her side

And that's the tune your Father played

And you his pride

And joy

And there you are, my little one

And now you understand

That everything we sent you

was no more than you planned

We sent so many many things

To  help your mortal frame to see

We saw you stirred so many times

Only to watch you start and flee

Yet now we know you've heard us

We know you're listening well

With dancing feet and sparkling eyes

You weave the Christmas spell.

 CCR McF

*~*~*~*~*~*

PS

© Penny McManigal e-Mail

"Lavender Beet Kvaas Is the New Wine"

I do not like the wine she said
I do not like the bread
Give me a glass of beet kvaas
Take back the wheat that turns to lead....

I will always remember Creative Cultures Kelly with her big broad smile, saying as she handed me a glass to try; "This will become your new wine!"


She's right; it's delicate and pleasing, and how very cool that this 'wine' is a liver tonic, among many other beneficial properties. If you're lucky enough to live in Santa Cruz you can sample it at the various farmer's markets. If you're far away, you can make it yourself. There are plenty of beet kvaas how-to YouTube videos.


My peak experience with Lavender beet kvaas this weekend was having a wine glass of kvaas in the late evening along with one small cube of Pacari chocolate bar; single-source Ecuadorian 100% cacao (smooth, accents of flavor,raw and entirely unsweetened). I guess I'm having another one of those   amazing Galactic moments...
"The Universe is  The universe is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper." Eden Phillpotts

Creative Cultures Beet Kvaas now comes in....Lavender!

Kelly's beet kvaas has fresh ginger, kefir whey, unrefined sea salt and a little stevia, as well as Lavender option. This is a connoisseur beet kvaas recipe (deserving wine classification!). You will see from various online demos that you can make beet kvaas from just beets.

Favoritie Poet David Whyte on SOUNDS TRUE: 'Insights at the Edge'

Sounds True: Insights at the Edge ("beautiful mercies")
Listen to David Whyte sage-in-the-modern-age talking with Tami Simon of Sounds True about originality, being on the frontier of human experience, and 'exile as a core human competency'.

This guy is phenomenal to me. I first encountered him years ago at Natural Products Expo West; a keynote presenter in the early morning breakfast session. Despite the early hour, all seats were full and I slipped into a standing room only scene. The first thing he did in that setting, after reading the very first poem, was to coach us not to clap. David Whyte has a beautiful way of pausing at the end of a poem then repeating the last line or the last verse. That trait, combined with absence of clapping invites something profound to occur; let it in, let it in, let it in.... (I let it in and it reverberated as well it should).

I took this treasure home in the form of a CD and over time we acquired more of his recordings. We listened and listened and listened, as we carefully poured our beeswax candles. We liked to say that the candles we delivered were happily imbued with all that profundity.

"It is difficult to get the news from poems, yet men die miserably every day for lack of what is found there." William Carlos Williams

David is utterly masterful at getting folk to re-focus in to a broader landscape, so that what is standing in the way of their real life can move to its rightful place in the core hierarchy of needs.

David Whyte's newest offering:

What to Remember When Waking: The Disciplines of Every Day Life.

The PlayPumps Water System

Bought 2 'cargo nets' today.. plus rear folding basket

So, once upon a time, when I was 18, you could get a little waterproof elasticated cover for your front wicker basket on a bicycle. Now no more. So this is the work-around; you buy a cargo net and it works to hold a waterproof cover over your wicker basket contents on the bike in the rain... The cargo net that has hooks that fit on a wicker basket is by ToPeak:

Then; you've got a back rack on your bike and it has no spring-loaded gripper (like the old days). Delta cargo net is the solution for that conundrum:

And lastly, my back rack is too close to my saddle to mount a milk crate on the back rack so I got a WALD rear folding basket

Am I happy?
You bet.

Stretching Time Like Taffy

I was going to post days ago. I never got there. Nevertheless, I am fascinated that this concept would not leave me; stretching time like taffy. I know how it arose and I know what it's related to; I was breathing; consciously breathing deeper; that's all. But it was getting to me, in a good way. I would be parking up my bike, putting the lock on, and find myself noticing all around me, especially what trees and plants are doing...., and suddenly the transition moment would s*t*r*e*t*c*h. It's a very cool experience, very trippy, and it's distilling lots of half-remembered wisdom-words about time doesn't exist, and all the ways we know that a minute can take forever or zip.

LAST of the DOGMEN ~ quintessential moment

Don't watch this if you are intent upon seeing the (1995) movie. I watch this particular moment again and again.
What if something you thought was destroyed and gone forever..something you cherished beyond words...., came back... what then?

Last of the Dogmen

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

Last of the Dogmen is a 1995 film about the search for and discovery of an
unknown band of Dog Soldiers from a tribe of Cheyenne Indians.
The film stars Tom Berenger and Barbara Hershey with supporting roles by
Parley Baer, Kurtwood Smith, Steve Reevis, Andrew Miller, Eugene Blackbear
and Gregory Scott Cummins.
Last of the Dogmen is written and directed by Tab Murphy.

The setting for the story is northwest Montana, near the Idaho and Canadian 
borders; but it was actually shot on locations in Cuernavaca, Mexico; 
Banff, Alberta,Canada; Canmore, Alberta, Canada; Kananaskis Country, 
Alberta, Canada; Stoney Reservation, Alberta, Canada; and 
Yoho National Park, British Columbia.

"Kitchen Farming" epiphany & My Sweet Tooth

*'Kitchen farming' is a term coined by Terces Engelhart of Cafe Gratitude.

We have been making radical shifts in the kitchen, driven by a bodily condition that demands new input; building good blood for major surgery. We are juicing piles of greens every day, especially fennel, parsley, kale, celery,  with ample fresh horseradish, ginger and garlic. The green juice is phenomenal. I can almost hear my cells zinging and have no doubt that my blood is getting richer as it courses through my veins.

Part of the regimen has been to eliminate all grains for the time being (I happen to find surprisingly liberating), and it also requires eschewing all refined foods, which means (the big one); seeking out and experimenting with all manner of sweet alternatives to refined sugar. We both love chocolate and have for years concurred that most 'alternatives' to our favorite chocolate treats in no way rank as acceptable alternatives.

It was right around my birthday when we discovered Cafe Gratitude's Chocolate Mousse. For clear moments we were speechless (with joy!); knowing that every ingredient is something our bodies are more than happy to put to good use, AND.... it tastes like the real McCoy (as my dad would say). This chocolate mousse even has Irish moss in it; Irish moss!! Now that's sweet.

So we got hold of the Cafe Gratitude book, 'I Am Grateful'. We've been making our own chocolate mousse** among other delights, and we are stoked.

Yet, all of this is a process; a lot of work; takes time; a lot of time. Everything takes longer to bring this food to our plates; from juicing veg to soaking nuts to combining tons of 'new' (long-forgotten) ingredients into our daily round.

And here comes Terces of Cafe Gratitude and names it. She calls it 'kitchen farming'* and she delights in it; everything that it takes to make it happen, she delights in it.

Kitchen farming..... it caught me inside, right where I needed catching. The concept is doing the trick. It lifts me from the tricky feelings I have been encountering through this increased 'workload' in the kitchen to a bigger context. I know I am not alone among my women friends, to have experienced going into the kitchen with a willing heart, only to find ourselves depleted and drained before we're done, just as our mothers before us. Over the years this has made me avoid the kitchen, tend towards deli bars, grazing, snacking; anything to eliminate cooking full-on meals in endless rounds.

To relate to what we're doing now as kitchen farming begins to shift a drudgery dynamic passed-down (former slaving over a hot stove!). It actually causes me to remember the whole cycle; what it took to till and plant and grow and bring this awesome array of foods to our kitchens. Now here I am doing the final piece; preparing the feast from great plenty, and I am in awe.


** Note on sweeteners - chocolate mousse recipe in Cafe Gratitude book calls for Agave nectar. The Cafe Gratitude chocolate mousse we purchased in San Francisco was actually sweetened with coconut palm sugar. We guess Cafe Gratitude has made the switch.


We have not been using Agave syrup since we read the 2009 excoriating article in the Townsend Letter so I was curious about this 'coconut palm' sugar source. 

Coconut palm sugar is the sap of the coconut palm; low glycemic and high in minerals, making it a good choice for nutritious desserts. You are going to see more natural food manufacturers making the switch in coming months.


You might experiment also in your dessert adventures, with using a little Stevia (then less of whatever other sweetener you are choosing to use). Stevia plant is a great resource but if used as the sole sweetener, will leave you with a weird aftertaste in your mouth.

"Water Is Our Hero...."

"...documentary film on vitally important, little understood fascinating aspects of water, and at the same time is calling for a new culture that takes water as the paradigm to learn from." from 'Healing Water' re Divine Water Project documentary intro:

Divine Water Trailer with Subtitles from Iain Trousdell on Vimeo.

Ho Ho Ho

Spake my little Babushka...

With a jolly tummy to rival whatshisname :)

Just like he said...

The pointless ocean moans on top of each conventional mathematics.

So we'll kindle a beacon on every high mountain...

It's that time of year again....

King Arthur was buried so legends they tell it

Deep under the mountains in days long ago

With twelve faithful knights dress in armour like silver

With their long swords beside them in scabbards of gold

But dying is only a new kind of waking

Or a new kind of sleeping resplendent with dreams

If times they are hard you have only to call me

And you’ll not catch me napping said Arthur the King

So we’ll kindle a beacon on every high mountain

To the sound of our music the valleys shall ring

To waken the sleepers of long-vanished ages

To waken the knights and Brave Arthur the King..

Well the dragon may prowl in the streets of the city

And the world may turn out to be not what it seems

And many-a-job may be lost by tomorrow

And we may be obliged to abandon our dreams

But bring it the Fool with her motley and bells

And remember the minstrels who taught you to sing

And the Quest it begins with the steps of the dance

Won’t you please take your partners said Arthur the King

So we’ll kindle a beacon….

There’s no need to look far to find news of disaster

Of wars and of rumours of gathering gloom

And it’s hard to escape the dead-weight of inertia

As we hear the fraud words of the prophets of doom

But each one is equal around my Round Table

And each has a note and a ribbon to bring

And the quest it begin with the jig and the reel

Won’t you take out your fiddles said Arthur the King

So we’ll kindle a beacon….

There are times when the fog is so thick on the hills

Fell enchantment has settled on river and lake

And the poisons have sunk so far into the earth

That we ask is there anything left there to wake

But bring in the Morris the sword dance the step dance

The music is there and you know how to sing

 And the Quest it begins with a song from the heart

Won’t you join in the chorus said Arthur the King:

So we’ll kindle a beacon on every high mountain

To the sound of our music the valleys shall ring

To waken the sleepers of long-vanished ages

To waken the knights and Brave Arthur the King.

Jehanne & Rob Mehta, Green Jack album