Profundity

Think of an experience from your childhood, something you remember clearly: something you can see, feel,maybe even smell as if you were really there. After all, you were really there, weren't you? How else would you remember it? Well, here's the bombshell. You weren't there. Not a single atom that is in your body today was there when that event took place. Matter flows from place to place and momentarily comes together to be you. Whatever you are, therefore, you are not the stuff of which you are made.

The Flow

Welcome to Monday! I wake to the sound of rain spluttering off the window and the water gently lapping at the shore in the distance. A soft wind blows through the open window transporting the delicate scent of summer wildflowers through the room.

The air is fresh and I can once again breathe after the heavy heat of the past few days. Not that it really matters. I head to higher elevation today...adventure in the mountains. It's been so long. The past few years, I've been so busy wandering paths far from home that I've neglected these gems but a few mere steps from my back door. Perhaps it's a little farther than a few steps, but not a lot.

I throw an array of clothes into my backpack. One never really knows how to dress for the mountains. The mountains always surprise, and today, in particular, the threat of storms hangs overhead. I attack a few last minute errands...bills to pay, trip to the post office. At the counter, Heidi is slow and methodical. Every move seems deliberate. I fight to slow down, remind myself to not be in such a hurry. I urge myself to release the stress that has been building these last few months, perhaps years. I urge myself to forget about the wingnut who took it upon herself to call my boss, inquire about my job description and question his hiring practices. Ultimately, her actions have nothing to do with me. I do not play a starring role on her stage. She must deal with her own demons and I must release it all, release like a river gently rolling over me and smoothing out every stone before making its way back to sea.

Everything in its own time. Time stretches out before and behind me...envelopes me. The past recedes and vanishes and the distant future stands still as I find myself in the quiet of the present. I move through the stillness, the stillness found on highway #3 flowing east. I follow the winding road up the mountain and take in the alpine meadows rife with wildflowers. Gorgeous scenes, but we're not stopping yet, we've just barely set off. Meadows and forests, trees and brooks, the soft wispy wind, the calm. No, we've only just set off.

Crazy Making

A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject.

~Winston Churchill

Unfortunate

Adulterate: to debase or make impure by adding inferior materials or elements ; use cheaper, inferior, or less desirable goods; to falsify.

latin - "adulteratus": to falsify.

In one context, making an impure substance.

A substance can also be the opposite: unadulterated, pure.

In another to make a relationship impure, harmful and less valuable (adultery).

Big Celebrations

I am a little slow in posting these, but Canada Day (July 1st) is marvelous here in the Kootenays. Everyone heads down to the park to listen to the music, sit on the beach, go swimming and participate in all kinds of festivities. This year was no exception. The activities started early and continued up until the fireworks display at the end of the day. I hope today is just as wonderful for all my American friends.

Tomatoes

There is so much I would love to write about these days. Unfortunately, life has been busy and hectic and hasn't really allotted me the time I need to vent my thoughts. Summer has finally arrived and it's supposed to get significantly warmer before the week is up. This is all good news for my garden, particularly my tomatoes.

This year I decided to leave them in pots on my sundeck rather than plant them in the ground. I figured this would at least somewhat compensate for my poor soil conditions and would also allow me to protect them from the elements when needed. (We had a week of thunder showers where the rain was so heavy that I was convinced the second great flood was on its way. ) As you can see, my tomatoes are thriving where they are. I am not sure as to whether it's because they are in pots on my deck or whether the conditions all around (heat, rain, etc) are better this year. Last year I hardly got a tomato, and this year, it's not quite yet July, but I have one that's almost ripe and a few more that are well on their way. I've done two types of tomatoes this year: the large ones...I can't tell you the exact type, come from seeds that an Italian friend of my father's brought back from Italy. They are almost the same shape as a Roma, but much, much larger...think beefsteak tomatoes...I think last year my father had one that weighed about three pounds. They are the meatiest tomatoes I have ever come across. One slice will make a very large sandwich. There isn't a lot of juice that comes gushing out. They aren't hollow, they are solid flesh...perfect for making fresh salsa.

My other tomatoes are small cherry tomatoes (I have two varieties and no longer remember what they are). I am quite partial to these for salads as nothing quite packs a punch of flavour like they do. These tomatoes are not quite as far along as I started them much later. They don't yet have tomatoes on them, but they are full of blossoms and looking very healthy.

I also put some of my lettuce in pots on the deck as well. Some of them went in the garden, but I thought I'd try both. The lettuce in the pots on my deck have grown much faster and are much sweeter. Perhaps they were watered better, I'm not sure. The lettuce in my garden really didn't grow much until this last wave of heat. Perhaps the pots heat better and retain the heat. How's your garden these days?

Truth

You'll never leave where you are until you decide where you'd rather be.