View from the front door at night through RFD*
Well we haven't had a summer, not by any stretch of the imagination and mine can be very fanciful. My mother would tell me “get out of your own head”, my father would bang on the bathroom door with its toasty infrared heater hanging high on the wall: “are you reading the entire Cork library in there?”
as if these were bad things.
How confusing our childhoods can be. How hard to make the adjustments to reformulate ourselves into whatever we think is right for ourselves. And how simple the pleasures we discover just for ourselves.
We had about fourteen seasons of weather yesterday. Thunderstorms, 30 seconds of blazing sunshine, followed by RFD (rain, fog, drizzle in the local vernacular) and then a greyish pall followed by chill which has clung to everyone and everything since. Snow wouldn't surprise any of us. While the rest of Canada scorches in unbearable heat and humidity.
I lit the wood-stove, put on a pot of my famous chili on top of it and let it cook itself in the cast iron. My chili is a complete meal, served with Irish soda bread, potatoes or nachos, whatever is on hand. I pretended it was a November day.
I met a friend in the leg of the day for chat and catch-up which meandered far into the dark reaches of the night - 2.30 a.m. to be precise which is catching up with me today.
But I stay in The Now, a very good place to be. Because there is nothing I can do about all the minor annoyances and disappointments (and I could count far too many) that could shred my mind if I let them.
Or as one of my good friends says: Stay where your hands are.
*RFD=rain, fog, drizzle.
I've got the cast iron cooker, now what goes into the famous chili?
ReplyDeleteStaying in The Now is an extremely smart thing to do and I think the term 'stay where your hands are' is a very good one. I spend a lot of energy staying in The Now. I wish it wasn't such a hard thing to do. My natural tendency is to live in The Past which makes me mostly unhappy. I wsih I was better at escapism.
ReplyDeleteVeep:
ReplyDeleteI'll send you the recipe if you want!
Nora:
I find if I really focus on my hands it helps me consciously let go of the unchangeable past. Not easy I know.
Have you tried yoga at all?
XO
WWW
Staying where your hands are. I love it.
ReplyDeleteSwap ya some rain and drizzle for our heat, WWW! Our thermometer in the backyard said 118 degrees late this morning.
ReplyDeleteThe Now is all we can be absolutely sure of, so we'd best stay here, hands an' all, heat an' all. :-)
Sorry that I gave the wrong impression. I do stay in The Now and yes, I have done yoga in the past and still apply its mental technique. I just wish that I didn't have to make the effort :o)
ReplyDeleteChili is wonderful on a cold, miserable day.
ReplyDeleteLove reading about the RFD while we swelter in Colorado. Ah, the mist! the drizzle! the fog and the rain! I grew up in San Francisco - great weather there back in the day.
ReplyDeleteChili sounds good. I'd love to have the recipe, too!
WWW, looks like I might have started something here. Me: tekwahr at yahoo dot com
ReplyDeleteMucho thanks! :-)
Ah, WWW, little do you know the times I heard a different version - "Keep your hands to yourself."
ReplyDeleteChili sounds wonderful - as does your attitude to coping with the lack of summer. Just be in the now. Our summer has been here for a few days now, sadly it is coming to an end soon, it has been nice while it lasted.
ReplyDelete