snowed in yesterday. really. snowy night and day yesterday/lastnight in these western north carolina mountains, where we habit-ate. wonders abound in the trees and on the snowlit branches, two distinct cardinal stopped by to eat the seed reeves throws in my yard, faithfully---snow, rain, shine, sleet.

amazing what the sky can do. or is it the god can do? or is it the being that lives of the world can dO? oh what wonder i won for free today. all for free, this panorama of nature's process, of nature naturally. how does it happen, this snow? and how does it make us so carefree and loving? how is it that we exude her glee when she flakes down on us?

as we walk the streets, which are hardly car-friendly yet, the ice melts and we seem to melt with it. people smile, knowing we are connected by this sudden new reality. there's a hand-holding sense that life is easy while we melt and defrost from this very snowy day.

the snow's effect is ::life can't go on as usual::she's a slow down sign, the yellow light of life. the snow puts us out while asking us to look in. consumerism and distraction is not so readily available; perhaps we will one day realize that love is our most sustainable resource.

it seems obvious, this aphorism, especially when electricity abandons us to quiet, a silence that lives underneath the usual hubbub of movement, getting things done, meeting people, lunching, grocery shopping, working at a job, tasking ourselves to death, aka::life as it goes culturally.

lights and clocks and computers and heat and tv and internet went out. powerless. PERHAPS. Aha, not me. Initial frustration and peevedness seeped into acceptance and settle and internal ground and letting myself will myself to being. and it wasn't will.

it was allowing the sensations of my body feel what is. the quiet supported being present to the snow sitting on the fences and the car, the ground, the porches, springs greens and autumns browns. Snow, water, falls to any level, all levels. Ah, and you know how much I love being surrounded by H2O!!

at 9:20pm lights were out and by 10:20 after attempting to read by flashlight and candle, i succumbed to the way it is. just is. is. is being is. and sleep came. so easily and quietly and softly.

Upon waking, I got a message from the local power co. that power would be restored by 9:45 am. My mind thought, OH good, only 2.5 hours until life can go back to the way it should be. Ha! Then I settled again and quiet remained, always remains, and I lied in bed for an hour, until Scout was the star of the morning.

Feeling and four-pawing the snow, he was a little puppy again........prancing, chasing my thrown snowballs, catching snow in his mouth, choking and then going for it all again. What a wonder dog. We walked in the snow for an hour or more. And it was my first time walking in snow to my knees. Scout wanted to run so badly and since snow covered every road, every yard, every silent everything, I let him go. And he ran and ran, until I panicked not being able to keep up with him. Scout I call, Scout, and as he is my dog, and we've established our love, he returned to me after finding what smells he needed to smell this morning.

It's been such a day.....Such a grandeloquent, quiet, kind of day. I went in and found inner power to make this a day of peace and prosperity and profound stillness. I love being alive, I'm willing to die, I'm scared to die, and I don't wanna die, but die I will, so I'll include that too.

.....at 12:20pm yesterday the other power company turned their power back on and I made granola and wrote thoughts down and cleaned my house of the snow debris after three grand walks with my dog, and he with me. I'm pleased. I'm wondering now How in the World are you?


PS: no wonder i love granola....it's a collagelike mix of oatmeal, nut, and dried fruit with some moistness keeping it all together. here's my granola pie

meanderings in my garden

I'm just learning how to blog, always learning how to live, and never learning everything but trying::i use what others have done or thought or learned or made for my very own, and then sometimes pass along::kind of like 2010 folklore '-)

here's some of what i came across this week that caused me aha or i remember or wow isn't this something!

farm to table
cookbooks. there's nothing but baking or cooking during the holidays that makes me happier; being in the kitchen, aware of what I am doing but not exactly sure of myself....Not being sure of myself is the route to an outcome that is satisfying to me....It's not only delicious, whatever I make, it's made up in the moment, no certainty until it's in my mouth.-)

sodabread
this is my favorite of all the bread baking I do....it's easy, and it was my first attempt at making bread. i first made it about four years ago, just after katrina, which was when i really started to bake. it came out oh so good, and each time i make it, it is still oh so good. i reiterate::it's easy.

greenfork
how about learning about being green?

favorite blog
i recommend mayamade for those of you wondering how to cycle paper towel roll holders again. mayaluna has a pretty fascinating, not quite simple way with craft.

anthropologie sale
and here is my favorite site for beautiful things

Garden your life, move through it, love into it, feel it out, & dig down...show your blossoms when you go out and nurture your roots by staying home.

being a person is what life is all about

this blog is called gardening a life because that seems to be what we do every day: till our soil, root our bodies, unearth ourselves, branch out, reach in, dig down, seek water and sun, live wild, grow beauty.

being a person is what life is all about.

one of my favorite marketing features is the way a company like aveda tests on people not animals:People-tested/Teste sure des etres humains/probabo en personas.

reeves and i sat in a new barnes and noble yesterday. we found books and magazines to peruse while we wiled the afternoon. i found a book of poems by one of my favorite poets: wislawa szymborska, a polish writer who won the nobel prize for literature a few years back.

here's the first poem i turned to:: No End of Fun

So he's got to have happiness,
he's got to have truth, too,
he's got to have eternity
did you ever!

He has only just learned to tell dreams from waking;
only just realized that he is he;
only just whittled with his hand ne' fin
a flint, a rocket ship;
easily drowned in the ocean's teaspoon,
not even funny enough to tickle the void;
sees only with his eyes;
hears only with his ears;
his speech's personal best is the conditional;
he uses his reason to pick holes in reason.
In short, he's next to no one,
but his head's full of freedom, omniscience, and the Being
beyond his foolish meat -
did you ever!

For he does apparently exist.
He genuinely came to be
beneath one of the more parochial stars.
He's lively and quite active in his fashion.
His capacity for wonder is well advanced
for a crystal's deviant descendant.
And considering his difficult childhood
spent kowtowing to the herd's needs,
he's already quite an individual indeed -
did you ever!

Carry on, then, if only for the moment
that it takes a tiny galaxy to blink!
One wonders what will become of him,

since he does in fact seem to be.
And as far as being goes, he really tries quite hard.
Quite hard indeed - one must admit.
With that ring in his nose, with that toga, that sweater.
He's no end of fun, for all you say.
Poor little beggar.
A human, if ever we saw one.

Ain't that sweet and everything juicy? Aren't you that sweet and juicy? Aren't you that human? Here's to a week of rooting, shining, tiling, mulching, leaving, blossoming and doing exactly what you need to do to be you.

psssst::there's a sale at shopterrain

a game, this life

We always want to know the rules. You sit down to a new game and wonder, what are the rules? How do I play? Rules rule our lives.

You always play perfectly, dear friend! And I find this insistence wonderful and more than that childish but adult, mature::it's a must. You got both! Me, too.

I tend to have little tantrums and bigger ones, but lately I've been having lots more clarity and willingness to have life be the way it is. No tantrum necessary.

It's chilly here, brrrr snow for hours; Scout romps in it and I am making granola, and giving myself a lot of faith to live in.

Be heart warmed, earth warmed and warmed by your two hands.

Great expectations are great, but they can get in the way of how it is. How is it? And how is it now?

Play games with life. Wonder what's gonna happen next. Not having to know is a gift you can give yourself this holiday.

Your plants don't know how the weather will be; they just root down and feel whatever comes. ....How about that for a new rule?

simple really

december is cold so far in asheville. today's high is 46. tomorrow's 35. brrrr. snowflakes are expected overnight. brrrrrr. so we snuggle and stay close. scout romps a lot during the chilly months. he can't wait to get out and run. i can.

today reeves has him while i create and move around my house without having to think about going for a walk, OUTSIDE, with scout. how i appreciate this gesture. a dog free day.

tomorrow i participate in an outdoor craft show. rain, shine, snow. come what may, we'll be there.

i haven't written or considered what else to write so here's a list :: made as i write it.

:: life's simple really.
:: let someone help you.
:: go for it.
:: let someone else decide.
:: make it yourself.
:: smile.
:: remember you are rooted.
:: question your own answer.
:: hot baths work wonders.
:: freedom is found at the library.
:: try decaf.
:: stick your tongue out for fun when you're alone.
:: listen for the birds.
:: walk hand in hand, even if it's your own.
:: show.
:: thank the heavens, the gods and goddesses, city hall isn't in charge of everything!

cheers to the weekend..............................................................................................
'til, root & grow, soon.