Monday, October 21, 2013

How to Experience Fall in Portland

My First Bowl of Salsa


Gotta admit, the fall version of my local farmer's market is INSANE. Warm leaves, fun folk tunes, juicy apples, handmade pasta, gourds of all colors. No two weeks are the same - the seasons bring fresh stuff for me to discover every Saturday morning!

This week, I grabbed a cool "salsa bag" full of all ingredients (except chips) to make some farm fresh salsa. Sold!!!! The next day, I eagerly diced and sliced the produce up according to the following enclosed recipe:

     5-7 tomatoes
     1/2 sweet white onion
     1 clove of garlic
     a bunch of cilantro
     1 squeezed lime
     7 assorted spicy peppers 
     1 bell pepper

The flavor was refreshing, the texture was somewhat course, and the heat was almost too hot. Just hot enough to be racy and exciting without terrifying my taste buds. The longer I leave it in the fridge, the more garlic seeps out. I'm throwing it on gluten free chips and in rice bowls like a BOSS. 

Now that I know how easy it is to mix up salsa, I plan to grab my own ingredients next time. Experience is sure empowering, isn't it? :)

Try this combo out and let me know YOUR favorite salsa recipe! Heck....that could be a blog all it's own.

The Solitude of a Cemetery 


Who hear frequents grave yards? Any tombstone buffs out there? Perhaps you could better explain the macabre allure of gazing at weathered stone with the names of the long-dead deceased consumed with moss. Perhaps it's the artistry - so seldom do we carve anything into stone. The link to the past is another thought....somehow history still lives within these relics. Could it be our morbid fascination with the edge of our existence? We hope, dream, fear, anticipate the afterlife and these stone sentinels are the last link to those who've crossed over before.

I went for the leaves. 
And fell for the spell of the grave stones. 

Sleepy Hollow is in the air.
Perhaps Nathaniel Hawthorn's haunting tale calls to the reader every October. Who knows! A little spooky does the soul good. 




Granite and fading leaves
Who does this belong to?
Field of Souls.  

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Missing the Moment



Breakfast provides me a few precious moments to allow my mind and spirit to fully wake up. After that, life strikes. So I've gotten religious: I eat a little hot rice cereal and flip through a The Buddha Walks Into a Bar at the kitchen table. I read only a few pages each day, but the content is rich.

On Chapter 19....

Here's the latest lesson I'm working on absorbing...not missing...

 "The Moment"

I'm so good at this. EXPERT level! Chapter 19 spoke to me - "Bringing a Spacious Mind to Subtle Acts."
An example the author brings is about "going out" on a Friday or Saturday night to a bar.

When you keep an open mind instead of trying to zero in on having a perfect night, you often end up having a fun experience. Not because you manipulated it in any way, or planned it to be so, but because you relaxed and went with whatever opportunities came up. In fact, when you try to manufacture fun, your evening will never live up to your expectations. It is only through truly relaxing with what comes your way that you will be able to enjoy yourself. 


 I'll set myself up allll week for an incredible date or night out. I'll have picked out the mood, environment, circumstances, and company. My mental table is SET. Then the real situation appears and I'm so busy looking for my "Barbie doll date" that I completely blow the good time that was waiting there for me. If only I'd gone into the scenario expecting nothing other then simply an amazing experience.

Don't try to have a great time, just let yourself have a great time....We don't have to plan every minute of the day. we can go with the flow of our life, and relax into freedom.

Visioning and planning are crucial. But don't let your anticipation of reality prevent you from loving Your Moment.:):):)

Commit to relaxing with me? :)