Monday, December 11, 2017

Sweet Potatoes / Haiku / Four Generations / December 8, 2006 and Gratitude


I've been enjoying sweet potatoes on a daily basis for some years now. Currently, I cook several pounds of them for 10 hours in a slow cooker and keep them in the refrigerator until I am ready to slice and heat them in oil in a cast iron skillet.

Yesterday morning I discovered a haiku that I wrote last year on December 10:

December snow mixed with rain
Heart knows the way
One with the ocean



Today I am looking out at an ice fog.  It is 32 degrees outside.
















Yesterday I discovered this, too, written by an unknown person about Monarch butterflies:

These fragile creatures make a journey of thousands of miles, but it takes four generations to complete the trip.  No single butterfly ever flies the full route, yet somehow the species continues to pass on the pattern of migration.  If butterflies can be part of a pattern that they never fully know, I think that the same may be true for us.

My blog began on December 8, 2006, with the name "Old Girl Of The North Country." December 8, 1970, had been the day the man I loved returned from Vietnam, and early that morning I had to face the reality of the devastating consequences of war.  In December 2006, a perceptive woman suggested doing something different on that date that had been a source of emotional pain for the previous 36 years, since I had been 21 years old.  I made the decision to start a blog and post a retrospective of the art work I had done since 1966.  Here is what I posted for the month of December 2006.

Blogging has been a healing experience for me for 11 years now in this community of kindred spirits.  I am grateful to everyone who blogs along with me, no matter what happens, and much has happened in these 11 years.

Thank you!

If butterflies can be part of a pattern that they never fully know, I think that the same may be true for us.

9 comments:

Colette said...

Thank you! You give so much in each of your posts.

Colette said...

Thank you! You give so much in each of your posts.

am said...

You're welcome, Colette. I'm grateful for your presence here and in your blog.

beth coyote said...

Sweet potatoes every day!!!! That's amazing. They are delicious, aren't they? I've been making pumpkin custard with coconut milk and maple syrup. Gotta love the internet.

XX Beth

am said...

Pumpkin custard sounds wonderful. The color orange!

Sabine said...

Thank you for blogging, for your art, your comments and for inspirations always!

am said...

You're welcome, Sabine! Your blog brings light to my life.

Anonymous said...

Your stories and weaving connections of everything are always inspiring. Thank you for all of it.

am said...

You're welcome, robin andrea! Thank you for reading for all these years and inspiring me in the first place. One of the first blog comments I ever made was in response to a thoughtful question you posted. That may have been even before I started my blog.