I love this post. Thank you. Thank you for capturing that it is possible to both be aware of what's going on in the world, to ache for all the human and planetary suffering, AND to also live life as best we can with moments of sweetness and wonder. Maybe it's not only possible. Maybe it's also essential.
Allow me to share today's little moment of delight: a fleeting but meaningful connection with the woman in the long line of our neighborhood bakery. We chatted about how great it is to have a decent bakery we can walk to, where the older folks in the community gather for breakfast (on a Friday morning, it is mostly older folks!). We could have both been on our phones checking text or emails and growing increasingly annoyed with the long line. Instead, we looked up, chatted, and acknowledged our shared humanity in this small way. The long wait in line suddenly wasn't long enough.
I, too, find solace in the garden, friends, bees, birds, and good fresh summer food.
May this cookbook editor request a refinement of the ingredient list? I assume that the 4 cups of the carrots and the beets refer to the shredded measure. So perhaps "4 medium carrots/beets, shredded (about 4 cups)" or even better (how did I ever live without a kitchen scale?), "# lb carrots/beets, shredded (about 4 cups)"? (I've found that a food processor can't reproduce the size and texture of hand-grated shreds, though it is much faster and takes less muscle!) The dressing sounds really yummy! And here's another fabulous beet recipe for you -- I take it to potlucks and it is quickly devoured. I originally clipped it out of a Delicious Living issue; nice that it's findable online. https://www.deliciousliving.com/recipe/roasted-red-beet-hummus/
I tried it both ways, and this one was just as good shredded by the food processor as by hand! The beet hummus looks great, I'll have to try that sometime. Thanks for sharing!
I too thought it was insane to change out the candidate at this time in the election! As someone who is in a same sex marriage I was terrified that by doing that my relationship & my whole existence would be in jeopardy. Not to mention what a fascist win would do to our country. However, after seeing the outpouring of support to our new nominee I have a tiny little sliver of hope! Admittedly it isn’t going to be easy & it’s going to get really ugly but that soul sucking feeling of doom has at least for the moment been pushed back into the shadows. Oh & that salad looks delicious! Thanks for sharing the recipe. I will definitely be keeping that one to try once we get moved into the new house & I can locate all of my kitchenware! 😂
Yes!! I wrote this on the weekend, and I definitely feel better this week. I always thought we'd win in the end, though I was certainly nervous about it. And I still am. But the energy around Kamala is amazing! People are really mobilizing. Finders crossed! And I've been donating a bit, and continuing to write postcards to voters.
Yes, joys can still be found even in tough times. That’s something that we’re going to be challenged with if Trump wins again, but I am a little bit more energized now that we might have a chance to win after all. Still a tough road ahead though.
It is indeed a tough road, but I've been thinking all along that we will win — because the alternative is too horrible to contemplate, but also because polls suck and there seems to be a backlash building against fascists. We'll see. This week definitely feels more hopeful than the weekend did!
I was initially against Biden dropping out, and thought it was more of a media campaign against him than anything else. But as good a president as he's been, he did seem to be having trouble in recent months bringing the fight to trump in a strong way, and was instead letting trump's lies go unanswered. Bottom line, we had a good president, but as a candidate it was becoming more and more obvious that for whatever reason, he didn't have the strength and cognitive ability to be an effective campaigner against a truly awful former and possible future president, trump. The alternative though, I thought, was a messy fight and brokered convention that would even further divide and weaken the democrats. Instead, there seems to be a coalescing around Harris, and an amazing rebound of energy and enthusiasm among democrats. I'm under no illusions about making up lost ground in the polls at this point, and about the headwinds facing a female candidate, not to mention a woman of color. At the same time though, this could be just the thing that energizes younger voters and the constituencies that democrats have relied on in the past, but who have been unenthusiastic about Biden. And who knows, maybe even enough independents and former Republicans who were not excited about Biden or trump.
I certainly hope so! This week is feeling better than the weekend was. Either way, I think Biden will go down as one of the best presidents we ever had.
I love this post. Thank you. Thank you for capturing that it is possible to both be aware of what's going on in the world, to ache for all the human and planetary suffering, AND to also live life as best we can with moments of sweetness and wonder. Maybe it's not only possible. Maybe it's also essential.
Allow me to share today's little moment of delight: a fleeting but meaningful connection with the woman in the long line of our neighborhood bakery. We chatted about how great it is to have a decent bakery we can walk to, where the older folks in the community gather for breakfast (on a Friday morning, it is mostly older folks!). We could have both been on our phones checking text or emails and growing increasingly annoyed with the long line. Instead, we looked up, chatted, and acknowledged our shared humanity in this small way. The long wait in line suddenly wasn't long enough.
Thank YOU!! That is such a lovely interaction, thanks for sharing. And yes, it's also essential — love that!
I, too, find solace in the garden, friends, bees, birds, and good fresh summer food.
May this cookbook editor request a refinement of the ingredient list? I assume that the 4 cups of the carrots and the beets refer to the shredded measure. So perhaps "4 medium carrots/beets, shredded (about 4 cups)" or even better (how did I ever live without a kitchen scale?), "# lb carrots/beets, shredded (about 4 cups)"? (I've found that a food processor can't reproduce the size and texture of hand-grated shreds, though it is much faster and takes less muscle!) The dressing sounds really yummy! And here's another fabulous beet recipe for you -- I take it to potlucks and it is quickly devoured. I originally clipped it out of a Delicious Living issue; nice that it's findable online. https://www.deliciousliving.com/recipe/roasted-red-beet-hummus/
I tried it both ways, and this one was just as good shredded by the food processor as by hand! The beet hummus looks great, I'll have to try that sometime. Thanks for sharing!
That Gandalf quote is everything. Thanks for reminding me of it.
I need to keep reminding myself of it!
I too thought it was insane to change out the candidate at this time in the election! As someone who is in a same sex marriage I was terrified that by doing that my relationship & my whole existence would be in jeopardy. Not to mention what a fascist win would do to our country. However, after seeing the outpouring of support to our new nominee I have a tiny little sliver of hope! Admittedly it isn’t going to be easy & it’s going to get really ugly but that soul sucking feeling of doom has at least for the moment been pushed back into the shadows. Oh & that salad looks delicious! Thanks for sharing the recipe. I will definitely be keeping that one to try once we get moved into the new house & I can locate all of my kitchenware! 😂
Yes!! I wrote this on the weekend, and I definitely feel better this week. I always thought we'd win in the end, though I was certainly nervous about it. And I still am. But the energy around Kamala is amazing! People are really mobilizing. Finders crossed! And I've been donating a bit, and continuing to write postcards to voters.
Good luck finding the kitchen implements!
Yes, joys can still be found even in tough times. That’s something that we’re going to be challenged with if Trump wins again, but I am a little bit more energized now that we might have a chance to win after all. Still a tough road ahead though.
It is indeed a tough road, but I've been thinking all along that we will win — because the alternative is too horrible to contemplate, but also because polls suck and there seems to be a backlash building against fascists. We'll see. This week definitely feels more hopeful than the weekend did!
I was initially against Biden dropping out, and thought it was more of a media campaign against him than anything else. But as good a president as he's been, he did seem to be having trouble in recent months bringing the fight to trump in a strong way, and was instead letting trump's lies go unanswered. Bottom line, we had a good president, but as a candidate it was becoming more and more obvious that for whatever reason, he didn't have the strength and cognitive ability to be an effective campaigner against a truly awful former and possible future president, trump. The alternative though, I thought, was a messy fight and brokered convention that would even further divide and weaken the democrats. Instead, there seems to be a coalescing around Harris, and an amazing rebound of energy and enthusiasm among democrats. I'm under no illusions about making up lost ground in the polls at this point, and about the headwinds facing a female candidate, not to mention a woman of color. At the same time though, this could be just the thing that energizes younger voters and the constituencies that democrats have relied on in the past, but who have been unenthusiastic about Biden. And who knows, maybe even enough independents and former Republicans who were not excited about Biden or trump.
I certainly hope so! This week is feeling better than the weekend was. Either way, I think Biden will go down as one of the best presidents we ever had.