What I did during my blog break

Ledges Trail in Twinsburg

I had a great weekend.  It wasn’t filled with travel, big adventures, or anything of an exotic nature.  Instead, it was a weekend at home getting caught up with the laundry, the housework, the Big Decluttering Project, and working outside in the garden.

Entrance to Glacier Cave

The blog break wasn’t really a break at all, as some of you may have noticed.  I did use some of my weekend time to help me get caught up on emails, replying to comments on my recent blog posts, and visiting other blogs. I feel almost caught up now.  It’s a fabulous feeling.  My email inbox is almost squeaky clean.

I have bags of stuff ready to be donated to Good Will.  I have emptied drawers and cabinets, thrown away things that we don’t use and can’t donate because they are in poor shape.

Slowly, but surely, I am paring down, simplifying, lightening my load.

Looking up. (On the sign are these words: "Trail ends. Return on same trail.")

Letting go of stuff, even a little at a time, brings with it a sense of freedom.  An opening as well as an emptying.

Practically speaking, a life that is vowed to simplicity, appropriate boldness, good humor, gratitude, unstinting work and play, and lots of walking brings us close to the actual existing world and its wholeness.

~ Gary Snyder

I took a little break from cooking this weekend.  M did pretty much all of the cooking (or reheating if there were leftovers involved).  Last week I made a big batch of vegetarian Brunswick Stew (recipe from Sundays at Moosewood cookbook), and we had the leftovers from that for lunches.  It’s a stew I will make again, no doubt before the winter is out, because it satisfied my craving for a hearty vegetable stew that will take the place of beef stew.  This stew took care of the craving, more than fulfilling the hardiness requirement, especially when paired with cornbread.

We tried  Tofu Pups for dinner on Saturday.  I was not impressed.  I made some sauerkraut back in September and we thought we’d try veggie dogs with it.  Tofu Pups.  Bleh.  I’ve had better.  The Tofu Pup tasted like plastic, even with mounds of sauerkraut covering it, and I didn’t care for the squishy texture or putty-like color.  I don’t recommend them.

The weather, which was nice most of the weekend, turned dreary today.  Rainy.  A little chilly.  Looks like it will stay that way until Thursday, Thanksgiving Day.  I hope it is as sunny as they’re predicting.  I’d like to go on a Thanksgiving hike.  I’m not quite up to a Turkey Trot just yet.  Maybe next year.

I renewed my driver’s license today.  My birthday is coming up in a few weeks, and it seemed best to get in there and do it before I forgot.  I’d rather not have to take the driver test again, thank you very much.

And that’s pretty much it from the Bogs for today.  Boring post, don’t you think?  But it’s the best I can do on this dreary day.  Thanks for dropping by and taking the rest of the Ledges hike with me.  Wouldn’t it be great to see it in the spring when everything is green and the wildflowers are in bloom?

It was not that the jagged precipices were lofty, that the encircling woods were the dimmest shade, or that the waters were profoundly deep; but that over all, rocks, woods, and water, brooded the spirit of repose, and the silent energy of nature stirred the soul to its inmost depths.

~ Thomas Cole

As Americans, we have become comfortable with our environment of concrete, steel, plastics, and artificial fibers, colors, and flavorings to such a degree that many question whether or not we even need to focus on a relationship with the creation.  We have lost the desire to seek God and the ability to see God in all things.  And perhaps, we have closed our eyes to the importance of God’s creation as expressed through the forests because we have substituted the wonders of human creation for the wonders of God’s creation.  This form of idolatry should concern us.

~ Susan Drake, The Global Forest, 2000

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