While downloading pictures for my blog today, I received a text from my partner.  He was reading the paper and found an article that he thought sounded as if I could have written it.  At the beginning of the article was a quote that summarizes how I view my life’s work.  The quote epitomizes what I believe to be my purpose.

I am not a scholar, I do not possess endless amounts of money and I do not have any claim to fame but I do believe I know my purpose here on earth.

I am a teacher, in every aspect of my life, not just in my professional life.  I like to use  my everyday experiences to teach myself, my children, students, friends and relatives or anyone who is interested, about life and what it means to me to live a good life.

My post today is going to be another photo essay but I will use the above mentioned quote to lead into the photo essay whose theme is My Ordinary/Extraordinary Summer Days, 2014.

 

Do not ask your children

To strive for extraordianry lives

Such striving may seem admirable,

but it is the way of foolishness.

Help them instead to find the wonder

and the marvel of an ordinary life.

Show them the joy of tasting

tomatoes, apples and pears.

Show them how to cry

when pets and people die.

Show them the infinite pleasure

in the touch of a hand.

And make the ordinary come alive

for them

The extraordinary will take care of

itself.

–William Martin

 

Finding joy in my ordinary life…….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today I am finally taking the time to post a blog. Over the past six weeks I have moved house from the cost to the interior. Worked like a madman on the unpacking and decorating the house, hosted my parents and picked 150 pounds of cherries from our little orchard, hosted the previous owner of our new house and his niece from England for dinner, installed and picked lights in the house with my partner and then travelled back to the coast with my parents to spend time at the lake with my children, parents and friends. Since arriving at the lake on July 2nd I have been power washing and leaning out some of our outdated and worn out things here while making dinners for my family most nights. I am not sure why I am surprised that I snapped at the wrong person last night when they made a comment I interpreted as condescending.
You see I prided myself on all the self-reflection, counselling, mindfulness and intentional thought I have been working on over the past several years. Although I knew life would always toss me the odd challenge and painful situation just to keep me on my toes and allow me to continue to grow, I thought that being self aware and engaged in life would cause me to recognize my needs and attend to them before a crisis point was reached.
Last night stands as proof that old habits die hard and that sometimes even when we are equipped with a vast array of skills and tools to deal with life in a positive manner, we will be unable to access the right tool, at the right time for the job that needs repair. In my case I can see clearly now that allowing myself to be vulnerable and communicating it clearly to my partner could have saved us both from the barrage of nasty pejoratives, verbal diarrhea and hurt caused by me skirting the opportunity to practice being vulnerable.
Brene Brown has spent years researching shame and vulnerability and I have learned much from her book, Daring Greatly,as well as from her TED talks. Brown comes from a tough Texas family whose motto of ‘lock and load’ is second nature to her so she understands how difficult it is to reveal vulnerability . Like most people I tend to interpret vulnerability as weakness. Brown’s research reveals that is actually our vulnerability that allows us to ‘dare greatly’ and move towards livings life authentically and experiencing greater joy and happiness. Nowhere does her writing reveal this more than in the quote she chooses to epitomize the value of allowing yourself to be be vulnerable and dare greatly.
So to my partner, I apologize for being afraid to be vulnerable and to my readers I leave you with this fantastic quote by Theodore Roosevelt that Brene Brown uses to replace the ‘lock and load’ motto.
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
Theodore Roosevelt

Unfinished Business.

Each spring I look forward to a good rhubarb harvest.  I planted rhubarb from the island in our last place in the interior of BC but have since moved back to the island and so this spring I was without a rhubarb patch, or so I thought.

When we arrived at our newly purchased ‘Portuguese Palace,’ I was so pleased to see that hidden down on the flat part of the property was a huge rhubarb patch, bigger than any I had ever grown.  On the day before we were to depart for our return trip to the island I harvested a large amount of rhubarb.

Once home, I was able to prepare 2 rhubarb custard pies.  I shared these with my children, parents and extended family.  I even splurged and had a piece myself. (definitely not Primal)  

 

After that I still had a lot of rhubarb remaining.  I remembered that a friend had given me a jar of Rhubarb Ketchup that her father had made last spring.  I got on the internet and found a recipe I liked and tried it out.  The results were fantastic and so last night I sealed up 6 jars of Rhubarb Ketchup and I have already given one away to our landlord.  I think this is a fantastic way to use this unusual vegetable in a way that can be preserved for the long winter months.  As with other ketchups, this sauce is a  great condiment for meats and  veggies and I look forward to making more with my next harvest of rhubarb. 

Nature Provides.

 

Since returning from my two week ‘renovation vacation,’ I have been completely enamoured with a sense of place.  In the Okanagan, there were amazing skies, dry clean air and the wafting scent of fruit blossoms and lilacs.

Back on the island now, the contrast is profound.The damp earth smell permeates through the blooming Scotch Broom aroma. The hidden Lily of the Valley gently scents the early morning, while  lilacs perfume the air throughout the day. Conifers spray bright, dusty, yellow pollen and burst with vibrant, green, spring growth.  At times my senses seem overwhelmed as I walk through the woods, down a rural road or just step outside my back door. In addition to this, my brain struggles to interpret what I see; layer upon layer of green interrupted by sprays of yellow, white, purple, red and blue.  I find the beauty of Spring on the island intoxicating. It leaves me with a sense of euphoria.

In addition to the beauty of the earth on the island, I am blessed with the ocean just a few minutes from my door.  Most days I make my way through a forest path to the ocean and walk or sit and take it all in.  The skies are amazing and the beach and sea life astounding.  Yesterday I picked up my tidal water fishing lisence and headed to gather our dinner.  We headed to the beach and within 1/2 hour we were able to dig 75 Mahogoney Clams and harvest a bunch of Pickleweed.  After soaking the salt and sand out of them we prepared a delicious meal.

We sat at the table and felt in awe of the feast nature provided.  This caused us to pause and realize that this is what eating used to be; the hunting, foraging and gathering of whatever nature provided at a particular time of year.  How far we have removed ourselves from the ‘source’ of sustanance called nature.  Walmart, Costco and the like just don’t cut it for me anymore.  I am hooked on ‘finding’ food in places other than stores.

 

 

 

 

I have always wondered how difficult it would be to create a photo essay.  The last two weeks of renovation adventures in the Okanagan seemed like a fitting subject for me to attempt such a project.  So, after a little research and a desire to capture the experience thus far without writing a book, here is my first attempt at a photo essay depicting the beginning of the renovations of our ‘Portuguese Palace.’

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you are wondering why it has been about one month since my last post I can explain.  We have purchased a house 600km from where we are currently living and May 1st we took possession of the 1970’s mausoleum, complete with rust shag carpet and sky blue jetted bathtub.

 

We have spent the last few weeks preparing to camp out in the house with just the bare necessities while the contractors, myself and my partner prepare and carry out the renovations.  We are one week in and things are moving along but not without incident.  We have removed a forest of Junipers that revealed a killer view of the lake and a front lawn we did not know existed.

 

After days of removing wall paper and patching and sanding I am ready to begin painting.  Unfortunately, there is not time for blogging right now but stay tuned for the full description and pictures late next week.