A Thousand Days in Prescott: A New View of Life

12-27-2015---

     All four burners on the top of the stove are full.  One with a pot of Potato and Ham soup that is just finishing for a late lunch later today.  Another is a tea pot of water...always there to begin a cup of tea or a pot of French press coffee.  Another has a beautiful ceramic bowl filled with large white beans and water, soaking to be made into a succulent Cassoulette, with chicken thighs brownedd in olive oil then braised with fennel, leeks, celery, onion, herbs, and olive oil, chicken stock thrown in along with pieces of garlicky sausage, and extra chervil, fennel seed, salt, cracked pepper and basil for tomorrow's repast. And last, but certainly not least, is a bowl filled with a large ball of bread dough, rising for the first time to later be punched down, risen again, and put onto cookie sheets to make a beautiful crunchy loaf of French bread to go with the Cassoulette.  It's a bountiful vignette!

    Sleeping in late today, I awoke and made a cup of my new favorite tea...Blackberry and Sage.  Flavored with a little raw sugar, not because I believe it to have any healthier properties than the regular white sugar, but because I love the flavor of it. With a little half n half, I snuggled into my big recliner chair, propped up my feet, and began again the book that was sent to me by my wonderful friend Priscilla, who knew I would be taken into it.  I have been reading "A Thousand Days in Tuscany" for two days, .  Again I am transported to another place, people of different culture, daily rhythms of life, beliefs, and habits.  Ones that seem to resonate with me each time I read a book about Italian country life. My friend Laura resonates with France, in particular Paris, and surrounds herself with the ambiance that is Paris in her home.  It's a wonderful place to sit and talk and have tea or wine or whatever as it is part and parcel of her existence.  And while I believe Laura to be Parisian in her heart (even if her lineage is Swedish), I believe somewhere in my soul I am truly Italian, rather than Swedish, German, English, Scottish, and whatever else turns up.   Earthy, emotional, caring, dramatic at times, I simply resonate with Italian bravado and Italy.  

     In reading the book, I'm thinking about how each holiday season, I anticipate the season with such expectations, and have rarely been gratified with the outcome. Each year I seem to end up depressed and sad that the Rockwellian Christmas I imagine has yet again not happened.  I over decorate, over cook, over work, under sleep and pay for it all. This morning, in reading passages from the book from around the Christmas time and the things happening to them, around them, with them, I realize I need to take a lesson. There were no gifts, save for trees, beautiful evergreens with root balls wrapped in burlap, strewn about the house to make a small forest and fill the house with the smell. To make being away from their old home and being in this new place and home, more bearable and less painful for the woman of the house. No further gifts were needed, as this came from the place in her husband's heart where he knew her and knew what she needed. 

   The mild tiff with my son this morning, had during texting, was not necessary.  He is what he is, and while I pray he certainly does love me, his actions are male and a bit self centered and that's just how it is. I take this personally, I get my feelings hurt and feel horrible, I say something...the "guilt" word comes out, and then it's downhill from there.  Bad form on my part. 

     So I think I need to put less weight on holidays, and more weight on the joys in my life each and every day.  Expectations for certain big events leads to a downfall each and every time. So more should be put into everyday living and doing and enjoyment. Small simple things...calling a friend to come join us for soup instead of a big party; going to the coffee shop with or without a book and enjoying whomever I'm with each and every moment.  Making bread and love the smell as it comes out of the oven, even though I know I will only get to enjoy a small taste due to the wheat intolerance, but knowing I'll drink in the lusciousness each time I see Roy or a guest sink their teeth into it and watch their face light up with the taste in their mouths. A call to him, announcing our desire to take a road trip over to see him and his family if that would be okay, and then doing it spontaneously.  After all, we are retired and have nothing to keep us from doing spur of the moments random acts of joy!

    I will sit quietly and truly enjoy reading a book, or sipping a cup of tea; I will sit on the front porch (once the temperatures come up above freezing again) listening to the quiet rustles of leaves, scampering of squirrels, cawing of ravens; I will take the time to hear, smell, listen and love each part of my days, even when things are schifoso,  knowing that without the bad, the good cannot be enjoyed. 

    So to all, a 2016 filled with being alive, being open, being amazed at life each and every day. Going with the seasons, going with the ebb and flow, acknowledging those in our lives that mean so much to us, and making each moment count!  

Felice anno nuovo!!