Breathe the Air, Taste the Fruit: New Life Story Seeds # 4

New Life Story Seeds # 4

Breathe the Air, Taste the Fruit

Dear Friends,

Confess it now. You've thought about it too, just as I have. You know the story by heart: In a faraway country-one of the smaller Greek islands, a fishing village in Portugal, the South of France-you stumble on a sun-drenched old house and buy it for a song. Surrounded by wild flowers, vineyards, orchards, and outrageous sunsets, the house comes to life in your hands. You paint the walls, clear the terraces, and plant sage, tarragon, bee balm, lavender, chives, and thyme.

Your kitchen garden overflows with tomatoes, broccoli rabe, endive, parsnips, arugula, shallots, new potatoes, and leeks; you drizzle dark olive oil from your own land onto crusty peasant bread; and you faithfully report the droll sayings of the cook and the gardener, the inquisitive and garrulous neighbors, especially the local workmen who make a mess of your front hallway. Their homespun wisdom is made even more droll by your artless translations into English.

You write a whole new life for yourself. You find plenty of time to sit in the dappled shade and write in your journal. You unwind and restore your soul, and (of course!) write a best-seller in the process. Oh, yes, there are mice to contend with, a flood of visitors from back home who suddenly hold you in high esteem, and there's the odd culture clash here and there, but it's all so charming and pleasant, you accept it with humor and a touch of irony. Frances Mayes did just that in "Under the Tuscan Sun" and "Bella Tuscany."

In this issue, you'll also find a thoughtful quotation with juicy questions, resources and gift ideas, and a bit of Internet "food wisdom."

New Life Story Seeds continues to evolve. In order to make more time for writing, I've decided to send it out twice a month, on the second and fourth Mondays. As always, I deeply appreciate your feedback on the newsletter and suggestions about how it can be made more useful for you. Drop me a line at ellenmoore@newlifestories.com.

Wishing you sunny new stories wherever you are,

Ellen Moore

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In This Issue:

A Thoughtful Quotation

Juicy Questions

To Yearn for the Sun

Resources

Gift Ideas

To Eat or Not to Eat?

Scientific Guidelines for Determining Food Freshness

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A Thoughtful Quotation

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"Why am I humming as I wash windows-one of the top ten dreaded chores? Now I am planning a vast garden. My list includes sewing? At least a fine handkerchief linen curtain to go over the glass bathroom door. This house, every brick and lock, will be as known to me as my own or the loved one's body.

Restoration. I like the word. The house, the land, perhaps ourselves. But restored to what? Our lives are full. It's our zeal for all this work that amazes me. Is it only that once into the project, what it all means doesn't come up? Or that excitement and belief reject questions? The vast wheel has a place for our shoulders and we simply push into the turning? But I know there's a taproot as forceful as that giant root wrapped around the stone."

Frances Mayes "Under the Tuscan Sun"

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Juicy Questions

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When do you hum from sheer happiness and contentment?

How do you react to routine maintenance chores? Which tasks do you dread? Which do you see as spiritual exercises or as aesthetic expressions? How are you willing to perceive your various chores? What chores are you willing to change from drudgery to spiritual practice? How can you introduce art into your daily tasks?

What in your environment do you care for lovingly? What places and material objects do you love?

In what ways do you make your life beautiful and meaningful? How can you enjoy the beauty and meaning others create in their lives? To what extent do you stop to savor these joys?

How have you made your home an outward expression of your inmost self?

How have you been restored? What in your life cries out for restoration? What will the completion of restoration require of you?

How full is your life? How do you fill your life when it needs filling? What happens when your life becomes too full?

For what do you have zeal? How does zeal energize you? To what degree have you laid zeal aside to make way for serenity? How do you find a balance?

What happens when you get totally involved in a project you've dreaded and postponed?

When do you "put your shoulder to the wheel?" Where is your place in the "vast wheel?"

What is the Work of your life? How is that Work different from your job or a career? How can you further that Work?

What is the taproot in your life that keeps you upright, strong, and well supplied with the nutrients you need in order to grow?

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To Yearn for the Sun

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Frances Mayes paints a word picture of the oversized, blue leather-bound, journal she started during her first summer in Italy. "...I began with lists of wildflowers, lists of projects, new words, sketches of tile in Pompeii. I described rooms, trees, bird calls. I added planting advice: 'Plant sunflowers when the moon crosses Libra,' although I had no clue myself as to when that might be. I wrote about the people we met and the food we cooked." That journal-stuffed with recipes, poems, garden plans-became the bestseller, "Under the Tuscan Sun: At Home in Italy" <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0767902807/newlifestories/>, published in 1998. "Bella Tuscany: The Sweet Life in Italy" <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0767902831/newlifestories/>followed in 1999.

A teacher of creative writing, gourmet cook, poet, and travel writer, Mayes and her companion buy an abandoned Tuscan villa named Bramasole-Italian for "yearn for the sun." They spend summers and holidays there, reveling in the changing glories of the seasons. She writes of the deep pleasures of learning to live a new way of life-slower, softer, more in touch with the fruits of the earth and its rhythms.

These memoirs read like journals, step-by-step accounts, and Mayes treats the reader to a vast feast for the senses-from the umbers and ochers of the landscape and the ancient buildings, the gaudy sunsets, to the aromas of sage and garlic sizzling in the pan, and the tastes of the hearty country dishes she learns to cook. The sights, smells, sounds, tastes, the feel of rough wood and stone under your hand, the scent of the rain and the wild-blooming vines-it's the next best thing to being there, and it feels as if you really are there beside her as she explores the delights of her new-found treasure trove. She's a keen observer of the lovable characters she encounters, the countryside, the antiques, the farmers' markets, the customs, the gatherings, the Roman ruins. The writing-literary, vivid, and fresh-is peppered with quotations and lines of poetry to result in a savory stew of travel, high adventure, literature, and nourishment for the soul.

And the recipes, ah the recipes! They're simple, but elegant: bruchette with grilled eggplant; polenta-stuffed roast chicken; risotto primavera; roasted fennel, peppers, onions, garlic, squash, tomatoes, string beans, and asparagus; fruits plumped in wine; ginger pound cake, hazelnut gelato, fried zucchini flowers. Woven into the text, the recipes are closely tied to the seasons. The foods and their preparation are so lovingly described that these two books should come with a strong caveat plastered across the cover: WARNING! THESE BOOKS MAY DRIVE YOU TO COOK! The way Mayes describes and combines simple ingredients is positively enchanting, and even the words are musical: crostini, mascarpone, fontina, porcini. The fresh, crushed herbs, olive oil, wine, honey, juniper berries, pine nuts, and balsamic vinegar make taste buds dance.

There is much wisdom in these two books. Mayes' Tuscany volumes inquire deep into the essence of life in a direct, show-don't-tell manner. Don't talk about something, be here now and do the thing itself. Don't analyze the artichoke; cook it and eat it. "As all cooks know," she writes, "the ingredients of the moment are the best guides." She quotes Simone Beck as snapping at a student who asked too many questions about technique: "There is no technique, there is just the way to do it. Now, are we going to measure, or are we going to cook?"

As I read, I was transported to sunnier climates, uplifted and refreshed. Forces beyond my understanding pulled me into the kitchen to try some new recipes and taste, really taste the food. It was the healing of actually working with my hands, doing simple, repetitive, concrete actions, getting "out of the head." I actually threw myself into a bout of scrubbing, and even sang as I worked.

Owning a villa in Tuscany is all very well. Yes, that would be lovely some day, and it's wonderful to snuggle with the books under a quilt to take the armchair adventure, but there may be at least two more levels to the story.

You can use your journal to create these sensual and spiritual experiences in your own home. You have your own windows to wash, meals to delight in, gardens to plant (even if it's only a pot of oregano or a sweet potato sprouting on the window sill), and the work of daily maintenance. You have seasons to follow and learn from, sunlight and fresh air to enjoy. You can create your own Tuscany right now, right where you are, wherever you call home. Ever notice that when you stop to write about your surroundings in detail, you often reveal the hidden beauty of what seemed to be ordinary, shabby, uninteresting? To be fully present, to see with "beginner's eyes" is to transform your experience.

And what about the Tuscany within you? That sunny garden in your soul. That quiet place where you can retreat and find refreshment whenever you want. How often do you allow your journals and contemplations to reconnect you with that inner place where all is peaceful and orderly? It's inner restoration as you flow with the seasons of the soul and the sacrament of the moment-this moment-the only moment there is.

"Live each season as it passes;" wrote Thoreau, "Breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each." And so you can. So can we all.

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Resources

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New Life Stories has become an associate of About.com, and is linked with expert guide Catherine DeCuir's Journaling site. When you're looking for writing resources and ideas, About.com is a fruitful place to start your search.
Tap into a wealth of information.

I'm happy to be able to offer online shopping with Levenger from the website or the newsletter link. If you don't have their catalogs, you'll want to get them by mail, as the on-line catalog doesn't do their products justice. They offer several types of journals now, some with acid-free paper, some leather bound or slip-covered, and many of their pens are quite affordable. The quality and durability of their products more than make up for their prices. Their customer service is fantastic, they cheerfully repair and replace parts, and otherwise strive to keep their customers purring. Purchases from Levenger are true lifetime investments. The Levenger catalog is the writer's equivalent of the gardener's seed catalogs-except that writers get to read, plan, and dream all year round. I'll be writing about the products I use constantly, and will be checking out and reporting on a variety of their journals.

"Under the Tuscan Sun" and "Bella Tuscany" can be ordered from Amazon. If you're a person who eats, reads, or writes, you'll need these books on your shelf.

If it's been a while since you've seen the 1992 film, "Enchanted April," you may want to return to it, especially on a rainy day. The film is an adaptation of Elizabeth Von Arnim's novel of the same name, and flows in that subtle British-people-going-to-Italy mode-no car chases, no upset fruit carts. Two browbeaten married women invite a curmudgeonly widow and a bored aristocrat to share expenses for a seaside castle for the month of April. The women are superbly played by Joan Plowright, Miranda Richardson, Polly Walker, and Josie Lawrence. Allow the healing power of place to work its transformative magic on you as you relax into a warm and beautiful story about the restoration of souls. Rent the movie at your local video store, or order from Amazon. With so much gentle wisdom for writing inspiration, the film could be a launching pad for your own inner adventure. Let yourself be enchanted.

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Gift Ideas

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What could make a more delightful gift than a set of "Under the Tuscan Sun" and "Bella Tuscany?" For a complete gift basket, add a few wooden spoons or shiny gadgets, a bottle of fancy olive oil, some dried mushrooms and herbs, and an assortment of ingredients for a few of the recipes. For the deluxe version, add a lavishly illustrated Italian cookbook or travel guide, a blank book and an elegant pen from Levenger.

For no-funds gifts, consider an offering from your own kitchen-a loaf of freshly-baked bread, some fudge or caramels, a spiced apple cake-or a collection of your own recipes. You could add some memoirs or journal excerpts: "The Night the Fruitcake Exploded," or "How Not to Roast a Turkey," perhaps. You might also assemble some raw materials for a cooking project or two: your own assortment of dried beans for soup, an original blending of dried herbs, a pancake mix you've whipped up. (The library has plenty of recipe books to check out). Tie a red ribbon around the simplest gift, and it suddenly looks festive.

Children love to experiment in the kitchen. Try a cookbook for kids or write out some of your own recipes suitable for their age level. Add some measuring spoons, a big chef's apron, and pack it all in a special mixing bowl just for them. Start a write-together journal of your shared cooking adventures (and/or misadventures, as the case may be). In the book, you may want to add general tips and advice, substitutions ("Don't substitute baking soda for sugar," for example. That's one my son had to discover the hard way). Cooking with kids will give them important skills for life as well as wonderful memories.

For another kind of gift, make an artist's date with yourself or go with a friend for a ramble through a restaurant supply store or a Williams-Sonoma. All that gleaming stainless steel and rich wood! The artist in you will be grateful.

Or what about a garden tour, a stroll through a farmers' market, a drive, or a walk out in the sunshine, with a few stops along the way to write and record your observations and pleasures? To write is to enjoy twice, goes the old saying. Take someone along who doesn't get out much, and it will be a gift for both of you.

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To Eat or Not to Eat? Scientific Guidelines for Determining Food Freshness =======================================

1.          When something starts pecking its way out of the shell, the egg may be past its prime.

2.      Dairy products: Milk is spoiled when it starts to look like yogurt. Yogurt is spoiled when it starts to look like cottage cheese. Cottage cheese is spoiled when it starts to look like regular cheese. Regular cheese is just spoiled milk, anyway, and can't get any worse than it already is.

3.          Frozen foods that have become an integral part of the defrosting problem in your freezer are possibly spoiled, at least by the time you wrench them out with a spatula, knife, screwdriver, and blowtorch.

4.      Leaf lettuce is past its prime when you can't get it off the bottom of the vegetable crisper without Comet and steel wool.

5.      Any carrot you can tie in a knot is too wobbly to eat.

6.          Canned goods that have become the size or shape of a basketball should be disposed of carefully.

7.      Chip dip that bounces has almost certainly gone bad.

8.      Potatoes definitely should not have roots, branches, or dense, leafy undergrowth.

As a general rule: Anything that makes you gag is suspect (except for leftovers from what you cooked for yourself last night). Anything that makes you violently ill after you eat it is very likely spoiled. Remember: Most foods cannot be kept longer than the average life span of a hamster. Keep one nearby for reference.

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© Copyright Ellen Moore, Ph.D. 1999

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