Gerald

When one of the girls has a birthday my parents often buy the other a small gift too. This started right when Elise was born and had continued on to this day! Most recently Cordelia turned 12! 😭 Cordelia went with my mother in advance of said birthday and helped pick out a small gift for Elise. 

Picture in your mind my mother and tween Cordelia taking a twenty minute walk to the store. There they found a small pirate skeleton. Apparently they thought, rightly so, this would be the perfect gift for Elise. After purchasing said pirate skeleton each took a hand with the skeleton in between them like a toddler and walked twenty minutes back to the house! 

On Cordelia’s birthday Elise received her skeleton, now named Gerald. She was over the moon and since that moment Gerald has taken quite a central role in our lives.

He joins us for meals, to enjoy the company not food as Elise pointed out he has no digestive system.

He comes along for pick up and drop off at school. He also comes on errands.

He celebrated the birthday too.

Elise also tucks him in at night…

He even came with us to a restaurant.

Anyway, that’s Gerald.

Kitchari Recipe Tri-doshic for gut health

Kitchari is a traditional Ayurvedic tri-doshic recipe, which means it is good for everyone! 

First, let's quickly establish what even is kitchari!

Kitchari is a dish used in ayurvedic cooking and is a staple in this way of life. The word kitchari means, mixture. This meal is full of protein and fiber and is considered to be healing for gut health and an overall comfort food. 

Traditionally kitchari is made from a blend of basmati rice, mung dal, healing spices and vegetables and has been perfected over the ages  to be very gentle on digestion while still being very flavorful. There are iterations of this recipe that extend back thousands of years.

While I could write a whole essay about kitchari I will just drop the recipe below.

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The prep time on this is really only about 15 minutes, but you will want to let it simmer for an hour. You could also cook it in an instaPot if you are short on time.

Serves at least 8 freezes well!

Ingredients

*First*

2 Tbs coconut oil

2 tsp brown mustard seeds

2 tsp fennel seeds

2 tsp cumin seeds

2 tsp fenugreek seeds

2 tsp turmeric

2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp Himalayan salt

1 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

*Next*

1 Tbs. chopped garlic (3 cloves)

1/2 c. chopped onion

*Last*

2 c. split mung bean dahl/ can sub golden lentils

1 c. white basmati rice

3 - 5 c. chopped vegetables (I used carrot, cauliflower, pepper, potato—-use what you have)

4 c. vegetable broth

4 c. water

2 bay leaves

****Optional garnish: coconut yogurt (unsweetened) cilantro

Instructions

*First*

Heat the oil in a large stockpot over medium high heat. Once melted, add the spices. Cook the spices in the oil until they start to become quite aromatic, about 2 - 3 minutes, stirring regularly and watching as we don’t want them to smoke/burn. 

*Next*

Add the garlic and onion and cook for a couple of minutes.

*Last*

Add the mung beans, rice and chopped veggies and stir to coat veggies with spices. Pour in the liquids and stir in the bay leaves.Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer and cover and cook for about an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes. Stirring occasionally. Remove the lid, give the mixture a good stir and add a touch more liquid if desired. Remove bay leaves.

Serve with cilantro and coconut yogurt if desired.

Snow in the Desert

We awoke to a generous dusting of snow this morning. I wasn’t expecting it so it was a real treat to discover.

I don’t know why, but snow in the desert just seems magical to me. It’s like they should belong together, but it is just so beautiful.

The great thing about snow down here is that it never gets too cold to get out and enjoy it!

It was a beautiful day.

Thanksgiving

I could not help myself I have to share a few Thanksgiving photos from this year.

If you are a long time reader then you know that we think the tradition of Thanksgiving is a nightmare! Between the stealing of lands from indigenous people to the killing of millions of sentient beings we don’t even kind of celebrate the tradition of Thanksgiving.

Years ago we decided to just take this day and do our own weird thing. This year the girls filled a jar with theme ideas for a costume. We drew our theme and had to come up with something on the spot.

Space theme.

Undead theme.

Jungle Explorer theme.

Sky Theme.

It was exactly the right way to spend the holiday.

And yes, we ate dinner like this.

Staying Sane

Pandemic life has been pretty intense and it is looking like the months will continue to soldier on indefinitely without any conclusion in sight. What will normal be on the other side of all this?

I think most of us have been going through an highs and lows. I remember in March when two weeks seemed an eternity 😂. Now it is nearly November. How very strange the world has become. 

I have found that there are a series of things that help me to stay sane and mentally unwell. Number one is to limit my news intake. This is admittedly difficult, but I try to just give myself a little time in the morning to glance at the headlines. If information seems important then I will read. I am really trying not to read news that serves no purpose beyond creating a sense of dread or despair.

I am also listening to books and podcasts. I miss having connections with people and this feels kinda like talking to someone who just never lets me get a word in edgewise.

I have been making time to work on commissions, but also my own art. 

I take walks every single day. Often more than one walk. Sometimes the girls and I will ride bikes too.

The girls have lessons and sometimes I get to volunteer with rehabbing horses.

I have been working out at the gym. With a mask on it isn’t ideal, but my gym is usually pretty empty so it is easy to maintain social distancing and still get puuuuuuumped.

I am also working on French. I have started writing 1,667 words a day on a novel. I do daily pages in the morning as I am working my way through The Artist’s Way.

I help the girls with school.

I am basically trying to find structure and purpose in this strange time.

How are you? What are you doing to stay sane?

Balloons

The regular balloon fiesta has been cancelled for this year, for obvious COVID reasons. With that said the school that one of the girls kind of goes to (look it’s weird and part of a hybrid online situation) had a socially distanced event.

The girls asked to go, even though it meant getting up before the sun. With so many “no’s” in the past six months I was happy to take one for the team. So I started worrying about waking up on time at 3am. Classic. We left the house before six. I couldn’t suck down that coffee fast enough and hit the road. En route we could see the first glow of balloons in the still dark sky. It’s pretty crazy to see just a blast of fire illuminating a balloon in the darkness. I couldn’t take a picture because I was driving.

We got to the school and parked in the lot and watched as, one by one, the balloons inflated. The sun slowly rose above the Sandias and eventually it was time to fly.

We watched them fly off, the occupants of the balloon waving down to us. Then we hurried home to start the day.

The Desert at Sunset

One of the very best things about New Mexico is the late summer evening. The temperature is absolutely perfect, the sky always puts on a show, and the sun sets at exactly the right time (not too early or late).

This time of year I work to make daily walks fall right as the sun begins to sink. The spectacular colors melting into the horizon is unbelievably beautiful. I didn’t get a photo on this particular night, but to the East we have mountains that gather the purple shadows and lead the darkness in gently as we transition from morning to night.

The smoke from nearby fires has been tough to deal with, but at very least it makes the light of the sun look different and interesting.

Sunday Quote: I thought

“I felt my lungs inflate with the onrush of scenery-air,mountains, trees, people. I thought, ‘This is what it is to be happy.’”-Sylvia Plath

Sunrise, Sunset

This weekend was a girls’ weekend as Eric was out of town visiting his mother. We did not go along to limit risk of exposure (traveling with kids means all of the rest stops) and my mother-in-law is at elevated risk with COVID.

Since the girls were bummed out about missing out on an adventure I decided to make the weekend super fun for me and the girls. I asked them what they wanted to do. Most of their to-do list was the usual fun stuff they love, but there was one special request...to watch sunrise and sunset on the same day. 

Thankfully this is exactly the time of year for such a task. The sun rises at 6:40 something and sets around 7:30ish.

So we got up at our normal, early, time and hopped in the car and drove to a location where we could get optimal viewing. We sat there for about half an hour, watching the cerulean and violet night sky fade into gold and light azure.

That evening we drove out in the opposite direction and found the open desert waiting for us. A storm had just passed, leaving clouds ready to reflect the light of the setting sun.

It was not a perfect day, but it was a really great day. One that I will probably remember until my last breath.

No Culture

I have long struggled with a desire to have a cultural heritage. I am tangentially envious of people who have a distinct culture in which they grew up. When I was in high school in NM I would visit friends whose families had strong inter generational connections. Grandparents and parents were all linked and shared stories and traditions. Of course many of my friends were, at the time, frustrated or embarrassed by their families...teens am I right?

Later in life I gained exposure to more people from a variety of cultures from the Nepalese family across the hall in Denver, to the ranch family in Wyoming. All of these people have rituals and shared histories that they received from their  elders and are passing along to their children. I love that these histories and traditions are ever changing and evolving, yet also fixed.

I yearn to feel a part of something. It has always felt a bit like I am on the outside looking in on other people’s worlds. Do you feel that way? 

I would hang on to the tiniest scraps of heritage. For instance my family is partially Norwegian. So I embraced lefse and the unique spelling of my name, but I am in no way connected to Norway and if I go there I will just be an American.

It is ok to be American, but our very nature is that we are a united mixed bag. Honestly there is nothing cohesive about being an American now.

So, I got to thinking about the origins of tradition/culture/heritage. Perhaps I am the seed taking root and not the branches of tree. It is a bit lonely, but also exciting to think that something can grow from that desire.

Sunday Quote: Understood Backward

“Life must be understood backward. But it must be lived forward ”-Søren Kirkegaard

It’s all in the wrist

Eric started a new job late last year. Along with this new position  cane some sweet benefits, including gym access. I will talk more about this another day, but let’s just say that I have become something of a gym person/workout person this year.

Anyway, I am not sure if I injured my wrist while working out, doing yoga, typing for work, painting, drawing or some combo. Regardless of the source my wrist has been hurting for a few months. I haven’t made much progress in healing on my own so I finally had to call a doctor.

 
 I really mean it when I say “call a doctor,” because most non-urgent appointments are done by phone. So I had a video call with a doctor this morning and have been advised that I may have carpal tunnel. Interestingly even while on a video call my doctor wore a mask. That was weird. I was given some feedback for self-care that may or may not resolve the problem. I don’t feel especially hopeful as she also referred me to a hand surgeon. So that’s what’s coming up for me.

In the mean time I am to wear a wrist wrap day and night. I feel pretty cool with a wrist wrap. I am not sure why it makes me feel tough to have a wrist wrap, especially since I am also now using topical arthritis medicine, but I will take any small victory right now. I am claiming it, wrist wraps are tough. 

Hard and Soft

Things have been so strange these past few months. There is a sense of hurry up and do nothing. Or worry about the unthinkable. I think that what has become glaringly obvious is that we all were really set in our ways. Most of us like to think that we are adaptable, and we absolutely are, but our adaptability comes with some serious growing pains. 

Learning how to live in a place of uncertainty is scary. Nobody likes to feel unsafe. We like to think that routine is boring, but I think that in these COVID times we have really learned how important routine is to our wellbeing. I am not talking about how we structure our days, but rather how we structure our world.

For instance when The Great Toilet Paper Panic of 2020 first began we were all faced with our own limitations. Not so much in places with the good sense to use bidets, but here in America. Look, I am living in the desert. I can’t just use some leaves. We’ve got cactus. Toilet paper seems pretty important. While we were not TP hoarders (Shame on them. Shame.) it was sure unsettling to realize that the simple fact that toilet paper would always be there for us was not actually a fact. 

Now we are on to a new phase. I don’t worry about toilet paper. I worry more about the big picture, the thing that we are all afraid to really look at. Do we want to go back to how it was? Do we want to start something a little different?

I am eager to see friends and family and to travel, but I am also interested in a slower pace with more time for family and walks. I am more interested in being a smidge more prepared in the event that something like this happens again.

I definitely feel strange in these times, but I also feel hopeful.

Sunday Quote: Change Them Yourself

They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.-Andy Warhol

Morning Walk

I start my day early. I am the first up in the house, always. I get out of bed and let the dogs out. (Who let the dogs out?) I start the coffee and while I wait for it to brew I will do a French lesson and maybe answer a work email or something. The girls will usually wake up next. They will chat for a bit, sometimes a lot. I have a cup of coffee. Eric gets up around 7-8. Then everyone will wander off to play a game or get breakfast or whatever. Then I leash up the hounds and head out. Sometimes one or both of the girls will accompany me, but more often than not I am solo.

Walking three dogs can be a lot, but we have all figured out a standard procedure. Betty and Philip in the back and Qiu Jin in the front.

My favorite mornings are when we wander the desert, but in the summer I generally stick to the neighborhood as I don’t want to try and deal with three dogs while encountering a rattlesnake.

Usually I will listen to a book or a podcast while I walk. I only have one earbud in and mace in my hand lest you worry about a vulnerable lady on her own. 

Then I get home and start the day.