Month: February 2015

Mean Cheese

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imageI don’t ever eat spicy food. It scares me. I hate it when I try something new, and ask the server if it’s spicy, and they say no. Then I put it in my mouth, and fuck, it’s Dante’s inferno. My husband is the opposite. He would put Tabasco on pretty much anything. Nothing is ever hot enough for him. I don’t want to eat anything that tastes hostile or aggressive, like it would jump off the plate and kick my ass if it could.

I was at a friends house, and she put out cheese and crackers. Now, come on, cheese always looks fairly benign, right? I bit into what appeared to be a perfectly normal cheddar… Only to discover that it was cheddar with horseradish. It tasted like cheddar with Napalm. It made me cry. I told her that it was mean cheese.

I don’t like food masquerading as other food. Who sneaks peppers into classic recipes for any reason? Why? Some hot foods are honest, at least. Anything that features Habanero Chiles is pretty much an edible blowtorch. And who in God’s name invented Wasabi? And why? They must have been harboring deep, unprocessed anger from childhood towards humanity. Seriously. I’ve seen ice cream with wasabi. Is nothing sacred?

I check the package ingredients pretty carefully, at this point. But if it’s unwrapped, and sitting on a plate at someone else’s house, all bets are off. It could have anything in there. Like horseradish. It could be mean cheese. You never know.

Feeling Blessed

imageI’m feeling blessed today. Blessed because I have people in my life who invest the same kind of Qi in our relationship that I do. Blessed to have people who love me the way I love…. Freely, fiercely. My spiritual sister just called to tell me she loves me, and wants to see me. Since I’ve never gotten that kind of a call from my family over the course of an entire lifetime, that makes it all the more precious when my friends offer me that. I never take an expression of love for granted. I feel profound gratitude that I  have manifested people who know what love is, what emotional intimacy is. Some of these relationships span 40 years.

I believe in reincarnation. I have felt those moments of soul recognition, of being struck by lightning, with the intensity of that recognition. These relationships are exquisite. We accept each other for who we are, with all of our quirks and idiosyncrasies. And, boy, do I have a lot of those. It’s wonderful to be seen, and to be given the benefit of the doubt if I make a mistake. To be offered the opportunity to learn and grow from that mistake. It’s wonderful to have someone believe in me, as I believe in them. It’s wonderful to have people who want to listen to me, as much as I want to listen to them.

I have a friend who breaks the word “intimacy” down to ” INTO ME YOU SEE”. I love that. Emotional intimacy is not for wimps. I feel blessed to have people in my life that choose to live from heart. No head games, no lies, no manipulation, just heart. Today I offer a prayer of gratitude for these precious relationships. Judith

Winter Is Not For Wimps, Part Two

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imageAs of 5 minutes ago, according to the National weather service, it is -11 degrees below zero here. The wind chill is about -30 below. Anyone who ever watched the Star Wars movies will remember the ice planet Hoth that the rebel forces were hiding on. That’s pretty much what my view is out my bedroom window. This is crazy. I think I saw a TaunTaun.

You know what this means? It means I can kiss my butterfly bushes goodbye. I just replaced them last spring, they are supposed to be hardy to zone 5, where I live. I just checked the temperature for Anchorage, Alaska. It’s 32 degrees there. So, whatever zone Alaska is is warmer than here. And my butterfly bushes are toast. There isn’t enough mulch in the world to protect them from this. Crap. A friend down south said she saw some buds the other day. Buds. Right. I was ready to pelt her with pieces of frozen plant material. For all of you who don’t live in the NorthEast, now may not be the best time to share your joy about your halcyon balmy spring breezes with those of us in the arctic. We’re a bit testy, at this point. Wait till we hit the teens, at least. Jeez.