'A wilderness of new solutions'
To old solutions and new,
to wilderness and more
<3
Reading corner
Because of Libraries We Can Say These Things
by Naomi Shihab Nye
She is holding the book close to her body,
carrying it home on the cracked sidewalk,
down the tangled hill.
If a dog runs at her again, she will use the book as a shield.
She looked hard among the long lines
of books to find this one.
When they start talking about money,
when the day contains such long and hot places,
she will go inside.
An orange bed is waiting.
Story without corners.
She will have two families.
They will eat at different hours.
She is carrying a book past the fire station
and the five and dime.
What this town has not given her
the book will provide; a sheep,
a wilderness of new solutions.
The book has already lived through its troubles.
The book has a calm cover, a straight spine.
When the step returns to itself,
as the best place for sitting,
and the old men up and down the street
are latching their clippers,
she will not be alone.
She will have a book to open
and open and open.
Her life starts here.
From Fuel (Source: http://www.borderlands.org/webaudio/nye/libraries.html)
Healing notes
I have sat with this blank space, a cursor blinking, flood of emotions, so much pain for a while - because I don't know how to talk about healing right now. The past few weeks have been challenging, emotionally and physically. I am not sure how to respond to my body's needs. I have tried to listen (which has meant a lot of exhausted sleeping and eating whatever, whenever I can), keeping at bay any and all negative emotions and spend my time reading (ravenously holding onto other people's words). When the going gets hard, I try to remember the previous times I have responded with kindness. I repeat them. Like patterns I know well. Habits I should turn back to. Acting like these are my go to reactions. Not ones of anger, fear, insecurity. I have nothing wise to say this week? Except when I struggle, I don't know how else to respond but to turn inward.
What are your go to instincts? Are they destructive or helpful? Or a precarious balance of the two. If you travelled outside of yourself and watched your patterns carefully, what would you say? I write this, as am reflecting on mine.
Food experiments
Apricots are one of my obsessions thanks to living in Hyderabad and eating qubani ka meetha. Thankfully that one is a gluten free lactose free sweet too! When I began baking I was really curious to see what would happen to the apricots if they were baked. Internet if asked will provide you with anything (ask and the internet appears before you) and I was provided with a recipe that did not fail me. Promptly, I made the adjustments (almond flour removal) I usually make and below is the recipe!
Chocolate apricot cake
225gm of apricot
200gm of flour (any one you want)
6 eggs
200 gms sugar (whatever you have)
1 lemon
cinnamon sticks
25 gms cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
In a bowl of water (about 150 to 200 ml), cut the apricots up, add zest of lemon and lemon juice and cinnamon sticks. Bring to boil. Then simmer slowly for a while till soft. Remove cinnamon sticks before you puree this mixture. I used my mixie. Place aside till it cools.
Beat the eggs nicely. Add the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder. Finally add the apricot puree. Keep beating till a smooth mixture forms.
Transfer into a bowl after oiling sides. Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Bake for 40-50 minutes. Check with knife/skewer if done before removing the cake from oven.
For the icing I used:
Coconut milk
Cocoa powder + coffee powder
Apricots
Over a period of time I have learned to just use chocolate and coconut milk directly as icing. Heat it. Then pour over cooled down cake. Sprinkle cut up pieces of apricot. TADA!
Dear you,
Happy onset of monsoons or this period of more heat and more sweat?
Well, climate change I suppose. Sorry.
Lots of
love, kindness and warmth,
Nidsitis
'I’ve been circling for thousands of years and I still don’t know: Am I a falcon, a storm, or a great song?' - Rainer Maria Rilke