'Inhabit the verb'
Dear friend,
I wish to say so much to you for being here. But for now,
thank you. <3
Reading corner
Strategist
by Arundhathi Subramanium
The trick to deal
with a body under siege
is to keep things moving,
to be juggler
at the moment
when all the balls are up in the air,
a whirling polka of asteroids and moons,
to be metrician of the innards,
calibrating the jostle
and squelch of commerce
in those places where blood
meets feeling.
Fear.
Chill in the joints,
primal rheumatism.
Envy.
The marrow igloos
into windowlessness.
Regret.
Time stops in the throat.
A piercing fishbone recollection
of the sea.
Rage.
Old friend.
Ambassador to the world
that I am.
The trick is not to noun
yourself into corners.
Water the plants.
Go for a walk.
Inhabit the verb.
[Sourced from: https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/strategist/]
Healing notes
I have been reflecting on my ability to juggle things. I recently made an online board aka a to-do list to keep track of my fading memory; a way to keep on top of all my tasks, personal too. It has some really un-fun tasks that I have been forgetting to do for months like fold the growing pile of clothes. I titled it enthusiastically in the hope that I could juggle it all and marvellously tick things this week. Instead, I found myself not feeling well several times since the board came into existence. I like to crack the joke that illness schedules its naps without telling me - perhaps to calm my enthusiasm.
This past week was more about tasks dropped than tasks juggled. When a headache came, I couldn't do anything but sleep it off. When the crushing mood and pain arrived, I could only walk into my kitchen and bake with whatever ingredients I had. (Baking and healing are synonyms) In many ways, I am learning to live what I am reading in my books and realising why it is so hard to be present in the moment. Especially when the moment isn't a pleasant one.
Is the trick to keep moving? Is the trick to be still? Is the trick to calm my raging body? I suppose the trick is to keep listening to oneself. And take a lot of naps in between. What tricks do you have?
Food experiments
This cake is a gorgeous beauty. Really. It is rich and I am really proud of it. I have been baking for almost 10 months now. This cake is the culmination of recipes tried, recipes failed and something inside me knowing when consistency isn't terribly wrong? Gluten free cakes are still a mystery to me but this one wasn't entirely gluten free. I have been running out of ingredients for a while now but avoiding going to the big, bad super market nearby but I baked with whatever was there in my kitchen.
Pick me up walnut-almond-chocolate cake
2 Bananas
1 cup of flour (I used buckwheat + rye - hence not fully gluten free)
1/2 cup oats
4 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup coconut milk
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
Lots of chocolate
Lots of almond
Lots of walnuts
Rum (optional)
Mash the bananas in a bowl. Add the eggs and beat the two together till foamy. Add the sugar, oil and beat. Add the flour and oats to this mixture. Mix well. Finally add the cocoa powder, baking soda and baking powder. Mix till smooth. Add coconut milk last and mix and mix.
Top with chocolate, almonds and walnuts. And rum. Mix.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Oil a vessel and pour the batter into the vessel. Generously top with walnuts and chocolate scrapes. Bake for 35 minutes.
Photograph in natural sunlight. :D and then eat. I would suggest eating with ice cream if you are feeling decadent. I think the oats, the banana, walnuts add a lovely moist and decadence to the cake. Enjoy it on special occasions, or bad days :)
Dear you,
It is hot. I mean, hot. So I am not sending you'll warmth right now. I hope your
month has books, travels and cake.
Love and kindness,
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