The Contradiction of the Orange.

This time of year I bake with oranges a lot. Oranges are in season, plump and juicy and fragrant. I enjoy the meditative chopping of orange peel for candying, and the spray of oil from the peel of a fresh orange. I love the taste. And the scent of an orange stuck with cloves hanging over the stove...

Oranges fulfill my winter need for sunniness, glowing in the glass bowl on the table, perfuming my kitchen, swirling zesty through the center of the saffron orange sweet buns on Yule morning.

It bemuses and pleases me that this sun-ripe citrus is at its best in the darkest coldest times. It is a coincidence of place and palate that never fails to make me smile.

On Today

Today I have created some order out of some chaos. Today I have read poetry to my daughter. Today I have filled my kitchen with the scent of oranges and cranberries as I bake. Today I have rested. Today I have knit, making progress on a hat that will warm my husband in the cold.

Today is a good day.

On Illness

Illness imposes luxury on us - the luxury of sleep, of sunlight across the bed at hours we are normally up and busy. The luxury of being cared for - brought toast made by a child, given a cold drink that someone went out and got just for you. The luxury of time to think slowly - indeed, illness often forces us to think slowly by stealing away the energy needed for panic and worry.

I am never happy to be ill, but I find that it isn't not impossible to be happy while ill.

Five things

Sun hot tomatoes

the scent of lemon

knitting quietly at night

friendship

chamomile tea at bedtime

Harvest

The first harvest of tomatoes is in - five twee cherry tomatoes, three yellow and two red.
The deliciousness of summer distilled into a single sweet explosive bite.

Today is a good day.

Happiness

I believe that there are two kinds of happiness -- a deep soul happiness that allows you to live with quiet contentedness even through the hard times, and a welling joy that is most often lured out by outside events.

When you have that deep soul happiness, it is much easier for that welling joy to appear in your life.

I think that often people become confused, and believe that the welling joy is the only kind of happiness there is. Perhaps because the deep soul happiness is so rare that we do not know how to recognize it.

On Today

Today the first tomato came in. Today I made tabouli, a food I love beyond reason or speech to tell.

Today my daughter snuggled on my lap under a gaudy neon sunset and we sang 'Well done, Sister Suffragette' to each other.

Today I have played, and worked, and taught, and learned and laughed.

Today is a good day.