Yesterday was Mabon, the Equinox and the first day of Autumn, when my mind turns to all things harvest! It’s my favorite time of year and I love putting my boots back on, slow cooking meals and treating myself to the flavors of the season, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and allspice. The exception to this rule is coffee…I still don’t get pumpkin spice lattes! I apologize to those of you who love this thing but I find it cloying, over the top and the ruination of a good cup of coffee. However, never say never, every season I make a brave attempt at trying to enjoy this seasonal favorite. This morning, I found myself with nothing to do, having had an appointment canceled at the last minute. I was at the edge of the Olympic Village and thought, “there must be a way, let’s try it again”. I ordered it half sweet (a suggestion by a colleague), extra hot, with an extra shot of espresso, for good measure, no whip and extra cinnamon sprinkled on top. Huh, not bad, not bad at all…not too sweet, milk nice and creamy, the bitterness of the extra shot overriding the syrup and the cinnamon giving subtle warmth and the scent of autumn in a cup. I sat, looking out at False Creek and considering how important it is to balance flavors for food to be truly great. That’s just a full on life truth, though, isn’t it?!
The equinox itself is a time of balance, the light is fading but the darkness has yet to take over and the seasons teeter in a precarious balance, equal parts night and day, summer and fall. It is also Libra season, the sign of the scales. It only takes being slightly out of alignment to send the scales tipping in the other direction. I think most of us struggle with this on the regular, maybe not always but we live in a constant state of trying to right the scales when life has become, inevitably, out of balance. I think I’m getting better at finding a middle ground. It’s taken me the better part of my 56 years to find it but I’m pretty good at it these days. It occurred to me this morning, though, that I need to amend my last post…I needed a friend (thanks, Katie H.!) to make me realize that I actually had a really great and very productive summer after all! “To Do”…what does that really mean? How much “doing” is necessary and how can we weigh one person’s experience next to our own and try to determine if ours is better or worse? Honestly, maybe it isn’t really necessary at all. So, let’s recap the summer based on the concept of balance and equilibrium.
The first thing I’m really proud about is completing “The Summer of Carrots” cooking and nutrition challenge. No, I didn’t eat carrots all summer! Carrots is a name given to me by my trainer, coach and friend Daria (you can follow her at @mealsformuscles on instagram). She knew I was bored with my eating regime and that leads to poor nutrition choices and that is always detrimental to my sleep, training and energy. She created a summer calendar of challenges designed to break me out of the mundane and up the creativity of my cooking. I made my own pickles, designed meals based around beet hummus and raspberries, attempted a week of 100 grams of protein a day (which is actually really hard to do!) and created new egg based meals. It really gave me back my cooking mojo and I started to enjoy having a goal each week to “meet”. I am, after all, that guy, I love having “homework”. Still, one cannot live on salad alone! Sometimes you just need the ice cream or the frosty cider after the hot hike. Again, it’s a balancing act, I want to be healthy and strong and see the results of my training but life is for living and food makes me happy. I feel good about where I am these days, balanced between health and enjoyment. Bring on Autumn of Carrots!
I actually made a lot of art! I didn’t really remember it because it always just seems like second nature for me to make. It took Katie saying, “You did more this summer than anyone I know” to realize that I actually was reasonably prolific this summer, especially in the beginning of August. I have fallen in love with the forest floor and all the things that grow there. Many of the shots I took over the autumn and spring were fodder for paintings, pastels and doodles in pen and ink over the summer. Other people go to the beach, I stay inside, where it’s cool, and make things! A couple of the drawings were so large that they took a couple days of intense working and focus. I’m proud of the color and the texture of them and they make me happy when I look at them! Always, following really focused periods of creating, I need a break…a long walk, maybe a movie and chill, a place where I don’t have to think for a bit. I think that’s a pretty balanced place, between tasks there needs to be rest, recharging. Part of recharging is “filling the well”, especially because school and teaching follows summer and my mind and spirit need to be good to go if I am going to have the energy to teach and inspire teenagers.
I did fill my well! I opened my eyes in my hood by walking the unbeaten, less habitual path. I investigated the gardens, harvested herbs, chased sunrise on the sea wall and listened to the quiet of the city before the hustle and bustle of the day. I jumped in my little car, last minute and went solo adventuring on the Sunshine Coast. I beachcombed, drove winding highways to epic climbs and spent afternoons researching the best food, drink and sites of each area. I slept a lot! I think I needed it, sometimes you just do. I read three novels, I’m now reading before bed each night instead of watching tv…I forgot how much I love falling into a good book! I followed the road trip rules and sat at the bar, talked to the locals and met good people with things to say. I stopped for the weird stuff, the bakery in the middle of the woods, the garden of little altars at the bottom of a dead end road, the pirate shack on the beach, built by the beachcombers before me. It felt good to be out and about with me as my company, free to come and go as I please and I think I learned a few things too!
So, I guess that’s it, which is quite a lot! No, I didn’t travel to another continent and eat exotic food and see the tombs of the ancient or discover new cultures but that doesn’t mean that I did nothing. It also doesn’t mean that my life or experiences are any less than than anyone else’s. This, in itself, is a sort of balance, understanding that what I do isn’t nothing just because it doesn’t resemble someone else’s something…it’s a mind set, a realization that I came to over a pumpkin spice latte this morning. My life needs to be equal parts work and play, eating clean and having the fatty/sweet stuff, training and work and rest and creating and filling the well again. It took a long time to get here and it is a constant negotiation, because that’s life! I’m still not sold on the pumpkin spice latte though!
