7/6/2014 Activities and Abilities... Fresh Summer Produce... Getting Things Done! ... The Kindness of Others

11:30 am

Oh, today began so nicely! I got up in time to get coffee and dress and take a jaunt to the Farmer's Market just up the street about 20 blocks. 

Being able to hop in the car with a few bucks cash in my pocket, stroll around the place smelling the sweet ftuity and herbaceous summer smells and pick up fresh organic produce is a thing I have missed for SO long! Sunday Mornings are special again! 

I love that crowd, and waiting until a little later in the morning to get deals on organic produce - "mix and match stone fruits - $1 a pound!" "Bags of basil - $1!" "Hierloom Tomatoes - $3 a pound!" and the chance to get a few green tomatoes and fry them up - a summertime delicacy! 

I spent $9 for - tomatoes, apricots, white nectarines (One of my favorite foods on this earth!) with a juicy purple plum thrown in by the vendor to even out a pound, fresh basil, and crook-neck squash. deilcious, fresh-picked this morning, and so much less expensive than at any market in town, even if I weren't buying organic. 

Breakfasts and lunches will be full of ripe, juicy fruit this week, and dinner will be full of gorgeous veggies! Steamed, stir-fied, raw in a salad... 

Having this ability back in my life is one of the best things, and I have missed it terribly. Occasionally good friends would bring me something I asked for, but it is not anywhere the same as strolling among the crowds, smelling the scents, and looking for what is the best, nicest deal and suits my palate, and bringing home a big, beautiful bag of delights! 

Then, the ability to be in the kitchen and prepare them into gorgeous, nutritious meals to just keep my health continuing up and up, healing and getting stronger all the time - this is one of the fine blessings of life. 

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3:00 pm

A lovely brunch of sauteed veggies scrambled with eggs and a bit of cheese and a couple of thoses apricots and toast has been made and eaten 

Then, as I listened to The Splendid Table on NPR, I put in 20 minutes on the exercycle! 

THEN - pushed my sewing table (which has sat in the livingroom for about a year and a half, making the room smaller and more cluttered!) into the spare room.  Hurrah! Instantly roomier and tidier. Even tossed the first two of the 6 items of six today for my unclutter challenge! 

I like the way this day is going! :) 

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Bedtime

I didn't get my walk, but things got done! dinner for the next three days is cooked and in the fridge, I made absolutely perfect fried green tomatoes with tonight's dinner! It's about a once- a year thing for me, when tomatoes are coming ripe so quickly that the farmers pick some green ones to bring to the market. egg wash, seasoned cornmeal / flour mixture, fry 'em up - eat 'em while they're still crisp and warm. THe tang of the tomato is bright and delicious. 

I found a lovely little video online tonight about a gentleman who has Leukemia. He walks his dogs every day with his wife in their neighborhood. As his health has weakened him, his neighbors noticed him staying behind as his wife went off with the dogs - so, they put a chair in the yard, "For Charlie, or anyone else who might need a rest. Others saw the chairs, and added more all around the neighborhood. Now he can take his dogs for a walk again. 

I remember a time when I spend every moment on my feet just desperate for the next chair to "perch" and "recharge'.  Standing and walking were so painful. It was the worst in Spring of '13 when I was rehearsing  the world premier of a new musical version of the story, "A Little Princess" at one of our professional theatres. Rehearsals involve a lot of standing and waiting. I would grab a chair for the at-rest moments, but then we'd start moving, and there it was, across the stage, and in everyone's way. It was embarrassing and so tough, 

But none of those actors or stage crew - professionals - ever once behaved in any but the most kind and supportive way. So, I know what Charlie in the video felt like.  All the kindnesses along the way were what held me up - sometimes literally, in the case of the aactors and crew who would help me up backstage, every singe time I needed to stand up and make an entrance, and onstage in the scenes with one beautiful young woman, Tyler. each time we were in close proximity, she would work in an appropriate reason to take my hands - and then she would LIFT up to give me physical support and take a little of the weight off of my dying hip joints. Amazing. 

I would never have known about this kind of help if I had never had this experience. It wasn't fun. Oooh boy it was AWFUL. But the things I learned about love, kindness, patience and generosity in people actually made it worth it. 

Plus - NEW HIPS. 

I think I was a couple of items low ion the total Toss It list for 6... though I just tossed  a couple more small things, so, between beating the quota in the first several days and today's count, i think I made it! 

Late shower - it's been a hot, busy day, and I just couldn't wait til morning.