Plans

I'm leaving Maryland August 16th and will pull a trailer with my truck back to the St. Louis area where my younger sister (and two nieces) and younger brother live. Plan to give away my dining room table and other things to them; that will allow me to drive the rest of the way to Colorado without a trailer. Will stay a week or more in Colorado to see my daughter, repack, and get rid of items in my storage unit (home to get a smaller unit). Hoping to visit the San Francisco Zen Center before traveling to Kyoto for the fall.

Tea Brack

Baked Tea Brack (aka Irish Freckle Bread) again; this time in a 9" round. I love this bread; its easy and a great comfort food. Would be great in cold months too. The combination of dates, prunes, and raisons makes for a very moist, fruity bread. The Irish-style wholemeal flour gives it a unique and substantive body but not too dense. This time I remembered to add a sparkling sugar topping. Made two batches; gave one to the Buddhist center and the other to the club where I work out/swim. Too dangerous to keep this tasty bread at home:)

Lifestyle

Recent conversations with my sisters stimulated reflection about lifestyle. Two years ago, my journey began with an intent to dramatically and irreversibly altering my lifestyle. I’ve achieved this goal; however, until now, I hadn’t given much thought to how dramatically different my new lifestyle is from that of my family, or for that matter, others. Change can be somewhat disconcerting for family and friends; imagine seeing someone you haven’t been in contact with for a year or so only to discover the person doesn’t remotely resemble your memory. 

My previous western lifestyle was pretty typical of the time period; grew up in a stable, two parent home, followed by 20 years of formal education, followed by a 30+ year professional career, and including marriage, a child, and lots of material possessions. I lived in traditional western homes for extended periods - first with my parents and later with my family or on my own. I spent much of my life dwelling in the past, worrying about the future, comparing myself to others, and striving for everything I thought I lacked. Looking back on this lifestyle, its easy to see why I was searching for material happiness. And its understandable that my sisters (and others) might view my current lifestyle, of living in the present, as strange. I have no regrets and to be clear, I’m not saying my new lifestyle is better compared to my previous lifestyle or better than anyone else’s lifestyle. It just is.

One aspect of my new lifestyle that worries my sisters is ridding myself of most of my worldly possessions. Their reaction is understandable; but, my previous zealous pursuit of material happiness never resulted in the happiness I now feel in retirement with significantly fewer possessions.

Lifestyle is a choice. This simple statement might elicit a “Duh!” from many readers, and maybe I’m slow:), but its only recently that I’ve actively chosen how to live - liberating!

Book Review - Taking the Path of Zen by Robert Aitken

This is a good introduction to Zen including practical guidance on meditation. I found the chapter on "Establishing the Practice" particularly relevant as I'm looking for a Rōshi to further my practice. The author is adept at explaining the complexities of Zen Buddhism to the lay person.

Zen Studies

Options for where to go/what to do after leaving Maryland include furthering my Zen studies; this could include a trip to Japan. Doing research now:)

Greek Kasha Salad

Found a great recipe for Kasha (buckwheat groats) on Whole Food’s recipe App. BTW, although I’m not a big App fan, this App is helpful to find recipes based on typing in 1 or more items you want to cook with; I just typed in Kasha and this and several other recipes came up. Sometimes I just search the recipes to give me ideas about what spices and other ingredients might go well with a particular item and then make up my own recipe.

With 1c green lentils, kasha, and feta cheese, this is a protein-rich vegetarian entree. Other ingredients include:

• 3tbs olive oil
• 1 bay leaf (cooked with lentils)
• 1 sliced shallot
• 1 minced garlic clove 
• 1/3c chopped pitted Kalamata olives
• 3tbs chopped oregano
• 1 chopped tomato
• 2 sliced green onions
• 2tbs chopped flat parsley
• sea salt and pepper
• 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese

The lentils require the most time but after they cool and drain, putting together this dish only took about 15 minutes; the kasha cooks quickly. Serve at room temperature or chilled; I prefer the former but chilling is nice for those hot summer days. This dish would really benefit from fresh, home-grown tomatoes:)

Control

Lately, I've realized how much I like to control things. This desire to control was stronger as a working professional but its still there. I expended a lot of effort trying to control things beyond my  control and less effort focused on things within my control. As I write this, I'm aware of feelings of regret of time wasted and a tinge of judging, but then as I come bak to the present, I smile:)