Fly Fishing Is Sexy

This video by Felt Soul Media is by far one of the better movies I've seen of late. I wish the trailer captured it's brilliance (which would melt your face off), but it doesn't. Suffice it to say that the phrase "man carpet" is used in this fine film. Thank god. Someone had to do it.

The Tempering Influence Of Nature

"In short, it was glorious, beyond the contriving of nature or art alone, but possible only when they join forces, as happens when nature gives a final touch to man's accumulated and frequently senseless labour, lightening the heavy masses, eliminating a crudely-felt symmetry and man's unimaginative elaboration of it, through which peeps an undisguisedly naked design, nature imbuing with a miraculous warmth everything that was created in the cold light of calculated purity and precision."
-- Nikolai Gogol

A long sentence, to be sure, but good words to remember as I head into the field again (until August 18th) and even finer words to describe the art of Marlana Stoddard-Hayes who works by capturing the leavings of mushroom spores and Laura Gurton who finds her inspiration on a cellular level.

Abundance

I've begun eating fruits and vegetables. That's right-- veggies too.


This is what happens when you're almost 33 and you're me-- a revolution in your GI track. A number of factors have led me to finally embrace fresh plant matter as a viable food source:


1. Living with a veritable rabbit who munches on anything that's green and living like it's his job.


2. The advent of summer with its riotous gardens proclaiming, "Health!" Foremost among them is Annie's Butter Bean Greens-- a Northside outfit renown for its beetdowns, fresh-baked holler bread, and bicycle-delivered bounty.


3. Sandy, our wonderful local psychic, confirmed for me that my carbohydrates/fats/sugar diet wasn't working for my body. "Roughage," she said. "You need roughage."


4. As I aim to transition out of field work, I may have control of my diet for extended periods of time in the foreseeable future. This is exciting. Makes me want use my new-found power for good.


5. This food is simply too beautiful to ignore.


No --sigh-- these photos are not from Wyoming. The good people of Hither and Thither are kind enough to visit NYC farmers' markets and post droolworthy food shots for the rest of us.

See?

Us. That's you and me. Eating veggies.

It's a new world order.

The Deep End Of The Pool

I've been MIA of late because I've been busy treading water in the desert of my own fears.

Ridiculous you say? Tell me about it.

Thing is...

The overabundance of new blessings in my life has left me prone to the occasional meltdown. And by "occasional" I mean every couple of days.

They come in waves:

I'm grateful. I'm relaxed. I'm confident. Oh, and now I'm crying. In Evan's arms. Again. Reminds me of an article Amy passed on to me ages ago.

The latest trigger? Which couch to buy from Ikea.

I know. My life is very, very difficult.


Clouds passing in front of the sun. The name of this metaphorical cloud?


And the moral of this story?

It's o.k. It really is.

So exhale. Relax. Enjoy.

The Hunger

The artist Cal Lane reminded me today to keep the work of life beautiful.


To let go of my hunger to force the doing, to rush the process.


To cultivate the foodstuffs yielded by serendipity, trust, and attention to present joys.

Those that sate the appetite.