If Music be the Food of Love, Play On: June 2009

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Follow Where Your Heart Leads You

Some days are just like the rest. The chores, the errands, the work and little details of nothingness that someone can't live without. But what happens when a little glimpse of something else sneaks into your head, through all that busy stuff? A flash of an image that just doesn't seem to belong but it is too enchanting to ignore. This happened to me in early March as I spent the afternoon pushing many piles of paper around my desk. The words "I saw you today out of the corner of my eye" just amplified in a loud but pleasant voice. I couldn't ignore it. I scribbled the words on a little scrap of paper and added it to one of the piles. It snuggled its way into the folds, not to be revealed again until Easter weekend. And eventually these words spilled into a poem, leading the first stanza. I am not a poet. I am not a writer. But a feeling compelled me to seize the day and do something completely different. Just live in the moment. Live in the heart.

I SAW YOU TODAY OUT OF THE CORNER OF MY EYE

I saw you today out of the corner of my eye,
strolling the market and discerning the bounty.
You would graze your hand over the colourful foods,
gauging their scents for your next great creation.

I watched very quietly, wanting to approach you.
I longed for your friendship that has faded to past.
Your dark eyes glistened and would dance with sly laughter
and your black hair flirted round the strength of your jaw.

We once talked like sisters about our uncertainties
on how to raise children in these fast moving times.
But our lives have been keeping us so far apart
where I can remember they were once intertwined.

The time that has past holds so many dark secrets
which might just explain our drifting connection.
I know you know lonely since you’ve been there before.
But do you know my lonely? I think it’s the same.

You snatch up a garlic and a basket of romas,
a fresh bunch of basil and some wild pungent onions.
Oh to be at your table tonight for this banquet
For that intimate moment breaking bread with close friends.

Friday, June 12, 2009

Food Indulgence with Knowledge - Can The Ottawa Citizen Help?

By the time we are old enough to enjoy food indulgence without a care to budget, we realize we are old enough that we need to do this indulgence with thoughtfulness. Our doctor is after us about the extra pounds, the cholesterol creeping up, as well as the blood-pressure and hypertension. Making smart food choices and pacing the indulgence means being vigilant to understanding what we consume - all the time. Lately I have enjoyed reading the blog of Yoni Freedhoff called Weighty Matters.
http://bmimedical.blogspot.com
Here is a particular post he has asked his readership to share around the nation's capital in a plea to have the local paper, The Ottawa Citizen, take his interest in nutrition analysis seriously and responsibly as they share their many great food recipes with their readership.
http://bmimedical.blogspot.com/2009/06/ottawa-citizen-nutrition-watch-week-4.html

Needing A Few Books for Your Summer Read List?

I can't say enough about how enjoyable the February, March, April book club meetings were where we delved into The Deptford Trilogy by Robertson Davies. We read the books in order starting with Fifth Business, then The Manticore and finished with World of Wonders. If anyone is stuck for a summer read program, the trilogy won't let you down.

McKellar Park's Traffic Dilemmas

I have come to realize that maybe this blog is a good way to keep in touch with the community issues that affect us too. And so the theme of the blog grows and tries to find its way.

There has been much said about the traffic volumes that are rising in such established neighbourhoods as McKellar Park. Homeowners are becoming uneasy at the unneighbourliness of cut through traffic as drivers look for the most efficient route to reach their destination. Main thoroughfares are not serving them as they would like, so traffic is spilling into residential areas. Recently, frustrated neighbours took matters into their own hands to deal with the intersection at Windermere and Crossfield, which T's into a large community park. This recently made the local paper since the city was quick to notice the new non-city installed stop signs.
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/tragedy+waiting+happen/1660182/story.html
The signs have since been removed and the local councillor, Christine Leadman, is looking to find a solution between her constituents and those who serve the city's directives - our municipal workers.

If this topic is of interest to you, consider attendng the public meeting being hosted by Ms. Leadman on June 24th at Dovercourt Recreation Centre at 7 pm.

In a recent flyer circulating from Leadman's office about the meeting, it says, "City staff, with Councillor Leadman will be on-hand to speak about the situation currently being experienced regarding the stop signs placed at the intersection of Crossfield and Windermere. The signs have been taken down and the City is looking at posting city-sanctioned ones. Staff will provide all the necessary information about this process and the public will be given the opportunity to ask questions."

2nd Annual Rampfest

Recently we attended the 2nd Annual Rampfest up in Lanark County. It was a private gathering of Ottawa's finest food lovers - mainly members of a local cooking club and also some of their good chef friends here in town. What an afternoon. I tell you this only so you can salivate over the many uses of ramps and if this word is new to you, hopefully you will take a read on the Internet about this fine wild leek. Here is the menu we enjoyed.

*** APPETIZERS ***