The holiest of all holidays are those
Kept by ourselves in silence and apart;
The secret anniversaries of the heart.
~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Many thanks to Tracy at Seasons Flow, for permission to use the above photograph, found on the Late Nesters post of October 1, 2001. When I first saw this touching picture of a mother mourning dove and her squab it warmed my heart and filled me with joy. Today I have a perfect opportunity to use it – in memory of my mother, who would have been eighty years old today. I miss her still.
The vegan adventure continues, although it’s been challenging not being able to chop vegetables or lift heavy pots and pans while my hand is on the mend. And it turns out that I also cracked a rib when I fell two weeks ago… (Finally decided to check things out with a doctor.) Six more weeks expected for everything to heal…
We had an encouraging surprise from Tim’s brother, the one who just had a heart attack in September. After doing some of his own research he’s also decided to become a vegetarian, so we may get a meat-free Thanksgiving after all!
And this weekend we found a local Asian cuisine restaurant. Tim had the Vegetable Delight with steamed tofu, and he ate it, all of it. I wasn’t sure I could believe my eyes!
Hi. ‘the secret anniversaries of the heart’… I certainly have these, some of them surprising to me after all these years. Jane
It is often surprising which moments we remember annually and which ones we lose track of…
Hi,
I agree a lovely photo.
My Mother too passed away many years ago, I don’t think the feeling of lose ever leaves you.
I’m sorry to hear your hand is still not better, it must be very hard to do a lot of things that we normal take for granted.
Thanks, Mags. I think you’re right, that feeling of loss lingers and resurfaces now and then…
Yeah, I’m chafing at the bit here, trying to patient and let my healing system do its job. Yesterday my daughter-in-law’s sister came over and cleaned the house for me and I am ever so grateful for her wonderful act of kindness!
Thanks for sharing Blog Action Day with me this year by visiting; and through that, leading me to this beautiful blog of your own. I am blessed in the discovering. At this time, I am not consistently active, nor do I have enough time to visit the numerous blogs of friends . . . maybe that will come with time.
Thank you for your kind words, Deb… A visit from you is always appreciated, no matter how infrequent!
What is Blog Action Day, I wonder?
Thank you–blessings as you remember your mother, and prayers for your full recovery. Wonderful to see this photo of Tracy’s again. Ellen
Thank you, Ellen, for your warm wishes and for visiting my blog. Tracy’s photos are awe-inspiring, aren’t they?
Such a beautiful soft photo. How nice that you are honoring the memory of your mother by posting it here. We ate mostly vegan (mostly macrobiotic) for years and grew to love it. We are less exclusive these days, but still like mostly vegan meals. Let me know if you find a cookbook that you love.
I’ve been reading the fascinating macrobiotic cookbook Jeff recommended. Since I love using my slow cookers, I also bought “Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker” by Robin Robertson. We tried the Slow Beans Bourguignon and LOVED it! It’s got red kidney beans, pearl onions, white mushrooms, baby carrots, thyme and red wine, among other things. Made some brown rice to go with it. It was wonderful smelling it cook all day long!
What a beautiful, touching tribute to your mother Barbara. Thanks for sharing. Also, I wish you a speedy recovery. Nonetheless, that is very exciting news about Tim and his brother! It’s great when family supports each other. I’m just real happy for all of you. Believe me, a meat-free Thanksgiving can be divine!
Thank you for your kind words and well wishes, Donna. I saw a recipe on the NPR website for a carved out pumpkin filled with a root vegetable stew that I thought looked like a great substitute for the turkey centerpiece! I’d love to know what is on the menu for your meat-free Thanksgivings!
I hope you recover soon Barbara, its been quite sometime now. I liked the picture, its very soothing and soft. Oh great to hear that Tim liked tofu. When I find little time, ill forward some Indian recipes across to you. Next week, festival is approaching (Festival of Lights) and ill be travelling back home. Lets see what mum makes special for food and ill share some ideas from her to you 🙂
I would like it if you would forward some of the recipes to me, too, Sonali, pretty please!
Oh yes Kathy, for sure I will 🙂
Thank you, Sonali. We got our train tickets for our yearly trip to Virginia for Thanksgiving and I hope my hand will be recovered enough by then to carry my bags… I hope you have a great trip back to visit your family for the Festival of Lights and I’ll be looking forward to trying a recipe from your mum!
Barbara, it is always a delight to read your blog! I have awarded you with The Liebster Blog Award. The details are on my blog. Have a wonderful weekend!
Thank you, Donna! And thank you for thinking enough of my blog to honor it with an award – I deeply appreciate the thought and also the kind words you used to describe it on your post. However, it’s my policy not to accept awards that have all sorts of requirements involved in accepting them – they seem so much like chain letters to me. And I dislike having to choose one blog over another because I love all the blogs I’ve put on my blogroll!!! I hope you’ll understand!
You’re very welcome Barbara! By the way, I wholeheartedly agree with you! I was honored to receive the award too, but it was very tough to have to “pick and choose” other blogs to nominate for the award. I’ve thought about putting a “widget” on my blog to let people know that I will no longer be accepting awards. It’s not that I’m not honored about receiving them. It just requires me to make tough choices, which I do not like to do. So, you may see a widget on my blog soon. Anyway, I love your blog with “or” without awards. Thanks so much for responding back to me.
Phew! I’m relieved that you understand how I feel and that you feel the same way yourself. Sometimes I wonder if, as a culture, we place too much emphasis on awards in school so that we grow up always hungry for more and more of that form of validation. It’s more rewarding, in my opinion, to do things simply for the joy of it rather than turning everything into a competition…
Guess what Barbara? I put my “widget” on my blog yesterday!
It looks great, Donna, and is very tactfully worded!
Secret anniversaries of the heart – I like that.
Thanks, Paul. 🙂