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Healthy Eating - A Memorable Lunch

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Category: Friends and Family

My neighbor, Jody, transformed part of her front yard into an organic vegetable garden. Two rectangles about 15’ x 6” bounded by wood framing are devoted to her “farmette”. The median between her sidewalk and the street has wooden supports for the tiny tomato plants that are starting to reach for the sky. I walk past her house at least twice a day and sometimes four when I walk my dog, Winston. (He actually should take up more space in this blog because he is a co therapist in my practice as well as a friend in my life.)  Jody, who loves Winston (everybody does), and I chat when her gardening time and my Winston walks coincide. I love gardening too, but my garden is flowers, bushes, trees and citrus. Yesterday, a golden spring day, brisk, clear and filled with gorgeous scents, Jody and I talked, she from her garden and me from the sidewalk with Winston in tow. (He’s what I am starting to call a "Corgier”. Trans. Mixture of Corgi and Terrier. 27 pounds of gold and white shaggy energy, proud curled up tail, big brown eyes and a grin that lets everyone know he’s looking at the bright side.) Jody and I spoke of gardens, of the scent of her sweet peas, and the scent of my jasmine, honeysuckle and orange blossoms exploding in my garden. She asked if I’d like a bouquet of sweet peas. I responded, “Yes, There’s no other possible response to that question.” She cut about a dozen flowers and before she gave them to me asked, “Would you like me to cut you some greens for a salad?” “Yes, please. That would wonderful.” She said, “You can go on with your walk while I cut them. I’ll have them for you when you get back.” I said, “I want to watch you cut them. That’s part of the wonderfulness.” She smiled. I smiled. Winston continued smiling, but by now was lying down realizing our walk was at a pause. In a small brown paper bag Jody tenderly placed red romaine, sorrel, radicchios, cilantro, green lettuce, spinach and fresh sweet peas. She laid the red, purple, white and pink flowers on top. She presented me with this gift that was full of beauty, caring and natural wonder. I felt the life energy of the soil that nourished and supported the growth of these living things that were full of the nutrients for life. I felt the life energy of this woman who made the potential manifest. I felt and thought about how all life supports all life. I thought about how all life must feed on life and how we humans need to embrace this fact with our hearts as well as our minds. I thought of the giving generous nature of soil and I thought, It’s about love. It’s about life loving life and offering our lives to one another for the benefit of all with no demarcation about species or form. Feelings given words and validated by the blooming spring day continued. We humans need to expand our awareness of what actually is alive. The love and ongoing generosity of life giving to life includes the life force of air, sea, sun, moon, rock and stone. We need to cherish, honor and respect it all for healthy life and healthy eating to be possible. My lunch from that salad was exquisite – an all encompassing experience in healthy eating.

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