Christmas letter 2013
December 21, 2013
Recipe
for a simple, country life
1 teaching position 300
metres from the house with 20 wacky pubescent students
1 retired partner who keeps
the house and yard running smoothly
1 bushel of daily exercise
(walks, bike rides, swims, kayaking, skiing, snowshoeing, gardening)
1 very plump cat named
Souris (Mouse)
1 old house which we have
finally finished renovating from top to bottom
A collection of musical
instruments and books
Lots of time to spend reading,
writing, making music, cooking, dreaming or laughing with friends and family
All is well in Montebello. I’m into slow living from slow
food to slow travel. I prepare all of my own vegetarian food. I’ll still eat
meat when dining in someone’s home or when entertaining carnivores but I prefer
to get my protein in other ways. Books by John Robbins such as “Healthy at 100”
and “Diet for a New America” and “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle” by Barbara Kingsolver,
“You can be happy (and it’s cheap)” by Tammy Strobel and blogs such as “Zen
Habits” by Leo Babauta influenced me to make definite changes in my eating and
spending habits, most of which had been slowly coming for years now. (Jacques has
not joined me on this journey but, hey, as long as we are both healthy and
happy that’s all that counts, right?)
A few other books which influenced my mindset this
year were Michael A. Singer’s “Untethered Soul”, Brené Brown’s “Daring Greatly”
and “The Gifts of Imperfection”. I’m striving to have a mindful approach to
life and also one of gratitude. For years now, I’ve woken up at least an hour
early to read and write. I start off by writing at least 3 pages of whatever
comes to mind and also about things for which I am grateful. The TV only gets
turned on when Jacques gets up. I love my quiet time and it helps ground me to
be the kind of teacher that I strive to be: one who smiles a lot and who is
more inclined to laugh and help clean up mishaps than to scold. So I guess that
I also lean towards slow schooling. I give kids time to read and write in class
for pure pleasure. Time to be curious, to wonder and to search for their own
answers. I don’t overload them with homework. We take time to learn how to raise
and care for miracles as small as monarch butterflies. Time to walk in the
woods and identify trees and plants. And the latest test of my patience? Letting
them build and program their own robots with thousands of pieces of Lego all
over the classroom floor this past week. They loved it! Despite my computer savyness,
I hadn’t a clue about what they were doing and resorted to acting like a kindly
grandmother who could only nod and encourage their efforts.
Last year, I read over 50 books. I kept a list of all
of the books I read this year, but I refrained from counting lest it be
addictive. I developed a tendency towards O.C.D. in the last few years and I’m
battling my way through it. I recently
stopped counting laps in the pool. I dive into the pool, swim or flop around
for awhile and climb out when my mind feels settled. For years, I listened to
monks singing Gregorian chants in order to drift off to sleep, then I switched
to listening to CBC podcasts, then I switched to counting down from 100 in
English and occasionally in a foreign language which did nothing to slow down
my mind. Lately, I’ve decided to just breathe, be thankful and drift off.
A while back, I had visions of writing and seeing my
work published some day. I even took courses and workshops and wrote some stuff
which I felt good about: short stories, poems and a couple of unfinished
novels. I think that I wrote myself into a corner with my middle grade novel. I
wanted to write something wonderful and beautiful like Bridge to Terabithia by
Katherine Paterson. Unfortunately, I am not ruthless enough to be a good novel writer
because I love my main characters too much to even put them near danger or to
have anything remotely awful happen to them. Consequently, after a promising
start, my middle sagged and nothing much was happening in the way of plot. I’ve
put the story on a shelf for now. I wrote an unfinished adult novel a couple of
years ago. In that one, I managed to have the awful thing happen right in the
first line of the book. Being poor at decision making in real life, the variety
of options in an imaginary world are much too overwhelming for me. I don’t
think that I have the stamina to write something as ambitious as a novel.
Having the attention of a fruit fly doesn’t help either. I am most suited to
writing poems and songs because they are quick and focused like a lens zooming
in on a specific situation, emotion, place or time. My best work usually gushes
out of me with little need for prodding or tweaking. So much for slow writing.
Thanks to my best friend, Susy, I discovered the joys
of tent camping this past July on the shores of my beloved St-Lawrence River.
We had grand ideas of driving to P.E.I. by the way of Fundy and back within a week
before changing plans on day 2 due to a bit of an anxiety episode in the
parking lot at a Tim Horton’s near the New Brunswick border. My buddy is the
best sport ever and we turned the car around and drove aimlessly along the 132
and the St-Lawrence. No reservations. No schedule. I really enjoyed what turned
into a nowhere trip. We slept meters away from the shore and enjoyed some
spectacular sunsets.
Ugh! I just re-read myself. A lot like me, me, me, my,
my, my. I’ll tell you about Jacques. He is well. His routine changes even less
than mine, but it works for him. He hums and haws about what he might eat for
supper as soon as he gets up. He refuses to eat any of my rabbit food. So, he’s
at the local grocery store as soon as it opens at 8 am and grabs something to
cook for his supper. He goes to the gym and lift weights for an hour. Then, it’s
on to the local bar and sips a diet coke from 9 to 10 am and then again from 3 to
4 pm. (A couple of summers ago, two girlfriends and I went away to Kamouraska
to enjoy the good cycling in that region. We stayed at a tiny motel attached to
the local watering hole. The same old guys were at the bar or on the patio at
specific times throughout the day. It could have been Jacques and his lot.) He
also walks or rides his bike religiously after lunch and supper. When he is not
taking care of the house, the cars, the yard, me, or Souris, he is watching
home renovation channels, golf, American football, car races or all day broadcasts
of the Charbonneau Commission. (Quebec being renown for its political scandals,
commissions of inquiry have become our equivalent of getting into TV series
such as Lost or Downton Abbey).
I started off this letter with a recipe and I’ll end
it with one too. If you are reading this Christmas letter you are most likely
too far away for me to deliver my TV snacks Christmas package. Mom used to make
this recipe and I’ve kept up the tradition.
Oven set at 225 F
On stove top, melt ½ cup of
butter, 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire, 1 teaspoon of Tobasco sauce, 2
tablespoons of garlic powder, 1 tablespoon of onion powder, and 1 ½ teaspoons
of celery seeds. Combine in roasting pan with 1 box of Cheerios, 1 box of
Shreddies, 500 grams of salted peanuts and a medium size bags of pretzels. Roast
for 90 minutes. Stir occasionaly, try not to eat the whole batch before you can
share with friends.
Wishing you and your loved one hope, health, love,
friendship, family, courage, peace of mind and peace on earth,
Julia and Jacques
posted by Queenbeabea | 6:11 PM
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