Signing Off

Fresh pears in late fall from the kitchen orchard

Arugula from the garden

Roasting vegetables -- one of my favorite preparations

I won't address this last blog posting to Steve and Winnie since my thoughts of them and internal dialogue with them will never really end.  When I started writing the blog last year, I said to myself, "Do this for one year or 52 times -- whichever comes first."  Well, here is the 52nd posting.  

When I started with the posts, I was looking for a way to express the many thoughts AND questions I had about the satisfactions of eating fresh organic food, trying to live simply, cooking at home, growing a garden, etc.  These reflections increasingly contributed to a growing lifestyle model that brought a richness of experience, a sense of self reliance and an opportunity for learning.  And perhaps most importantly as it has turned out over the year -- a way of living that strives to keep things simple and real when I can hardly understand the subprime mortgage crisis and why our greatest national satisfaction turned into shopping and buying things that most likely we cannot afford.  Anyway, it all seemed related and connected to me, and I had the desire to understand what brought the greatest satisfaction.

I don't really have new thoughts to add.  Not even sure who has read this beyond a few friends.  I never could figure out the "Comments" logistics, but would be happy to hear from anyone with a comment at dmricheson@mac.com.  

As far as food and health goes, no one puts it better or more simply than Michael Pollan on the cover of In Defense of Food.

Eat food.  Not too much.  Mostly plants.

If you think of the garden as a metaphor for life, no one puts it better than Alan Chadwick.

The garden makes the gardener.  (Not the other way around)

If you think of an overall philosophy about a deeply satisfying life, it is hard to beat William Coperthwaite in A Handmade Life.  He passes on this wonderful advice:

To require little is better capital than to earn much.  The need to earn much enslaves us,     while the ability to do with little makes us free.

Well, that about sums it up from the point of view of one person -- looking to discover.

Take care.  Donna