Tag Archives: Slow Food

The Road to Diamond, Day 226: Through A Synchronous Day

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Posted by on in animal and plant life, collaborating, Community, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, service, Slow Food Prescott, Social, Spiritual, Striving

July 12, 2025- The cats began and ended my day, letting me know that they were not happy with the heat, even as it is mitigated by their comfy home’s AC. Animals can feel what lies beyond their enclosures. We all will get through the current heat wave, and will enjoy the rains, when they return in the middle of next week.

Two picnics, not far from one another, were planned to be simultaneous. They appealed to two different interest groups-and me. The Red Cross gathering was on the lawn of County Courthouse. The event was graced by the presence of a former President and First Lady of the Navajo Nation, and their two sons. This was auspicious, as RC has been strengthening its partnership with Dineh, supporting the Nation in its handling of a recent wildfire. Dineh handled the sheltering themselves, and we provided logistical support.

After twenty minutes with the Red Cross group, I headed over to a Slow Food gathering, in Granite Creek Park. This event was meant to highlight organic and heirloom foods. I brought spigarello, marinated in lemon lavender juice. Spigarello is an Italian green leafy vegetable, related to the broccoli plant. Its leaves are mild-tasting, lending themselves to being used in place of collards, or mixing nicely with tangy juices.

The Slow Food gathering was also a chance to offer healthful foods to some of the unhoused people, who have learned that many groups who hold events at Granite Creek are concerned for their welfare, and thus will include them in the gatherings. So it was today.

There was scant daylight between the Slow Food event and my regular shift at Farmers Market, so I got to work off the meal, and managed to get most of the tents, furniture and weights put away, before a quick trip to HB and a change of clothes. Our Baha’i Feast took place at 2 p.m., and I was the last one to arrive. No matter, everyone knows of my work at Farmers Market, and the time frame it entails. The Feast of Kalimat (Words) was a full house, and a much-needed break from the activities of earlier in the day. Our fellowship afterwards ran the gamut from a friend’s visit to the Mid-Atlantic region, with some grandchildren, to the inner atmosphere of a nuclear submarine. The foundation of all this, though, is love.

It was that love, flowing towards me and back outwards, that got me through this frenetic day, and will see me through many more.

The Road to Diamond, Day 212: Volunteer Shoots

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual

June 28, 2025- The young lady was hesitant at first, picking up a few signs and long traffic cones that were light of weight. I didn’t say anything, figuring she may have back problems or other issues. The fact that she was even there at the Market and was proactive was a boost in itself. Any help I get, especially in the heat, is more than welcome. After seeing this old man lift the tent weights and other items, she decided that she could lift them also. That warmed the heart of the market manager, who had recruited her, a few weeks ago. It is always a joy to see someone display more self-confidence.

When gardening, it is exciting to see plants that had not been intentionally sown spring up and often reveal a mix of species, a hybrid. Purists are bothered by this, but the hybrid has a purpose. It may be more nutritious; more disease-resistant and more suited to changing climate.

New arrivals in an enterprise, in a community, in a nation often bother purists. They have a purpose, however. In the activities in which I have been volunteering, for five years or more, others are showing up, to lend a hand. From the Farmers Market, the Red Cross and Bellemont Baha’i School, to Slow Food and the American Legion, there will be no loss of mission because new faces are taking on the challenge. I will be going on to another calling, towards the end of this year. It will take up the lion’s share of my time, and that is a blessed thing.

The same is true of those who are arising to take on leadership roles, at the community and national levels. Their ideas may not be those espoused by the established order or those ideas to which many have become accustomed, but they may be what are needed for changing times. Yes, there are constants-the virtues, like trustworthiness, honesty, integrity and industry-all based on love. Those are as likely to be found among the new arrivals as among the best of the long-time members of the community or citizens of the nation.

All deserve a hearing.

The Road to Diamond, Day 115: Seed Mania

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Community, Inspiration, Personal Values, service, Slow Food Prescott, Social, Spiritual, Striving

March 23, 2025- Ever since I was a teenager, I’ve liked edible seeds-when they have been shelled and especially when they are part of say, a muffin or on a bagel. Seeds in fruit are not so enjoyable, but I see their value, in perpetuating life. So, I have learned to set them aside and let them dry-from apples, pumpkins, squash, even tomatoes and peppers, when there is space on the counter. I have planted them, in season. Some years, they produced lots of tomatoes and peppers. Other years, they have made gophers and javelinas very happy.

This afternoon, Prescott Farmers Market and Slow Food co-sponsored Seed Mania, with several kiosks promoting local farmers and their wares. There were several presentations by still other farmers, reportedly marked by spirited discussion among them, regarding each other’s methodologies. There was also plenty for the kids to do, with school garden displays-which they helped to create and fun educational activities that were seed-related.

My spot was mostly manning the Slow Food table, and encouraging new arrivals in the area to sign up for mentoring, by one or another of the local farmers or garden educators. Fifteen such newcomers signed on, many from areas where the growing season and topography are much different from those of this area. It was a revelation that a local garden center was promoting blueberry cultivation. It was NOT a revelation that the bushes produced small, sour berries-if they produced any at all. Apple trees, I have found, don’t produce much in the way of fruit around here, either.

Plants are fairly fussy, and want certain soil, water, compost nutrients and only certain exposure to sunlight, as well as a degree of temperature control. I guess that makes them like other living things, even a bit like us. We each thrive in different environments.

The Sandbox

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Posted by on in Assistance, Community, distraction issues, impediments, Inner Struggles, Personal Values, Service Activities, Slow Food Prescott, Social, Spiritual, Striving

November 18, 2023- So often, the most difficult person is who needs love the most.

When I was a child, my siblings and I had a fine sandbox, with plenty of quality, durable playthings. We shared it with everyone in the neighbourhood. No one was excluded. I knew what it felt like to be shoved to the sidelines, and left out. I was determined to not be that kind of person, in my own dealings with others.

Today,a small team of us went about a city that is 2 1/2 hours west of here, and installed smoke detectors in homes of those who requested them. Fifteen households were visited; fourteen of those who requested the implements were grateful. One household was not-for reasons that are best left unsaid. Chances are, the smoke detectors will end up save the life of our detractor. The most difficult person needs love the most.

This evening, I pulled myself together and went to the concert of a dear friend, at a favourite venue. Someone I know, and fairly trust, as an acquaintance, came in and asked to sit at my table. I was glad to see this person, who is fairly popular and influential in town. After a time, I started to feel discomfort, almost as if I didn’t belong in the situation. I focused on my friends’ music and danced about a bit. The most difficult person needs love the most-but in this case, I am not at all certain that my support and caring would be either welcome or accepted. By the end of the evening, and for the first time since I moved to Prescott, in fact, I feel like my status in the community is very much in jeopardy-and I will have to step back for a while. Red Cross, the Farmers Market (to some extent) and Slow Food are safe spaces-but the places I have visited and treasured, like the venue where my friends performed tonight, don’t feel so safe right now.

The most difficult people need love the most, but they can do a lot of damage along the way-especially when they wield a lot of influence. I can only hang on, the best I can.

Salubrity

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Posted by on in Community, Entertainment, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social

January 11, 2020-

There was snow on the ground, yesterday.

Now, it is only in the shadows,

with next Friday bringing a chance of more.

The air is fresh today.

Shortly,

free, fair and healthy

will be on the agenda,

as several of us consider

ways to better grow one’s own.

Soup is in the crockpot,

and will be ready

by this evening.

Yesterday evening,

two wildly divergent

forms of music

brought solace to our ears.

This evening,

we may  hear

even more sweet sounds.

There is salubrity,

in the air,

and in my heart.

Heavenly Flow

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Inner Struggles, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Service Activities, Slow Food Prescott, Social, Spiritual, Striving

April 21, 2019-

Today brought me close to two faith traditions:  A musical, somewhat relaxed Evangelical Baptist service- which I attended at the invitation of a former co-worker.  I didn’t see her  there, but met up with another former colleague with the Red Cross.  After exchanging pleasantries, I took a seat in the congregation, while he took his place in the choir.  My part was to sing with the rest of those in the congregation, join in greeting those around me, and respond to an occasional call.  I only regret not raising my hand when the pastor asked who believes in the Christ. I do, certainly.  One cannot accept the Message of the Father and discard That of the Son.

At our Baha’i community’s gathering, this afternoon, I joined with about 45 fellows in Faith, to commemorate the first day of Baha’u’llah’s declaring His Mission, even as He and His companions prepared for a long journey overland, from Baghdad to what is now Istanbul.

The message is similar:  None of us is squeaky clean, and God alone can absolve us with Grace.   The sufferings of each Divine Messenger are what free us from our wrongdoings.  Only by acknowledging this, and not wanting to be distant from the Divine, does one progress spiritually.

So, that was my day of spiritual fellowship.  Connection with the Divine, though, is what has eased my path, even when I find myself alone.  In times of uncertainty, as to my course of action, I find my Spirit Guides provide a very clear framework, within which I must make informed choices.

This week, for example, will bring me to Flagstaff, then to the Desert View Tower, at the eastern end of Grand Canyon National Park- honouring the Centenary of that great national entity.  From there, it will be time to honour an old friend, who passed on, last week.  His services will be east of Tuba City, at another lovely locale:  Coal Mine Canyon.  Then, I must return here to Prescott, and look after my own health, with a lab test on Wednesday.   Matters of faith, possible acts of service with the Red Cross, another friend’s birthday party and a presentation by Slow Food-Prescott will fill out the week.

The flow of celestial energy is constant, and bears heeding.

 

 

 

 

 

The Road to 65, Mile 253: Auspicious Days

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Posted by on in Personal goals, Social

August 8, 2015, Granite Dells- I spent the greater part of this afternoon at Heaven on Earth B & B, in this lushest area of greater Prescott.  Friends Happy and John had their first event since the Illumine Film Festival, in May (which I missed, having been in Reno at the time.)  It was the first of three Launch Parties, by Green Living Magazine, a monthly eco-friendly living publication, out of Phoenix.  I went over, after two different friends mentioned it to me, independently; the second having followed me through Prescott Public Library, specifically to let me know of the event.

So, always glad to head out to the Dells, I drove over, after first checking out the Mountain Arts and Crafts Fair and a performance by a quintet of young ladies, playing violins and fiddles. The afternoon was then spent with presentations by various advocates of healthy living, from GMO-Free Prescott and Slow Food, to which I belong, to an essential oils distributor.  John sang, gently and sincerely, of “The Golden Age” and the powerful local artist, Celia, lent her rousing voice to the mood of the day- with three amazing songs.

One of the points which Happy made, during her emcee moments, was that today is  a triple treat:  8 8 8. This is how it has worked, since 2010:  March 3, of that year, was 3 3 3,  because if one adds 2+1, one gets 3, so 2+0++1+0 = 3.  April 4, 2011, thus sums up as 4 4 4, and so on, through December 12, 2019, which will be 12 12 12.

I have felt the “double dates” to be auspicious enough, from January 1 to December 12.  New Year’s Day is special for many people, just because of the sense of a new beginning.  We will dispense with 2/2, as some sort of prognosticatory event and note that some thawing starts, in some places, around that time. 10/10 is a National Day for Taiwan, commemorating the day when the revolt of the Chinese people against the corrupt Regent of the Realm, and his underlings, first got traction, resulting in the abdication, four months later, of the pre-teenaged Emperor, Pu Yi, in favour of Gen. Yuan Shi Kai. Yuan’s Nationalist Party eventually established what is now the Republic of China, on Taiwan. (Yes, Dr. Sun Yat-sen was the first elected President of China, but politics is complicated, and the Army stood in Dr. Sun’s way.)

The double dates most special to me are 6/6, the day that Penny and I were married (eighteen months, to the day, after we first met), and 7/7, the day that Aram was born.  I’ve often speculated as to whether some other double date will be special in my life, but now I think that might be rather gluttonous on my part. I will always treasure the two days, in mid-year, which have defined my adulthood.

Now I look to the task of viewing every day as auspicious.

The Road to 65, Mile 86: Heirlooms

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Posted by on in Personal goals, Social

February 22, 2015, Prescott- My paternal grandmother would have turned 116 today, a rather sobering thought.  Her cooking, for a family of thirteen, depended almost entirely on organically-grown fruits, vegetables and animals.  After World War II, as my father and his siblings grew up and the nest became empty, my widowed Nana went to the market and bought the freshest foods she could, paying little mind to the processed and packaged foods that were increasingly on the shelves and in the freezers.  She liked the unsalted flat crackers that came in a long box, but everything else had to be frais.

We’ve slid a long ways downhill since those days.  I encountered a lot of unhealthy offerings, in my recent travel across  Texas and the Gulf Region.  There were also several glimmers of hope, in the small artisan and organic cafes of the Panama City area, in New Orleans and in the West Texas desert.  Heirloom seeds and the Ark of Taste represent sincere, concerted efforts to turn these glimmers of hope into a shining sun, with respect to diet.

The most recent issue of National Geographic Magazine makes note of the controversy over Genetically Modified Organisms, including it as one of the “War on Science” concerns, on its cover.  Inside, the actual article barely mentions GMO’s, saying only that “We are asked to eat” them, and “There is no evidence that they are harmful”.  This last conclusion may be true, with regard to some people, much as it’s true that not everyone dies after smoking cigarettes for five or ten years.  Longitudinally, though, no one knows.  Does that mean we should shuck it all, and make such foods our staples?  In my opinion, no.

This evening, I helped serve a dinner, comprised of Ark of Taste food items, including Navajo Churro Lamb, wheat berries, chilipati and okra.  There are over 100 items, worldwide, which have qualified for Ark of Taste.  The Ark is an international effort to preserve foods and beverages whose ingredients have become endangered.  It is a culinary version of the International Seed Bank, Longyearbyen, Norway.  The Ark exists mainly through the efforts of growers, ranchers and culinary workers, in the areas of production.  Its list of ingredients is growing, through a careful evaluation process, that emphasizes strict organic farming and animal husbandry.

Slow Food Prescott, of which I am a member, puts on this dinner every January or February.  Other Slow Food groups, in several communities around the world, offer a similar meal.  I believe educating oneself on the Ark of Taste is another step in overcoming the mindset of false convenience, in one’s daily diet.