Things to look forward to…
dinner
I don’t eat lunch. Or rather, I don’t eat both breakfast and lunch. On days when I am left to my own biorhythms, I eat the first meal of the day around noon and a smaller meal in the evening. But on weekdays, or days when I have to be away from my kitchen, I eat breakfast at breakfast time and nothing at all until dinner.
So I look forward to dinner. From mid-afternoon on, I mull over the contents of my fridge for the week. I am not really hungry until late in the day, but I am thinking about what will satisfy that nascent hunger. Do I want the lentil stew or the quiche? Or maybe toasted cheese with an apple and candied walnut salad? Or just cheese, bread, olives and pears, what my sons used to call hobbit food.
Daydreaming about dinner is particularly delightful in the autumn. There is so much choice, so much savory fare. And little of it requires much work. Hobbit food barely even generates any dirty dishes.
I don’t have to sit down for a formal meal, with dishes and napkins and so on, though I do anyway. Because that’s my time and I do it proper. I sit and enjoy my dinner without distraction. Though I almost always read the paper or my current book while I am eating. The reading is not the focus though… so nothing difficult. Nothing that might cause indigestion anyway.
It’s funny, but we social beasts are not supposed to enjoy dining alone. We open the fridge and mindlessly consume calories rather than preparing a delicious meal for one. I do not understand that. I like dinner parties with friends, but I am just as delighted by my daily solitary repast. Maybe more so. There is far less work involved and more time to enjoy the meal. And I can always have what I want. Which was a rare thing when I was cooking for many.
But solo or part of a gathering, there is always dinner. And one of the easiest ways to bring contentment into your life is always paying attention and looking forward to that meal at day’s end. Dinner.
And now… I wonder what I should have…
Just as a point of interest… Here in central Vermont, today is the last day of the year with more than twelve hours of sunlight. Tomorrow, night will be longer than day. And this will last until March 17th. Or so. In other words, today is that magical time of balance, the true equinox. Day and night are equal.
When is the equinox where you live? When do you first get to eat dinner by candlelight? And isn’t that a delightful thing to look forward to as well!
equinox
she has wrapped herself
in her best russet coat
with buttons of pearly birch
and greenly glowing slate
yet she yawns at the dawn
spilling fog into river valleys
to blanket the morning
eluding the equinoctial sun
even twelve chimes is too many
as her children prepare for slumber
burrowing and sheltering
looking to the darkness
she smiles at approaching winter
for long nights bring repose
the hard labor of summer
put by for the season
but not yet is her gown white
for she is still arousing
under starry scales
in this waning sunlight
this is time for balance
for full bellied comfort
and she is at peace
for soon she will rest
to dream the spring into becoming
Wednesday Word
for 25 September 2024
equanimity
Here is a word I love! It is my daily mantra, my prayer to the universe. I strive for this contented balance each day. It is my talisman against this culture. It is my refuge.
What words do you conjure up to create safety and contentment in your life? What serves as a bulwark against the chaos and fear? And what images are brought to mind when you think on those words? Or this one?
If you have thoughts to share, do so in the comments below or go visit the All Poetry contest for September. Your response can be anything made from words. I love poetry, but anything can be poetic and you needn’t even be limited to poetics. An observation, a story, a thought. Might even be an image — however, I am not a visual person, so it has to work harder to convey meaning. In the spirit of word prompts, it’s best if you use the word; but I’m not even a stickler about that. Especially if you can convey the meaning without ever touching the word.
Even if you don’t choose to scribble, at least I’ve made you think about… equanimity.
©Elizabeth Anker 2024
By My Solitary Hearth 
two dogs to love
two hands to love with
two eyes see as one
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All Hindu prayers end…
‘Om Shanti Shanti Shantihi!‘
Let there be peace, peace, peace!
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I only began eating breakfast a year or two after my retirement (ref. the wagging finger of my daughter!); during my working years the ‘midday meal’ was a grabbed-whatever from the fridge or a sandwich; since retiring, our main meal is eaten during the day with a snack in the evening. We both feel more comfortable with this arrangement: I enjoy planning our dinner and have made the time to prepare it a part of my routine – along with setting aside anything that still requires doing near the end of the day so that I can read!
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Equenmity
Who is the mother of equanimity?
Some would say it is mindfulness.
But who was the father?
Was it the same god
who gave us equenmity?
Did it begin in the garden,
with a dragon and a woman and
the fruit of good and evil?
Was it a god-the-father who once said,
“I will put enmity between thee and the woman,
between thy seed and her seed.” (1)
How can mindfulness then be carnal?
Was it the Buddha who said
upekshā is immeasurable peace,
freedom from fear?
Is equenmity then the
liberty to choose fear,
the autonomy of hate?
Are the two words really so unalike?
Or is it just that we become confused
about the difference
between grace and hatred,
that drives our restless minds.
If the friendship of the world,
really is “enmity with God,” (2)
who then are our friends,
and who our enemies?
Is it any wonder
that we have an abundance of equemnity
and a dearth of equanimity,
in the world
and in our minds.
So that a huge void
now separates us
from companionship
with a natural world,
innocent of both grace and hatred.
Is it Koyaanisqatsi,
a world so out of balance
that words have lost their meaning?
And the language that binds us together
now divides us equally,
minds torn asunder
in an empty quest
for equanimity or
is it equenmity?
Footnotes:
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