January 3, 2025 and I am working on…

What am I working on ? This is the first post in a long time! Before I get into what I am working on, let me say it’s a Friday. Not only is it Friday, it’s the first Friday of the new year. It also happens to be the last Friday before I must go back to work. I am feeling this rather keenly. Being creative takes a certain amount of “composting” thought—just sitting or lying around and thinking. I think one of my challenges for this year will be to turn over my stress and make it fertile ground. Creativity is transformative. Perhaps I can transform the day-to-day events into loam.

Anyway, continuing on. Right now, I am working on three divergent pursuits: resurrecting the long-lost vegetarian cookbook that I began to write 15 years ago, working on a garden plan for the current house, and working on a new novel.

Vegetarian Cookbook

When I first became a vegetarian, there weren’t many vegetarian cookbooks. Katzen’s Enchanted Broccoli Forest and The Moosewood Cookbook sat alongside Diet for a Small Planet on my shelf for many years. Over time, I collected cookbooks from different cuisines. I love Japanese, Thai, Indian, and Mexican food. My three children were nourished on creative adaptations of recipes that I made. I decided to work on the cookbook again because otherwise the food of their childhoods would be lost. I wanted them to have the recipes for my canned salsa and blueberry lime jam, the Brazilian Black Bean stew, our version of vegetable lasagna, etc. So, I am working on the cookbook.

Garden Plan

A couple years ago, I sold my beloved house and moved to a different part of Michigan. Daily, I regret doing this and miss my house. I miss the beautiful hardwood floors, my old walk-in closet, my bedroom with enough room for an extra couch, and more. A big portion of what I miss is my perennial and vegetable gardens. I am hoping I can create a garden that helps to make this current house feel more like home.

Fantasy Novel

I have been thinking of writing more for a while. Writing can just be fun if not taken too seriously. I am thinking of writing a fantasy novel to deal with the current dreadful state of politics in the US.

Last week, while drinking tea, I was remembering an old story I once heard about how the witches of Britain turned back the Blitzkrieg and helped end World War II. This spurred my thinking about how here in the US we just elected an absolutely unfit for office politician/real estate developer. While elected by a narrow margin, he thinks he has a mandate to do horrible things. For example, he wants to pull in his billionaire buddies and plunder the US. He is the worst of people—someone who selfishly wants more and more and will only do things that will benefit him, even if other people suffer significantly.

I was thinking about this and wondering if the witches of the US could work spells of protection to care for the poor and vulnerable, to care for our natural landscape, and to shield the general population from whatever evil this politician and his cronies may inflict on the rest of us. In addition, I was thinking that the witches could send out spells of abundance to encourage everyone’s home gardens to grow so that no one goes hungry. Further, maybe the witches could work spells to dissipate the illusions around this politician so everyone would see him as he really is and see clearly how dangerous he is.

While these ideas are just the first green shoots of a plan, I have a basic idea. I was chuckling about the idea that the witches could send a monstrous snowstorm to disrupt his inauguration—that may have to go into the book. No one else may ever read this book, but I am going to see if I can have some fun with it!

Always Much Going On

Don’t worry. There will be other pursuits sprinkled in with these three. This semester I am taking a figure drawing class, and I was given supplies to continue creating stained glass. Cleaning the craft room created space to work on stained glass, painting, and printmaking. As I expand my gardens, I am hoping to make some decorative garden elements such as printed flags and stained glass garden stakes. Depending on everything I get up to, I may have to expand the categories on this blog. We’ll see.

I hope your day brings you peace and prosperity.