IT IS NOT ALL ABOUT FOOD, BUT IT SURE HELPS!

3 O'CLOCK. UP AND SLOWLY INTO YOGA FOR THE NEXT HOUR. HAD BEEN UP EARLIER, FOR SIPS OF WATER, BUT ONCE THE PRACTICE WAS OVER, HAD MY USUAL PINT OF ROOM-TEMPERATURE WATER WITH HALF A SQUEEZED LEMON.

WATCHED H.H. DALAI LAMA GIVING TALK ON MEDITATION & HAPPINESS...

BREAKFAST

ONE GRAPEFRUIT & 2 SATSUMAS

*

5.3O'ISH OUT FOR CYCLE RIDE IN DIRECTION OF THE SEA-FRONT. SOME TEENAGERS ASK ME IF I CAN DRIVE THEM HOME! THEN, CHAT WITH AIDAN @ HIS PHOENIX BAKERY. HOME @ SIX FOR...

A FEW SOAKED ALMONDS (20?)

(PROTEIN AFTER EXERCISE)

*

MADE A POT OF HERBAL TEA, TO SIP WHEN COOL DURING THE MORNING, UNTIL I GOT TO GO OUT - I HAD A MAIL-ORDER DELIVERY...

*

7.00....ZAZEN...

25 minutes sitting....i do not have a timer....i do not have a strict schedule....i do not sit on zafu (cushion) since damaging left hip and knee, following directive of..."pain is the taste of zazen." TOOK ABOUT 12 YEARS TO HEAL...

 ...just "suddenly" noticed one day, when i had resumed yoga practice once again. i do sit on zafu - it has such a good postural feeling...but only for "fun", for a few minutes, to remember the MAGIC ...

*

LATER IN MORNING, AN HOUR OR SO OF GARDENING IN THE SUNSHINE...ATE FIVE PLUMS... HAD HERBAL TEA, FROM TEA-POT, & WATER, UNTIL MAKING MY WAY TO DORCHESTER - FINALLY GETTING TO LEAVE AT ABOUT 11.00.

OUT FOR 3 HOURS OR SO. CONSUMED...

SMALL PUNNET OF BLUEBERRIES

ONE BANANA

MINERAL WATER, AS DESIRED

*

@ 15.00 I WAS DRINKING THIS FROM MY PINT GLASS..

...WHICH I JUICED FROM THESE...

DEEEE-LISH-USSS!

*

MY DAD WOULD'VE RECOGNISED THE "MAGIC" IN THE WOODED SCENE I SAW, WHILE CYCLING ALONG THE RODWELL TRAIL, THIS A'NOON...BUT HE NO LONGER ACCEPTED THAT THERE WAS ANY "MAGIC" IN FOOD. AND CERTAINLY NOT IN THE VARIOUS DIETS I ADOPTED OVER THE YEARS. HE WOULD QUIP AT MY SALADS..."IS THAT THE SERVING BOWL?!" HE COULD NOT BELIEVE THAT A MEAL LIKE THIS...

...WAS ANY MORE "MAGICAL" THAN HIS SHEPHERD'S PIE, BOUGHT FROM THE LOCAL SUPERMARKET. AND IT WAS HE WHO REARED US AS VEGETARIAN BABIES IN THE LATE 40'S AND EARLY 50'S. BUT HE DID CONTINUE WITH HIS HATHA YOGA, EVEN WHEN HE HAD LEUKAEMEA. BUT WOULD NOT TRY A GREEN JUICE ON A REGULAR BASIS. BUT. BUT. BUT....WE DID GET VERY CLOSE, AT LAST, AT THE END OF HIS LIFE. AND WE WOULD NATTER FOR AGES IN THE  LATE A'NOONS, WHEN I WOULD BRING HIM FRESH CREAM CAKE AND A CUP OF TEA! IT WAS WHAT HE WANTED. IT WAS WHAT HE LIVED FOR AT 86 YEARS OF AGE. AND IT WAS THE FOOD THAT BROUGHT US TOGETHER MORESO, WHEN HE WAS ILL. IT WAS NOT HEALTH-FOOD...OR WAS IT?!

*

LIFE IS NOT ALL ABOUT FOOD. THERE IS MAGIC IN FOOD - BUT IT CANNOT BE QUANTIFIED.

*

ON THE BUSES - #1 & #2

     #1

heart of compassion
as at stop after stop
after stop
pensioners board bus
SLOWLY
moment by moment
Buddha's dilemma
understandable.


     #2

pink ear-phones
freckled face
silver crucifix
immaculate nail-varnish
fingers at i-Phone
gone too soon
my blueberries 
also
have the
desired taste.

     *

june 30th  2012 - twixt weymouth & dorchester.

*  *  *

MY CURRENT, IRREVERENT VEGAN DIET...

i would prefer to use the term "100% plant-based, whole-food diet", but truth is, i bin nibblin' at dem liddle sardines in tomato sauce, of late! One reason for this, is that i have always been an out-and-out foodie all my life, and most foods really turn me on. Another reason is that i do not supplement my diet with B12 tablets. But most of all, i so enjoy eatin 'em, now and again!!!...

The mainstay of my diet, however runs like this....

BREAKFAST: meusli of oat and barley flakes, ground flaxseeds, chia seeds, sunflower seeds, blueberries, grated apple, cinnamon, and water and/or rice milk, almond mik or low-fat soya milk. Sometimes raw honey...sometimes not. BUT, this morning, i had grapefruit with two satsumas. Sometimes i have a raw, fresh juice..as green as possible. Any breakfast always preceeded by about a pint of room- temperature water (out of filter) with half a squeezed lemon...a JUICY one.

LUNCH AND DINNER are interchangeable = one small meal & one big meal. i often make a vegetable stewp (half soup/half stew)! And moreso in winter, i guess. And also miso soup with shiitake, wakame & onion etc is great as a broth.

i am always baking bread. i do try to cut-down on flour products but i bin makin' bread for over 40 years = how to break the habit of a life-time!? And now, with sourdough in my repertoire....HMMM?...i do make my own sauerkraut in mitigation...oh well!! Not really an issue with me any more. How can it be? when at 64, i am the healthiest i have ever bin in my life. As my brother used to say to me when i criticised our father's diet..."Bernard, he's 85, he hasn't done too much wrong!! Where are we going with this?" And then up would come the family-famous quote from CHRISTOPHER ISHERWOOD (My Guru)..."What's the matter Mr.Isherwood, do you want to live forever?!" Also comes to mind, is KRISHNAMURTI, replying to a student's question, as to why he (Krishnamurti) was dying of cancer at age 92.Firstly, spiritual/religious practitioners are not immune from falling ill etc...Anyway, Krishnamurti replied.."THE BODY FINDS A WAY."!!!....

Also, i eat plenty of salad leaves etc...sometimes as much as over 12 ounces of Romaine lettuce at a single sitting. i tend to lightly steam all my vegetables...but i well cook potatoes, of course. Do not eat them al dente!! i am quite persuaded by DR JOHN MACDOUGALL'S new book = "THE STARCH SOLUTION". He espouses a diet that is capable of seeing to the needs of everyone And i mean, THE WHOLE OF HUMANITY !! None of this "BABY COCONUTS" rubbish. Do these people think about the countless millions of people who cannot get their hands on ANY food whatsoever!! COME-ON. WAKE-UP". Boddhisattva spirit required!!

SO, WHERE WERE WE? HUMPH! i've lost my appetite for this blog-post. Food? We ARE food!....And the spirit of WOODSTOCK comes to mind, when the M.C., commenting on the situation, in what had been declared a National Disaster Area (U.S.)...........said, "WE'RE FEEDING EACH OTHER, MAN!!"

Good way to end. It all comes down to having some sort of humanity in mind, so that we feed our friends, neighbours, communities, societies and nations in as healthy and sustainable a way as possible. And the ultimate, only way, this is going to be able to be achieved is via a PLANT-BASED WHOLEFOODS DIET....not sure about the relevance of just a LITTLE fish now and then...Maybe someone will enlighten me without being anthropomorphic, or saying that we should make carnivorous animals/pets into vegetarians/vegans etc. etc.!!!

BUT

i took some photos of food at DORCHESTER MARKET y'day. This'll cheer you up !!!

*

NOTHING HERE, AT MARKET, IS ORGANIC. BUT GUESS WHAT?...YOU AINT GONNA LIVE FOREVER, ANYWAY!!. IT IS LOVELY AND FRESH, HOWEVER, AND I DO SEE SAD-LOOKING ORGANIC PRODUCE SOMETIMES......SO...!!!!???

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SUMMERS W/ ZAZA - (10 poems)

TOO FRIENDLY

young ones
asking for
cake again
leaning
on fence
salivating

*

sun
going down
through pines
horses
going down
through fields

*

HABITS

Hannah
bareback-riding
long legs
elastic arms
&
light hands

*

ATTRACTION

Bees must
think
my hat's
a sunflower -
dozens
of 'em

*

Flies every-
where
wish i
had a
ponytail

*

BLACKSMITH

Mayor knows
he needs
a firm grip
or else
lose more
teeth

*

ON THE PATH

Flies on
the dung
still steaming

*

Nice enough to eat
ripe as a peach
& rock 'n' roll
on Caroline

*

SWALLOW

Swooping
in-and-out
the stables
in-and-out
my heart

*

Horses fed
little girls
in bed
full moon
fuels
summer dreams

*
(bernard hemensley * 2011 * writ over the 2 previous decades)

                                                   *  *  *

4 a.m. - FIRST BIRD

aaahhh! just five in the morning and most of a new day still available to me. i have a rare visitor for lunch. There's alfalfa & broccoli sprouts, watercress, mixed salad leaves, spring onions (scallions!! as you americans love to call 'em),baby plum tomatoes, celery, basil tofu...Shall i bake fresh bread?...i think so...Make some "hommoss b'tahina"?(that is what "we" call it at "home", following the Arabic of my mother...The usual, in the anglo world, is just to say HOMMOSS! Well, the translation of HOMMOSS,is simply CHICKPEAS! Is that all "they" could manage!)

The sun's rays are piercing the eastern horizon, between the houses opposite...no photo! If you follow my facebook, the memory card on my camera is full. Do not yet have a  replacement. Ho hum, another 4 thousand images in the pipeline...edited to maybe 100?

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"MONSIEUR NADO"

*

Monsieur Nado, aka STINGY ARTIST, left his hermitage, this Sunday morning, for Radipole Lake @ 04.10 hrs.,on his bicycle. Soon it will be mid-summer's day. He intends to celebrate his late mother's birthday on this day. She will be 88. Her ashes still occupy a cardboard carton, as delivered by the undertaker, a few days after her cremation. Monsieur Nado is still on the look-out for a "proper" vessel, in which to honour those remains. A local potter, a Buddhist, did make "urns" for this purpose, but was indisposed at the time of his enquiry. So the ashes sit, these two years past, in Monsieur Nado's bedchamber, until something just as suitable can be found. Or, maybe he will scatter them at the Lake, where once they were mistaken for sweet-hearts, sitting together on a bench, viewing the lake's calm waters, from one of the quiet paths that intersect this Lake....tres "Jules et Jim"...or nouveau roman...in Monsieur Nado's imagination!

Monsieur Nado was up and out early, to capture some pre-dawn photos. Unfortunately, not so many photos, as the memory-card on his digital camera expired along the way, but hopefully, not at the expense of artistic integrity displayed  as accompaniment to this text. Not too melancholic ? "Melancholy", certainly not being experienced by M.Nado. Roll on, the glorious twenty-first of June and the celebrations....in FOUR DAYS time!

*  *  *  *  *

4 QUICKIES....

     1.
remember snow?
wind-driven iciness?
not quite
a need for fire -
summer
after all.

     2.

what is it
about skin?
snow-white
in winter
that like
summer's
white roses
ache to blush
at the sun.

     3.

i remember my
mother told me
that she and
her sisters
would heave to
ease their mother's
ice-cream thighs
into corsets
shreaking
GELLATTY.
GELLATTY *
and laughing
and laughing.

(* ICE-CREAM. ICE-CREAM !)

     4.

no wish to
hex the weather
but summer's
green fields
so pleasantly-painted
by poets-of-the-past
more beautiful
mysterious
and precious
by far
under winter's
cloak of snow.

     *

(writen on bus - Weymouth/Dorchester return - friday 15th June 2012. Might work on 'em at later date BUT so busy to fit in any writing of poems lately, i planned to see what i could write on the journey. There was a fifth poem - about "hummingbird" - but it just did not come together for me....)

     *

                              *   *   *  

STINGY ARTIST'S HOUSE OF BOOKS @Golden GOJI Hermitage: ON "CHE HAMZAH'S MONKEY" - Owen Davis - Stingy Art...

STINGY ARTIST'S HOUSE OF BOOKS @Golden GOJI Hermitage: ON "CHE HAMZAH'S MONKEY" - Owen Davis - Stingy Art...: The life and legs of a book always amazes. Of recent times have met and had good chats with my Malay/Sufi friend, Suzuki. Warmth and eas...

birds may well have a better understanding of night and day...than i...

ENSO

(last photo @ 04.55 hours on SEA WALL towards BOWLEAZE)

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