I am the vessel.

Today's "Life Note," inspired by a Morning Pages review.

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Life Notes

Window Crayons + Things To Ponder Daily = Beautiful "Life Notes"

The window "crayons" were a gift to my daughter Maya on her fourth birthday, from my neighbor Abby. This has become my standard "note taking" spot nowadays. Obviously, the lower panels are reserved for the shorter folk in the household.  My 6yo's current favorite quote (not shown): "Don't ask whether you can do something. Say you are doing it, and buckle your seatbelt."    (from Julia Cameron)

Kitchen Window

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Date Night Leftovers = Crab Cake Eggs Benedict

Under Construction: Toasted artisan bread, crab cake, scallions, poached egg, remoulade (don't forget the Bloody Marys)

We are lucky to have my parents living quite close and, occasionally, they invite our children to spend the night. Sometimes we use this occasion for a dinner out or, more often, as a chance to go see some of the amazing live music available to us here in Music City U.S.A. But really our favorite thing to do is cook together the way we used to do before we had kids.

Back in The Day, we'd leisurely peruse the aisles of the supermarket, possibly having a plan for our meal or possibly waiting to be inspired. So on this recent date night, plans to play golf got rained out and we decided to do five-course dinner instead, followed by "playing" (i.e., me learning) chess by a roaring fire. Delightful!!

I don't have pictures for everything, but the food was so beautiful I couldn't help but snap a few pictures here and there. We hadn't done this in so long that I have to admit we got a bit carried away, but it was an awful lot of fun and a splurge I do not regret!

First Course

Fried Green Tomatoes (Brandywine) with  Goat Cheese and Stone Ground Mustard

Second Course

Mahi, oil-poached with pineapple sage, Garlicky Fingerling Potatoes, Broccolini

This beauty was 100% the spouse's brainchild: oil poaching without requiring a full pan of oil, with the bonus that we could finally use the fancy food saver. He prepped the mahi and cooked it in some low-simmering water, but 3/4 of the way through the damn bag broke, so it was only mostly "oil-poached." Making the most of things, we tossed our broccolini in the herby/lemony water with the fish and it turned out to be a happy -- and quite tasty -- accident in the end. 

Third Course

Crab Cake with Remoulade

Fourth Course

Lamb Chops with Roasted Fingerling Potatoes

Fifth Course was a cheese plate, for which I have no photo. I also must stress that, if you want to do this, the key is small portions of everything (that one piece of mahi, for example, yielded our two "portions" plus leftovers). You want a lovely taste, an exquisite mouthful or two to savor, but then you need to cook the next course, so if you get overloaded you might decide (like I did) to forego that lovely pea puree that would have been beautiful with the lamb and potatoes. C'est la vie. We had leftover broccolini and that was good enough for me!

The following morning, we woke and went about our day at a leisurely pace, enjoying coffee and then Bloody Marys, which lead to the inspired idea (again, credit to my spouse) to make a fantastic Eggs Benedict with our leftover crab cakes and remoulade. Then he strummed the guitar and indulged in a nap while I painted. 

Feed the body. Feed the Soul. Appreciate Our Time. Live Well.

We are planning a frugal-minded version of the 3+ Course Date Night very soon. Not surprisingly, it's easier to take pictures when the photographer is not also responsible for all of the cooking and prep, so I feel confident I'll be able to share that with you as well.

Planting yet?

Assembly Line for fully upcycled seed pots.

Have you started your planting yet? Are you planning? Starting seeds? I'm starting earlier this year than ever before.  Especially after living in the Florida panhandle for four years, I appreciate the long, slow Spring we enjoy here in Middle Tennessee. We've got a few cold snaps in us yet, of course, but things are growing, trees are budding and life is poking forth again. 

First Crocus - Feb 20

I have a little microclimate going on in my front beds, keeping them warm enough that strawberry plants can overwinter there. Based on this observation, I began planting early spring seeds outdoors at the end of January: broccoli, peas, carrots. I've been planting new seeds weekly to see what sprouts when. I also added some greens into consecutive plantings. I've determined that this year, I want to learn more about complimentary plantings. I'm already sold on mixing flowers and veggies and really dig the beauty of the Kitchen Garden in my flowerbeds.

Daffodils - Feb 23

Coming up so far are lots of peas, carrot tops, spinach plants, broccoli seedlings and a few lettuces. Inside, I've started more broccoli, leeks, snapdragons and eggplant. I'm gradually starting more new things weekly, with help from the kids. I got the tomatoes going a little too early last year, so made notes in my planner this year to keep things a little more orderly. 

Forsythia - brought inside late Jan

My new favorite early Spring activity is forcing woody branches. Thus far I've only done forsythia, but I have some baby redbuds that should be mature enough to trim back in another couple of years. Here, you can see the view above my computer (yes, that's a still-red poinsettia in the background).

Change your habits, change your life

That's the slogan for habitforge, a really neat and free web site that helps people develop positive habits.

I stumbled across it a few months ago at zenhabits, right when I'd decided to start a new exercise regimen.  The idea is that if you DO something for 21 days in a row, it will be a well-established habit.  If you are going on vacation or get sick, you can put your habit "on hold" for a bit, but otherwise it will track the numbers of days in a row you succeed and also an overall percentage.  Thus far, my daily exercise percentage is hovering around 70%, which is not bad, but I do find that it's a helpful too to keep me motivated in general.  The longest streak I've had, just for the record, is 13 days.  

So if you have something you've been working to incorporate into your daily life, whether it be exercise, reading, cooking, prayer, meditation, complimenting your spouse....habitforge is a simple and helpful tool that has certainly helped keep me motivated and focused on my goals.

Only in Nashville

How can a major U.S. city flood and few in America even seem to know?  We're talking here about the largest disaster to hit Middle Tennessee since the Civil War.  Does no one care?  

I've seen it suggested that maybe no one cares because there's almost no looting and no violence and that's not exciting enough for a national television story.  There might be a grain of truth there, but I hope not.  I realize that it's important to cover the oil spill in the Gulf and the potential ecological disaster (not to mention the oil that keeps coming, and coming). There is also other important news going on all over the world that people obviously need to know about. I don't think Nashville should be the only thing on the national news...but it should be one of them.

The problem is that if no one understands the extent of the damage and devastation in Tennessee, then people are less likely to donate money to help and people are less likely to come assist with cleanup and rebuilding. 

This was an unprecedented, "500-year" flood.  Most people affected did not have flood insurance because they were not in a flood plain (well, before Sunday, anyway).  There is a water shortage, the structural stability of many roads/bridges is still in question, thousands are homeless and there is a great immediate human need for food, water and shelter.  

We are not panicking here.  We are working.  But we still might need a little help from the rest of the country.

I do realize Nashville is a bit of a punch line for the rest of you who don't live here.  And we don't mind and even kind of enjoy being the funny cousin at the American Family Reunion.  I mean, I personally love Hee Haw and am totally not ashamed to admit it.  Not everyone in Nashville may love that old show, but the goofy, cornball humor is Totally Tennessee. Part of why this is such a great place to live is that we know not to take ourselves too seriously; we know how to laugh at ourselves and with each other.   

Let me tell you what you will find here during this time of catastrophe.  What you will find here are neighbors knocking on doors and asking "What can I do?"  What you will find here is a story about a disaster of massive proportions in a large city that has always felt more like a vast neighborhood.  And this is not just on my street or my side of town, but I'm talking about the entire Metropolitan Area.  If you live in Nashville and I don't know you, you are just a friend I have not yet met.  That's what it feels like to live here.

People who live here respect each other as human beings, all created by God, no matter our race, or creed, or freaking political affiliation.  We are polite and respectful because that's what our mama and daddy taught us and because that's how God calls us to live and because it's a damn nice way to BE with other humans.  We are a city of diversity in many ways.

I've always thought our multifaceted music scene is a perfect metaphor for living here: the rest of the world thinks we're Country, and we are...a lot.  But we are also Rock and Metal and Hip Hop and R&B and Blues and Bluegrass and Big Band and Jazz and Classical.  

We may disagree about things and even argue -- and, honestly, we maybe even cuss a little. We often say our piece, but we respect your right to say yours too.  We're all humans down here, for sure. But at the end of the day, we're neighbors. We sit down on the back porch or meet at a local restaurant that has a patio and we have a beer or a glass of Sweet Tea and talk about the Vols or our gardens our kids instead for a while.  Because that's what neighbors do.  I have always loved living here, but I don't think I realized until this disaster how very, very much I value being a part of this community.  I have never been more inspired by the indomitability of the human spirit than in the last week.   And I read a lot of damn inspirational stories!

Please let's share here the many stories of our neighbors at their best in the face of this disaster.  How many of these could only happen in Nashville?  

One example is the CSA/farm collective, Avalon Acres, who have their own farm down in Hoenwald and also coordinate with many local area Amish to help supply organic fresh vegetables, farm eggs and free-range meats across the mid-state.  They were hammered by this flood, but they have picked up their  1,200 drowned chickens and are still delivering fresh organic food across Middle Tennessee on Sunday.  Now, there are organic farms across the country, but most people are surprised to learn that there is a thriving Amish community here.  

Or how about last night's hastily arranged benefit?  I'm not a celebrity chaser; on the contrary, I eschew celebrity gossip and what I think is the tabloidization of what used to be The News.  I know why a lot of "celebrities" choose to live here -- because while I know they still run into fans, most people wouldn't want to be rude and get in their business and figure they just want to enjoy their dang dinner.   Last night, Nashvillians Keb Mo, Vince Gill, Alison Krauss, Darius Rucker and Naomi Judd, just headed on down to the local news station and sang for their neighbors to help raise more than $1.7 million to help people who have lost their homes.

Or the local charity, Hands on Nashville who is coordinating volunteer efforts and has had a massive response from people looking to volunteer.  I just talked with my husband a week or two ago and we were musing about if Tennessee would still qualify today as "The Volunteer State" -- if we would rally when the need arises as we always have historically.  I think we have our answer after the last week.  

I think Social Networking would play a role in any part of the country, but I do think it's interesting how helpful it is to connect the volunteers with the needy and, hopefully, to get the word out. Twitter and FB are being used both to help tell our story and to rally our community.  Pay It Forward Nashville and We Are Nashville, Nashville  are two, but there are many.  My friend Irene designed a T-shirt to help her 80-yr-old neighbor Wynona (no, not that one), who also didn't have flood insurance.

What are your stories?  Call or e-mail the networks and news outlets and share them!  Or post them here and I will keep sending them on!  We know our story better than anyone.  Let's tell it the way only a Tennessean will.