Forget the Grout and Sing with the Birds!

My sanity is being challenged these days...well, not really, but I like to be dramatic. I don't know about you, but I have a "to do list" that I need to start calling the "neverending-will-not-all-get-done-in-one-lifetime list." I have mountains of laundry, kitchen grout that needs to be scrubbed, letters that need to be written, yoga poses that need to be drawn and oh, yeah performed, and old relatives to visit before they die.

But as Spring starts to peek around the corner and I see buds appearing on the trees, I'm reminded of the beauty in this world and slowing down to enjoy it is key. But how, with my never-ending-to-do-list? Easy I say, just stop giving a hoot! I admit, I don't always achieve this state, but when I do a weight lifts off my shoulders and there's a spring in my step—who cares if the grout is grey? Who cares if I wear dirty socks?

I've also discovered invaluable timesavers. "Like with Like" and "Blender Soups." How many times do you look for something and cannot find it? I have saved myself hours by following one simple rule—keep everything together that is in the same category. Cameras go with albums and frames and camera straps and bags and photo corners. Mailing stuff from stamps to envelopes to pens to confetti to tape all go together. This might seem obvious to many of you (bravo for you!), but for me it was a lifesaver.

I also like to eat healthy, most of the time, but don't always like to cook, so I make blender soups. I bung everything from onions to kale to frozen lima beans to carrots into a pot of simmering water and bouillon cubes (Rapunzell are my favorite) and when the flavors have mingled and the veggies softened just a bit,  I whip it in the blender. To make the soup seem less naked, I lay a thinly sliced piece of toasted peasant bread on top. It is quite satisfying. And what makes it heaven for me is how quick it is to make—I can sloppily cut up all of my ingredients because at the end of cooking, the oddly shaped, tangled mess gets thrown into a blender and transforms into a fine puréed soup.

Happy Spring to everyone and please do ignore the dirty grout and get out in nature and sing with the birds!

"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves."

—John Muir