Shel Graves' Sensorium

Taste: oranges  Sound: the groan of the coffee pot; Dust (and Honey) - a new dance song Smell: orange  Sight: starry night and tall evergreen trees watching over us; orange  Touch:  a ceramic pot Extra: in shock, in pain  Grateful for: healing, survival

“When in doubt, Treat all sentient and insentient beings as kin.” — Sandra Cisneros, Woman Without Shame: Poems , “When in Doubt”  “As older scientific notions of our difference from other animals have begun to break down, many have come to see animals as ethically important beings, fellow travelers on our spiritual as well as terrestrial journeys, and therefore worthy of our study and care.” —Animals, Dave Aftandilian, Grounding Religion: A Field Guide to the Study of Religion and Ecology  Recently I listened to a talk on biotechnology and the destructive and cruel things people are doing to cows, chickens, baboons, and pigs. It was harrowing.  The point of the talk was to dive into a discussion of ethics. I have not been paying attention to biotechnology and to be informed a bit on what has been happening was horrifying.  We’ve been genetically modifying animals so that they can better (briefly) withstand lives in close confinement: Cows with shorter fur so tha...

Taste: Miyoko’s Aged English Cheddar, umami; syrupy Nocello Sound: kirtan chanting Smell: pizza crust Sight: cougar and kittens; evergreen treetops; flocks of crows black wings spread; wide eyes and dilated pupils Touch: Winter’s fluffy fur; numb toes Extra: guilt, shame, rats; reading a book in a dream, reading one’s name in a dream - sentence upon sentence of condemnation; listening; waiting in the rain on alert; a sensuous back; so ugly!  Grateful for: Rosie

I remember as a child deciding at one point that I knew magic did not really exist and that I would never actually be transported through the wardrobe to a world of wonder. That thought sunk into me and I've remained rather disappointed in the world for its mundanity ever since.  But in doing an exercise in Rev. Sarah Bowen's book Spiritual Rebel called Taking Out the Sacred Trash, I realized that this was a belief I didn't need to carry with me any more.  No magic, really? "You have to believe we are magic  Nothing can stand in our way  You have to believe we are magic  Don't let your aim ever stray” --Magic, Olivia Newton-John "For effective magic is transcendent in nature…”; --Middlemarch, George Eliot "I have always loved visiting places of ritual and magic at special times of year—" -- The Ponies at the Edge of the World, Catherine Munro "The world is so full of magic and surprises," --Jane Goodall Magic, yes, really!

I re-read Middlemarch again this year and finished Karen Baugh Menuhin's Heathcliff Lennox cozy mystery series. I loved Mr. Fogg the dog. These were the other standouts from 2022: Poetry  Bonfire Opera by Danusha Laméris Woman Without Shame Poems by Sandra Cisneros Postcolonial Love Poem Natalie Diaz Nonfiction Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer (everyone who recommended reading this was right) The Wild Edge of Sorrow: Rituals of Renewal and the Sacred Work of Grief by Francis Weller ( beautiful and insightful) The Ponies at the Edge of the World: A Story of Hope and Belonging in Shetland by Catherine Munro (I don't expect this to necessarily be any one else's cup of tea, but during the pandemic I was obsessed with Shetland) Fiction  These authors are masters. In awe! Delightful. The Sentence by Louise Erdrich Booth by Karen Joy Fowler  Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi This list not i...

The worst thing that happened to me this year was slipping and falling and breaking my wrist , which in the greater scheme of things I realize is not that "worst". Still, surprising. Sudden. Painful. And once it happens there's no going back. You are stuck with the consequences.  The other "worst" senses: Taste:  day-old grease-laden tater tots (fresh, hot tots so good --old ones so vile) Sight: the drooping American flag hanging ragged in the downpour (poor, America, a tattered flag flying in the rain from the back of a truck or other is no honor) Touch:   downpour; matted fur (my enemy matted fur, it shall NOT stand!) Sound:  "The cousins at Quallingham may go to the devil!” (a quote from Middlemarch about family) ;  the national anthem blared over a tinny speaker (again, poor America, this seems no honor) Smell:  burnt cashew milk; Bolt Creek Fire smoke Quotable:   All from Middlemarch, which I reread again this year... "I suppose one gets a h...

Taste:   Clearly the best meal I ate in 2022 was at Lerins Abbey on Ile Saint-Honorat Island off of Cannes, France in August. We walked the beach in Cannes and then, because I love islands, rode a ferry out to the monk-owned island. We were hungry, but had no expectation of finding vegan food. When we checked out the menu at the island's one restaurant and they had one vegan dish.  Do you have a reservation? We did not. No problem though, because there was one seating available.  Did we want it? We did!  We ate at a lovely table in the sand by the beach. The dish was vegan paella and really, by description, it did not sound exciting. In fact, Sam did not even want paella and tried to order something else, but the paella was THE vegan dish. As it turned out, it was the most amazing food. I felt alive as I ate it: the grilled tomatoes and onions, olive oil, the fresh squeezed lime. I drank a glass of monk-made wine. It was possible only to eat in in a slow and savorin...