Food

Beauty or ugliness, order or confusion are only relevant in relation to our imagination. (Baruch Spin__oza) These chocolate ladybugs drew my attention while I was thinking about my friend’s birthday. She had invited me to an overnight excursion with her to Niagara where we were going to have a buffet dinner and see a live show called “Hurrah for Hollywood.” This was going to be her birthday celebration. I knew the buffet would include lots of cupcakes, sliced cake, and many other types of desserts. The last collage will reveal how these ladybugs were actually used for the celebration. ...

“If variety is the spice of life, enjoyment of a variety of different foods has to top the list.” (Late Blooms) Food is near and dear to the hearts of most people. If we have enough or more than enough, we’re grateful and happy. If we have very little or just enough to get by, all our energy is directed to the acquisition of this precious life-giving commodity. This is true for all cultures and peoples on earth. ...

“Patriotism is a thing difficult to put into words. It is neither precisely an emotion nor an opinion, nor a mandate, but a state of mind – a reflection of our own personal sense of worth, and respect for our roots. Love of country plays a part, but it’s not merely love. Neither is it pride, although pride too is one of the ingredients. Patriotism is a commitment to what is best inside us all. And it’s a recognition of that wondrous common essence in our greater surroundings – our school, team, city, state, our immediate society – often ultimately delineated by our ethnic roots and borders… but not always. Indeed, these border lines are so fluid… And we do not pay allegiance as much as we resonate with a shared spirit. We all feel an undeniable bond with the land where we were born. And yet, if we leave it for another, we grow to feel a similar bond, often of a more complex nature. Both are forms of patriotism – the first, involuntary, by birth, the second by choice. Neither is less worthy than the other. But one is earned.” (Vera Nazarian) ...

[caption id=“attachment_1630” align=“aligncenter” width=“584”] With Toronto’s freezing cold weather and ice storm this winter, my heart has many a day reflected on sitting out on a beautiful Summer’s Day.[/caption] To make myself feel better about the extremely cold weather we’re experiencing now, I took a look at some of last year’s images. These collages are a result of that time. Seeing these does make me feel better and brighter in spirit. ...

January 31st is the beginning of the Lunar New Year according to the Chinese Zodiac Calendar and gallops on until February 18th, 2015. It is the Year of the Horse. This celebration of the New Year has always been special for me. For many years, I was fortunate to be able to help the children in the Toronto Chinatown community prepare for the celebration - through my work. Many celebrations and preparations take place for this occasion in Canada, especially where there are large Chinese communities. ...

I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. ~Charles Dickens ...

[caption id=“attachment_1492” align=“aligncenter” width=“584”] By The Fireplace[/caption] “_So if a Christian is touched only once a year, the touching is still worth it, and maybe on some given Christmas, some quiet morning, the touch will take.” (Ha_rry Reasoner) It’s fascinating to take in the sights and sounds of Christmas around this great city of Toronto. “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas everywhere I go” as the popular song says. All kinds of people get caught up in the Spirit of Christmas, whether they are celebrating the Birthday of Jesus or just having fun. There’s so much to be done before Christmas Day - cooking, baking, shopping, wrapping, decorating, writing, travelling, rehearsing, praying, singing, meditating, playing, just to name a few of the important things to be done. ...

[caption id=“attachment_1369” align=“aligncenter” width=“584”] Diwali Festival[/caption] Fill the Heart with the oil of love. Place in it the wick of single-pointed mind. Light it with the Knowledge of Truth and remove the darkness of ignorance around you. Just as one lamp can light many lamps; let each youth kindle this Light in many hearts. Diwali will be celebrated on November 2nd and 3rd this year in Toronto. Apart from India, where the biggest celebrations will be, other countries with South Asian populations will also be “lighting up” and participating in other ways in this Festival. It’s a New Year celebration. Many homes are lit up and special meals prepared for the occasion. It’s a time for lots of “sweet treats. “On the day of the Diwali festival, doorways are hung with torans of mango leaves and marigolds. Rangolis are drawn with different colored powders to welcome guests. The traditional motifs are often linked with auspicious symbols of good luck. Oil diyas are arranged in and around the house. Because of these flickering lamps, the festival has acquired its name : Dipawali or Diwali meaning ‘a rows of lamps’. On this day, people buy something for the house or some jewelry for the women of the house. It is auspicious to buy something metallic, such as silver. ...

On January 31, 1957, the Canadian Parliament announced that on the second Monday in October, Thanksgiving would be “a day of general thanksgiving to almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed.” For some of us, Thanksgiving is a big celebration with friends, family, and the traditional turkey dinner. For others, it’s a time of reflection or just another holiday to enjoy in our own way. Whichever way we spend it, we have all been out and seen the beautiful colors that Nature provides at this time of year. ...

 __To be creative means to be in love with life. You can be creative only if you love life enough that you want to enhance its beauty, you want to bring a little more music to it, a little more poetry to it, a little more dance to it.” – Osho I wanted to bring a little “something special” into the life of someone I deeply care about. We were having a special celebration lunch for a special happening and these kinds of events always seem to bring forth a burst of creative energy from within me. I was also already dancing in my heart. My thoughts turned to fruit and I remembered admiring edible arrangements at parties I had attended in the past - and enjoying them too. I thought: “Why not make an edible arrangement?” ...