Love is in the air...

One day this week I woke up feeling particularly peaceful and connected.  Those who've stayed with us before know that summer is a particularly busy time of year around here, and that the notion of "peace" and "connection" tends to fall through the cracks as we bustle around welcoming guests and delivering on our promise of delicious vegan eats...

This one morning though, I didn't feel the usual urge to rush through my to-do list. Instead, I took the time to notice the first rays of sun coming through the open window, the song of the dozens of birds who live in the cypress trees right outside my bedroom, and the restful silence of a household still asleep.  In short, the day felt special. Full of possibilities. 

One of my early morning habits is to go check on the vegetable garden, not to work necessarily (although I do plenty of that this time of year), but just to take in the slow but steady growth of our various plants and flowers.  It's reassuring and grounding to watch nature do its thing.  And when you think about it, it's all effortless.  Salad either grows, or it doesn't.  Tomatoes either ripen, or they don't.  Nature doesn't have goals, nor does it set expectations.  It simply is what it is, in a permanent state of surrender.  On that particular day, it even showed its playful side.  This is what came out of the ground when I was pulling carrots for dinner.  How cool is that?

And later that day, these two snails were snuggling by the water hose, much too busy to notice me!

They took notice of Noah however, when he picked them up for a closer look.  Luckily he didn't ask too many questions about what the snails were actually doing, dismayed and bewildered (for the nth time) by the fact that most people in France see a snail and call it dinner.  Noah really can't get over it that even some of his classmates eat snails (and froglegs) regularly.