Red Foot Garden

It has been a really long time since I’ve posted anything on this blog – over 2 months! This has sort of been by design. I started to get upset with myself for not posting often enough, and I felt pressured to continue posting. While I felt the pressure to post, I never was able to post as often as I wanted to. Rather than being a fun foray into a new activity, it became a new chore that pressed on me. To relieve myself of this feeling of obligation, I’ve stopped posting to help remove this attachment.

I feel better, and today I’m posting something that is on my mind rather than coming up with something to post arbitrarily.

Last night I had a long running nightmare. In my dream I chased down and tried to murder a childhood friend of mine. I know, completely brutal. In the dream I pinned down this old friend of mine and bludgeoned his head with a hammer until his brain was exposed. There was no motivation for this act, as far as I know. Once his skull was crushed and I was about to complete the act, I stopped. I left him barely alive, and the rest of the dream was running and trying to keep all of this a secret. I told a few people, and much of the anxiety of the dream was wondering if I could trust those who I had told. I was essentially waiting for the police to show up and take me away, but I wasn’t just sitting and waiting.

I don’t know what this dream means, or why I had it. I don’t even know why I am posting this, other than to get it off of my chest.

I’ll continue to post to this blog as necessary, but I’m not making any promises =)

I’ve noticed that October is VeganMoFo, or, the Vegan Month of Food.  In honor of VeganMoFo, many folks who maintain blogs are trying to post as many Vegan-related posts during the month as possible.  While I am a Vegetarian and not fully Vegan, I do embrace the idea of being Vegan.  I still find it too difficult to eliminate dairy from my diet.  Perhaps I will give it a try in the name of VeganMoFo.  Today I had a vegan lunch, but I did have some milk in my coffee this morning.  The milk in the coffee will be fairly difficult for me… I’ve tried soy milk in my coffee, and I just don’t like the taste as much.

I read an article today that gives 8 reasons to stop drinking milk now.

After reading this article, I feel like I could exclude milk for at least a month.

Deciding to skip out on dairy will change my diet a little bit, but any change in diet typically leads to creativity and innovation.  Anything that is forced to survive in a minimalist fashion must be creative in order to continue to survive.

Now I’m going to go and look for some recipes to help celebrate VeganMoFo.  If you have any suggestions, post ‘em in the comments or send me a link!

Thanks, and happy VeganMoFo!

Ugh… not very deeply into this new venture into blogging, and already I have begun to slack. I am constantly thinking of what I can write about, and my thoughts are far too disjointed to include it in my blog – but then again, who cares?

Unfortunately I don’t have very much free time in my life. I don’t know too many people that have free time at all these days. 5 days a week I drive an hour and a half in each direction to get to work, where I spend 8 – 9 hours. I sleep anywhere from 6 – 8 hours (usually closer to 6). This leaves about 4 – 6 hours to eat, enjoy my gardens, my wife, and my dogs. This is no way to live a life, yet I am sure that I am not the only one that has such little time that is not allocated to some sort of obligation. In fact, I took the job that I am working now so that I can spend more time at home. I actually DO have more time at home, but I obviously still don’t have much time.

My mind is full of chaos and disorder, and my blog will begin to reflect this. I will no longer filter my nonsensical banter from this blog. Readers beware.

While driving to work I pass through some lower-income areas and I see a different world from the world in which I inhabit. The expressions that I see on the faces of people walking down the road show a struggle that does not exist in my life. It is not that there is no struggle in my life, it is just that their struggle is different.  Many of the opportunities and luxuries that I enjoy will never present themselves to these people.  I make a conscious effort to appreciate these opportunities, but seeing these folks every day makes me humble.

What I noticed this morning was that two people were walking down the sidewalk together, each holding a plastic shopping bag in their hand. I first thought that they were holding each other’s hand, and I took a double-take before realizing that they were not.

I immediately questioned why I did a double-take when it appeared to be a couple happily walking down the road and holding hands.  I realize that I did a double-take because this is not something that I normally see.

When I see people holding hands, it warms me up. This shows that people care about each other, and that they have no problem displaying their affection.  Why is this almost a thing of the past?  Are our lives so preoccupied with our woes that we cannot revel in the comfort of our companions?

I know that I will be sure to reach out and hold my wife’s hand the next time we find ourselves strolling down the street together.