Sept. 2006

My Day at the Creek   My Brazilian Crystals Charging in the Sun   A Creek in Cotati   Me Throwing a Rock in and Then Taking a Picture of It   Me Cleaning my Crystals in the River   A Cool Tree with Braches Touching The Ground

Hey loves. I realize that this journal thing is not so easy for me, I'm lucky if I slow down enough to write once a  month!  Things lately have been especially hectic, turns out that I'm moving. Not sure where yet, but when I know I'll let you know. I'll still be in the bay area though. As it turns out my partner and I have decided to go separate ways. However,  we will still remain good friends and I know that many adventures await me. It's just that for the next month or so my life will be topsy turvy.

Before moving I got to spend some time at a local creek. It really made me realize how important it is to commune with nature on a regular basis especially for people that have chronic fatigue. Being out in nature and really feeling it, or getting in tune with it, is like recharging your batteries. Sometimes all it takes is feeling the earth under your feet and the sun on your face to feel recharged. Another way to get in touch with the earth is by planting a garden. I remember reading the book, "The Secret Garden" in college when I was really sick with chronic fatigue and thinking that if I had a secret garden I would start to get better just like the sick little boy in the book. It wasn't until years later that I finally had a garden and realized it's healing powers. After working on the garden or hiking in nature I feel energized and when I go to sleep at night I see visions of trees, flower, and living things in my dreams. The more I think about it, the more I think that the earth is a living being and the energy that I get and dreams that I have our gifts from her. 

Rawstock also happened last month and it was great because it was basically a bunch of raw foodists hanging out together and enjoying the sun. It really made me appreciate the raw community and I feel lucky that I've had so many opportunities to go to so many get togethers of raw people. When I would go to raw events I remember noticing how glowing people's skin and eyes were. When I would leave the events I would walk into a super market and notice that people no longer had that same "glow" like the people at the raw event. That was one of the reasons I called my website raw glow. Of course there are other ways to glow. I remember coming from a healing session where I felt so radiant with God's love and energy. I remember walking into a gas station and a woman commented on how beautiful I was. I know it wasn't my face she was looking at but rather my spirit.

Speaking of raw community now that I'm moving I'm really going to miss the strong raw community I have up here in Sonoma county. I had a life built around the raw community and at times I felt like I lived in a bubble where I was totally normal and accepted for being raw. At times I even forgot that the rest of the world was not raw. Now I feel a little scared about leaving my comfort zone. Support is so important so I know that wherever I am I'm going to seek out support and community raw and otherwise. I also think that spiritual community is important as well. It's so easy to get distracted and forget our true purpose for being on this earth. I've been listening to David Deida's tapes lately and I really liked what he said about purpose. He said something like; it is our purpose to serve others by giving our greatest gift. Sounds simple and it rings true for me.

My Berry Blizzard Birthday Cake   The top is raspberry cream with a blackberry sauce for the writing. The flowers are evening primrose.   The Last Bits of Pie . . .   The Party Spread.   Ripe purple tomatillos,  super sweet and flavorful.   Beautiful fruit platter made by a worker at community market. Lambs Quarters. A delicious mild green that grows like a weed.   Baby Kale Growing

Not to long ago we celebrated a friend's birthday and I was commissioned to make a pie. I went all out and spent an hour picking fresh blackberries. The pie also had strawberries and raspberries as well. It was kinda goopy but people didn't seem to mine. My friend even said that it was the best raw pie he had ever eaten. This is from somebody who has been raw for 11 years and doesn't readily give out compliments! 

I just put up on my website an instantly downloadable e-book for those who want information on how to make simple recipes. The book itself does not contain any recipes but instead will teach you how to make your own recipes. I think people in the raw food movement are starved for a book that shows them how to make simple recipes without the over use of salt, oil, and products that may or not may be raw. My e-book will be a simple guide to show people how I eat on a regular basis, not a guide on how to make fancy gourmet recipes. There are plenty of books out there for that! Don't get me wrong I love them too!

News Flash, Did you know that you can order raw food bars by the case on Amazon? They have Smart Monkey, Lara Bars, Raw Revolution, Think Organic . . .(etc.) I set up an amazon raw food store front if you are interested.

I'm amazed how much cool stuff you can get on Amazon. I guess because it's a forum for other people to sell their stuff as well as Amazon.

The beautiful works of art below are from a local Sebastopol artist who makes installments out of recycled materials. If you look below the mermaids fins are made out of can lids. The guy lives on Florence St. in Sebastopol and he was nice enough to give his neighbors installments to put on their lawns as well. You can also see his work all over Sonoma county. I think he gives new meaning to the word reuse! The mermaid is my favorite. When I was taking pictures the owners of the house with mermaid came out and gave me a picture of the mermaid that had been turned into a post card. Everyone on the street is very friendly and very used to people taking pictures. It's really a sight to be seen. I thought you'd appreciate them.

Okay loves I'm not sure when I'll write next but I know that I will keep you updated on my "new life." Best Wishes.

Here's a poem I wrote about moving:

Moving Forward

An empty canvas before me
the future no longer has a face or a name
I'm spreading my dreams like paint
on a fresh slate
Wanting to create
Something new
Wishing things to be different
this time
Bigger Brighter Better
this time
Hoping that the beauty I carry
inside
Will follow me where ever
I reside
and with whomever I happen to meet
Praying the momentum of the universe will propel me forward
stronger than the
grips of the black hole that is my past
Praying the force that guides the stars
Is guiding my soul
to an Aurora Borealis
in my life
in my heart
more magnificent and glowing
than anything I have ever before
 witnessed

Hey there. I still haven't moved just quite yet. I'm still deciding where I want to be. For now I'm commuting once a week to the east bay to take a class and then living the rest of the week in Sonoma County. Looks like I'll be doing this for at least another month!
Nothing really seems like it makes sense right now but I'm hoping that eventually it will, with patience. I'm also exploring what I want to do with my career. I love working with kids I'm just not sure what age I want to focus on. Most of my schooling and experience has been with younger kids, but I've also found that I really enjoy teenagers as well. I'm hoping in time that will make sense also.

 

Florence St. in Sebastopol

Anyways the class I'm taking is a Spanish class to improve my Spanish and refresh myself with the grammar. The fun part is that the teacher encourages us to watch Spanish TV. and movies. We watched Like Water for Chocolate which is still one of my favorite movies. It's about food, passion, forbidden love, breaking family traditions, and all set during the Mexican Revolution. I've also been watching a few Spanish soap operas. One in particular that I liked is called "La Fea Mas Bella"  which means,  the prettiest ugly girl. I like the theme song because it says, "You are the prettiest ugly girl and you haven't realized it." It sounds better in Spanish, "Tu eres la fea mas bella y no te has dado cuenta" I like it because I think there is a part of us that thinks we are ugly so the song reminded me in a joking way that we are more beautiful than we think, inside and out.

I came across this website called www.connectwithscott.com  I normally don't consult with psychics. It's not that I don't believe in them cause I do. I believe everyone is sensitive and intuitive and some are more open than others, it's just that I always try to follow my own intuition and judgment as best I can. Anyways I'm in such a big transition in my life right now that any insight would be appreciated. Of course I will use my own judgment with the information I receive. I heard Scott on a radio show and for being a psychic he seems so down to earth and genuinely gifted. So anyways, I might talk to him later this week. I actually called into a radio show not to long ago and the woman (who was an intuitive) said that I would go to Brazil next year and that I would end up changing countries! I don't have an inkling of what country she might be talking about! Anyways I'm not worried about it. I couldn't have imagined all the wonderful things that have happened in my life so far so I'll just trust that God has a bigger dream for me than I have for myself. What I do know for sure is that I'm planning to possibly go to Puerto Rico some time next year to the www.annwigmore.org  to do a work exchange or possibly even teach some classes. Unlimited supply of coconut water and wheat grass juice yum!

I'm trying to work on the weekends now and have had some great gigs. The other weekend I made a three course raw dinner for some friends of  mine and just recently I got a job doing demos for a really great company called Sambazon. They are not a raw company because by law they need to flash pasteurize everything but I would say they are the next best thing. Definitely great for people who are not exclusively raw. The smoothies feature a Brazilian purple fruit that grows on palm trees in the Amazon that is wild harvested by locals. The fruit called, "Acai" is mostly seed and just the skin is used. I'm super excited because they will be giving us necklaces made out of the seeds. Anyways, Acai is super nutritious with lots of antioxidants, fiber, and omega essential fats, not to mention it is grown in rich fertile Amazon soil.  I also found out that Acerola cherry is also from Brazil. I get so excited about discovering new fruits and vegetables!

My class is coming up soon on Oct. 1st. It looks like it might be the last class at the same venue in Santa Rosa. Pretty soon I'll be looking for another space to hold my classes. So if anyone has any leads let me know. I also might make an appearance at World Vegetarian Day in S.F. on Saturday Sept. 30. where I'll be sharing a booth with www.living-foods.com. I went last year and I really enjoyed it. There were speakers and vendors that were all vegetarian and some were raw. I highly recommend the event.

Okay so this journal entry wouldn't be complete without showing you some pictures of the raw food I made for my friends. Enjoy!

 

Here is a picture of the raw pie I made. I called it a lemon ricotta plum, fig, and raspberry torte      Here is a picture of gazpacho with heirloom tomatoes and a picture of zucchini pasta with a creamy pesto sauce. The creamy pesto sauce recipe is in my Spiral Slicer Recipe Book. It's so fun to play with raw food!

I leave you with quote that I saw on a door today:

"Just as the caterpillar thought her life was over, she turned into a butterfly"

It just happened to encapsulate everything I've been feeling lately:)
 

Take Care,

C