Friends, Family, Food, Fun, Memories.

First Harvest is past. The nights are getting longer and the days shorter. They will continue this pattern until September and the Autumn Equinox, when day and night are of equal length. We will then begin the slow climb into the darkness. This is nothing to worry about. It is the natural cycle of life and the seasons. Each year we follow the Sun on its journey. In December we start the gradual emergence into the Light and so on and on it goes.

What worries me is the weather and the extremes. This is not a new topic here and I am not going to expound upon it today; that will come in future weeks. Today, it is hot. Father Sun is beating down upon us and it is only a somewhat cooler eastern wind that makes the day bearable. The pumpkin and squash are doing great. We were away for four days and when we got back both had grown by several feet.

I was in Courtice, Ontario, just outside of Oshawa and my partner was in Ottawa. I was visiting a friend that I have known since our days in social work at Ryerson University. I'm not going to give you the year, let your imagination work it out. My partner was visiting family.

Now, you know if you have ever had friends or family visit or have ever visited friends and family food plays a major role. Backyard barbeques, picnics, corn on the cob, burgers, dogs, steaks, veggie kebabs and so on are mainstays. I love food and I particularly love it when I can share a good meal with family or friends. All the food related activities from shopping to chopping, to chomping to washing just seem like more fun when you are with people you care about. Simple things become long-term memories.

Now I have different eating habits and likes and dislikes than my friend and his family do. For one thing I am a vegetarian, they are not, for another I love hot spicy food, they do not. These differences have never been a problem. I never get asked why I am a vegetarian. It is accepted that I am. I never get pushed into a discussion about the virtues of eating meat, just asked what I like to eat.

I have found that vegetarianism can cause more dinnertime fights that either politics or religion. Perhaps because it can be both. I have also noticed that it is not I who start the fight. I believe people make their choices and that is that. What they eat is their business and their responsibility.

Go To Page: 1 2

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic