Garbling Herbs

Saturday I spent a delightful two hours garbling peppermint. Garbling is the old-fashioned and technical term used by herbalists to denote the process of stripping dried herb leaves from their stems. When I was finished I had a quart bag of the most beautiful, delicious smelling peppermint leaves and a pile of equally aromatic stems.

The peppermint was organically grown and then dried by my friend, G, who has a magnificent garden in the hills above Silicon Valley. She generously shared her harvest with me.

I love the word, "garbling". Like a little kid with a new word, I have been repeating it every chance I get over the last week.

The weather has returned to normal for us. Cool in the mornings and warm but not hot in the afternoons. A blessed and beautiful sea breeze comforts us and makes it possible to enjoy the long days, rather than trying to hide from the light, which also means heat.

Last night as I opened the curtain in one room, to let this delicious air through, I noticed that my neighbor's pomegranate tree still has flowers on it. I have been wondering for several weeks how much longer the flowers would last and when the fruit would show. It is there now. Small, shiny red balls set just above the flowers look like Christmas ornaments. So beautiful and so promising!

Another friend brought me a peck of Gravenstein apples yesterday. I should freeze apple slices for later, but will probably share them instead. Peeling is one of the small hand tasks my hands no longer like to do and I prefer to comfort them with easy tasks rather than push them in frustration.

Gratitude is large in my mind this morning. Gratitude for beautiful things from friends' gardens, for the climate that I live in and for the gift of electricity. The house fan is running in the background, for the house is still stuffy. Without electricity none of the fans would work; the computer could never have even been imagined, let alone become so ubiquitous in our lives. Our lives would not be the same at all.

Still, while we depend on technology, we also do what our ancestors did, harvesting fruit and garbling herbs. I like the connections and am glad to be alive at this time.

Missing Days

The last three days have gone by so quickly that I have missed two posts and not even realized it.

The painting is nearly done. The last wall is primed ready for color tomorrow and M will finish it with time to spare before she leaves for college. We are both pretty excited, although tired of the smell of paint. I am so happy to have the new fresh look in my house.

Meanwhile, I have been decluttering and throwing things out. In the process I have rediscovered the novel that I started over a decade ago and that I should finish. It has good parts and not so great parts and since I am the editor as well as writer, I figure that no one really has to see the not so great parts!

My kitchen is full of apples given to me by my kind friend L, who is a member of the "greatest generation." He served in the Marines in World War II and reminds me a bit of my late father. The apples are from his tree, a Gravenstein, the best apples in the world, in my opinion.

Tomorrow we finish painting. I should make an apple pie, but will probably just enjoy the apples as is with yogurt cheese.

The days are getting shorter, the shadows lengthening and Fall will be in the air soon. Fall is my favorite time of the year because I was a student for such a long time. It is a time of new beginnings. It also means that the Holidays will be here soon.