At our house we already repurpose and recycle, and mend as much as we can. The COVID-19 pandemic made us wonder about supply availability, food security, and even more about our footprint on this planet. As we live in a fire zone, and with the longer, hotter summers and drought the thought of burning is always with us now. Fire season is everyday, not just in the fall. Although if we and our animals were safe it would be enough, the idea of losing the possessions which are touchstones with loved ones hurts. I’m not one to just take a photo of a thing and then give the item away; I rarely take time to look at photos, and seeing the small clay pots, paintings, books and kitchenware on a daily basis links me with loved ones past and elsewhere. So in 2010 we began some habits which we will continue, most of them started by my marvelous daughter, Miranda. Here is a short list:

1. Washing and reusing plastic bags. We’ve been doing this for years on a smaller scale, but I wasn’t as diligent about single-use plastic bags when they came my way. Now we also wash and dry any aluminum foil, single-use bags and plastic cling-wrap. We try not to accumulate plastic, but we have frozen a lot of harvests and as we use the supply the bags become available again. Unfortunately the pandemic postponed the new practice in CA of bringing your own bags for groceries; instead of accumulating more I put my supplies back into the cart and bag them in the parking lot.

2. Folded napkins. We stopped using paper napkins at mealtime and shifted to using cloth. My daughter began folding them using a book and the Internet as guides. Every meal feels posh now, and the idea of having to wash them makes me a more careful eater! Why not celebrate every meal?

3. Using the good stuff. My parents worked their way up from absolutely nothing. When I was in elementary school my mother went back to formal work as a manager in the new May Company department store in Carlsbad. She ran thirteen departments, and I spent many a sick day sorting yarn in the stockroom. She used her discount to buy beautiful things, including glassware. My parents loved entertaining; my mother would make everything including homemade baguettes, and serve drinks in lovely glasses. I inherited most of the glassware, where it languishes in my cabinets. I don’t entertain often, and when I do it is mostly informal. Miranda started a tradition of serving our morning juice in fancy glasses. She squeezes orange juice and grapefruit juice. We have a shot of grapefruit juice and a little more of the orange juice, which makes the use of shot glasses, tiny beer steins, champagne flutes and cocktail glasses so much fun. Its a little like having my parents at the table again, and I’m sure my mom would be so happy to see the glasses being used.

4. Soaking in appreciation. Every moment is transient, and to make it last I must recognize it before it becomes the past. More than ever I work on changing the negatives and the fear in my thoughts. Deep breath in, deep breath out. If fire burns everything we have to ash, if I lose my ability to earn an income due to illness, injury or age and our lives change drastically economically, if even more tragedy comes to our doorstep, having lost so many friends these last years and suffering along with their families, I have this moment right now to appreciate. Right this moment I am okay. I have food, water and shelter, which is beyond what so many people have. Beyond that, its all cake. Health, loved ones, income, safety… all cake. Complaining about what I have or can’t have is as much of a sin as any other. So I try hard to have quiet appreciation of my life. It can’t be made ‘better’ with additions or subtractions, it can only change. Whether that change is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ is purely opinion. Deep breath in, deep breath out. This goes a long way towards helping deal with the stress that has been raining from the skies instead of water this past year. Being appreciative when grieving, when hurting, when overwhelmed is a much more challenging task. Shaking my fists at the sky raging at the unfairness and injustice helps just a little, but if I hold onto the emotion I become ill. Deep breath in, deep breath out. Soak my soul with appreciation. So much cake.