Changes and opportunities in The Year of the Horse

We had fun at our Lunar New Year parties in White River Junction and Woodstock. Other tai chi instructors led similar events in Montpelier, Springfield, Castleton, etc. We always enjoy this special time when we can bring together beginner and advanced students and newcomers as well. The Year of the Horse portends change, personal and community-wide too.

Change it is! I’ve just been updated my “classes” page on this website and am looking foward to fewer classes via Zoom and more time to spend in person with tai chi learners. Change is hard but often rewarding, so I encourage us all to accept the inevitable, go with the flow, continue learning one way or another.

I’m also excited to create more time to work on my novel, “Her Last Cookbook.” It’s a love story, a food story, a bit of an historical novel, but overall forms a late life coming of age story for Miriam Bernstein. She’s having to contend with heart disease, the pandemic, changes at her restaurant (Geometry) too. Drafts of her newest cookbook are part of the novel. If all goes well, the novel should be available in a bit over a year.

Pickling season begins

In an earlier post I noted cucumbers were growing. Well–now they are HERE and abundant. I love making fermented pickles because it’s so easy. With just salt, water, dill, and garlic magic happens! As you can see in this snapshot, there’s a little white ramekin shoved in the jartop; that keeps the cucumbers pressed below the top 2″ of brine and is essential for successful pickling.

By comparison, writing a novel takes constant work (more like making some intricate cake). I’m on the 5th draft of “Beyond Measure: A Cookbook Novel,” and almost ready to start querying agents. Wish me luck!!