When we don’t see the sun for weeks and it is cold and wet and the winter looks like lasting forEVER and we have moaned our arses off about it in every available social media, we might realise we are actually craving Vitamin C as well as Vitamin D but we can actually do something about the Vitamin C. And the first thing we think of when we think of Vitamin C is bright yellow lemons.
When we were children at the beach we had lemon trees and if we ever visited my grandmother who lived in Christchurch way down in the South Island of New Zealand we took lemons. They could not grow lemons down there so when we visited and we visited often, Mum always packed a few lemons into the folds of our clothes for Grandma. Lemons were gold.
So when a friend sent me lemons saved from her mothers tree in Galveston, Texas I made sure to use them well. Lemons are a precious gift out here on the cold prairies.
Lemons and Olives and Avocados are the three fruits I really, really miss growing.
Here is my mother’s recipe for lemon honey. When I went to find it so I could link back to it for you, I discovered that I had written the original Lemon Honey post in January 23 2012. A colder season than this one for sure and still I had cycled back to lemon curd or lemon honey as my Mum used to call it.
I yearn for the bright yellow tanginess of lemon honey today.
To yearn for something then act on that need is so satisfying. What if the struggle stopped and we no longer yearned to improve. What would happen to the human race if we were all encouraged to be content and satisfied. If we accepted the assurances that all is well, move along, nothing to see here. What if calm, complacent, quiet, gently fattened, slow moving herds of people is their goal. Directed by soft music and changing screens of calm colours. So much information and data thrown at our heads that our heads Zone right OUT. Mired in inertia. An endless scroll downwards.
If we were content and satisfied all the time there would be no inventions, no improvements, no struggle. We would all fall into a sublime apathy. Imagine how dull it would be. If we stopped worrying at problem knots, untangling thoughts, pushing at boundaries, poking at norms with a long stick, dreaming then doing. Our vehicles would even stop, we would be looking out the wrong window, or at a little screen, or at a big screen, idling idly at life’s green lights. What if we conceded to what made us happy and took that happy drug, then sat down in our chairs and proceeded with our lives motion after slow motion in that happy haze staring at that happy thing. Ah well we would think – whats done is done, it is all a mess, nothing I can do about it. Would happy and content make us run and strive, find new music, search for that perfect well made coat you could wear until you are dead or stay up all night with charts and writings, scribbling notes, design and build new ways to clean water and improve our air, design houses adapted to flood or famine with store rooms for plenty, look towards the changing landscape and create the inventions to adapt to it, work on new ways to teach large numbers of people to feed themselves, enable plans to create community on your street or in your village. Where is the plan for the changes that are coming? Or are we all content just to complain about it. Would content allow us to climb right up out of the box and think about things over there? Or would being satisfied and content encourage us to simply Stop, murmur a few protests then go back to sleep. We could stand for hours in a little patch of sunshine and become cows waiting to be fattened, talking and moo-aning gently about the state of it all.
Content will close your eyes. Moaning about it is just another form of accepting it. Moaning breeds content. Content is screen after screen without any action, without decision. Just pretty lights with words. Empty.
Real Happy comes in glorious moments. Yearning is the same. And often both appear in the muck of hard work. It is that smallest shaft of sun that you can easily miss if your eyes are not open to it if you are looking out the inertia window. To be truly wide awake and taking the turns necessary we need to be on the watch for our happy moment or that moment of clear longing and see it and say to ourselves “There’s One. I got happy” then turn that corner and look for more. And collect happy moments like pebbles in your pocket. Collect those goals like safety pins. So you can take that stone out later in your life or even later in the week and remember that tack.
Then with your hand in one pocket smoothing your happy beads, reach out for that next goal. Turn the corner. Get your head in order and your work clothes on and get back to work improving your patch of the planet. The world is changing – ADAPT!
Embrace the struggle. There is work to be done.
I hope you have a lovely day. I am off, back out into the dark muck where my work is.
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
87 responses to “Moaning breeds Content”
Wow – you have really outdone yourself today my friend!! A wonderful, thoughtful, philosophical post worthy of a great philosopher. I think I’m gonna have to bookmark this and read when I’m having a ‘not so good day’.
I agree – yearning for things to change and for things to be better DOES lead to new inventions, things like the Red Cross, NATO etc. etc. etc. – plus great poetry, art and literature simply because someone has something to share with the world.
I’ve been feeling a bit like a fat, lazy cow… just muddling through the day. And so, as you know, I’m moving on so I can have adventures – lots of adventures!!
And thanks sooo much for including the recipe for lemon curd!!!!! ; o )
Yes, I look forward to reading about your new adventures.. c
Well, this was a good topic for the day as I have been bemoaning the state of things a lot lately. Politics, of course. Reminded me also of Fahrenheit 451, the dystopic novel which in some ways is looking more and more like a realistic novel these days. So many decisions are being made by people that I disagree with, but can do little to change. I can only change and control myself, a rather annoying truth. I also really wish I could reach through the screen and grab that spatula and have good lick! Thanks for the pep talk. I will continue drawing my plans for the bunker in the backyard..ha! Have a great day C.
Make sure your bunker has a glass roof so you can grow your veges in there! c
Not sure that would be an efficient bunker, but I will keep it in mind..ha
[J+D] Celi, this came very close to contradicting your anti-musing policy! And very welcome it is too. We couldn’t agree with you more! This post will travel.
I was hoping it read more as a call to action. I had better watch out for falling into the musing trap! Thank you J.. c
It certainly was/is a call to action, but springs from reflection, analysis. Some see those things as musings. I think of them as taking the reader along on the journey.
[…] via Moaning breeds Content — thekitchensgarden […]
Lemon curd on scones is my favorite! Very good post, thoughtful and provocative and challenging. As I tell my students in Green Marketing and Sustainability when they begin to feel hopeless in the face of agribusiness and pharma giants, ‘No one expects you to do everything in this battle, but everyone can do something.’
Yes, it is good to have my own corner of the world to focus on. And much of the damage is done – now is the time to redesign our own little world to help this damaged planet and continue to thrive with it c
Ah, lemons. I am looking forward to those first odd windless days in February when the temp is close to freezing yet the lemon colored sun shines bright and I can lay on the deck as if it were a beach.
Yup! get that tan while you can!! c
I use lemons a lot in Paleo cooking. What would we do without them?!! I love your philosophical prose this morning. Perfect timing on that in so many ways in my life right now. 🙂
I love Lemons – and you are so right about then adding the zing to an ordinary dinner.. c
Ah, Miss C, we have the same philosophy of life. I am a person with a very grateful heart for everything. Good, bad, indifferent. It is all part of life. With appreciation and contentment for what I have, I choose not to complain about what is or was but always look forward with fresh yearning and desire. Not for more stuff, but more experience of life and a way to grow or make life better is some small or large way. Our desire is what keeps the Universe expanding. Every word you wrote here, resonates. Lemons. I am glad we can get them at least at the market. I put some juice in my water each day, sprinkle it on my cooking to enhance the flavor and in general anywhere I can find to make sure I have enough vitamin C in these cloudy, winter days. Love Lemon Curd when it’s well made. Found a local British woman who makes it with fresh home raised chicken eggs. It’s a beautiful color as well as a beautiful taste and texture. They sell at the local farmers market. I hope you have another wonderfilled day.
The good eggs make all the difference – my chickens eat a lot of alfalfa hay in the winter which keeps the yolks nice and dark
Some days your posts leave me speechless and deeply thoughtful. This is one of those days and everyone else has had lots to say. So just… thank you, and hope you have a lovely day too. ~ Mame 🙂
Have a lovely day Mame! c
“Embrace the struggle. There is work to be done.” This will be my mantra for the next four years! Beautifully said.
Hello! I popped over here from Becoming Cliche. Your words and photos are lovely. I live in an area (Southern California) where lemons and avocados are available year-round – my lemon tree has several lemons that are ready to be picked right now. I purchased some (very expensive as I remember) lemon curd last year for a dessert recipe I was making. Good to know that I can make it myself. You are so right that there is work to be done… I will be adding my voice to our local Women’s March on Saturday.
Lemons and limes and avocados — I miss growing them too. There are many olive orchards relatively close by so I don’t miss those so much. But, oh, what I would give for lemons and limes and avocados.
Most fascinating and true thinking, Ceci! Mom said TV was a ‘brain tranquilizer” and the word ‘couch potato’ is so appropriate. but those who work on the TVs, know the inner workings and the science behind it are the movers and shakers. Improvement and new ways are a human trait – if we choose to make it our own. I love what you said about the happy stones (much better than a collection of ‘worry rocks or stones!). I’d love to weigh my pockets down with happy stones. Checking pockets now, I do find that I have a delightful supply! Thanks for the reminder!
My mother had a Worry Stone in her coat pocket until she died. I had it for the longest time after that but it seems to have fallen through the cracks in time.
ah YES! Lemons are gold indeed! You have inspired me to make some what we call Lemon Meringue Pie- but I do not make a crust- I just fill my little ramekins with the curd and
then whip up the egg whites with a bit of cream of tartar and then add a bit of sugar and pop them in the oven to brown the meringue. Ta dah …sheer bliss!
Thanks for the reminder and have a lovely day!
This is a stunning idea – i am going to experiment with it
C. You’ve given us another very thoughtful, inspirational post here to get us all up off our arses in this dreary time of year…to THINK about what we can do, instead of just sitting back and accepting things as the norm. Which, they are not…especially now! I am also saving it to re-read when I need to “embrace the struggle”. This reminds me of the story of the man that stopped the little boy on the beach as he was throwing stranded sea stars back into the ocean. The man said..boy, you’ll never make a difference…there are so many…and the boy said, looking at the sea star he was about to throw back in…well, it will make a difference to this one!
And in regards to lemons…they are my winter treat to squeeze into my nightly glass (es) of white wine! And if you can find Meyer lemons..even better! 🙂
AHA! lemons in my wine! I had not thought of that!