Garden Fresh

I've been away. Away with the ocean as my backdoor. It was a nice break from our normal day to day routine. It was wonderful to fall asleep with the slider open, listening to the sound of waves crashing on the shore.

Matt and the boys and I flew to Seaside, Florida to spend a little over a week with his entire immediate family. I say "entire" because there are so many people. 23 to be exact. 12 adults and 11 children, oh, and I can't forget, one on the way.

There is so much to share about this trip and SO many photo's. It may take a little time to sort through, edit and prep the images. Once they're ready, I'll share some of the highlights.

In the midst of all of the beauty and enjoyment I did find myself struggling a bit with one thing. Food. I mistakenly watched Food Inc. right before going on this vacation. Oh my goodness this movie is a MUST see for everyone, although I do have to warn you that it's a bit tough to watch. I know that so many people don't care, don't want to know what lies in the background of our food industry. It's so much easier NOT to know. BUT, and I don't mean to crawl up on a soapbox here, don't you WANT to know what it is that you're eating??? We literally are what we eat and it's mind boggling to me that people would rather just turn the other cheek.

I definitely don't want people to think that I'm faulting them for not caring or for eating food that isn't good for you. I think we live an existence where we've been desensitized to certain things like the impact that certain foods or "non" foods have on our bodies. We've also been pulled in the direction of convenience. There are so many options now for "fast" food, but who's looking at what is in the food? Where is it coming from? Is it healthy for our bodies?!!

Watching Food Inc. was an eye opener for sure. It made me appreciate where I live so much. I have access to fresh food. Access to grass fed, farm raised meat and poultry. Dairy products that aren't treated with hormones and pesticides. Locally grown produce. I am so grateful for this. In fact, this Saturday is the first day for a local farmers market that is walking distance from our house. WALKING DISTANCE! I feel blessed.

A couple of weeks before we left, Matt and I planted a small garden. We utilized the open sections of our yard to plant lettuce, broccoli, potatoes, garlic, onions, cilantro, parsley, tomatoes and mint. When we came home, our lettuce was in full bloom so we made the best steak salad I've had. It was so satisfying to just pick what we needed from our garden. The boys loved it too.

I have to say, I'm looking forward to warm summer days, buying locally grown, farm fresh food and cooking with my boys.

Summer, I'm ready for you!

Friday Inspiration - Mark Ryden

Here's a detail from the painting:

I've posted about my love of this artist before. He's one of my all time favorites. Mark Ryden. His strange fascination with meat and Abraham Lincoln. His attention to detail. His color pallet. But, I think what I love most is how his work makes me feel. When I look at his paintings, I get lost. Lost in a far away place that takes me across the line of reality into a world of fantasy and all things bizarre.

He has a new gallery show opening April 29th at the Paul Kasmin Gallery in New York, NY. It's running through June 5th 2010 and I would love to be able to go! At this show, you're able to watch a video of Mark painting "Incarnation", one of the pieces for this new show. Fortunately, the video is on Youtube and I'm happy to link to it HERE. It's 4 minutes and 27 seconds long.

The video shows how the foundation for the painting is created on the canvas. I wish, just a little that I had been able to see the entire process, but then maybe some of the mystery would be taken away. I do love the mystery of his work. How the figures seem so ethereal and how everything seems so real in its surreal state. One day, I hope to own one of his paintings. That would just tip me over the edge.

Happy Friday!