In order to get some shade from the bright sun, the booths at the Farmer’s Market are crowded on the east side of the little park — it’s just a square really.  It was really a mob scene, every booth wanting to get its share of shade.

I was leaving the Farmer’s Market and at a corner of the square without any booths, right near the street, was a box filled with yellow squash and Concord grapes. There sat this box, filled with yellow squash and purple grapes, out there all by itself. No name on it. Just sitting there.

What was that box doing there? (more…)

I remember reading of a primitive society, and I’m sure you’ve heard this too, when someone stole, for example, the whole tribe met in a circle, and the thief was in the middle. The thief was not accused. He was not even labelled as a thief.  With everyone’s eyes on him, one by one, each member of the tribe told the person in the center what they liked about him. There were not punishments or tut-tutting. There were not courts of law pronouncing judgments. This was a practice of love.  (more…)

For so many years, I have stayed away from sweets.  99.9%  of the time.

I can do it because I do not keep sweets in my house. I don’t, that is, unless I’m having company. And then I have to pray that the company eats it all up, and none is left.  If they don’t eat it up, odds are that (more…)

I may have told you this before. As you walk down the streets of Chicago, you will see bowls of water set out in front of stores. No dog will go thirsty. Furthermore, some stores also put out a second bowl filled with dog biscuits, courtesy of love. This warms my heart. Isn’t this how life should be?

How did God ever dream of dogs to teach us love? (more…)

Lauren had a Groupon for Melanthios, Greek Char House, in easy walking distance from her new apartment. This means we ate $40. worth of fantastic food for $20.  I can tell you that the food and service were superb every inch of the way. (more…)

Yesterday, I was on top of the world with my new-found awareness that I could love. I could love whether my love was returned or not. I could be the first to love! The sense of love in the particular drama I told about in yesterday’s blog entry is riding strong. I am so happy that I can remain established in that zone. It is very freeing and where I would love to be all the time.

Here is what happened this morning after I had written and posted that blog, however: (more…)

The day I’m writing this, some soup dripped down the edge of my cup, and it was beautiful. Two scraggly lines on on the outside of my cup as though a child had painted them, as though the soup itself were an artist of note. That’s all it took for me to feel extra happy. (more…)

Okay, so we will have blogs with captions now. I happen to love captions. The technology came free to Lauren’s cell phone somehow through a special at Amazon. (more…)

In the previous blog entry, photos showed the process of making our own rolls with rice paper wraps. Below you see my finished result! Not exactly rolled tightly, but so delicious!

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This unpretentious restaurant, Hai Yen, in Chicago, must be one of the best restaurants in the whole world. (more…)