My work is loving the world.
Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird –
equal seekers of sweetness.
Here the quickening yeast; there the blue plums.
Here the clam deep in the speckled sand.
Are my boots old? Is my coat torn?
Am I no longer young and still not half-perfect? Let me
keep my mind on what matters,
which is my work,
which is mostly standing still and learning to be astonished.
The phoebe, the delphinium.
The sheep in the pasture, and the pasture.
Which is mostly rejoicing, since all ingredients are here,
Which is gratitude, to be given a mind and a heart
and these body-clothes,
a mouth with which to give shouts of joy
to the moth and the wren, to the sleepy dug-up clam,
telling them all, over and over, how it is
that we live forever.

I love these words by Mary Oliver. So much. When life feels wobbly and overwhelming, I read them and remember my work: love the world, be astonished, mostly rejoicing, grateful.

I want to hug that little word “mostly”. It leaves room for the other parts of our humanity: grief, pain, loneliness, fear, discouragement, exhaustion. It allows for hibernation, retreat, and rest. It reminds me that life is never “only” anything. It’s never only happiness or only loss, never only abundance or only panic. Even in our greatest joy, we feel the tug of sadness, and in our deepest pain, there are little kindnesses and beauties to give us courage.

So, no matter what, each morning I wake up, pull on my boots and go outside to look for things to delight in. Dogs rolling gleefully on our 2 strips of green grass, tomatoes ripening on the vine, and goslings splashing in the trough, their feathers aglow in the first rays of sunshine shimmering over the horizon.

And it helps. It helps me to have those beautiful and joyous images in my mind when we figure out how to manage on only 6 litres of water a day, how to feed animals when hay prices are 10 times what they were before the drought, and how to prepare for our future when there’s not a drop of rain in the forecast.

When things are especially difficult, I grab my camera and go out and record good things so I have tangible proof that all is not lost, that we will make it another day, another week, another month. We go for drives in the countryside and point out all the ways the amazingly resilient people in our region are not giving up. They’re looking after each other’s animals, opening their gates to wildlife for water and feed, digging dams, tilling fields, and putting in bores. They’re promoting each other’s businesses so they don’t have to close down, spending precious money on coffees and lunches to keep local cafes open, salvaging shower and dishwater to ensure a few plants and trees stay alive a bit longer.

Struggles are so much easier to bear when you know that others are in it with you, looking for solutions and doing their best to make things better.

Creativity and deliciousness also help me feel like our little world is a bit brighter. Bear is of the same mind so we’ve been doing all sorts of projects that delight us. He’s been working on a beautiful medieval chair and a rather fabulous dagger with a fierce wolf’s head on the handle. I’ve been wood-burning and baking and hauling out favourite decorations to make my office extra cheery for Christmas.

For my birthday, Bear took me to Costco and got me a membership card. It may seem like a little thing, but to me, it is pure bliss. We had so much fun together wandering up and down the aisles finding all sorts of treasures from decadent French truffles and Italian cheeses to dried cherries, Scandinavian ginger biscuits, and a box set of Enid Blyton adventure stories. Every day since then has been made a bit brighter with a nibble of this and a smidgen of that as we sit on the back veranda with our cuppas and see who can spot the most interesting birds or the most kangaroos.

I’ve also been experimenting with herb-infused cocoas. I love hot cocoa for Christmas, but here it’s far too roasty-toasty for such things, so I’ve been making iced versions.

I’ve made lavender iced cocoa, rosemary iced cocoa, and, our absolute favourite, spearmint iced cocoa. It is so refreshing and fragrant and makes a blistering Australian summer day feel a whole lot closer to something resembling Christmas.

I use my treasured, Only-For-Special-Occasions Van Houten cacao powder because it is so luxurious and divine that it doesn’t need any milk and only a hint of sugar to bring out the flavours. And, since cacao is a natural mood elevator and anti-depressant, it is the perfect thing for cheering the spirits and giving a bit of oomph to the courage we need to face hard things and do a bit of rejoicing. xo

PS – if you like cacao powder as much as I do, you might also like my Dark Chocolate Cranberry Pudding or Dandelion Mocha.

Spearmint Iced Cocoa

(serves 2)

Ingredients:

• 2-3 cups water
• 2 Tbsp Van Houten cacao powder
• 2 tsp white sugar
• 2 large sprigs fresh spearmint leaves (2 tsp dried)
• ice cubes
• 2 small sprigs fresh spearmint leaves (garnish)

Directions:

1. Place water in the kettle and put the kettle on to boil.
2. While it’s heating, place cacao powder, sugar, and spearmint leaves in a heatproof container. When the water has boiled, pour over ingredients, stir well, and leave to cool.
3. Place ice cubes in 2 cups, divide chocolate mixture evenly between them, stir well, top with fresh spearmint leaves and serve immediately.