Friday, December 7, 2007

Mysteries, Gray Days & Baking

What do I have for sale at the Coonamessett Farm this weekend? It's a mystery! But first, it was Albert Einstein who said, The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious.

Late yesterday afternoon, just before night crept in I decided to make the super short trip out onto my back porch, down the steps, onto the grass and over to the edge of the yard where my yellow birdhouse rests. I was surprised when I stepped out onto the porch to notice that there were bird tracks in the snow. I wondered when that bird had stopped by simply because I hadn't noticed any birds out and about at all-not a single one.

I hadn't heard them singing or chirping not even a peep. I did have the music on all day and I do live with a very chatty three year old and yet I was still a little surprised to realize I hadn't noticed any birds on my porch. Was there anything else that visited yesterday that I was not aware of? What else might I have missed? Without the snow I wouldn't even have known about the bird.

I am reminded of an essay I read years ago by Alice Walker. She wrote about her journey in writing The Temple of My Familiar and she talked about her wonder at how at the end of a very long day her friends were sitting down in her kitchen to share a meal and a raccoon appeared out the back door to greet them.

When the weather turns gray it's easy to get bored. Maybe looking into the mysterious in something as simple as a birds flight can help. Why didn't I hear any birds? Will that one fly to a warmer climate soon? Why did that raccoon choose to visit them on that night?

Soon the Coonamessett Farm will be closed for the winter. There's no mystery there- the ground is simply beginning to grow dormant. I have a fresh batch of my Supreme Lemon Cake for sale there this weekend. It's a really delicious cake- very moist and of course lemony. Mystery solved.

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