Thursday, June 3, 2010

How to Stuff a Pepper by Nancy Willard



-Baby Belpepper growing in my garden yesterday-


How to Stuff a Pepper
by Nancy Willard

Now, said the cook, I will teach you
how to stuff a pepper with rice.

Take your pepper green, and gently,
for peppers are shy. No matter which side
you approach, it's always the backside.
Perched on her green buttocks, the pepper sleeps.
In its silk tights, it dreams
of somersaults and parsley,
of the days when the sexes were one.

Slash open the sleeve
as if you were cutting into a paper lantern,
and enter a moon, spilled like a melon,
a fever of pearls,
a conversation of glaciers.
It is a temple built to the worship
of morning light.

I have sat under the great globe
of seeds on the roof of that chamber,
too dazzled to gather the taste I came for.
I have taken the pepper in hand,
smooth and blind, a runt in the rich
evolution of roses and ferns.
You say I have not yet taught you

to stuff a pepper?
Cooking takes time.

Next time we'll consider the rice.

From:  "Cries of the Spirit, A Celebration of Women's Spirituality" edited by Marilyn Sewell, Pages 202, 203

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

My newest anthology of poetry, "Cries of the Spirit, A Celebration of Women's Spirituality" edited by Marilyn Sewell.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I'm so glad to be back to Blogland.  I MISSED YOU ALL!!!  I felt like I'd lost a whole village full of friends while I was offline!  I hope to visit everyone and get caught up by this weekend.  Thank you all for your comments.  I read them all and cracked up when I saw the tomato perfume recipe.  Believe you me, I plan to try it out.  It just might make me rich and then I can open a used book store and give Tarot readings and sell coffee, books, cats and exotic Tomato perfume.  I'll have several black cats milling about as my one female cat just give birth to 3 black kittens in my closet.  Anybody want a black cat?  LOL!

I took my 14 year old bookaholic grandson to the local library sale last week.  (I'm passing along my best tightwad secrets to him, one at a time.)  Our library has a sale twice a week and most of the books are priced at a quarter or fifty cents.  It's truly a godsend for a tightwad bookaholic such as myself.  I call it good book karma....There are books culled from the nine library branches and books that are donated to every branch from individuals.  We're after the donated books.

I gave him a crash course in how to 'work' the sale.  First, you quickly look over the books on the big center table as they are newest books.  Then you pick up any books that look new whether hardback or paperback and put them in your stack.  Hardbacks must have the dust jacket and be in good shape.  Then you peruse the books on the shelves, again choosing any that look newer.  The next thing you do is check the publication dates to make sure the books are less than 3 years old and make sure there is no writing in the books. Discard any that are book club books or library books unless you want to keep them.  Pay for the books.

Next, we throw our haul into my truck and boogie on down to Hastings Book Store and sell the books.  Hastings buys and sells used books, CD's and movies and I've got their buying system down to an art form.  (At Christmas one year I made almost $200 in one trip).  Last week we paid $2.50 for our books at the library sale and sold them for $22.50.  I had a $5.00 off coupon from the Sunday paper, so we were in the black for $25.00.  I have to say that my grandson was astonished and amazed at his Grammy's talent, especially when he got 6 new Naruto books 'free'. 

I managed to sneak in the anthology of poetry shown above.  It's an awesome book and has most of my favorite female authors in it, many that I've shared here.  It's one of those anthologies that just keep on giving.  (I saw it used at Amazon, but it has a different cover if any of you go to look for it).  I highly recommend it.  It's going right next to my other two favorite anthologies, "Staying Alive" and "The Best Erotic Poems from 1800 to the Present".

We came home extremely pleased with ourselves.  Since school is out, he said he planned to raid the library sale twice each week and teach his Mom my system.  There's nothing like a good deal!

While I've been offline I've been attempting to relieve my life of some clutter and have also been hunting down some important papers.  It's an ongoing job due to my system which is to open a drawer, pull out the contents, then spend the next 2 days perusing the photos, cutting out stuff from the magazines for use in my altered books and then finally discarding the junk after sorting.  I may get done before I'm 60 years old.   For instance, last week I found a little box holding my oldest daughter's baby teeth.  Awwwww, right?  NOT!  She'll be 37 in November!!  I called her and asked her if she wanted her baby teeth.  She was laughing so hard I couldn't tell if she said yes or no, so I put them back in the little treasure box. 

I could go on and on for hours, but it's thundering and I'm praying it turns into a real rain storm.  We've had a drought of sorts here with little or no rain for many weeks.  I've had to water my garden almost daily.  (The heat index today and for all next week is predicted to be 105 degrees!)

Wishing you rainbows, sunshine, blessings and love,

~*~ Marion ~*~

"Do you have doubts about life?  Are you unsure if it is worth the trouble?  Look at the sky: that is for you.  Look at each person's face as you pass on the street:  those faces are for you.  And the street itself, and the ground under the street, and the ball of fire underneath the ground:  all these things are for you.  They are as much for you as they are for other people.  Remember this when you wake up in the morning and think you have nothing.  Stand up and face the east.  Now praise the sky and praise the light within each person under the sky.  It's okay to be unsure.  But praise, praise, praise."  From:  "No One Belongs Here More Than You Stories by Miranda July", Page 11


A decoupaged page in my newest altered book.  (Many thanks, Carmen, for the buckets of inspiration, and for the materials to get me going.  You rock!)






15 comments:

Janelle Goodwin said...

Yes, I think you should open a used book store, sell coffee, tomato perfume and read tarot cards. What could be better? There is always tons to ponder when you post, Marion. Always fun!

Marion said...

Thanks for stopping by, Janelle. I appreciate your kind comment. I hope to have that book store one day. Blessings!

Susan Anderson said...

I love those library sales, but I must admit I never thought of going to our used book store and selling them.

Nice!

=)

Jos said...

So lovely to see you come up on my reader Marion. A book/coffee shop where you can get Tarot readings and kittens? Sounds fabulous ... I shall have to read back and find out what tomatoe perfume is ... who ever said blogging was not educational? Our library has sales too ... I'm not able to attend them all but my system is not unlike yours! Tightwads the both of us!

I love the poem ... like the way it meanders from being a recipe into a celebration of the pepper itself.

As for clutter ... oh dear. If were to start de-cluttering now I might be done in a decade or so. Ah well, clutter is not all bad surely?

xx Jos

Woman in a Window said...

Marion, you thrifty woman! I'd never of thought of doing what you do with books. In a way you're rescuing them and giving them value again. You just get to put a few coins in your pocket along the way.

That exert is a very thoughtful exert, that it is all for us. I like this. It gives value to each of us and connects us as well.

Glad you are back, Marion. I was beginning to get worried about you.

xo
erin

Marion said...

Sue, many used book stores do not offer cash, but trade only. Those are good, too, to get new reads. Thanks for stopping by. Blessings!

Jos, I'll be sure to let you know if I ever get my used eclectic shop going. :-) A reader posted a tomato perfume recipe in the comments on my blog post of May 20 about me falling face first into my tomato patch. I plan to try the recipe. Oh, I love my clutter, too. I'm not happy unless my favorite recliner is surrounded by piles of books, scissors, markers, notebooks, glue sticks and did I say books? Blessings!

Erin, thank you. I'm happy to be back. Yes, that Miranda July is now one of my favorite short story writers. She's quirky and amazing. I appreciate you. Blessings!

Kelly said...

I am SO GLAD to have you back, Marion!! I missed you so much!

First...I love the poem and the picture of your baby bell pepper. Our tomatoes haven't started coming off the vine yet, but we've had a few yellow squash. I made my first squash casserole of the summer last weekend. On a down note, though, one of the outside dogs is stealing squash off the plants right before they're ready to pick!! Makes me angry!

Second... I'm very impressed with your "system". You've really got it down to an art!!

Third... I laughed at the baby tooth business!! My younger daughter was just asking me the other day where hers were. I told her I was sure they were around here somewhere in an envelope. Ha!

Again, welcome back to blogland!!

Marion said...

Kelly, thanks, I'm glad to be back. Bad dog! If he eats tomatoes, you'll have to pen him up!! I have tons of tomatoes, still green. I may make one batch of green tomato relish (my favorite thing on earth...I eat it right out of the jar), but my jalapenos aren't ready yet and I have to have them to spice up the recipe. We finally got a good rain today. Hooray! I hope you have a great weekend. Blessings!!

Marion said...

What a wonderful grandma you are! Imagine!

I missed you and I'm so glad you're back! We are getting rain as well, an unusual occurrence, but I am happy it is. Saves some of the well water for us!

I still have all my children's hair from their first haircut...and their teeth! My daughter, aged 39, finds it hilarious as well. But I love having them!

Marion said...

Marion, we're soulmates. LOL! Our rain is already gone, but my gardens soaked it up like sponges. I picked my first cup of Blueberries this morning. Blessings!

* said...

So much in this post made me smile...the tightwad tips you're passing onto future generations, the library book sales (love those, as a Public Librarian, it's one of the biggest perks of the job -- we get first pick, shhhh!).

And the poem. Love That Poem. And You.

quid said...

Glad you are back... I've been sketchy over vacation and the week getting back, but missed you. We'll have to exchange Louisville stories. I haunt my local bookswap, but they rarely take hard covers so I can't be
"hard core". Sounds like the beginning of a good summer... we have a little rain to spare, will send some on to you.

quid

Wine and Words said...

Well no one missed you like I did Marion. So there!

Love
me

couragetocreatewriteandlove said...

you're welcome!!!
i am so glad you are having fun

God bless your heart
and hugs
Carmen

Marion said...

Carmen, you are just too kind. I'm over the moon happy (tee-hee) that your Moonflower seeds have sprouted. Yippeeee! Blessings!