"After a still winter night I awoke with the impression that some question had been put to me, which I had been endeavoring in vain to answer in my sleep, as what--how--when--where? But there was dawning Nature, in whom all creatures live, looking in at my broad windows with serene and satisfied face, and no question on her lips. I awoke to an answered question, to Nature and daylight. The snow lying deep on the earth dotted with young pines, and the very slope of the hill on which my house is placed, seemed to say, Forward!" -- Henry David Thoreau, Walden
(Just another one of the many reasons I love to read Walden in the morning: I look out my window and know exactly what Thoreau was talking about as he looked out his own window in the woods.)
While I was away on my Vineyard vacation, I got the lovely news that Cher at the always-inspiring Radical Farmwives and her co-bloggers, Robin and Coree, had nominated this very blog for a Liebster Award. "What on earth is a Liebster and why is it an award?" Good question--and one I asked myself! In a nutshell: A Liebster Award is a shout-out to a favorite fellow blogger who is new (or new-ish)--somebody you think deserves a bigger spotlight. You ask them 10 questions and then they pass on the "blog love" to their own favorites with 10 questions of their own. (If you delight in reading rules, you can click on one of the related articles at the bottom which explains the Liebster Award in glorious detail.)
Here are my answers (JG=Joyfully Green) to the questions from Radical Farmwives (RF):
RF: Do you read fiction or non-fiction?
JG: Both. I'm one of those people who's always leap-frogging among several books at a time. Currently, I'm reading The History of Love, Sleep Thieves, and Simplicity Parenting (again). Usually, I'm also reading something by Thomas Hardy, Edith Wharton, Jane Austen, or Henry James, four of my faves. And I'm forever thumbing through my copies of Walden and The Wind in the Willows (my favorite children's book).
RF: What do you eat for breakfast?
JG: I often skip lunch altogether, but I could eat breakfast foods 24/7. As I said in my post called Busy Bees and a Lesson in Patience, I'm currently on a kick of oatnut toast topped with chocolate hazelnut spread and seasonal fruit. Not the healthiest with the spread, but I just pretend I'm being "very French" by having chocolate on bread for breakfast!
RF: What is your favorite tree?
JG: Any tree that's a survivor. A few months back, I wrote about a pear tree in our yard that looks like a big, lopsided Valentine because it has survived quite a few horrible brushes with the weather. I love that tree, but fear for it in every storm.
RF: How long can you go without checking your phone or email?
JG: Phone: Days. Email: Minutes. I haven't been into phone chatting since my early teens, but I'm fairly obsessive about checking email, especially since I started blogging last year. (I'm working on controlling the addiction.)
RF: What is your favorite body of water?
JG: The Dead Sea in Israel. Without a doubt, floating on the Dead Sea was the most relaxing hour of my entire life. (You can see some lovely shots of our Israel trip, here.)
RF: Name a place you haven’t been that you would like to go.
JG: New Zealand. Opportunities for amazing landscape photos and a chance to bump into the genius who is Neil Finn (tragically under-rated in this country).
RF: Do you feel like you are living in the most appropriate time period for your personality/values?
JG: Probably. I gravitate to books about England and New York in the mid-1800's to early 1900's, but I know I'd hate the (lack of) hygiene and the corsets. Plus, as I learned when I read Garbage Land, until the early 1890's, there were roughly 100,000 wild pigs that roamed the streets of New York and lived on the garbage thrown out the windows! (And I thought the rats were bad when I lived there...)
RF: If you could invite anyone to join you for a dinner party, who would it be?
JG: I would need to have a very, very big dinner party because I couldn't choose just one person for this question. If they were still alive: Henry David Thoreau, Leonardo da Vinci, my parents, and my grandparents. Alive: Cory Booker (saw him speak in our town--the man will be President someday, you can put money on it); Guy Kawasaki (saw him speak at BlogHer '13--brilliant and hilarious); Emma Thompson, Michael Pollan, Ricky Gervais, Kate Winslett, Keira Knightley, and Steve Carrell.
RF: What would you serve?
JG: I go through phases with cooking--I vacillate from being a wannabe Nigella Lawson to serving the whole family cold cereal for dinner! These days, with everything going on, I can barely plan a weekly menu for my family, so this question gives me too much agita. I do know I'd bake this bread, the easiest and most gorgeous on earth.
RF: What is/was your most extreme dietary choice (vegan/freegan/raw)?
JG: Aside from the occasional strip of bacon (so hard to resist) at a buffet, I haven't eaten meat in about fourteen years. Just poultry and fish. I'm a sucker for seafood.
Thanks again to Cher, Coree, and Robin at Radical Farmwives for the nod! It was good fun indeed to answer your questions for me. (And readers, do check them out. One of my very favorite blog reads of all time is Wings by Cher.)
I'm paying it forward with the Liebster Award to the following bloggers, all of whom are new(ish) and offer posts I can't wait to read as soon as they arrive in my in-box. (I'll be highlighting a few of the more established blogs in my year-end review. Spoiler Alert: Fragments from Floyd and We Only Do This Once will be included in that list.) Drumroll, please...
Your turn, readers: What blogs do you read and love? Why? Please share in the Comments section below. If you are reading this post via email subscription or mobile device, click on the title or go to www.JoyfullyGreen.com from a computer to see the comments and leave one of your own. (Don't forget to click the box for subscribing to comments so you can read any replies to you.)
