A weekend of escape to Mohonk Mountain House provided me with an opportunity to begin the earliest of springtime traditions of over ordering and hoarding the contents of  seed catalogs.  It’s been my late winter tradition to  over buy seeds and to completely ignore or forget about the square footage of soil one half ounce of any seed package can grow. Every garden does this- I know it. We all get greedy from the potential excitement in the review and decision making.  One or two… forget it… I really want all four kinds of nasturtiums.

It gives me a sustainable pleasure to know that soon, winter will recede back  by the warm hands of springtakes me to an imaginary place in the sunny fields of my

On a walking tour through the gardens en route to the greenhouse, “there’s still snow on the ground – will this white nuisance ever melt ? “, my  fantasy was that every greenhouse must have hidden in the back in the equatorial section a secret stash of cacao trees.

It didn’t happen, so we went back to the dining room and I ordered three chocolate desserts- what were they? Heathbar Crunch Tort, Tiramisu and Blackout Cake.

i carry your heart with me
(i carry it in my heart)
i am never without it
(anywhere i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear no fate
(for you are my fate,my sweet)
i want no world
(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart
(i carry it in my heart)

ee cummings

Meditation made Simple with Gourmet Chocolate
Instead of images or visualization, use the awareness of taste to still the mind.

It’s definitely a treat when something good gets even better and better. That appears to be the case with dark chocolate which researchers say can reduce blood pressure, relieve pain, raise the good cholesterol, promote alertness and absorb free radicals. Add to that recent research which claimed eating dark chocolate may lower levels of stress hormones.

Tasting chocolate is a wonderful meditation for beginners, of course, we’re all beginners no matter how long we have been meditating.. Taste as a type of guided visualization can become mindfulness experience—a practice in becoming fully present— by focusing on a specific taste. I use the taste of chocolate because it is so easy to introduce to everyone.

Begin with the first inward breath, allowing a small piece of chocolate to melt on the tongue. Focus on the taste and stay fully present in the moment, as the chocolate melts and the taste develops. Breathe in the aromatic fragrance of the cacao and concentrate on the sweetly bitter and intensely dark flavors as they develop. Become fully present and aware while flavors develop, appreciate what you have, and where you are right now.

The next step, according to Kita, completes the meditative moment. Allow the thoughts about the tastes of the chocolate to drift away. This will leave an empty space in the mind, and as the taste diminishes, don’t allow a different thought or anything to replace the awareness of the taste. The mind will want to jump back in so quickly with its own chatter. Remind yourself to focus, return to the taste that was just present on your tongue to maintain awareness of the moment. Hold the thought about the chocolate taste for a moment, then release, and let the mind back to nothing.