I've been following the adventures of Roz Savage from the moment I finished my big bike ride across the united States.  She was then at the beginning of rowing across the Pacific Ocean, having already rowed, solo, across the Atlantic.  She completed the Pacific row in three stages and this May set out from Freemantle, Australia intending to row across the Indian Ocean.

 

She is almost done.  As a matter of fact, she will finish on Tuesday of this week after rowing for over 150 days.  She's quite amazing, as she is demonstrating by these rows, and by the fact that she does these crossings to bring attention to global warming and other important causes.

 

She rows one stroke at a time.  One stroke at a time.  One stroke and then one more.  Which inspires me, especially now. 

 

Sally Ekus is another of my heroes.  She happens to be my literary agent, along with her mother.  Actually, they are both my heroes.  When Sally was a baby she survived leukemia, which is a heck of a thing for a child, not to mention for the mother. 

 

Give us a call by noon and we'll have your dinners ready by 3. You can come until 7.

 

828-252-1500

 

Monday, October 3

Chicken and Scallion Dumplings 7.95

 

Tuesday, October 4

Stuffed poblano Peppers with Rice and Slaw 7.25

 

Wednesday, October 5

Braised Pork with Olives and Tomatoes 9.95

 

Thursday, October 6

Apple-glazed Chicken with potato Kugel 8.00

 

Friday, October 7

Here is this week's casserole:

 

Wednesday, October 5

Full: 44.95  Half:  22.50

 

And this week's Lasagna is:

Friday, October 7

Full: 28  Half: 19

 

Monroe and Lupe and their family are some of my heroes.  This past week was Bea's "Gotcha" Day, the day she was given to her sister Maria, then just two years old, and her two dads.  Brother Ollie came two years later and now they are a household of energy, action, and just plain day to day life.

 

Of course my bees are my heroes.  Gosh they have a hard time these days.  But the other day the cafe hosted the First Annual Black Jar Honey Tasting (meaning the judging was done by taste, not appearance) which is a fundraiser for the newly-formed Center for Honeybee Research.  I came in for the event and just was so pleased to see a panel of esteemed local judges methodically tasting the 20 or so local honeys in the competition.  (Mine was one, which was very exciting - though the winner won't be announced until a few weeks from now.) 

 

Drum class # 2 is this Thursday, October 6th at 7:30pm.  I DO hope you come.  It's really fun.  Really!  It is one hour of unabashed fun. 

 

Then there is my little hero, Shayla.  She lived in Asheville until recently when she moved to Philadelphia to be closer to her treatment center, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.  She is such an angelic spirit that the hospital chose her as their poster child.  I'm told her picture is all over the whole city! 

 

 

Saturday, October 1, 2011

 

Howdy. I don’t know how it is where you are but it is CHILLY here. 45 degrees was the posted temperature in my car this morning. BRRR! I think I’ll build my first fire of the year in my woodstove this evening. My pup and I will snuggle up and be thankful for each other’s warmth (well, I know I will.)

 

This newsletter is a bit of a departure today – a time to give appreciation to some of my heroes. It started with Roz, knowing she is less than 100 miles from completing her solo row across the Indian Ocean. Wow! The other people I’m thinking about might be doing less dramatic things but they are no less heroic for that. To me, just living a life of love is pretty heroic, as my friends Monroe and Lupe are doing. I hold these people in my mind as I travel this journey right now, as I experience really awful days and, also, days, like today, that are kind of normal. I’m not ever certain when I am going to feel good – or bad and the trick is trying to be honest with myself and with others about it all. And, frankly, not everyone is going through my journey with me and I don’t want this to be the only thing I talk about – though it is kind of front and center right now.

 

I think we all need heroes. We need to have examples of people who struggle – and make it through. As we see, way too much, things can come crashing down without a whole lot of warning and it seems to help to have examples of survival to hold onto. “They are doing this, perhaps I could to – if I had to.” It helps.

 

When I did my bike ride a friend coached, “you just have to keep making little circles with your feet.” Yup! As I watch Roz I think of her dipping her oars into the ocean, over and over again. Sally, one step at a time has trained and is going to run her marathon. Shayla will keep beating the odds, accepting, with her own special grace, the difficult treatments.

 

It’s now a new year in the Jewish calendar. The other day, as our guests were tasting the honey, a friend wrote, reminding me that the New Year is ushered in with apples dipped in honey. And though that is not the reason these judges were gathered, in truth it was a celebration of the heroic work of our bees, the culmination of thousands of trips to flowers where miniscule amounts of nectar were collected and transformed into honey. The other night the work of hundreds of bees was sampled. Thousands of bees worked, one tiny drop of nectar at a time, to produce this magic, life-giving elixir. Heroic. Yes.

 

People tell me I am their hero. I don’t feel much up to that name most of the time. It is not always easy. Not by a long shot. The best I can do, at those times, is draw on my cache of heroes and hope that I can measure up to their examples. One step, one stroke, one pedal, one moment at a time.