Tears, Tea, and Tomatoes

I have not been posting for awhile for a number of reasons. One being that I have been in a funk. My cat, Grace, took a downturn and had to be 'put to sleep' a couple of weeks ago. I have been so sad and missing her so much that it has been paralyzing.

The state of the world and my personal life have led me to believe that life is meaningless and that everything I have been doing is worthless. Knowing at a deeper level that these thoughts are a trick and that I must not succumb to them, I have been spending more time with friends and going to Master Gardener activities, which are interesting, connected to nature and free.

I can now say this strategy has worked to move me out of depression and renewed my sense of purpose.

Spent a delightful afternoon at a Master Gardener book club meeting and tomato tasting. So many varieties, colors and flavors. We also sampled dishes made with tomatoes including green tomato pickles, tomato jelly and tomato chutney.

The book everyone was reading was East Wind Melts the Ice by Liza Dalby and she came and did a talk about the book and some of her experiences in Japan. In Japanese culture, the year is divided into 72 seasons that last 5 days each. The book goes through the year and each of the seasons. A very different way of looking a the cycles of nature.

I was intrigued by her because she is a cultural anthropologist who writes both non-fiction and fiction and has credibility in both genres.

Many years ago when I wanted to become a writer, I went back to school in a doctoral program thinking that would 'force' me to write. Well, yes it did, but not in the way I wanted. There is a huge difference between scholarly writing and writing for the public. In her case, after she finished her doctorate and was teaching at the University of Chicago, she realized she also wanted to write fiction. She and I discussed the differences between the styles of writing and the audience.

I was inspired after talking with her to get back to my novel. It is so good to meet someone who is successful at what you want to do - being a writer with an anthropological perspective. She lives nearby and I hope to develop a friendship with her.

Liza studied to be a geisha and did her anthropological fieldwork in Japan. Her website

Just a couple of days before, I had gone to a viewing of The Meaning of Tea, by Scott Chamberlin Hoyt at Traditional Medicinals in Sebastopol. Japan was one of the countries featured in the movie. Others were Morocco, England, France, Taiwan and India.

Four of the people I went to Morocco with were at the film showing. Robin, Shelley, Dorothy, Huck and I went on the Plant Lovers Tour of Morocco in 2007 with Rosemary Gladstar. A memorable trip where we drank a lot of tea.

Tour of Morocco - Feast for the Senses - Fez Sacred Music Festival

Next May, 2009, I'll be leading a tour of Morocco, one of my favorite places on earth. I have posted a complete description of the tour on my website.

The tour will include highlights from my trips there plus some new features. Some of the places we will go are not on the typical tourist tours.

If you want more information add a comment to this post and I will get back to you. The deadline for deposits is coming up soon and we only have a few openings left. Don't miss this one. A trip to remember.

Upcoming Tour of Morocco 2009

Now that the eclipse is past (see my astrology blog thedesertsky.blogspot.com for more about that) I am ready to announce my upcoming tour of Morocco for 2009. It will feature the best of the three trips I've made there plus the Fez Sacred Music Festival 2009. They have not set the program for next year yet, but you can visit the website for this year's program.

I have been wanting to create and lead my own tour for quite awhile now and with the help of friends, it is set up.

Click here to view the brochure.

This is going to be a very special trip. Send the deposit now to secure your spot. You still have plenty of time to save up your blog earnings (LOL) for the rest of the trip.

Hope to hear from you soon. If you have questions, leave a comment.

May in Morocco

Early last May I went to Morocco with a group of herbalists, herb growers, massage therapists, healers, and producers of herbal products. We visited spas, healing retreat centers, herb farms, herbal doctors and even a rose oil distillery.

Here’s our tour leader having a healing footbath. It was inspiring to me since I also grow medicinal plants and create my own herbal products.
I discovered ingredients used traditionally in Morocco, but still not well-known in the United States and have been making my own products with them. Watch for a link to my website where you can find out how to get them.
We also did some of the usual tourist things like ride camels (I love camels). How could anyone ever say that camels are vicious? Isn’t he the sweetest thing you’ve ever seen? We visited the historic kasbah Ait Benhaddou, where they recently filmed a movie.

Did you ever see goats in trees?
Here they are eating argan fruit.

A wonderful oil is made from the nut inside that is used both for cooking and skin care. Whoever came up with the expression “a hard nut to crack” must have been talking about argan. We got to try cracking them at a women’s collective.

Thanks to the French I learned in the Peace Corps many years ago, I was able to talk to the locals. One afternoon, I was talking to the young man who works at the hotel desk. He asked me why, at the height of the season, there were no Americans, besides us, at the hotel. “We built this place especially to cater to American tourists and you’re the only ones here. Why aren’t Americans coming to Morocco anymore?” Part of me was surprised at his naiveté. “You really don’t know why?” “No, not at all. We love Americans.” I felt so bad telling him that to the average American, all Arabic speaking people are the same. Most people think they are all terrorists. Even some of the people in the group I was with were so on edge about something happening, that every normal setback or misunderstanding (common while traveling anywhere) was seen as a deliberate attempt to upset and derail us. He was so sad to hear this. “But don’t they know that Morocco is completely different than that? We don’t want fanaticism here.” “No they don’t know that,” I replied. He said it was my job to tell them. This was my second trip to Morocco. I loved it so much the first time that I wanted to pack up my life and move there. This time was no different. The focus of this trip brought us to more rural areas than I experienced last time and we had a chance to meet and interact with lots of people. I saw how I could live there and perhaps that will be part of my future.