In the whirlwind passing of the days, I seek moments of stillness.  They come in many guises:  a dawn meditation, my golden, Oliver, asleep at my side; an early morning wander through the farmer’s market; preparing a weekend soup; listening to music; reading poetry and thinking about it.  These are hardly esoteric pastimes.  In fact, the frightening realization is that these moments of private pleasure, which not so long ago were regular parts of my daily life, have become so scarce.

It is with anticipation then – and a bit of envy – that I wait for the arrival of Cultivated Days, Praire Stuart-Wolff’s blog (there is a digital magazine as well) that speaks to people who are hungry for life’s fine detail. Cultivated Days transports the reader – her description of sharing a cup of steaming tea on a frosty morning in the Japanese countryside is a simple example.  Much of what occurs in the blog and magazine is season related (what could be more grounding than this), but I also enjoy the exotic of it, for her days occur in the countryside of Maine, USA and Kyushu, Japan, the two locales where she splits her year.

Slow living…that is what draws me, and it is a tug that is almost painful.  I am not alone in longing for the leisure and comfort of time spent with friends and family at the hearth of the home, in a low-tech, low-touch environment.  In conversation I find that many are nostalgic for the scent of garden flowers and an active kitchen, the sound of song birds before the day has begun, the sight of a cardinal’s flashing red breast, the ripening of garden fruits, the glimpse of a raccoon making his slow way to a high branch, as if this all were a world beyond our reach.

It isn’t.  And until we find that balance, Cultivated Days serves to satisfy the heart a little and to keep the value of this way of living alive.

http://www.cultivateddays.com/blog/