# the simple life
The days are growing shorter and darkness comes earlier and earlier. The spring and summer gardens are complete, and the few things we managed to plant for fall are being plucked daily--lettuces and greens--so fresh! We are savoring the last of our cherry tomatoes as fall settles in.
Retirement is on the horizon for me now. I have been preparing; looking at the life of one of my heros: Tasha Tudor. She is known and loved by many. Tasha was an author and illustrator of many books; she lived a life style of simplicity with great charm. She raised goats and chickens, loved having tea, creating dolls and doll houses, and gardening--oh the gardening. Tasha lived life fully until age 92; she died in 2008.
One of the things I admire about Tasha is her zest for life and living things. In her book Simple Adundance, author Sarah Ban Breathnach writes this, "...the Stillwaters, the mock New England sect imagined by author and illustrator Tasha Tudor. Stillwater followers...believe that life's simple pleasures are meant to be savored and that Nature is to be revered." Tasha's illustrations involve much of the beauty of nature.
Breathnach continues, "The Stillwater religion, which combines the best beliefs of the Shakers, Quakers and Amish, is a state of mind, according to its creator. 'Stillwater connotes something very peaceful,' Eldress Tudor explains, 'Life without stress. Nowadays, people are so jeezled up. If they took some chamomile tea and spent more time rocking on the porch in the evening ...they might enjoy life more.' " Tasha enjoyed life!
As I prepare for the earliest days of my retirement, I hope to take time for tea and a sit, rocking on the porch and enjoying the view of our Almost Paradise Homestead. I'm not an author; but I do sew, knit, grow vegetables, raise chickens and goats, love having tea and making dolls. The simple life is ahead; this eclectic Episcopalian is savoring the final days of my parish ministry as I prepare for the gift that lies ahead. The Stillwater religion just may be a part of my future! And a Facebook page called Joy Fellowship at Almost Paradise Homestead. Worship the beauty of holiness! # the simple life!
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