11/17/2025
I was riding my bike in the window between rain storms yesterday, rolling along the American River and marveling at the trees, resplendent against the grey sky, leaves shiny from the storms. I started asking myself “Why is there so much beauty in this decay?”
As I approach middle age, I think a lot about garnered wisdom. One cannot have wisdom without age and not all of us are lucky enough to achieve either. Is it wisdom that creates our beauty as we “decline” from our youthful exuberance? Is our wisdom the beautiful leaves, falling away, catching the wind? Leaves become a blanket for the next generation to flourish after all, a layer of warmth for the seeds and the bugs and worms in hopeful expression that the womb of mother earth will bring new life forth in spring. Perhaps wisdom is our greatest fleeting gift to those in our communities and those we caretake. Our bright yellow flashes of warmth, deep red loving kindness and orange thoughtful words of caution. An autumn of leaves proclaiming a life lived fully, with mistakes and heartbreaks and trauma and wonder and love, recipes and hidden trails, all compiled into many different aspects of wisdom. I think this is so.
I hope you are staying warm, tending to your own hearts and pouring your kitchen magic into nourishing meals, creating many colors in your personal tree of wisdom.
