Beyond Cuckoo

Blake fell back and the wall became red with spaghetti and sauce. It took a few seconds for Elaine to realize that her husband’s implanted defibrillator had gone off—not once—twice.

Elaine fell back and the wall became permeated with frustration and fear. It took her a few days to realize that her beyond cuckoo meter had gone off—not once—twice.

Blake and Elaine slept off the awakening–time to re-evaluate, reschedule and restore. They considered their balance regeneration options.

The pivotal point began with the physical and mental shocks followed by an exam. The baby boomer generation, in an attempt to make it right, questioned, experimented with, changed and discarded much of which was considered the norm. We went back to the land, lived communally, had children delivered by midwives, gardened organically, ate healthy foods, meditated and at the same time, had our lives changed dramatically by media and technology. And with the effort to combine these often incongruous elements of modern day existence, we became, in many ways bi-polar—initially becoming manic with our enthusiasm, creativity and overindulgence, to later become depressed with the results.

This past week I took down a first edition of Carla Emery’s Old Fashioned Recipe Book that I had purchased from the author in its original mimeographed form in 1974. This book had been my bible when I milked goats, tended chickens and lived a happy, healthy, existence. I had a job that paid half the bills, meditated and enjoyed a peaceful home life with my equal wage earner husband, Blake. With happy times in mind, I opened the book again, found a classic recipe and made sourdough bread in my Cuisinart computerized bread machine. It took half the effort and came out great. I may be on to something. Stay tuned as Beyond Cuckoo continues . . .the garden’s cover crop will soon be tilled under, organically fertilized and planted.