V is for Vitality #AtoZChallenge

We’re entering the final week of the AtoZChallenge. While I’ll be ready for a break, I’m so glad I did this! Thanks to all for your thoughtful comments. It’s been so nice to have readers. I appreciate you!

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Vitality doesn’t come easily for some of us. I grew up a sickly child, with chronic strep throats, one of which caused a serious kidney ailment. One of my earliest memories was a visit to the hospital. I was upset because at mealtimes, they wanted to feed me. I was a “big girl” who fed myself at home. I remember turning my head to the side in disgust.

After years of long-term antibiotics, I had made it through childhood, but with some residual problems. Most notably, I struggled with fatigue. In my late 30s, this escalated to full-blown Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, disabling me for several years.

So these days, when I write about my garden or my travels, I write with a deep and abiding gratitude for the health I have now. It was a long journey, and sometimes even now I experience waves of fatigue…but they don’t last, and most of the time I have an energy and fitness level of someone much younger.

When I find an edible weed or flower, or try some vegetable I’d never seen before (celeriac comes to mind), I am filled with delight. Each nourishes and strengthens me. These days I am, as much as possible, eating seasonally, and definitely from the garden! Yesterday’s lunch included a leek soup (awesome recipe, by the way!) with leeks from the back yard, along with a side of steamed Swiss chard, with its tender spring leaves.

The more I discover food as medicine, the better I feel…and the less I want those foods that don’t nourish me. That’s not to say I never have them. Last night I ate a piece of fudge and enjoyed it very much, thank you. I’m not fanatic. But there seems to be greater balance in my life these days.

Vitality brings with it a sense of adventure. Trying new foods, I feel like that little kid who played with her Easy Bake oven. Fortunately, my husband will eat whatever I put in front of him. Sometimes the food is so good we could cry.

I hope, as we’ve traveled together this month with my garden musings, this sense of adventure has come across. This life, a holistic life filled with fresh food, much of it from my yard, has brought me many gifts. The greatest is a sense of vitality.

And vitality is what I wish for all of you.