In early November, at the Rose Garden Early Childhood Center in Buffalo, we construct lanterns to shelter the light that we carry into the darkness during our Lantern Walk festival. When we walk with our lanterns through the cold, dark evening, a gust of wind or drop of rain could put out the fire. So we stay together in case we need to share a light, a lantern or a hand. We walk, sing, and gather around the fire. While we are encircling the fire with our lanterns in hand, we marvel at the spectacle. The experience leaves an imprint on our souls, one of light and the warmth of community... Read More

The whirl of kindergarten starting has slowed. My boys and I know each step of the morning.  I wake up at six a.m. to sit in front of my SAD light for 25 minutes. The boys chat in their room, then get dressed.  Up until recently, I patted myself on the back for rather easy mornings. Our routine worked, and they would arrive at school ten minutes before the bell. But now that our mornings begin in darkness there is resistance, sluggishness. I want more sleep in the morning, but rise reluctantly. They want to stay in their pajamas longer and to have their early morning talks last until sunlight pours into the room. They move slowly and my nagging begins... Read More

I was a total and complete basket case. When I first decided to embark on the LifeWays training in the winter of 2007, I was right in the middle of a full-blown authenticity crisis. A new second-time mother with two 7-month-old and nearly 3-year-old daughters, I was experiencing the very difficult learning curve of acclimating from parenting one child to parenting two children of different age groups. My life was a constant whirlwind and, although I seemingly moved through my days in a somewhat orderly fashion, I was an exhausted, unhappy, overwhelmed, confused shell of a person stuck in a soul-sucking well of despair. Who was I? What happened to the "me" who used to be-was she gone forever?... Read More

This is the tale of a story born in the back seat of a car under a star-filled sky.  As a Waldorf teacher, I have had the pleasure of experiencing the gift of a story coming into my imagination at just the right moment.  Sometimes it was a complete gift from the spiritual world.  And sometimes it might be the result of exercising an imaginative "muscle" that left me open to stories waiting to be shared. 

We were driving home from lantern walk in Pagosa Springs (Colorado).  The night was so cold and clear, and the little boy who sat next to me was full of all the wonder the night had been.  A precocious 4-year-old, visiting us for the weekend and not raised in anything resembling Waldorf, he is tired and wiggly and about to get wound up tight as we make our way home. ... Read More 

Self Care in Winter 

by Lisa Boisvert

Winter tends to be a busy time of year with many parties and gatherings between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day, followed by many more months of winter in many locations. How to keep from getting worn down? 

I make sleep and eating well a priority. The sleep is easy with the early darkness, Mother Nature gives us a nudge to sleep earlier. To simplify eating, I usually roast something with a bone in it on Sunday, turn it into a stock on Monday, cook a pot of beans on Monday and make a soup on Tuesday, so there's always something easy to put together for a meal. Soup or stew for breakfast, why not? Beans and eggs can make a hearty breakfast of Huevos Rancheros.

From the beans, I might prepare tacos, burritos, chili, quesadillas or nachos. Soup makes a quick easy and comforting meal with bread and cheese or served as a stew over polenta, quinoa or couscous.

One of my favorite warming soups is this one:

Warming Winter Stew

Prepare ahead of time:

½ cup dried chickpeas, soaked overnight

3 coins of fresh ginger

1 cinnamon stick

2 bay leaves

Rinse the soaked chickpeas, put them in a pot with the ginger, cinnamon stick and bay leaves, cover with water, bring to a boil, cover and simmer gently until the chickpeas are tender and cooked.

Ingredients:

1 ½ tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp ginger, grated

3 carrots, sliced into bite size pieces

½ head good sized cauliflower, cut into bite size pieces

1 good sized stem of broccoli, cut into bite size pieces

2 potatoes, cut into bite size pieces

½ turnip or rutabaga

peas or corn if you have them in the freezer

1 28 oz can of tomatoes or 2 ½ lbs fresh tomatoes

1 ½ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp turmeric

½ tsp cumin

½ tsp coriander

pinch of cardamom

Heat pot, add olive oil, saute onions, garlic and ginger, add vegetables and spices. Add chickpeas and broth from cooking chickpeas.

Cover and simmer gently.

Add salt and pepper to taste.  

Garnish with:

• squeeze of  fresh lemon

• whole milk plain yogurt

• cilantro

• raisins 

Serves 4 to 6  

Note: Many vegetables work well in this soup, use what you have. I try to include at least one vegetable from each color: orange, green, yellow, white. Roasted vegetables made good additions too.

Orange: carrots, butternut or acorn squash, turnip, rutabaga, sweet potatoes

Green: broccoli, zucchini , cabbage

Yellow: sweet pepper, corn, summer squash

White: cauliflower, parsnip, fennel

Red: tomatoes, sweet peppers

This recipe in my adaptation of Annie Sommerville's North African Vegetable Stew from her Fields of Greens Cookbook.