On Aging, Blueberries and Glimmers

I am getting old.

But so are a lot of people around me, including a lot of newspaper columnists I have been reading for years.  Which is nice because from time to time they write something I can really relate to.  Like this column from Charles Blow

In it, he talks about the choices one can make as one ages: not about getting older, we have no real choice in that.  But about how to come to peace with the process.  I encourage you to read it.  If you are older, it may speak to you.  If you are younger, it may bring some understanding.

One of the things he said, that I try to do every day, is to find something to savor:  a moment, a smell, a tune, a flower, the sun on my face, the sound of thunder in the distance, a laugh shared.  There are so many things to stop and savor!

I am sure some of you will have heard of the concept of a glimmer being the opposite of a trigger.

Positive glimmers are “tiny micro moments of joy—fleeting, everyday moments that elicit a rush of happiness, gratitude, calm, peace, safety, or goodwill.”

You don’t have be old to benefit from finding a glimmer to savor in your life!

This morning, I walked through the dewy grass to my garden. I picked some zucchini and gathered a handful of fragrant thyme.  Yesterday I had rescued some ripe blueberries from the rapacious birds. I laid them out on my kitchen counter and considered how best to use them.

Gifts from my garden

Here you have it: a moist zucchini bread, filled with fresh blueberries and flavored with fresh thyme, vanilla and balsamic vinegar.

Print

BLUEBERRY ZUCCHINI BREAD

Author Susan Murray, www.awomancooksinasheville.com

Ingredients

• 3 c flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh thyme
• 3 eggs
• 1 c canola oil
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 ¼ c sugar
• 2 c grated zucchini
• 2 c fresh blueberries

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2. Spray two 8”x5” loaf pans with baking spray
3. Mix together the flour, salt, baking powder and thyme in a small bowl.
4. In a large bowl beat together the eggs, oil, sugar, and balsamic vinegar
5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and stir together. Fold in the zucchini and blueberries.
6. Bake the loaves for 50-60 minutes until a tester comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes before turning out of the pans and cooling completely on a wire rack.