grace chuch, nyc may 2009

grace has been popping up a bit in my life lately: even though i am going through some difficult stuff, there is beauty all along the way. there were the amazing trees in full blossom outside of grace church in new york, which i kept happening upon, day after day during my trip there.

there was the yoga class last week, where the crazy/amazing teacher started talking about strawberries, and somehow turned it into a parable about grace that calmed me to the core.

there's been the generosity of near strangers, friends and acquaintances, helping me with projects, offering encouragement and support. the stars keep aligning for me: pitches are being accepted, projects are being offered, and just when one path seems to end heartbreakingly, something else turns out to be the way i was meant to go all along.

there is grace every day in the kitchen, as well. yesterday, i was at yes we can food with michelle, teaching people how to make apricot jams and preserves. we made some really incredible stuff with royal blenheims, and there was another variety we hadn't worked with before. we proceeded on to make jam with the second variety using the same methods we'd used for the blenheims, and things went really astray. really, really astray. there was unexpected caramelization, crazy high-water content, and a strange tendency to either be undercooked or overcooked, but never just right. i started to panic.

then michelle, in all of her loveliness, said that whatever it turned out to be, the stuff would be delicious. it might not look like i wanted it to, but it would still taste really, really good. and it did. so we went on to can it, and today she called to say that the version i thought i'd ruined might just be the best tasting one of the lot.

grace.

i just hope there was some grace headed my way the other day when the red light camera took a photo of me (i think). oops.