About pujakins

I am a poet and teacher of meditation, with a fondness for words and a husband I love dearly. I write a regular column in my local newspaper and another on the internet. My hope, both in my life and in my writing is to encourage people to see things in way that will help them to live happier, healthier lives.

Heartwings Love Notes 2051 An Apple a Day

Posted on September 3, 2024 by pujakins

Heartwings says, “Apples are good food and good medicine too.”

Apples are good for you. An apple a day may not keep the doctor away yet it might keep the dentist at bay. Eating them exercises your gums and helps keep your teeth firmly ensconced in your gums. In addition, apples have considerable Vitamin C in pectin, which not only makes them good for making jelly but also for healing eye injuries and infections. If you get a sty or the eye infection sometimes known as Pink Eye, some grated apple will quickly help heal the problem.

Twice a day, grate a about three or four tablespoons of fresh apple, peel and all, and put it directly on the affected eye for about fifteen minutes. Remove and wash off the sticky residue. Repeat until healed.

This has worked for me as well as for friends, who saw significant results almost immediately. Once one of my students had scratched his eye in the woods. It was late at night, so I suggested the apple poultice. By morning, his eye was virtually healed.

Apples are an excellent source of vitamin A, contain a respectable amount of vitamin C, and are also high in potassium. Their calorie content is low compared to their fiber, and they make a very good snack for anyone who is calorie conscious. One of my favorite quick lunches is an apple cut into slices and spread with around two tablespoons of nut butter–low in calories, satisfying and nutritious too.

One year because they were such a bargain I bought a whole crate of apples. After a week I realized I had better do something with them quickly and decided to make deep dish apple pies. However, I had only two suitable containers. I lined my two quart casserole with foil, peeled and cut enough apples to fill it, sprinkled in some sugar and a little cinnamon, and put it in the freezer to freeze. Meanwhile, I lined the other casserole with foil and began to fill it. Once the contents had frozen, I removed and wrapped the filling securely, stored it, and began on the next one. That winter, when I wanted a deep-dish apple pie I took one out, removed the foil, placed the filling in a casserole and let it thaw. Then I made a top crust, laid it over the apples and baked them until they were done. We had seven delicious pies from that crate of bargain apples.

I never buy applesauce. I buy a bag of 3 pounds or so of apples, cut them up removing stems and the blossom ends only and put them in a large pot with half cider, half water and two cinnamon sticks. I cook them around 3 hours. Using a food mill I grind them into apple sauce and put the sticks back in. They enhance the flavor as well as help preserve it. Try it, it tastes wonderful

May you be healthy with your food choices, and enjoy your good food.

Blessings and best Regards, Tasha Halpert

Have comments, questions, suggestions? Make my day and write me at tashahal@gmail.com.

A poet and writer, I publish a free weekly blog, Heartwings Love Notes for a Joyous Life. My Books: Up to my Neck in Lemons, and Heartwings, Love Notes for a Joyous Life are available on Amazon. My latest publication available there is my first chapbook, Poems and Prayers, and I have two more in preparation. You can sign up for my blog at http://tashasperspective.com.

Heartwings Love Notes 2050: The Importance of Spiritual Teachers

Posted on August 27, 2024 by pujakins

Heartwings says, “Teachers of spirituality appear in many ways

.”It is a great help to have someone who can teach you or guide you. This applies especially to any spiritual work, and is certainly proven by the number of books available to be of help in a variety of situations and circumstances.

While I have explored and benefited from many different books, still my human teachers have taught me more than all the books put together. Were I to name them all, the list would be long and not necessarily of interest. However, I will tell you about two very special ones, and what they taught me.

My long time Yoga teacher, the late Joann Sherwood, originally began her professional life as a dancer. After studying with several prestigious spiritual teachers, she began her own classes. When I met her, she had already inspired many students as well as brought them helpful knowledge and techniques to enhance their personal as well as professional development.

A most special aspect of her work was the array of remarkable individuals she presented to us in her monthly lecture series. However, one of the best lessons I learned from any of them was that regardless how holy or how knowledgeable a teacher might be, he or she was also a human being, with normal behaviors. There was one who fretted about his tea, another about his scheduling, and so on. It was enlightening. I was able to observe these issues because Joann had put me on a committee to look after their needs. It was heartening to me. I learned and observed, and finally completely understood I didn’t have to be perfect to be spiritual.

I first met the late Father Angelo Rizzo, my second special teacher, at one of Joann’s monthly gatherings. He spent a part of every year in Brazil doing missionary work, and the remainder in and around New England, speaking and preaching about how the mind is the healer. This was more than forty-five years ago. Stephen and I got to know him personally while we were living in Marblehead. We offered to help him write a book featuring the themes of his teaching. He agreed.

These were not traditionally Catholic nor were they usual for a priest to be espousing. He gave us a title and his lecture tapes to work from. “I Believe Using Mind Power We are All Healers” was typed up and then fashioned into the book. His precepts were simple. While there were others, these first two have guided my life for the last forty or more years: All is a belief. You can choose your beliefs.

With his help as well as that of others, I have been given a better understanding why things work the way they do, and how to navigate the world in general. I consider myself most fortunate, and I am grateful to him and to all my many wonderful teachers.

May you find helpful teachers for your spiritual path.

Blessings and best regards, Tasha Halpert

PS Questions, comments, suggestions? Love to hear from you. Make my day; write to me at tshahal@gmail.com. I promise to write back.

Heartwings Love Notes 2049: My Personal Search

Posted on August 18, 2024 by pujakins

Heartwings says, “You won’t know what’s around the corner until you’re there.”

Life went on, my children grew and went to school, and I became a Yoga teacher. Like many important changes in my life, it happened serendipitously. With five children and a busy life, I was getting very stressed. Having trouble sleeping, I resorted to memorizing long poems, reciting them to try falling asleep. One day I mentioned this to a friend.

Several days later he gave me a book on Yoga by Richard Hittleman. Telling me it might help me relax, he said it had fallen into his hand the day after I had told him my plight. More serendipity! I studied the directions and followed the exercises. Soon I no longer needed to recite the long poems. I was falling asleep easily and sleeping soundly.

Sometime later a woman I knew announced she was teaching a Yoga class. Thrilled to have an instructor I eagerly signed up. Although it ended after twelve sessions, I continued my practice. Later on, as I was talking about Yoga with a friend; someone overheard me and invited me to go with her to a gathering of Yoga teachers and students in a nearby town. I jumped at the chance. The day we were to go, she had to cancel out.

Deciding to do it by myself, I drove to the address and found myself in a large room full of leotard clad women, none of whom I had ever met before. They all had Yoga mats! I didn’t. So I laid my coat on the floor and feeling glad to be there, followed the teacher’s instructions. At the end she led us in several chants. Something about them made me feel as though I had really come home.

As the session ended, I discovered she had a studio not far from where I lived. Immediately, I signed up for classes. At almost the same time, the wife of the minister asked me to teach a class at my church. The coincidence was very helpful because I learned at the studio and taught what I learned. Some years later, my teacher taught a teacher training class that enhanced my knowledge. Eventually she had me teach my own classes for her in various places.

Having been uncoordinated as a child, I found Yoga to be very useful for gaining physical skill and coordination. I also grew proud of my newfound abilities. Better still, in a year or two, my teacher opened a larger studio and had monthly gatherings of spiritual teachers. Asked to be on the welcoming committee, I was able to interact personally with many of them.

The long lasting practice of meditation that evolved from my study of yoga, as well as the wisdom I gained from the exposure to the many spiritual teachers she featured has been one of the most helpful experiences of my long life. While my journey had begun long before, it was given a gigantic boost by these two new additions.

To be continued

May you discover new helps to your journey.

Blessings and best regards, Tasha Halpert

Comments, questions, suggestions? I so enjoy hearing from readers. Do write, please?

A poet and writer, I publish this free weekly blog, Heartwings Love Notes for a Joyous Life. My Books: Up to my Neck in Lemons, and Heartwings, Love Notes for a Joyous Life are available on Amazon. My latest publication available there is my first chapbook, Poems and Prayers, and I have two more in preparation. You can sign up for my blog below

Heartwings Love Notes 2048: A Worthwhile Treasure Part Two

Posted on August 13, 2024 by pujakins

Heartwings says, “When something is outgrown, it must be left behind.”

I continued to go to church with both my mother and my father, until I went to college. At that point I went only when I was home and the rest of the time, I didn’t think much about religion or spirituality. I was busy growing in other ways, and then I met and married my first husband. We started a family, and soon with two little girls to care for, I forgot about my pursuit of spiritual matters.

Then my husband fell asleep at the wheel as he was driving home one night and nearly was killed in an accident. All of a sudden, I felt an urge to return to church. Yet I did not feel good about attending my mother’s church or practicing her religion. It simply did not suit me any longer. Like the clothing handed down from my mother’s friends’ children that I had worn as a child, it no longer fit. I looked for one but didn’t and then we moved back from Rhode Island and the army base where my husband was stationed. I found myself able to attend my father’s Episcopal church and did so, singing in the choir and eventually teaching Sunday School. I felt as though I had come home.

Beginning with The Hero with a Thousand Faces, I read Joseph Campbell’s wonderful books on mythology. They broadened my view of spirituality and I continued to search for books that would help me learn and grow. Someone gave me Brother Lawrence’s Practice of the presence of God. I was quite taken with the idea and decided to incorporate his practice of the Presence of God into my own life. I began by imagining that God was present for me where ever I was.

Brother Lawrence also introduced me to the idea that any kind of work could be a form of prayer. Until then I had associated prayer primarily with church, bedtime, and emergencies.

Over many years I have come to understand more about the practice of work as a form of worship as well as of spiritual growth. Here is a tale that says more about that. This Hindu legend tells of an advanced student of spiritual wisdom who was sent by his master to visit a renowned teacher on the other side of a forest. He grew weary, sat under a tree and fell asleep. The twittering of birds woke him. Angrily he raised his hands and sent a bolt of energy at them. They fell senseless to the ground. He continued to the hut of the teacher and knocked on the door. No one answered. He tried again. Someone was moving about inside. “Anyone there?” he called out impatiently and knocked a third time.

“Young man,” came a voice from within, “I am only an old woman who has lived all my life here in the forest. You have studied great books, and you are even strong enough to knock the birds from the tree, but you will have to be patient with me. I am getting to the door as fast as I can.” The young man caught his breath. How could she possibly know what he had done in the forest? Realizing how much he still had to learn, he bowed his head and sighed.

Over many years, my understanding of this practice changed. Now I feel it is always possible to be in the presence of God. If, as Brother Lawrence teaches, God is present everywhere in all people and things. How ever could I not be in that presence. Most think of prayer as a statement, in the form of a petition or perhaps a combination of praise and gratitude. For me prayer has become an underlying theme so that I frequently express my gratitude. Also, when a friend comes to mind, I bless him or her and send light to whatever situation he or she might be in.

May you find help on your path to light when and where you need it.

Blessings and best regards, Tasha Halpert

To be Continued

Heartwings Love Notes 2047: A Treasure worth Seeking, Part One

Posted on August 4, 2024 by pujakins

Heartwings says, “A journey of discovery is fun to share, regardless the goal.”

The search for God by whatever definition has always been an important part of my life. Over time it has revolved around the various interpretations of that word. My parents, as well as Emily, my first caregiver and a practical nurse I spent a lot of time with, were all traditionally religious. By traditionally I mean they went to church on Sundays and followed the mainstream Christian beliefs. They were not dogmatic or “born again” Christians, although my mother had a rather grim view of God. She often said, “God will punish you if you… so I thought that might be something important to avoid.

I learned about the Divine at an early age. Told to say my simple “God bless” prayers, following, “Now I lay me down to sleep…” in my mind I prayed to a kind of big parent in the sky, for that was how I thought of God. At around five, I began attending church. My mother, a devout Catholic went every Sunday and took me with her. The benches we sat on were hard, the ones we knelt on were very hard, and the prayers were mostly in Latin. I preferred my dad’s Episcopalian church, where I got to sing hymns and there were cushions to kneel on. I was able to enjoy it when on special holidays like Christmas and Easter, my mother and I attended both churches, although I believe my mother was unsure it was alright with “her” God to do so.

Once I learned to read, I used to look for books to read on the family’s bookshelves. On a bottom shelf of an upstairs bookcase, I was drawn to an old Bible in the hall. I have a vivid memory of sitting on the floor under the skylight, reading the tissue thin pages and wondering at the images described in them. I found the pages fascinating; I was especially drawn to the colorful descriptions in Revelations. My father’s childhood book of Biblical parables, with steel engraved illustrations was another favorite of mine. The stories were so interesting, and the large pages held my interest.

When I was seven or eight, I created my own church, just for me, in an outer corner of a small, old, greenhouse shed between the wall and the chimney. I gathered moss to kneel on, made a brick for the alter and placed a cross made of twigs upon it. I drew stained glass windows on the wooden panels of the shed wall with chalk. On the other side I made a small Cemetary where I put the animals I found to bury-a cat that had died, some ducklings, and a bird or two. When I felt the need, I would go to my church, kneel on the moss, and take my troubles to God. Somehow it seemed natural to do so.

May you enjoy happy memories of your own personal history and share them when you wish.

Blessings and best regards, Tasha Halpert

PS I welcome comments and hope you will email me with them.

Heartwings Love Notes 2046: Being Kind to Mother Earth

Posted on July 28, 2024 by pujakins

Heartwings says, “Being sure to take care with resources becomes more vital to the earth all the time.”

If I leave the water running when I brush my teeth, I won’t need to turn the faucet on and off, yet that wastes water. If I take the car somewhere unnecessary, let it idle instead of shutting it off, or speed, I waste fuel. Many of the shortcuts we practice in order to save time end up being bad for the planet.

Many towns are banning the use of throwaway plastic bags. They are easily replaced with reusable cloth or disintegrating paper. I try to remember to take my cloth bags from the car. When did we become accustomed to always drinking from plastic straws? The ocean now is polluted with them! What ever happened to paper ones? I save and reuse any I receive in restaurants.

I was raised in a thrifty household. Clothing was passed on or handed down. My mother had a friend with twins a year older than I was. You guessed it, I got two of everything they outgrew! No food was ever wasted: leftovers from a roast went into a casserole, vegetable scraps were boiled for soup as were chicken bones. Mattresses were turned again and again and discarded clothing became rags.

Today these practices are becoming practically routine as thrift becomes a way to conserve the resources of the planet rather than the individual. The cycle has come around and what was once considered “old fashioned” is the current trend. It’s like fashion: If you wait long enough everything, or almost everything, that has gone out of fashion returns again as a new trend. I must say I hope big shoulder pads never do.

Individuals who take care with the planet’s resources, (of which water is one) can make a difference. Daily acts no matter how seemingly small and insignificant, can accumulate. There is a true story to the effect that when the majority of monkeys isolated on an island began washing their food that the practice spread to other islands, communicated somehow through a sense of consciousness. It is said that when enough people act in certain ways that it can influence the actions of others even without their seeing or hearing of it

It is not difficult to help out. When I used to go for walks, which sadly I have had to curtail due to the disability brought on by Parkinson’s, I would also help by picking up trash. Repurposing what may otherwise be thrown away is another way to be kind to the environment. The internet is a good source for ideas for this together with how to accomplish it. All forms of recycling are helpful to our planet. I would not be surprised if in time to come we don’t mine our landfills for the durable materials once discarded, now to be found and recycled from there.

May you discover good ways to contribute your energy to help Mother Earth,

Blessings and best regards, Tasha Halpert

PS If you have comments, questions, or ideas, do please write and tell me what they may be. I love to hear from readers.

Heartwings Love Notes 2045 An old fashioned Dessert

Posted on July 21, 2024 by pujakins

In the small town where I grew up, there were three food stores: a First National Store, resembling today’s supermarkets only much smaller, where you walked up and down the aisles, selecting your own groceries; and two other food stores–both of which sold liquor as well. These assembled your purchases for you and even delivered them to your house. You could even call in your order.

What I purchase on an average shopping trip today wouldn’t fit into my mother’s kitchen. It was small and utilitarian: a stove, a sink, and a refrigerator. She had a small pantry closet that held mixing bowls and a few cans. My mother shopped frequently and did not keep much food on hand. I don’t remember how old I was when we replaced the old icebox with a modern refrigerator, however I can remember the ice man clip-clopping down the street with the big chunks of ice in his wagon.

Except in the summer, fresh green vegetables were rare. A cellar closet held the glass jars of beans and other vegetables my mother had preserved, as well as jellies she made from summer fruit. Winter squash was stored to eat later on, as were potatoes. One of my tasks was occasionally to pick the sprouts off. We ate canned peas. Frozen food was not commonly available in the early forties.

One of my favorite recipes from my mother’s limited dessert menu (she didn’t believe in giving children many sweets) is Cottage Pudding. While it does not have the consistency of a pudding, it has acquired that name. A simple muffin type batter baked as a cake it is served with either strawberries or chocolate or lemon sauce. Try this when you are seeking some comfort food and see if it doesn’t do the trick.

Cottage Pudding and Sauces

Preheat oven at 400 degrees and grease an 8 inch square pan or six cupcake tins.

Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 cup sugar

1 well beaten egg

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup melted butter

1 Teaspoon Vanilla

Sift together flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Mix egg, milk vanilla and melted butter. Stir gently into flour mixture–like for muffins, only enough to moisten ingredients. Do not beat. Pour into greased pan or muffin cups. Bake until browned and pulling away from pan. (20 to 25 minutes) Serve WARM with the sauce of your choice. This is not as good the next day unless you warm it up.

Choice Sauces

Strawberries and Cream (Avoid pesticide laden inorganic berries!)

Slice up strawberries, mix with a little sugar, let sit for half day or if the berries are large and tough, cook for about 15 minutes then cool and serve with whipped cream or topping.

Bittersweet Chocolate Sauce

Melt together 2 squares unsweetened chocolate, 1/4 cup butter. Add 1 cup sugar, stir well. Sprinkle in a few grains of salt and add 1/2 cup water. Cook and stir until sauce is as thick as you like. Cool slightly and add 1 teaspoon vanilla. Serve warm or cold.

Mary’s Lemon Sauce

Melt 1/2 cup butter over moderate heat. Stir in 1 cup sugar, 4 Tablespoons water, 1 beaten egg, 1/4 cup lemon juice, and the grated rind of 1 or more lemons, to taste. Cook and stir until it boils and thickens a bit and then remove from heat. It will thicken further as it cools.

A Poem for my readers

Posted on July 12, 2024 by pujakins

Summer Is for This

Everything is green now.

In the fullness of her beauty

Midsummer blooms upon the land.

Lush, rounded, brimming

Summer is a full cup.

Listen to the leaf whispers

Hearken to the birdsong,

Find the flowering wildings,

Gather nature’s bounty

Summer is a brimming basket.

Everything is green now.

In the fullness of her beauty

Midsummer brightens every where,

Lush, rounded, fragrant

Summer is a full cup.

Summer is for this:

To give us green to gaze on,

A feast to fill us up, and

Time to be, without ambition.

Sun plus time equals Summer

Tasha Halpert

Heartwings Love Notes 2043 Gaining Independence

Posted on July 7, 2024 by pujakins

Heartwings says, “Independence is a goal to be sought after.”

My son Robin insisted on his independence almost from the time he was born. Some children are like that. He resisted attempts to keep him confined in any way, and it was challenging to try. As they say, the apple did not fall far from the tree. I fear I was much the same as a child, though maybe not as emphatically. I know that to this day, I have a vital streak of independence.

From the beginning of my memory, I was raised to be strong, to not cry unless hard pressed, not to complain and to be as brave as I could. This may have been because I was the oldest and only child for the first eight years of my life. I well recall holding my father’s hands while jumping in the big waves at the beach where we stayed in my great aunt’s beach cottage. They were big waves, and we would stand in them, jumping up as they broke over us. It was exhilarating.

I wasn’t granted independence to leave the large property where we lived, but I could wander all over it, climbing trees and playing my games of pretend on the long summer days of my childhood. I remember one summer I would pretend I was the goose girl of the fairy tale by that name and let the six or seven geese had raised that year, out of their pen, herding them down to the little wetlands and back. I was always safe on the property, and my parents had confidence in me. No doubt that contributed to my sense of independence.

Sometimes this strong sense works to my advantage, and at other times it does not. It has taken me time to recognize that sometimes I really do need help, whether it is getting out of a car or up from a deep armchair or sofa. I appreciate it enormously when a dinner guest washes our dishes or helps with food preparation. I am learning my limits, something I am often loath to acknowledge and also learning to accept help graciously.

Sometimes it is entertaining to have a new way of doing something. When my daughter suggested I try it, I recently had fun riding the shopping cart at the supermarket. Maybe I’ll do that again, perhaps even next time and avoid getting so tired from shopping. Sometimes independence can mean freedom from discomfort and disability.

Independence can certainly mean many things. In some countries the independence of free speech, let alone freedom of behavior, does not exist. When this is threatened, it is important to take notice. As the saying goes, freedom is not free, it must be maintained. I still try to be independent, even as I also try to remember to ask for help. In addition, I try to remember to be grateful for the independence I still do have.

May you find your way to whatever independence you wish to enjoy,

Blessings and best regards, Tasha Halpert

PS If you have comments or tales to tell, please share them. It is my joy to be in touch with my readers.

Heartwings Love Notes 2042: The Empty Nest

Posted on June 30, 2024 by pujakins

Heartwings says, “Empty nests come and go and life moves on.”

This spring I had been caught by a cold, keeping me indoors and canceling the normal often daily walks I usually took on the porch outside the sliding door of our second-floor apartment. The long porch, with its own set of stairs at one end, runs the length of the two apartments on the floor where we live above the shops that are on the building’s first floor.

As many back and forths as I could manage was my usual routine. Much to my surprise, once my cold subsided and I finally opened the sliding door to go out on the porch, a robin squawked and flew away. Something made me look up at the outdoor light and to my surprise I saw that a sturdy nest had been built on top of it. There was a pile of discarded nesting materials on the floor beneath the nest, and the I remembered seeing a robin carrying straw in its beak as it flew.

I seldom opened the door after that, or went onto the porch. Any time I did, there was a flurry of wings and an exit from the nest. The mother robin was diligent and mindful. The peeps and cheeping from the nest soon announced the arrival of the baby birds. I had hoped to see the fledglings learn to fly but they did it when I was otherwise engaged. One day I looked up and the nest was empty. I never had seen them leave.

I’ve heard that robins may return to the nest and lay more eggs, but so far, that has not happened. Perhaps the mother robin was discouraged by her initial experience. I miss peeking through the glass of my door and seeing her patiently sitting on her nest. Later I could see the little beaks above the rim of the nest. As I reflected on the experience, I realized my feelings were a perfect example of the empty nest syndrome. When I thought about it, I had to laugh to myself. What a perfect pun.

Recently Stephen handed me a small blue broken eggshell he’d found on the porch. How special, a gift from a hatchling. With a sigh I set it on my desk. Experiences run their course; nothing stays the same. Children grow up. You wouldn’t want them not to. Kittens become cats. Most probably young kittens, like young children, must be endearing so we will take care of them until they can care for themselves. And then we are faced with the empty nest syndrome.

Change is the rule of the cosmos. We go from full to empty and back to full again.

May your empty nests fill with joy.

Blessings and best regards, Tasha Halpert

PS If you have any stories to share I’d be happy to hear them. Your comments, dear reader, are always helpful. Please feel free to write, it is such fun for me. My email is tashahal@gmail.com. My blog is http://tashasperspective.com.