Happiness Recipe

Every summer I used to spend 3 magical months with my grandparents in a forgotten, sleepy village in the Bulgarian mountains. The divine smell of herbs, the lulling sound of crickets, the simple, home grown and cooked meals, the hours spent climbing trees, swimming in the river, exploring caves, preparing winter conserves, the nights sleeping in the open and watching the stars while my grandmother sand, the hours toiling in the garden or learning to knit! Ah.... We did not even have a toilet in the house-it was so rudimentary...but I would substitute any luxury holiday for this! I can still smell my Grandmother's pastry made with cheese from our sheep and eggs from the hens! And those tomatoes--warm, sweet and juicy straight from the garden! One would fill you up for lunch! Anyone who has tried Home grown Bulgarian Tomatoes, agrees they are the best in the world!


No one was ever obese there-no matter how much we ate-and we did eat a lot-under the cooling shade of the vines: watermelons, pears, cherries, grapes, vegetable stews, (Not to mention the salivating tastes of organic meat-I would never never touch it, because all these animals had names and I watched them grow)--copious amounts of food but pristine clean, organic, raised with love. My grandfather used to sing to the animals and plants....so much love and consciousness put into everything....



But I digress, what I wanted to say is that, age and life problems have made me forget how to enjoy the simple but most real things in life! I used to be happy back then at the sight of ripe cherries on a tree--now it seems, with this high tech, high speed environment, I feel constantly stressed, dissatisfied, as if something is missing... I have more than I have ever had in my life and still I find it hard to appreciate it. I think we all need to go back to basics in order to relearn to be happy! And to be more beautiful and live longer-we need a simpler life style, closer to nature! My Grandmother only had her first wrinkle in her 50-ties. Now at 86 she has only 2 big wrinkles-those around her mouth and eyes-from smiling too much! All the women in my village looked 20 years younger without ever having put any cream on or knowing what make up was!



There was no cancer or such debilitating diseases, even though most people drank alcohol every night and ate as much as they wanted--but there was a sense of community and togetherness. Everyone was helping everyone else, getting together at night to dance holding hands and tell stories... Share any pictures or memories from a simple but happier times! Thank you for listening!