…and sometimes win. Eleven years ago, We began a battle with a bureaucracy here in our community. At the time, the worst battle I’d ever fought was with my mother over marrying Husband. So I had no clue how to fight—no armor, no skills, no information. I only knew that our home was in danger and we’d worked hard to make this home what we wanted it to be. I wasn’t about to see it ruined for what I believed was no good reason. The general gist is we live on a small two-lane U.S. highway and the state department of transportation (DOT) had decided they needed to expand it…

…and my back yard is just gorgeous today. Everything is lush and green.  Purple clematis climbs over the arbor by the gardens, vibrant red lilies peek around the pampas grass, which is already taller than me.  Basil and rosemary and lavender fill the air with their pungent scents. Husband just finished the mowing and the trimming, I’ve weeded the gardens, and now we’re sitting on the patio under the umbrella watching a rabbit nibbling in the grass and feeling quite satisfied with ourselves. Later, the neighbors will walk over for our weekly glass of wine and catch-up session. We’ll light the wine-bottle oil lamps, put out chips and salsa, chocolate, …

I’ve had a cantankerous relationship with food my whole life.  Since I became an adult,  I’ve been some level of overweight from really overweight to “you need to lose a few pounds.” And for most of those years, I hated my body. It was fat. Not the American ideal, but curvy and round—not one bit skinny.  For ages, all I wanted was to be THIN. Oh, I’d say, “I just want to be healthy,” but it was a lie. I wanted to be THIN. And I tried every way there was to get THIN–diets, exercise, fasts, laxatives, fiber, you name it…outside of radical chemistry or surgery, I was there. Sometimes…