“It’s not that easy bein’ green
Having to spend each day the color of the leaves
When I think it could be nicer bein’ red or yellow or gold
Or something much more colorful like that
It’s not easy bein’ green
It seems you blend in with so many other ordinary things
And people tend to pass you over ’cause you’re
Not standin’ out like flashy sparkles on the water
Or stars in the sky
But green is the color of Spring
And green can be cool and friendly-like
And green can be big like an ocean
Or important like a mountain
Or tall like a tree
When green is all there is to be
It could make you wonder why
But why wonder, why wonder?
I am green and it’ll do fine”
Credit to Joe Raposo for the lyrics*
I think I AM green. I’ve been thinking about the world and who I am and want to be. I have the ability to be a loud voice and be more colorful but I choose not to. I have my thoughts and, with exception of a few people, I don’t share them on this venue. It is a vulnerability that I am not willing to expose…yet. It is one of the colors in me that has not been able to surface.
As a nation, people are begging to be heard. It can be about numerous issues that hit us in the nightly news. People are pleading for change, for help and for strength. And all I keep thinking if we were all a little more “green” that life would be better.
I am one to sit outside and gaze beyond my vision. I see so many parts of life this way. It has bothered me now that life is starting to open up again that people will have lost sight of what these past slow months have truly meant. I feel it should have been a time to learn to appreciate each other but we are more like bees in a jar.
Anger, aggravation and contempt are leading our daily lives instead of peace, love and understanding. (Ooo, bring out my inner hippie!) I am guilty of all of these traits but there is an awareness of having them that seems to be getting lost like color green in a field of wildflowers.
I am struggling with the whys of so many things. I feel like the fragility of life whether from COVID, racial issues or even the economy is mentioned daily. There still seems to be closedmindedness that does not go any further than saying the words that are deemed politically correct to the masses. When I see it is a time to decipher what we personally are willing to do or give up. Even if that means to take a moment to appreciate some of the good things that are staring us in the face like a green leaf hanging from the largest sunflower.
A mighty mountain may look impossible to pass, but we need to still take time to see all the aspects that make that mountain magnificent. We aren’t all going to view it the same way but wouldn’t it be nice if we agreed the beauty was there in the first place? Some may only see the snow on the peaks but odds are there are spots of green to be admired too. We just need to look to find them.
There are battles I will never have to see but I am aware that they have happened. I am also mindful that there is fighting going on in our own minds that can leave wounds that will never heal. For someone who tends to be a glass half full kind of person, life gets challenging when people keep trying to break your glass.
I know there are times I have felt passed over in my views but like “bein’ green’ I also know that “it’ll do fine” and I hope to keep moving forward.
*I wrote an entirely different blog about Peruvian Green Sauce but after I finished I thought of the “Bein’ Green” Song and this is where my mind went.
So today’s sauce was something I made the other week. It was a dipping sauce that accompanied a cocktail meatball. Since making it, I’ve used it on eggs, avocado toast, tacos and licked it off my fingers. It is the essence of “green”. In most cases, it is not something that I believe I’ve had outside of a restaurant but it will now be something that will be making return visits to my house.
The sauce is said to be Peruvian. Given I don’t travel, I can’t vouch for the authenticity. (I also had to google where Peru was located but geography ignorance is another post.) What I liked about it is that it captured what I feel when I say a dish is “bright.” The herbs and the citrus take this sauce to a level I want to live in. It cemented my thoughts today on “bein’ green.”
Bein’ Green Sauce (Taste it and you will get that it is an “everything” sauce.)
Ingredients
1-2 jalapenos (seeds and ribs removed for heat control)
1 bunch of cilantro (chop and don’t be afraid to add the stems…the nonstick woody parts)
½ cup of basil
1 Tbsp ginger
1 Tbsp honey
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 green onions, chopped
Zest and juice from one lime
¼ cup of parmesan cheese (this is perfect for the “green jar” of cheese)
1 Tbsp olive oil
½ cup of plain yogurt or mayonnaise (I love Duke’s or Sir Kennsingtons)
A few grinds of pepper and a sprinkle of good salt (like Maldon)
Directions
In a food processor (or with your stick blender), combine all the ingredients EXCEPT mayo.
Drizzle in the olive oil. Blend.
Add the mayo, blend some more
It should be good for at least a few days refrigerated. (I got this recipe from a compilation of a few different recipes and I did use it on a meatball from Cookie Rookie.)
