The centre of attention

and a recipe for shepherd’s pie to warm your inside

Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.

Sometimes, Mary Oliver

For a moment, while the world slowed down in ways both infinitesimal and huge, we did a recalibration. With the range of possibilities narrowed and time seeming to stretch on forever, we paused.

Oh, how things have speeded up again.

The holidays this year have brought a return to life full-on. It’s also brought a return to my least favourite response to “How are you?” “I’m so busy!” we’ve begun declaring again. Wait. Stop. Might I suggest that we pause, breathe deeply, and pause again?

“My experience is what I agree to attend to.”

William James, The Principles of Psychology, Vol.1, (1891)

We’ve long talked about time management. Managing our time, making every minute count, being productive, is equated to value in so many ways. From the moment the time clock was invented in 1889, time has equaled money. Lawyers, designers, architects and consultants may not punch a clock, still, they track the minutes to make money.

But there’s another kind of management that we might turn our minds to. Attention management, for instance. “Today, in a world where so many experiences are blended together — where we can work from home (or a train or a plane or a beach), watch our kids on a nanny-cam from work, and distraction is always just a thumb-swipe away — has that ever been more true?”

Maura Thomas, Harvard Business Review

You might be forgiven for thinking Maura Thomas’s quote was written recently. You would be wrong. In her excellent article, To Control Your Life, Control What You Pay Attention To, Thomas posits that our attention determines our experiences, which in turn determine the life we live. Rather than allowing distractions to derail you, Thomas says, we need to choose where we direct our attention at any given moment.

We may want to try slow birding as a start.

A bird’s-eye view

The feeders are filled and hung; the scene is set. Are we ready to let our incessant daily to-do list take flight and settle in to watch the birds? I’m not talking about the occasional glance out the window, but a long, contemplative look.

Margaret Roach, The New York Times, reviewing Slow Birding: The Art and Science of Enjoying the Birds in Your Own Backyard

In this new book, author Joan E. Strassmann, animal behaviorist and professor of biology, borrows from the slow food movement to propose a more thoughtful, less competitive form of bird-watching.

You don’t need to be a dedicated birder to take up this most contemplative of pastimes. As we’ve sat in our home offices, I suspect that many of us have already gotten to know our backyard neighbours better. But if you really pause for a moment and observe, you might go deeper.

Have you watched a blue jay industriously removing acorn caps to extract the sweet nut inside, or mimic a hawk to clear the feeder of smaller songbirds so that it can feast at leisure? Or noticed that cardinals always come to the feeder for a nightcap as dusk is falling? As one NYT reader observed, watching birds is like watching snow falling. Endlessly enchanting, and available to anyone who takes the time.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

Wild Geese, Mary Oliver

All that is asked is that we pay attention.

Lamb Shepherd’s Pie

Art of the Pie, Kate McDermott

When I want to slip into deep contemplation, I turn to baking or the making of a slow-cooked dish for dinner. And there’s no better place to turn for inspiration than Kate McDermott’s excellent, chatty and delightful book, Art of the Pie.

Filled with all things sweet and savoury, enclosed in the best crust, this is home cooking at its finest. But if you haven’t planned and don’t have quite enough time to make pie dough, McDermott’s lamb shepherd’s pie is just the thing. As I sauté the meat, mash the potatoes and assemble the pie, a chickadee calls to me from a branch outside my window. For a fleeting moment we see one another and then it is gone. But the birdsong lingers on.

Ingredients

1½ pounds (700 gr) ground lamb

2½ teaspoons dried thyme (1 tablespoon fresh leaves), divided

¼ teaspoon allspice

2 gratings nutmeg

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 medium yellow onions, peeled and chopped

3 garlic cloves, peeled and diced

2 large carrots grated

2½ tablespoons tomato paste

1 cup chicken stock

2½ pounds (1 kg) potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters

⅓ cup (75 gr) butter

1 cup (200 gr) cheddar cheese, grated and divided

1. Heat the oven to 220C (425F)

2. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the meat and seasonings, less ½ teaspoon dried thyme. Cook, stirring frequently, until the meat is no longer pink, breaking up the larger pieces as you cook. Add the vegetables and cook for 5 to 7 minutes longer.

3. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for a few minutes more. Add the stock, reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes.

4. In another pot cover the potatoes with water, add one teaspoon of salt and boil until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.

5. Drain well and put the potatoes back into the pot with the butter, ⅔ cup cheese and the remaining ½ teaspoon dried thyme. Mash the potatoes until they are smooth. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as desired.

6. Spoon the lamb mixture into a deep-dish pie pan or large baking dish. Cover the lamb with the potato mixture and sprinkle the remaining ⅓ cup cheese over the top.

7. Bake for about 35 minutes, until the top is golden brown and looks delicious.