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Now that spring has arrived, young shoots of mugwort, aster greens, and wild chives have begun to sprout in every corner of the backyard. So, just as my mother used to do long ago, I picked the tender spring greens, rinsed them, and blanched them briefly in boiling water. Then I mixed them into a bowl of steaming hot rice, piled on generous pieces of grilled pork, added a bit of the maitake mushrooms we harvested last fall, and seasoned it all with doenjang. Ah—what flavor could possibly compare with that? And the water left from blanching the greens, when sipped as tea, fills the mouth with its delicate fragrance. Truly, isn’t this what it means to live well?