sensory memory

there's really nothing like narrowly avoiding catastrophe to make you start to enjoy the little things in life. take, for example, grilled plantains with a squirt of lime. i was in the mood for dessert last night, which is rare for me. w, his mouth feeling a bit better, had cooked up a melange of semi-firm foods, including spicy black bean burgers, roasted beets and baby chickpea cutlets with some inventive sauces.

fried 'nanas was a delicacy i often enjoyed back home during the summer months at one of my favorite restaurants, johnny mango. cleveland weather is truly volatile, and i savored those 40 HOT days a year i could meet my friends on their patio and split a pitcher of margaritas. johnny mango was my favorite place to be. though my midwest sensibilities attributed this to the booze and plantains, i realize now that i loved this place because of the time spent there with friends. i've been missing my home base friends a lot lately, and that snack actually made me feel tequila-drunk on the memories.

i'm happy to be enjoying 350-some days of perfect weather a year, but margaritas will never taste the same.

the new year soup

a happy new year, it was not. in fact, it was the scariest day of my life.

w was hit by a (presumably) drunk driver while riding his bike home from work on new years eve. he doesn't remember being hit, he doesn't remember getting home. he doesn't remember big chunks of the following day in the er. the amount of blood was incredible.

he's home now, back at work tonight in fact. broken nose, fucked up hand and leg, scary-level concussion. scary scary scary. every night, i wake up ten times, hover my hand over his mouth or on his chest, just making sure...

the past week, i've been completely overwhelmed with love and admiration for this person. we're so close, and imagining my life without him is impossible.

after the first couple days, he was ready to cook. it had to be something soft - his palate and teeth still ached. this is the first lentil soup that ever brought me to tears:


watching him chop up the vegetables, stir, season. watching this precious man, who i feared i could lose only days before, i could only cry.

i am so thankful, and i know that this year is going to be special, every single day of it.

-d