Pico de Yummy

Decided to whip up a quick batch of my fav Pico de Gallo salsa tonight ... since the tomatoes are all fat and ripe (and since I remembered to buy cilantro). I love this stuff. Chopped (really ripe) tomatoes, red onion, cilantro, lime juice, coarse salt and a little chopped pepper. I intended to use my new food processor ... but am having a senior moment trying to remember how to assemble the thing. (There are WAY too many parts for various forms of chopping/slicing/dicing ... and I'm too tired to look for the book that came with the thing).

I'm going to let the ingredients "marry" overnight. Then tomorrow (if bingo duty doesn't steal all my energy), I'll paint some olive oil on some flour tortillas with a pastry brush; sprinkle with a touch of salt; cut into triangles and bake crisp in a low temp oven. Double yummy. Gotta make the most of the real tomatoes while we can. We'll soon be back to styrofoam tasting simulated replicas transported from Iceland at the grocery. Carpe de gallo!

Dark

I'm in DC all weekend for a conference (more on that later). It's Sunday afternoon. Calls from home are coming in from the boys. Then from Mom. Big winds. Really big. Power out. Trees down. Stay in DC another night, they say. We don't want you flying home in this. (Ugghh. I want my bed. Sneaky Pete. My boys. To be in control of my transportation. To quit having to smile and be social. A Starbucks iced tea. To be done with my flight anxiety. To be home.)

So, I just read my magazine on the sunny patio of the hotel, overlooking the beautiful Potomac. And I wait. Periodically, I go check my flight status on the hotel computer. On time. No delays. So, I wait some more. (Needing a nap. Or that iced tea.) Then I take a cab to Reagan. I learn that my home airport had been closed. Earlier flights cancelled. Mine is still on time. The flight is smooth until we begin our descent. A big bump startles me out of my Country Living-induced temporary comfort. The friendly elderly man next to me (window seat) is looking for lights below. I keep asking him, "See anything yet?" It's foggy. We're rockin'. "See anything yet?" There they are. "Okay, if we fell from here--we would probably survive," I think. Wheels down. Phone on. T has left a message. Still no power at home. Estimated 200,000 area homes without.

It's late. People are all over the airport who didn't get to fly out earlier, sleeping in chairs. Long lines at the shuttles. I pick up my car and head home. Ahhh, driving again. All the traffic lights are out. Big limbs down. I make it home in record time, with many detours due to downed trees and directions from the boys. (What did we ever do before cell phones?) Finally home. Candles out. Cool breeze coming in the windows. Absolute quiet outside and in.

The power remains out for more than 24 hours ... for us. One street over has power. A few local businesses do. The next morning, K & I venture out to three stores looking for ice for the cooler. People stand, looking confused in the grocery aisles ... rethinking ... 'what can I eat/cook?' Gas has jumped 50 cents per gallon in a day. Stores are sold out of flashlights, ice, juice, batteries, candles. Note to self: buy one of those crank flashlight/radios to have on hand. We score a bag of ice. Ice + gas stove + tea bag = iced tea. We have candles, a car/phone charger. A day off. K & I lunch at home together. With nowhere to go or nothing electronic to do, he has time to chat ... and even listen as I read aloud an article about a family of beekeepers in the Gourmet magazine I picked up at a meeting. Later, he goes to play board games (!) at a friend's house.

Megs and kids stop by. Haven't seen them and enjoyed this kind of time with them in months. We pick tomatoes, make Sneaky Pete dance for Cheerios and "spot" the Divine Miss M's living room back bends. K and I meet Mom for supper.

Everywhere I go, people are sharing their primitive living adventures. Many then add..."but I don't really mind." I just smile, thinking about the crickets that sang me to sleep last night ... the unhurried chats I savored with loved ones over the past 24 hours ... and thanking God for this simplicity.

Slower

Funny how time sneaks by without you really noticing. There you are, going through those every day motions:

-Driving to work (gas is $2.75 a gallon!)
-Buying groceries (and wishing you could rent a movie while at the grocery—to save time)
-Chatting with people about politics (What was Clinton thinking?)
-Typing press releases on your typewriter (Oh my. I’ve completely dated myself.)
-Hearing about some new movie (Have you seen “The Sixth Sense yet?”)

Then, all of a sudden ---you blink and …
-Gas is $4 a gallon
-Starbucks has taken up residence inside the grocery (along with a movie rental machine)
-People are chatting about politics ALL THE TIME (Is it really necessary for us to know what the politicians are thinking 24/7? Do we really care?)
-You’re uploading a blog entry.
-The number one movie in the country is “Hellboy 2” (People. Please. Save yourselves. Now.)

I know. Change is inevitable. I accept that. I’m just trying not to get depressed by it. Recently, I read something that resonated with me. The article talked about how our human security in this big (and lately scary) world is often linked to a need to control things in our own little worlds. It’s not uncommon for us (as we age) to go through a sort of personal downsizing of that big conquerable world we faced with confidence in our younger years. (Now, I’m paraphrasing the article—and maybe even interpreting here—since I can’t remember the exact verbage.)

In other words, we tend to retreat into our cocoons. I think that resonated because I find myself doing that. A lot lately. (“I don’t care what you eat for dinner. I NEED TO MAKE THIS BRACELET. NOW!”) I know, it’s sad. I’m not proud of this. I know we were created to be with other people—part of a community. But … IS ANYBODY ELSE OUT THERE EXHAUSTED??

My friend LB and I had an email conversation about this earlier in the week. She noted—accurately, that there seems to be more and more women out there blogging about the things that girlfriends used to get together and talk about in person—a great recipe or book, a new movie, opinions—or just sharing personal stuff. Now, we just pour out our souls in these blogs—not even sure if anyone out there is reading. Or if they care. And we don’t make time for the caring and support and girlfriend stuff.

She’s so right. I’m so guilty of this. But how do we stop this crazy, treadmill we are on? If you’re like me, your feet hit the floor at 6-7 a.m., you get the kid(s) ready for school, head to work (2 hrs round trip travel time per day), stop by the grocery, rush home, make dinner, clean up the mess, do laundry, pack lunches, walk the dog, brush your teeth, go to bed. Wake up to do it again—and discover that 2008 is almost over. What happened? And where did that year go? Or last year? And we wonder why we feel something is missing from our lives.

Note to self: SLOW DOWN.
Note to LB: I know I’ve been a crappy friend lately. I’m so grateful to have people like you in my life to help me take stock of what’s important. Can you do “cawfee talk” on Sat or Sun evening?