Skip to main content

Go Placidly

My food truck business started back up this past weekend, and from here until November, the weeks will be packed.  Sandwich-slinging Thursday-Saturday and bartending work Monday-Wednesday.  And Sunday, I guess, is the day to sleep in and hide in my house.

Hiding out is the one thing I feel like doing a lot of these days.  My food truck's ReOpening wasn't the only thing happening in my hometown this weekend past.  A 13-year-old boy was accidentally shot and killed on Saturday and then yesterday, the police department busted one of the biggest meth labs in a long time.

Both are tragic...one is a sad loss, one that will devastate a loving family for the rest of their lives.  One is tragic only because of the profound stupidity/ignorance/addiction of a few people who happen to be living in a town mostly filled with good-hearted, hard-working people.

And if it's not drama at the local level, then there's the constant bombardment of news that seems to be vividly illustrate the obliteration of decency and sensibility in our nation's politics.

And on a personal level, I have children who are reaching "that" age.  The age of discovery and curiosity and difficult decision-making...and I don't mean about Nickelodeon programming.  On top of that, people I respect greatly are passing on, leaving me to think about my legacy, my life.

Life is tough sometimes.  Well, actually, it's tough a lot of the time.  I know I'm just a speck in the universe and all I really know is that I know nothing...but I still wish I knew what the hell was going on around here.  It's no wonder to me that I retreat to the places I know best...my home, my friends, my writing, my kitchen.  There - things make sense and if I don't have the answer, I can find it.

I often wonder if I should be doing more.  Should I be reaching out more?  Should I send more cards and letters and make more phone calls?  Am I wrong to hole up in my kitchen and brainstorm myself silly over the 5 pounds of pork belly I have in my freezer?  The universe is still waiting for an answer, and so am I.

Yep.  This is a blog about food...but there are other things that are more important than food today.  I am remembering the words of American writer Max Ehrmann...I often turn to his poem "Desiderata" when I feel like this.  "In the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.  Be cheerful. Strive to be happy."

Indeed.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

For You!

I'm torn.  It's 8:40 p.m. here.  I know that I have roughly one hour of wakefulness left before I collapse onto my pillow for the night. My new term of classes start tomorrow.  My backpack is ready to go.  So is my leftover-lunch.  So is my breakfast smoothie.  All important emails has been sent.  I'm caught up on Facebook news. Hm.  How does one spend their last hour of energy before beginning the roller coaster ride of a new term? By watching Downton Abbey, Season 1 again...natch.  Now that there's no more DA until next January, I must watch the old episodes again for that fix.  And that, up until about twn minutes ago, was exactly what I'd planned on doing. Until I popped in here for moment to check on things.  And by things, I mean my "Stats".  And actually, by that, I mean my "Audience".  And I was shocked to see that in the last 24 hours, there have been more looks here at Be Food from France than from the US...
1 comment
Read more

My Week...No Idea What It May Mean

Remember I'd finished reading Gary Taubes's "Why We Get Fat" over a week ago?  Turns out that meat could be good and bread could be bad?  Well, I needed more info.  So, I skimmed Dr. Arthur Agatston's South Beach for some information and then I bookmarked Nutrition Data for handy reference. And after all that, I still had no real idea of what exactly I should be eating.  But, to do nothing still makes me part of the problem... I finally decided to limit my carbohydrate intake to under 100 daily.  Also, I wanted to steer clear of foods high on the glycemic index (high in sugars, even natural ones).  Usually, foods high in carbs are high on the glycemic index...but then you get something like carrots, which are good for you, but high in carbs.  Crazy... Monday's weigh-in was 132.6 lbs.  Breakfast was a bowl of oatmeal and a half cup of blueberries - 34g carbs.  And just like that, one-third of my carbs were used up for the day.  And...
3 comments
Read more

From Government Regulations to Chicken

So, I really wanted tonight's post to be whippy and biting and highly intelligent...and I've even got the perfect topic - government wine regulations: Europe vs. the US (subtitle: European Governments Seem to Trust Their Citizens A Whole Lot More The US, Otherwise Why Don't French, et al., Wine Labels Have the Surgeon General's "Pregnant Women Should Not Drink This/This Beverage Impairs Your Brain" Warning). But, I realized that to begin a post like that, I should probably know the answer to the question, yes?  Why do American wine labels include the warning, when, I don't know, isn't just common sense?  A quick search of this very query lands me at Wikipedia, which is good enough for a rude overview, but nothing that indicates why it's a law in the first place. Hence, more reading is required.  I hope to get to it soon.  It's almost August, two-thirds of this year is nearly gone, and sometimes I feel as I am moving very, very quickly along...
6 comments
Read more