Yeah Love, Is a Long, Long Road

this post written on 11/4/20

It's funny that the outrageousness of the times will be named 2020 but it wasn't actually verbalized in my head until October and now it's almost over.  Seems so obvious now that this monumentally numeric year would have significance but maybe because of the let down that was 2000, I stopped connecting importance to the actual numbers.  Instead of concentrating on the negative, especially as I write this waiting on election results, I am recognizing the fun and lighter portions of the changes that came our way in this tragic year in relation to food.  For example since we're cooking so much at home, on top of using all of our leftovers which is definitely a positive, some cool creations have come about too.  Making a meal out of leftovers has always been a highlight for me but now it's legitimized by the Pandemic.  My poached egg on a pizza slice is now a staple menu item in my tiny apartment.  It isn't crazy to add a side of egg fried vegetable rice either, actually it was strangely the perfect accompaniment.  Taking cues from some of these amazing on-line vegan dishes I learned, many vegetables can be eaten together, spiced differently, roasted or fried, sauteed with raw, you name it. I had been looking for this evolution in music but it definitely happened in food.   And all the crazy works if by the end you are full and feel good.  Of course, I have far to go in making each of my meals more nutritious but due to the Coronavirus I am more committed to eating healthier.  I have been for some time, but it's a long road mentally going from eating to celebrate life, which is where I was born, to eating in order to be able to celebrate life.  I've always felt eating was an event in and of itself.  Now I'm trying to let it be the backdrop to a true festivity, even if it's for something as simple as quietly awaiting election results.  

So, 2020 has given me a deeper appreciation of all things great and small.  The details of life, like morning coffee or exchanges with friends, even washing the dishes somehow became meaningful and valued.  I know that so many horrid things happened this year but it may have nudged some of us just enough to fill with a new appreciation for life and hopefully a better ability to live it more fully.