Thursday, April 19, 2007

Table of Contents

There is much that is wrong and confused and a royal pain in my nether regions lately. My heart is broken over the massacre in Virginia. My brain is tired from trying to make sense of it. Math-Man and I are tangled up in a long-distance argument. Big changes may await me. Or not.

Feh.

Good Southern girl that I am, I channeled Scarlet O'Hara. I'll think about it tomorrow. A braver person would have cleaned closets or scrubbed floors. I started to cook. And cook. And cook some more. Before I knew it, I had a pot of spaghetti, a huge salad, some bread rising, a peach cobbler..... Nothing fancy. And I can't tell you that is was cooked with love and lightness of heart. More like dark glowering angst. But it still tasted good.

Now how in the name of all that is holy is one person going to eat all of that? Never fear. I have a son who can smell a home-cooked meal from across town. I heard his truck -and his buddies- in the driveway, so I put four more plates on the table. A few minutes later, a yoga buddy popped over to see why I hadn't been at class. One more plate on the table. She called her husband (another Math-Man) and told him to come over. Their daughter popped over for a few minutes.

We haven't solved the problems of the world. But we talked about important things -violence, the equality of marital partners, does George bush really have a brain. And some not-so-important ones -seriously, IS there a good domestic beer?

Nothing's changed, except my attitude. Of course it wasn't the food. None of those people knew there was food here when they stopped over. Instead, it was the gathering around the table and the almost lost art of conversation. And the wine didn't hurt ;)

Thank goodness for friends! I was glad to be able to feed the ones gathered around my table.

4 comments:

Lisa :-] said...

How wonderful that you have such friends and family, Andrea! I hope they are helping you get through the time away from Math Man...

jill said...

Well, I can't solve all your problems, but I can advise you to try both Allagash and Dogfish Head if you want your faith in American Beer restored (or instituted in the first place).

If you cook it, they will come!

Kimberly said...

I don't know if they're available in your area (they're all microbrews), but I like:

Vermont--Otter Creek
Vermont--Magic Hat
New York: Saranac
Oregon--Rogue

I've heard good things about:
NY: brewery ommegang

breadchick said...

It is true, there is no better therapy session than a bowl of pasta, a bottle of wine, and good table conversation.

Leinenkugel from just about 2.5 hours north of you. It's not a microbrew like some of the other suggested (and very fine I might add) beers but one of the last "regionals". What I wouldn't give for a Leinie's Red out here in New England...