Summer. Despite heat and humidity being two of my least favorite things to endure, they come with the season here in Northeast Ohio, and I'll be damned if I'll let either get the best of me enough to stop me from taking joy in the things that I love about Summer. Yesterday I finally got my ass on my bicycle for the first time since last November. I knew better than to head out for an epic ride of too many miles right off the rip after so long an absence. No matter how beautiful it is in the Cuyahoga Valley that I love riding in, I know I need to build up to bigger rides.
So I ended up with a ride that fell just shy of six miles and on a trail that had the perfect amount of hills to climb and descend, flats, shade and a bit of wind to battle on the return leg of the ride. All of this served to remind me of what my body should be doing several times a week on the regular. I knew there would be an adjustment period in getting back out there - today is a gym day, so no riding today. I'm pretty sure my legs and my arse are thankful. Weather permitting, I'll head out tomorrow morning and shoot for around 10-12 miles. I should be up to 10-30 miles by mid August. I'm a bit regretful that it's taken me this late in the season to get out there, but here's hoping for a nice Indian Summer around here and my riding in a lot of it.
Finally, one of my favorite things about Summer starts back up. These are the kinds of things that lift my spirit. In the last two months, there's been a few people and things that have chipped away at breaking my spirit. The things I can control, I will - and all I can do is not devote my energy, time and thoughts to things outside of my ability to control in anyway. Doesn't mean I can't coexist with such things, even if I can't eliminate them. I suppose the same could be said for any of the individuals who either intentionally or unintentionally try to break my spirit. To paraphrase Eric Cartman, Screw you guys, I'm tapping out of that bullshit.
I'm not someone who likes dwelling on negativity, and while it's not always easy to pull myself out of it at times, I'm done giving my energy, time & thoughts to anything or anyone that breaks my spirit. Life is just too short. I know what I bring to a given party and I'll toot my own horn when I know the tune. Again, life is just too short.
A year ago Facebook told me it was an old friend's birthday. I went to her page to wish her a happy birthday and realized we hadn't been in touch for a few months. What I hoped was that all was well with her and that the worries she'd mentioned during one of our last conversations, we now over with and her life was going better for her.
What I discovered when I went to her page to wish her a Happy Birthday, was that she'd been killed in a horrible automobile accident and had been killed by the woman who hit her car. That woman was intoxicated, and she was killed as well. I must have stared at my computer for five minutes just frozen - and it felt like an entire week. I thought back to when our friendship began, back to how I enjoyed every conversation I was ever in with her - no matter what the topic was. My friend. Someone's mother. Someone's wife. Someone's daughter. Gone. We all need friends in this journey, but who needs a mom, a wife and a daughter more than her family?
A year later and Facebook reminds me again that it's her birthday. Instantly I feel like I did on this day a year ago. I still can't believe she's gone. So yeah, life is too short for the people and things that would break, or take your spirit. My friend wouldn't want that. It's up to me not to have that. I hated this day a year ago for the news it brought to me. Not only was it horrible news, it was also a couple of months old by the time I learned of it. There was nothing I could do. I thought of the last time we spoke. I want to say it was an instant message volley about seeing Richard Thompson at The Kent Stage. It never came to be - I think because we both ended up getting busy. I wish it had come to be, because I saw RT with this friend and a couple of other dear friends back in my college days when he opened for REM at Public Hall. I don't recall much about that show other than RT was more enjoyable to all of us than REM was. How was I to know that all these years later, hearing RT's music would make me think of her - both favorably and now with a sad tone.
Yes indeed, life is far too short. Last night a regular customer came in. The guy happens to be a dear friend of my boss and his wife. The guy also lost his wife to cancer early this year. I'm struggling a bit today - I want to write about a couple of more joyous things about Summer, but right now I need to put the writing down and get some things done around here, hit the gym and try to make this day wonderful in ways that would make someone happy to hear about the next time I talk to them or bump into them. It's a beautiful day outside, I've got plenty to do on this day off and I need to hit the gym. Time to get moving - because sitting here writing is only going to pull me down today, and I need to seek out the people and things that lift me up. Uncertain as these times may be, there is still so much to be thankful for. Peace, good people - don't let anything or anyone, break your spirit. Time to go after some joy on this beautiful Summer day. It's out there somewhere, and I intend to find at least some of it. Whaddya know? A tad under 1900 words.
CRO
Sarcasm spoken here
Wednesday, July 29, 2020
Saturday, July 25, 2020
1,000 Words of Summer - SEVEN
Some years back, I was talking with guys I work with about the previous night's dinner. I've pretty much always liked to cook - particularly since I love to eat good food. The conversation I'm remembering here though, was at a time when I wasn't working in the hospitality industry. It was after I left my first four years at The Inn at Turner's Mill. No place showed or taught me more about great food than The Inn at Turner's Mill. The Mill got me excited about good food - food that looked so amazing that it influenced your choice, got you thinking about the experience before you even take a bite.
Anyway, in the conversation I'm referring to, I was describing what I made for dinner, and I guess I'd talked quite a bit up to that point about food - I did most of the cooking in the relationship with the woman I was with at that time. My coworker stopped me mid sentence and asked: Man, don't you ever just eat? Nothing elaborate or hard to make, just throw it together and eat without all that thought behind it??
My answer was, yes - I do. But those aren't meals that I talk about. I realized then that food can be something to get excited about. I'm a pretty fair cook, I wouldn't say I'm a chef - but I have had the pleasure of working in establishments that had/have great chefs and I have taken inspiration from every one of them. My thinking is, why simply "just eat", when you can enjoy? For me the whole process is therapeutic and usually relaxing - even if I'm only doing it for myself, which I usually am. It's almost like edible artwork - and sometimes it actually is, at least in my opinion.
I could make the most amazing meal, nail every step of preparation all the way up to plating the most visually appealing dish you could lay eyes on, but that doesn't make me a chef. Pulling off even the most amazing entree once is nothing compared to orchestrating a kitchen staff to turn out amazing food for the masses. It's like mustard on your hamburger, versus a 50 gallon drum of mustard. Whoah...I don't wanna think that big, but when you're a chef, you have to think like that.
Summer is at the halfway point, Having got a new grill a few weeks back, and food on the grill - despite a learning curve with the type of grill I upgraded to, is something to get excited about. I haven't been going out much and it's probably a combination of these uncertain times and the fact that I'm out when I'm working and in my off time, I want to put the gun down and relax at home. So pictured below, is what will be a typical evening off for me, and since I work a different 9 to 5, this seems to be around the time I'll usually eat - though I always hope it's earlier.
Boom. There's a few words about Summer and one of the things I love about the season. I edited this particular photo to enhance the color that was already in the original shot. I've taken quite a bit of shit for posting photos of my food right when it goes on the grill & midway through the cooking process - so be it to the haters. I happen to love photographing food and drink, and sometimes capturing the process is just as cool as the end result - not always, but sometimes.
Since this whole pandemic has surged, I haven't really been eating out. There's a Mexican place in town that I love going to, and that's about the only place I've gone recently. It's close, quick, relatively cheap and very good, considering the Northeast Ohio location for such food. I almost never drink alcohol when I go there though, because they don't pour a decent drink for a guy who prefers decent Tequila on the rocks. Great Margaritas, but much as I love that drink, I don't want all the sugar.
That leads me to my next thing about Summer that I'm digging: Drinks. For as long as I can remember, the Margarita has been my favorite cocktail - hands down, and I've made cocktails of every kind for never mind how long...but the more mile markers I pass, the more I want to eliminate sugar from my life. It's taken me years to realize that decent Tequila is the only spirit I can push the envelope of moderation with - not that I do a lot of pushing there mind you.
It's my personal opinion that most people's aversion to Tequila stems from their college days. Drinking the wrong Tequila, the wrong way and at the wrong time. "Shots? Sure, I've got time for at least one more bad decision..."
Again, it's taken my most of my career to realize that drinking decent Tequila can actually have me reminding myself that I even had anything to drink the night before. I do take quite a bit of grief for liking decent Tequila on the rocks. I still can enjoy a Margarita from time to time, but these days the massive amounts of sugar really get me the next day. So again, straight Tequila on the rocks - but what about when you're outside in the heat and just want more in the way of liquid refreshment in your adult beverage? This very thing led me to a drink I find refreshing, not overly sweet - and dangerously good: The Paloma.
The basic recipe is blanco Tequila, lime juice and grapefruit soda. Not sure what led me to think of this, but I created a rim of a mixture of sour salt, Tajin seasoning, Cayenne pepper, sea salt and a little bit of sugar to help balance all this out. I'm a fan of salted rims on a Margarita, but I'm not sure I've ever had a rim on a glass that works so perfectly to compliment a cocktail - and I'm Irish, so I've had a few cocktails.
I've also found two grapefruit sodas that are both really good with this drink and have the perfect amount of minimal sweetness to them, and use natural ingredients. Either will do, but San Pelligrino Pompelmo is by far the better of these two:
It's too early in the day for me to make a Paloma - plus I have to work tonight and hit the gym here shortly, but for your reference here, you should get two drinks out of either one of these choices. If I had a third choice, it would be Jarritos Grapefruit Soda - imported from Mexico and has real sugar in it - it's a bit on the sweet side for my tastes. Having gone over all that, here's my recipe and method:
2-3 ounces of Blanco Tequila - a really great one for the money is Altos.
Juice of 1/4 quarter lime
Grapefruit soda
Ice (duh)
Spicy Cayenne/Tajin salt mixture *
3.4 ounce Campari
Lime wheel/wedge for garnish
*Spicy Cayenne/Tajin Salt mixture:
3 Tbsp white sugar
2 Tbsp Smoked Paprika
2 Tbsp Sea Salt (I've been using fine, but Coarse would probably work well)
2 Tbsp Tajin Seasoning
1 Tbsp Sour Salt
1 Tbsp Cayenne Pepper
Combine ingredients in a small container with a tight sealing lid, shake the living shit out of it. Boom. Awesome rim mixture done - I'm not sure I've ever had a rim mixture that I've wanted every bit of on a cocktail before this one. It really is perfect on this drink.
Take a lime wedge and go around the rim of the glass, then run the glass edge in the Spicy Cayenne/Tajin salt mixture to rim the top.
Fill the glass with ice and squeeze 1/4 lime juice over the ice, then add the Tequila. I drizzle the Campari on top of the drink - it'll sink right to the bottom, I usually stir the drink before I add the Campari because just leaving the Campari to do its work while you enjoy the drink seems to make every sip better than the one before it. When it all comes together, it should look like this:
Now on to a couple of other things about Summer. I've yet to put a single mile on my bicycle this year and it's tearing me up. I changed vehicles and had some issues with my hitch mounted rack - I'm hoping I've got those issues corrected, now I just need to get my ass out there. Hopefully tomorrow.
The garden is looking good - Mexican Sunflowers are starting to open up and there are a lot more to follow. Regular Sunflowers are still a few days out, but looking good. I've also harvested quite a few Serrano peppers off of my plants and even used them in a batch of my salsa. I've got a ton of Habaneros coming in, thought they're all still really green. I moved the most promising plant to a place where it's getting more direct sun in the hopes of getting the peppers to ripen up.
I really want to try to make jelly with the Habaneros this year - but I've got to conquer my fear of canning (which I don't really want to get heavily into, have a perhaps unreasonable paranoia about and the last thing I need is to buy another pile of stuff to have to keep around and not use very much) in order for that to happen. I've been experimenting making tinctures, but I'm going to have a lot of peppers and I don't need five year's worth of tinctures, which are all too easy to make as it turns out.
It's been an interesting week. A thing or two hasn't exactly gone the way I'd hoped it would, but I'm taking a tip from a friend who posted the following advice recently:
Make yesterday the last day you spent giving a fuck about people who don't show you they give a fuck back.
No names, but a few people. Onward. These past few months have shown me many things, not the least of which is that this life we lead is more often than not, far too short. I wish you all peace, hope you're staying safe and enjoying your Summer. For anyone going through difficult things - and you know who you are, my thoughts are with you - and I admire your strength. Peace, good people. Oh and nearly 1800 words. Words of Summer. Boom.
CRO
Anyway, in the conversation I'm referring to, I was describing what I made for dinner, and I guess I'd talked quite a bit up to that point about food - I did most of the cooking in the relationship with the woman I was with at that time. My coworker stopped me mid sentence and asked: Man, don't you ever just eat? Nothing elaborate or hard to make, just throw it together and eat without all that thought behind it??
My answer was, yes - I do. But those aren't meals that I talk about. I realized then that food can be something to get excited about. I'm a pretty fair cook, I wouldn't say I'm a chef - but I have had the pleasure of working in establishments that had/have great chefs and I have taken inspiration from every one of them. My thinking is, why simply "just eat", when you can enjoy? For me the whole process is therapeutic and usually relaxing - even if I'm only doing it for myself, which I usually am. It's almost like edible artwork - and sometimes it actually is, at least in my opinion.
I could make the most amazing meal, nail every step of preparation all the way up to plating the most visually appealing dish you could lay eyes on, but that doesn't make me a chef. Pulling off even the most amazing entree once is nothing compared to orchestrating a kitchen staff to turn out amazing food for the masses. It's like mustard on your hamburger, versus a 50 gallon drum of mustard. Whoah...I don't wanna think that big, but when you're a chef, you have to think like that.
Summer is at the halfway point, Having got a new grill a few weeks back, and food on the grill - despite a learning curve with the type of grill I upgraded to, is something to get excited about. I haven't been going out much and it's probably a combination of these uncertain times and the fact that I'm out when I'm working and in my off time, I want to put the gun down and relax at home. So pictured below, is what will be a typical evening off for me, and since I work a different 9 to 5, this seems to be around the time I'll usually eat - though I always hope it's earlier.
Boom. There's a few words about Summer and one of the things I love about the season. I edited this particular photo to enhance the color that was already in the original shot. I've taken quite a bit of shit for posting photos of my food right when it goes on the grill & midway through the cooking process - so be it to the haters. I happen to love photographing food and drink, and sometimes capturing the process is just as cool as the end result - not always, but sometimes.
Since this whole pandemic has surged, I haven't really been eating out. There's a Mexican place in town that I love going to, and that's about the only place I've gone recently. It's close, quick, relatively cheap and very good, considering the Northeast Ohio location for such food. I almost never drink alcohol when I go there though, because they don't pour a decent drink for a guy who prefers decent Tequila on the rocks. Great Margaritas, but much as I love that drink, I don't want all the sugar.
That leads me to my next thing about Summer that I'm digging: Drinks. For as long as I can remember, the Margarita has been my favorite cocktail - hands down, and I've made cocktails of every kind for never mind how long...but the more mile markers I pass, the more I want to eliminate sugar from my life. It's taken me years to realize that decent Tequila is the only spirit I can push the envelope of moderation with - not that I do a lot of pushing there mind you.
It's my personal opinion that most people's aversion to Tequila stems from their college days. Drinking the wrong Tequila, the wrong way and at the wrong time. "Shots? Sure, I've got time for at least one more bad decision..."
Again, it's taken my most of my career to realize that drinking decent Tequila can actually have me reminding myself that I even had anything to drink the night before. I do take quite a bit of grief for liking decent Tequila on the rocks. I still can enjoy a Margarita from time to time, but these days the massive amounts of sugar really get me the next day. So again, straight Tequila on the rocks - but what about when you're outside in the heat and just want more in the way of liquid refreshment in your adult beverage? This very thing led me to a drink I find refreshing, not overly sweet - and dangerously good: The Paloma.
The basic recipe is blanco Tequila, lime juice and grapefruit soda. Not sure what led me to think of this, but I created a rim of a mixture of sour salt, Tajin seasoning, Cayenne pepper, sea salt and a little bit of sugar to help balance all this out. I'm a fan of salted rims on a Margarita, but I'm not sure I've ever had a rim on a glass that works so perfectly to compliment a cocktail - and I'm Irish, so I've had a few cocktails.
I've also found two grapefruit sodas that are both really good with this drink and have the perfect amount of minimal sweetness to them, and use natural ingredients. Either will do, but San Pelligrino Pompelmo is by far the better of these two:
It's too early in the day for me to make a Paloma - plus I have to work tonight and hit the gym here shortly, but for your reference here, you should get two drinks out of either one of these choices. If I had a third choice, it would be Jarritos Grapefruit Soda - imported from Mexico and has real sugar in it - it's a bit on the sweet side for my tastes. Having gone over all that, here's my recipe and method:
2-3 ounces of Blanco Tequila - a really great one for the money is Altos.
Juice of 1/4 quarter lime
Grapefruit soda
Ice (duh)
Spicy Cayenne/Tajin salt mixture *
3.4 ounce Campari
Lime wheel/wedge for garnish
*Spicy Cayenne/Tajin Salt mixture:
3 Tbsp white sugar
2 Tbsp Smoked Paprika
2 Tbsp Sea Salt (I've been using fine, but Coarse would probably work well)
2 Tbsp Tajin Seasoning
1 Tbsp Sour Salt
1 Tbsp Cayenne Pepper
Combine ingredients in a small container with a tight sealing lid, shake the living shit out of it. Boom. Awesome rim mixture done - I'm not sure I've ever had a rim mixture that I've wanted every bit of on a cocktail before this one. It really is perfect on this drink.
Take a lime wedge and go around the rim of the glass, then run the glass edge in the Spicy Cayenne/Tajin salt mixture to rim the top.
Fill the glass with ice and squeeze 1/4 lime juice over the ice, then add the Tequila. I drizzle the Campari on top of the drink - it'll sink right to the bottom, I usually stir the drink before I add the Campari because just leaving the Campari to do its work while you enjoy the drink seems to make every sip better than the one before it. When it all comes together, it should look like this:
Now on to a couple of other things about Summer. I've yet to put a single mile on my bicycle this year and it's tearing me up. I changed vehicles and had some issues with my hitch mounted rack - I'm hoping I've got those issues corrected, now I just need to get my ass out there. Hopefully tomorrow.
The garden is looking good - Mexican Sunflowers are starting to open up and there are a lot more to follow. Regular Sunflowers are still a few days out, but looking good. I've also harvested quite a few Serrano peppers off of my plants and even used them in a batch of my salsa. I've got a ton of Habaneros coming in, thought they're all still really green. I moved the most promising plant to a place where it's getting more direct sun in the hopes of getting the peppers to ripen up.
I really want to try to make jelly with the Habaneros this year - but I've got to conquer my fear of canning (which I don't really want to get heavily into, have a perhaps unreasonable paranoia about and the last thing I need is to buy another pile of stuff to have to keep around and not use very much) in order for that to happen. I've been experimenting making tinctures, but I'm going to have a lot of peppers and I don't need five year's worth of tinctures, which are all too easy to make as it turns out.
It's been an interesting week. A thing or two hasn't exactly gone the way I'd hoped it would, but I'm taking a tip from a friend who posted the following advice recently:
Make yesterday the last day you spent giving a fuck about people who don't show you they give a fuck back.
No names, but a few people. Onward. These past few months have shown me many things, not the least of which is that this life we lead is more often than not, far too short. I wish you all peace, hope you're staying safe and enjoying your Summer. For anyone going through difficult things - and you know who you are, my thoughts are with you - and I admire your strength. Peace, good people. Oh and nearly 1800 words. Words of Summer. Boom.
CRO
Saturday, July 18, 2020
1,000 Words of Summer...SIX!
Summer is moving along and gaining momentum. I often gauge the progress of this season by my garden, which currently seems to be in a holding pattern. My attempts at drawing Humming Birds has been largely unsuccessful. Nonetheless, things look pretty good out there - although last year at this time, I actually had Sunflowers in bloom. Once again, I'm reminded of how gardening is among other things, an exercise in things like acceptance and patience.
I haven't started riding yet this season - I know, what am I waiting for? I've been doing a lot of other things and basically dragging ass on getting out there. This year I'm a bit obsessed with my outdoor space and making it look better. Plants, patio lights, new grill - all of this seems to work because in these uncertain times, going out a lot isn't something I really want to do. My work is out, and now more than ever, I kind of want a break from being out.
My line of work is severely altered these days - and it may well stay that way forever. Do I like it? No - because in a line of work that I once fought to get out of and stay out of, I've come to love it more and I've come to love great food and drink more, and get excited about both of those things. All of that carries into my home life. I don't want to get political, but it's impossible for me to have any confidence in this administration - and promoting the opinion of a washed up game show host over that of our nation's leading infectious disease expert is troubling. However this virus got here, denying that it is once again gaining serious momentum and putting down medical experts that have advised on it is dangerous. Nothing like this should be politicized, yet it has been and it continues to be.
It's hard to hear someone say that anyone like me is living the high life. I'd never been on unemployment as long as I was. I didn't like the shut down, and with how severely my industry has been affected, being back at work is just as stressful as the day I learned we were shutting down. No matter which side of the fence you're on, there hasn't been consistent actions in how we're dealing with this collectively - statewide or across the country. No, I don't want the entire country to shut down again - I want us all to be safe. I don't want to be one of the asymptomatic carriers and pass something on to someone who might get sick, or even die.
I could go on about my thoughts on all of this, but I won't. I've heard some very disturbing remarks made that are both insensitive and completely callous regarding human lives and I've heard people outright say that lives of people in certain age groups are about to end anyway, so why is anyone worried? Am I worried? Absolutely. I happen to love my work for numerous reasons.
I have to focus on the moment, do what I can to keep myself healthy, and take moments for what they are. Pandemic or not, we live lives in moments that are never guaranteed. So I do what I can. Focus on things I like and can actually do something about: Working out, learning to cook new foods in better ways, photography, writing, bicycling, nature.
I've kind of always loved pictures of food - and I've taken quite a bit of criticism for my love of photographing - hell, I'll even post pics of the same recipe that I'm making for the umpteenth time in the hopes of making it look better. I love pictures of good food that make me think things like 'I want to make that - I want to eat that, damn that looks amazing...can I do that?. I take quite a bit of shit for posting some of these pictures too, fine - it's easy enough to turn my give-a-shitter off when people who bitch about 'em are either sharing drunken stories (which can be fun from time to time) or something every bit as self indulgent as food I make. People say things like close the grill cover! - guess what? Seeing food on the grill is a wonderful memory, and sometimes one that I like capturing in a picture. I have fond childhood memories of my grandfather standing at the grill making his BBQ chicken. I still haven't mastered it - I've finally realized that he stood there the entire time, patiently turning the meat, and if that chicken ever came out less than perfectly cooked - with the sauce that he made from scratch, I never knew about it. So for anyone who hates me posting a picture of food with my grill lid up, deal with it or find something else to look at. It ain't that hard to do.
So yeah, I'll take pictures of food on the grill - before I close the cover, midway through the cooking process, right up to plating it. A few years back at work, Mytro was doing these Chill On The Grill nights - parking across the street, I could smell how good that food was and it only got better as I walked across the street to work. How does one not get excited about food when you have that kind of experience? I'll take the whole grilling experience, the sight of the food on the grill, the smell of the grill as it nears being ready for the food to go on, and once you start to see and smell what's in store. If anyone in Cleveland knows of a place that has that kind of grilling out experience that's anywhere as good as what Mytro was doing a few Summers back, hit me up - because I wanna go & try it. These days the experience is closer - he does the smoking right out back.
So I pull into a parking space, open my car door and the smell hits me instantly. It's one of my favorite things about Summer. This week it was smoked chicken, last week brisket, the week before that it was ribs. Can't even tell you how good it smelled out that back door. Makes me wish I didn't have to work so I could come in and eat. And it makes me want to up my own grilling game at home. Serious work to do there. Summer - 1,000 Words of Summer, to be exact. I'm actually a little over today. Time to get a move on, lots to do before work tonight. Peace, good people - stay safe, wear a mask.
CRO
I haven't started riding yet this season - I know, what am I waiting for? I've been doing a lot of other things and basically dragging ass on getting out there. This year I'm a bit obsessed with my outdoor space and making it look better. Plants, patio lights, new grill - all of this seems to work because in these uncertain times, going out a lot isn't something I really want to do. My work is out, and now more than ever, I kind of want a break from being out.
My line of work is severely altered these days - and it may well stay that way forever. Do I like it? No - because in a line of work that I once fought to get out of and stay out of, I've come to love it more and I've come to love great food and drink more, and get excited about both of those things. All of that carries into my home life. I don't want to get political, but it's impossible for me to have any confidence in this administration - and promoting the opinion of a washed up game show host over that of our nation's leading infectious disease expert is troubling. However this virus got here, denying that it is once again gaining serious momentum and putting down medical experts that have advised on it is dangerous. Nothing like this should be politicized, yet it has been and it continues to be.
It's hard to hear someone say that anyone like me is living the high life. I'd never been on unemployment as long as I was. I didn't like the shut down, and with how severely my industry has been affected, being back at work is just as stressful as the day I learned we were shutting down. No matter which side of the fence you're on, there hasn't been consistent actions in how we're dealing with this collectively - statewide or across the country. No, I don't want the entire country to shut down again - I want us all to be safe. I don't want to be one of the asymptomatic carriers and pass something on to someone who might get sick, or even die.
I could go on about my thoughts on all of this, but I won't. I've heard some very disturbing remarks made that are both insensitive and completely callous regarding human lives and I've heard people outright say that lives of people in certain age groups are about to end anyway, so why is anyone worried? Am I worried? Absolutely. I happen to love my work for numerous reasons.
I have to focus on the moment, do what I can to keep myself healthy, and take moments for what they are. Pandemic or not, we live lives in moments that are never guaranteed. So I do what I can. Focus on things I like and can actually do something about: Working out, learning to cook new foods in better ways, photography, writing, bicycling, nature.
I've kind of always loved pictures of food - and I've taken quite a bit of criticism for my love of photographing - hell, I'll even post pics of the same recipe that I'm making for the umpteenth time in the hopes of making it look better. I love pictures of good food that make me think things like 'I want to make that - I want to eat that, damn that looks amazing...can I do that?. I take quite a bit of shit for posting some of these pictures too, fine - it's easy enough to turn my give-a-shitter off when people who bitch about 'em are either sharing drunken stories (which can be fun from time to time) or something every bit as self indulgent as food I make. People say things like close the grill cover! - guess what? Seeing food on the grill is a wonderful memory, and sometimes one that I like capturing in a picture. I have fond childhood memories of my grandfather standing at the grill making his BBQ chicken. I still haven't mastered it - I've finally realized that he stood there the entire time, patiently turning the meat, and if that chicken ever came out less than perfectly cooked - with the sauce that he made from scratch, I never knew about it. So for anyone who hates me posting a picture of food with my grill lid up, deal with it or find something else to look at. It ain't that hard to do.
So yeah, I'll take pictures of food on the grill - before I close the cover, midway through the cooking process, right up to plating it. A few years back at work, Mytro was doing these Chill On The Grill nights - parking across the street, I could smell how good that food was and it only got better as I walked across the street to work. How does one not get excited about food when you have that kind of experience? I'll take the whole grilling experience, the sight of the food on the grill, the smell of the grill as it nears being ready for the food to go on, and once you start to see and smell what's in store. If anyone in Cleveland knows of a place that has that kind of grilling out experience that's anywhere as good as what Mytro was doing a few Summers back, hit me up - because I wanna go & try it. These days the experience is closer - he does the smoking right out back.
So I pull into a parking space, open my car door and the smell hits me instantly. It's one of my favorite things about Summer. This week it was smoked chicken, last week brisket, the week before that it was ribs. Can't even tell you how good it smelled out that back door. Makes me wish I didn't have to work so I could come in and eat. And it makes me want to up my own grilling game at home. Serious work to do there. Summer - 1,000 Words of Summer, to be exact. I'm actually a little over today. Time to get a move on, lots to do before work tonight. Peace, good people - stay safe, wear a mask.
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