Saturday, July 1, 2017

The goodness of the microcosm


Last night our friends Leslie and Janice came over for dinner, and my darling man cooked everything—a delicious raft of roasted vegetables and tender poached salmon—and he even brought home birds of paradise and ginger lilies and made a minimalist yet dramatic arrangement, just because the flowers looked so vibrant as he passed them while shopping for his ingredients. I merely tidied the house and once our guests arrived, sat and chatted with them, sipping a nice Malbec while the man prepared dinner. He joined in the conversation from the kitchen, and then in short order he called us to eat, the four of us sitting informally around the kitchen island (not the HGTV kind). We had a lovely, easy time, the talk turning to politics just once, and briefly, but for the most part we ignored the world outside just for one evening, acting as if America isn't burning itself down.


There was a shooting at a hospital in the Bronx yesterday afternoon, an obviously deranged doctor who got his hands on an assault rifle and why on earth does any private citizen need an assault rifle? This man, who quit the hospital staff over allegations of sexual harassment a while back, returned to gun down seven people, all but one of them medical staff, before putting a bullet through his own head. In addition to him, another doctor died, a woman. The rest were saved by quick triage performed by nurses and doctors even while the shooter still rampaged. I always wonder why these shooters don't just start with themselves, and if that sounds cold, so be it. My son's EMS station is in lower Manhattan, and this morning my husband and I confessed to each other that our first thought on hearing the news was to note with secret relief that it was in the Bronx, and so our son probably would not be one of the units called.


But back to the man and his yummy exploits in the kitchen: Those are herb infused olive oils he's been making, to rave reviews from everyone who tastes them. My daughter told him he should consider giving some as gifts. Sometimes when I post here about pleasant goings on, it might seem as if I am oblivious to the nightmarish news constantly blaring from our TVs. I'm not oblivious, but I often just need to shift my gaze. In the microcosm of my life, this has been a good week. In the macrocosm of America, not so much.


11 comments:

  1. I am exactly with you on knowing what the balance point is between the personal and the political. Is there one at all? I do not know. I guess we have to write what is on our hearts, and some days for me that is nothing but chickens and children. Other days it is fear and bewilderment and anger. We cannot either ignore or be blindly obsessed. Neither does any good. And frankly, it is a beautiful thing to enjoy a dinner, flowers, beautiful herb-infused oils. We have to go on with the good things we have- otherwise, what in hell is the point?

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    1. Mary, exactly. We cannot let the demented cheeto steal our joy, too.

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  2. Meanwhile in the UK... we never heard of this incident. That's news for you. It's a fine line we bloggers walk between being overtly political or indifferent.

    On another note, your guy's meal sounds delicious. I might nick that recipe. :-)

    Greetings from London.

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    1. Cuban, i figure nobody's paying me for what i write here, so i can do as i please, vent as i please, or not. occasionally though, i just want to vent and vent and vent, and that is not good for anyone. so yes, a fine line.

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  3. Dinner sounds wonderful. You have such a gift with words. I do not, wish I did. The spouse and I are just going crazy with it all. Recently we discovered people we thought we knew were conspiracy theory, whack job Republicans. It's like finding out they died and were reanimated by evil.

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    1. Allison, welcome, friend, pull up a chair! You do have a way with words, because I can absolutely feel the sick feeling at the core of you when you discovered those folks political leanings. So apt, your description. I had the same experience and it felt exactly like that.

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  4. What a wonderful evening ... it's so nice to have a husband who loves to put a good meal together. And don't sell yourself short - the house tidying that precedes having company can be quite a sprint (at our house, anyway) and should never be referred to as "merely" a tidy :)

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    1. jenny_o, i love that he loves to cook; it's not a chore for him, and when he doesn't feel like doing it, he simply doesn't. i also love that there is no expectation whatsoever that i will cook, we just kind of wing it, and sometimes order in. And yes, I'm the spouse who prioritizes the tidy house, so it works out ;)

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  5. I wrote here on my iPad yesterday but it didn't post. I can't remember what I said but I know you are a light in my virtual life❤️

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    1. Joanne, thank you friend. Your presence here, your comments, are a light in my virtual life, too! xo

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  6. If you can find that balance point and patent it, you can retire rich. Seriously. Psychiatrists have to be doubling their income this year. Anyone can discover how intelligent, caring people can survive an assault not only on our democracy, but on our very decency as human beings, should be chosen Woman (or Man) of the Year.

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