Lazy Food Season + An Island Mystery

During this strange time of life I will continue to bore those of you who are tuning in to see fabulous vegan creations.

Mourning is odd, and I gather that it can vary widely from person to person. For me, being very busy and productive is a balm, probably because I am avoiding tending to it, which feels like what I need for a while, until a cushion of time has passed. In the midst of my busy life, there's not much appetite, so I am really just eating for fuel. Dark leafies are key, and I'm not skimping on the healthy fats. Fresh green juice in the morning is about all I can manage before lunchtime. Here are a couple more lazy, fatty foods which give me the energy I need:

I went through this jar in about two weeks -- on a loaf of Eziekiel bread.

Have you tried this? It's yummy, but really too sweet. It's easy to put in a thermos and take to work, though, and gives me the calories I need. I know I should tend to my diet more lovingly soon, but not until I get an appetite. It doesn't seem worth the effort yet.

Now for my "island mystery" -- A couple of weeks ago I was carrying several bottles of wine into the kitchen from the garage, and as I went to place them on the kitchen island, a bottle of chardonnay slipped from my fingers and fell about four inches, crashing onto the granite. Here's the result:

It's a terrible photo, but hopefully you can see that the glass bottle, totally unscathed and without a scratch, took a chunk out of the solid rock. The chunk was actually completely pulverized into dust, and the chardonnay was no worse from the encounter.

Fast forward a week -- as I was emptying the dishwasher, the basin of my coveted Breville juicer also slipped from my fingers and landed on the granite. Here's the result of that mishap:

I was pretty bummed until I realized I should be counting my blessings for even having a Breville juicer, and also because it was the top of the spout which broke off and not the bottom, so the juicing is only slightly more messy.

So, the mystery I'm puzzling is why is solid granite weaker than glass but stronger than plastic? Also, why do I keep dropping things? {shrug}

Changing gears, here's a miracle in my own backyard (that's how I like to think of beautiful things now, anyway):

A sunny deluge -- isn't it pretty?

Today's Jeanine story:

When our firstborn was little, we travelled from Detroit to Alexandria, VA, to visit my parents. After settling in for an hour or so, we decided to go to the nearby mall to pick up a few things while Mom and Dad got started on dinner. Halfway there, we realized we had left the stroller at their house, so we turned around to get it. As we got closer to their house, we noticed a woman in full sprint on the sidewalk coming toward us. Something seemed wrong -- the woman was not dressed for a workout, so it appeared there might be an emergency of some kind.

"What's wrong with that woman?" my husband asked, alarmed, as we got closer.

Suddenly I realized who it was, "It's my Mom!" I said, in a panic.

We pulled up to her and stopped, and she ceased her forward momentum as well.

"Mom! What's wrong?" I stammered.

My mom smiled her pretty smile and said, "You forgot the stroller, didn't you?"

"But why are you running down the road?" I asked, still worried and confused.

"I just wanted to squeeze in a little workout!" she answered, matter-of-factly.

That was Mom -- fashionable bob haircut, red lipstick, cardigan sweater, slacks, leather flats, 18" strand of pearls (real) in full swing from side to side as she allowed her long, lean legs to extend fully in an olympian stride. She'd never let something as simple as a lack of time keep her from a good workout! She was practical to the extreme and never worried people would judge her for something as silly as her chosen workout wardrobe. And you know what? She was so cool, I actually don't think anyone who knew her did judge her -- but she did make us smile!