Skip to main content

2022 Best of the Year

Taste: 

Clearly the best meal I ate in 2022 was at Lerins Abbey on Ile Saint-Honorat Island off of Cannes, France in August. We walked the beach in Cannes and then, because I love islands, rode a ferry out to the monk-owned island. We were hungry, but had no expectation of finding vegan food. When we checked out the menu at the island's one restaurant and they had one vegan dish. 

Do you have a reservation? We did not. No problem though, because there was one seating available. 

Did we want it? We did! 

We ate at a lovely table in the sand by the beach. The dish was vegan paella and really, by description, it did not sound exciting. In fact, Sam did not even want paella and tried to order something else, but the paella was THE vegan dish.

As it turned out, it was the most amazing food. I felt alive as I ate it: the grilled tomatoes and onions, olive oil, the fresh squeezed lime. I drank a glass of monk-made wine. It was possible only to eat in in a slow and savoring way. 

There was no room for dessert. After eating it, I wanted nothing more. It was absolutely delicious every bite!

The waiter and the restaurant were charming a bit posh and snooty, but also, somehow, delightfully welcoming. 

What made that simple meal so delightful? So blissful? It is a mystery. 

Sight: Rome at night; the turquoise and lemon of Capri; the view from Mount Solero; the checkerboard tile along the sea in Livorno; umbrella pines; and beautiful Lake Michigan 

closer to home: tiny shocked-looking kittens

Touch: my feet dangling in the air from the chairlift up Mount Solero 

closer to home: Tish’s head on my chest; Lily's head on my neck

Sound: street violin; Francesca 

closer to home: splash, plash, and  gurgling brook

Smell: sweet violets (I am a little disappointed by the lack of standout pleasant scents this year. I think I was not attending to this sense much.)

Quotable: 
Painter Henri Matisse was inspired by a trip to Corsica, "Everything glistens, everything is colour, everything is light." He said his time in Ajaccio was a revelation, "I felt growing within me a passion for colour.” 

"Trust your anger. It is a demand for love." — Natalie Diaz, Isn't the Air Also a Body, Moving?, Postcolonial Love Poem 

"That by desiring what is perfectly good, even when we don't quite know what it is and cannot do what we would, we are part of the divine power against evil—widening the skirts of light and making the struggle with darkness narrower...It is my life." — Dorothea Brooke, Middlemarch, George Eliot 
Extra: "...there was something so exquisite in thinking of her just as she was..."

A jolt of joy: many memorable joyful little moments...

the sunlit sanctuary; a play bow on the first day of spring; I will draw a heart with catnip and scatter rose petals and Gerbera daisies; the furry three; a quick response to "Leave it!" and her expectant look; Done!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thoughts on "Depression Hates a Moving Target": What I Mean by Relatable

Relatable — I used this word in my reviews of Depression Hates a Moving Target   by Nita Sweeney on Goodreads and Amazon . It's a nice word, but overused of late. So, it feels lazy. What do I mean? I connected with this book. It made me reflect more on my own first marathon experience. It made me want to put on my running shoes and head out the door again. In fact, I did. Now, typically, my mental health doesn't hinder my ability to do the stuff I want to do and my body flies under the radar. Still, I also felt goofy stepping out in my running gear a lot of the time. I didn't see myself as a "runner" or an athlete. And, I had no idea if I could run 13 miles let alone 26.2 when I started. More to the point, could I stay moving for the 4+ hours straight it would take to complete the marathon? To do the training mileage, I knew I'd have to run through streets and trails on my own and that made me nervous, too. Waves of grief wash us to strange shores. Whe...
1 comment
Read more

What is Solarpunk? Good question, great answers from our community

What is solarpunk? My fellow Glass and Gardens: Solarpunk Summers authors Commando Jugendstil and Tales from The EV Studio put together this video for the Turin International Book Fair . It features editors and authors from the solarpunk community sharing their thoughts. Together we're imagining optimistic futures based on renewable energy. My soundbite was: "Solarpunk futures are — green spaces with clean water that are pedestrian, collective, feminist, creative communities. And they include non-human animals. " Mary "solarpunk" Shelley cat did a great job (at 6:15) helping from her rather ridiculous cat tree which she absolutely loves. And what better time to wear this solar-colored "Veganism is Feminism" tee from The Herbivore Clothing Company . Seriously. I'm holding a stack of solarpunk books: Glass and Gardens: Solarpunk Summers  edited by Sarena Ulibarri which includes my story "Watch Out, Red Crusher!".  Wings of R...
2 comments
Read more

Springy story review: "State Change" by Ken Liu

Why it springs to mind:  You'll never look at an ice cube the same way again. Where read: In the 2014 Hugo award-winning Lightspeed Magazine , August. Length: 5,194 words Summary: A woman has an ice cube for a soul. Memorable: How the story invites us to think about the shape of our soul, how it (or our perception of it) influences us and how it changes. What ordinary every day object would your soul be? A silver spoon, a beech stick? A great party conversation starter, this. Quote:  “All life is an experiment." Notable:  The protagonist Rina is an avid reader (always a good choice). Pairs well with: T.S. Elliot, Edna St. Vincent Millay Origin:  The story was written in 24 hours based on a writing prompt. (See Author Spotlight: Ken Liu ) About the author: Ken Liu’s debut novel, The Grace of Kings , the first in a fantasy series The Dandelion Dynasty, is due out from Saga Press ( a new Simon & Schuster imprint ) in 2015.
Post a Comment
Read more