Something I Ate

February Photo A Day

Thanks for playing along with the February photos. They allowed me to feel like I was doing a bit of creative work when every part of me wished to be creative but time seemed very slippery.

I missed a few photos this month, not because I failed to post, but, because I often didn't find the theme inspiring (inside my closet? inside my bathroom cabinet? money? they just seemed strange to me.)

But, something I ate? This. I can handle. Let's face it. Food inspires.

So I share a final few photos from the meal of a lifetime.  All in all there were 16 courses. Two tasting menus at Akelarre in San Sebastian, Spain. I feature the most beautiful here.  We were on our honeymoon. We splurged and ate like royalty. We ate food that should have been art.

Prawns and French Beans cooked in "Orujo" Fireplace

Roasted Suckling Pig with Tomato "Balao" and Iberian Emulsion

Turbot with its "Kokotxa" 

"Xaxu" and Coconut Iced Mousse

Layered Strawberry and Cream

Night

February Photo A Day

When I found this photo to go with the theme, I thought of a quote from A Delicate Balance by Edward Albee. I spent the evening searching for it, endless googling, and then sorting through old journals, so certain I had written it down at some point.  But I can't find it. 

It's about the transition from night to morning, what each period of light and dark brings out in ourselves. But I can't remember which is what or which state brings out a kind of knowing, and I thought that might be an interesting enough thought. So I pair it with a bridge, a smudge of turquoise in the window, and a stretching steeple in the night. 

Green

February Photo A Day

Well, I had no choice. Green is Ireland. And I couldn't pick just one.

 

Your Shoes

February Photo A Day

This odd exhibit was on display in Laguardia, Spain. The bare feet or the tall boots on the left are my style. I long ago did away with heels.  And I'm still not sure how I feel about the ankle boots.

Which would you choose? 

Something I Hate To Do

February Photo A Day

I try to be positive on the blog but...

The theme was posed. 

I thought about it.

I found the photo.

And so it goes.

I strongly dislike waiting for the subway.  

But I really like this platform poster. 

Time

February Photo A Day

Moving around the seasons. 

Heart

February Photo A Day

My heart is full this Valentine's Day. In the past few weeks, since Little O's birth, family and friends have reached out to our little family with such kindness and love. There have been gifts, notes, texts with colorful emoticons, phone calls, and visits.

For me, to know I am loved is always a most surprising gift. And the greatest.

I can't believe that someone I did not know five weeks ago could make my heart swell this much. It reminds me what is possible. That one day you could be alone and the next day, someone can come into your life and change it and then change you. It happens. I've been one person and walked into lecture halls, stepped on to trains, climbed up to the roof, stood at the walls of gatherings where I didn't belong and stumbled upon the words and conversations and people in my life that I did not know the moment before, and they become part of me and then I am someone else.

I read this the other day, because I read all the books in the house out loud, children's books that have filled our home, and hope the sweet boy who doesn't yet understand, but perhaps is listening, can hear the words. It wowed me. It made me teary. Made me close my eyes and nod and 'yes' it.

In the green of the grass...in the smell of the sea...in the clouds floating by...at the top of a tree...in the sound crickets make at the end of the day...

"You are loved. You are loved. You are loved," they all say.

--From Wherever You Are: My Love Will Find You by Nancy Tillman