The Next Chapter

The Pandemic Kitchen

Being a caregiver is easy. There is nothing else to do. The care sets the priorities and timing. Caregiving starts abruptly. Caregiving stops abruptly. What didn’t need to be planned before, now is full of empty time to decide what to do.

Caregiving is something you do not want to start. Caregiving is something you do not want to stop. When it does stop, It becomes a time for introspection, reflection, processing and recovery. It’s time to take inventory.

Jonathan was the cat of my childhood.

Igor was the cat of my adolescence.

Dudley was the cat of my adulthood.

Velcro was the cat of my middle age.

Steinway taught me an important lesson about life and death.

Winston is an angel sent to guard me and guide me, his purpose is spiritual and timeless.

Music helps too. My friend posted something new, and sweet and connected to something old and valued. Here’s a man who pivoted, a famous comedian, who I didn’t think was funny, and who I didn’t like. Steve Martin found some music, eventually shared the stage with the greatest, and now he is the greatest. Rather than pave the same old ground that his mentor invented, he has gone forward – as his mentor did, and has made a whole new sound of his own. It’s very sweet.

Night Owl Banjo

The music eases my re-entry into life after the traumatic loss. Winston Kitty was looking for his best friend last night, this morning, and now he will make new friends, and has already started. He started with me. He’s by my side as I write this – he’s never far away.

The Kitchen also was a place of refuge. As Janie noted a while back my brother made a beautiful fresh baked sour dough (with his ancient starter).

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Fresh out of the oven it was like eating cake. Light, tasty, doughy, tangy and a little yeasty and the crust had a light crunch, like a french baguette. It needed nothing. It was perfect.

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Leftovers can be amazing as well, with some fresh baked crust.

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I hadn’t had a Burger in a long time. So i had a sirloin steak ground up and made one of my favorites. Instead of a potato roll i used a Zomack Challah Roll. Those are home made pickles (using lenny’s recipe), horseradish aioli, and tomato paste (instead of ketchup, since you can’t get ketchup without ‘flavorings’ in it anymore). Simple, wonderful, nourishing for the soul.

This morning i woke up to find this on the counter. Batter and a waffle maker – just like in the Best Western Hotels. Ray told me I could make myself a waffle.

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It was the lightest, fluffiest, tangiest, tastiest waffle i ever had. I told Ray. He made the batter with the ancient starter of the sourdough bread. Most waffle/pancake batter only has baking powder in it, not yeast. Using the sourdough starter gave it extra dimensions. This is something you can only get in Ray’s Pandemic Kitchen. It didn’t need syrup. While I put syrup on the first waffle, i made another and just ate it plain. While it didn’t taste like a bavarian pretzel – it had a wonderfully similar texture to that, one of my favorite foods.

The last thing VK ate was some of my home made chicken soup from scratch. My friend Stuart commented that it would nourish his soul on his journey.

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Winston has a new ‘best’ friend to guard. In fact, we guard each other. Always have.

It’s time to start the next chapter.