200509 reboot polar vortex dinner bedtime

may 7

  this morning i let go of yesterday's strange inertia, without effort i stopped thinking about it. late in the day, fig and i walked up the field to the next road and back down along the street. the spinning reel and the clicking stopped. nowhere to be and nothing to do. 

  listened to some john prine.

may 8 

  today has been a "long-wave" pandemic day with time to tidy things and wash dishes without the press of more urgent activities. i tied up some sticks to make a giraffe to stand on the lawn.  it turned out to be a challenge to get it to stand up! the "polar vortex" wind was blowing a gale and poor giraffe kept falling over. bigger sticks, to allow more crossover at joints, and better string, next time.

  pandemic cooking is a pleasure most days. i go to the pantry early and look at what there is. with the extra stocks we have a wide choice, and the extra ingredients that we need are on hand for many recipes. without work and school schedules and with extra grownups around, there is time to prepare all sorts of vegetables, sauces and dishes; and energy to prepare fruit for the table. tonight i made kima, from a recipe in whole foods for the whole family* that was always a success when my kids were young. but it requires tomatoes and unfrozen ground meat, not always in the house, and lots of time. potatoes, celery, carrots, onion and garlic need to be chopped and diced; but when there is time, a zen-like exercise.

  family dinner: it's a daily ritual of reacquaince that helps bind a household into a family. there are certain components of the dinner that are considered important, i expect they vary a lot from family to family. i like to see the table set properly before dinner, with whatever is needed for the meal, although we have sat down to pizza, with water glasses, and the pizza-box lids cut into pieces for plates! my mother never failed to put the food in serving dishes on the table. they create a round-the-table greeting as the potatoes and pickles are passed, although some days it's easier to serve from the pot in the kitchen. if it weren't for dinnertime, some of us might not see each other for days, (except when there's a pandemic!). everyone is expected, invited, to come to dinner and everyone does most days. 

  an important rule is that we don't talk about serious or contentious family business at the table. disagreements, scolding and lectures don't happen. that way we can be together without anyone having to be on guard. we talk about our day, the meal, the weather, the news and we keep our remarks light-handed and short, so that everyone can contribute (or ask for more soup!) indre and robin are fond of "rose and thorn" sharing: a rose being a nice thing and a thorn, a bad thing. it is a good way to put life in perspective, and to see how things that happen may have affected our day even if we don't talk about them. it teaches, too,  that naming is a way to make sense of experience, reflecting that it happened but is past, that is was only one of many moments that made up our day.

  everyone helps clear the table, even the children, and i put the kitchen in order for the morning and the food away. sometimes the dishes are left (neatly but unwashed), if no one has the energy or time to wash them. our dishwasher broke in february and we decided to do without it, since money was short. most days each of us takes a turn washing up. i was never good at doing dishes before (even after!) we had a dishwasher, but i think that at last i have learned the zen of washing dishes. having others to share the task helps. a clean "put-to-bed" kitchen is lovely. 

  the reality of our dinners is not as ideal as this sounds: there are latecomers and spills and indre and/or robin almost never like what we are having, because we can't always have hot dogs and chicken wings and pecan pie. also, the children are learning about family and ritual, and manners, so there is some teaching and correcting. everyone brings different levels of energy and peace with them to the table, each day.

  tonight i put both the children to sleep. mum and dad got them ready and then while k read to indre, i lay down with robin in the big bed (mine). he is good at relaxing: i tell him his muscles don't have to work at all, just get comfortable and the bed will hold him up. then he practices deep breathing that tamar taught him, and i hum or sing and soon he's down.

rick takes the sleeping boy to the other room and then it's indre's turn, with her stuffed creatures tucked around her. (they don't always get along. little bear doesn't like that monkey gets to be next to indre and big bear gets annoyed that mouse has been eating bread and cheese in the bed again!)  indre slowly gets settled and no more talking, but she asks questions that she knows i'll answer, to put off sleep, until at last she's out. it's pretty nice that they want me to see them to sleep. 

may 9

  in spite of the sameness of the days, saturday still feels like a day off and today i took time to myself. i mused, watched some tv, and rested (with a sudoku book). i completely changed my vision for the mosaic project, pretty exciting! and went down to the craft room  to look for china fish and sea creatures to use. went for a walk with fig several times, to see the day and breathe, but it was cold and clouds blew across sky. 

tamar took care of dinner, a delicious selection of leftovers, and for the kids, hot dogs (sigh). 

  i keep seeing the grey grey sky and i seem to feel that arctic wind blowing through the walls, as if it will go on and on, as covid 19 goes on and on... 

 *  - recipe -

kima

splash of oil for wok or large saucepan

1 or 2 onions chopped

1 clove or more garlic chopped

bay leaf if you have one

500 grams ground beef (i like to pre-cook it - less to do at 5.)

1 1/2 t curry powder (or to taste) Cool Runnings brand jamaican curry is my current favorite.) 

1/2 t salt

shakes of pepper

2 T soy sauce

2 potatoes chopped 

3 carrots ditto

3 celery stalks ditto

1 cup peas 

3 tomatoes chopped or equivalent canned

pita or other bread

sauté onion and garlic. if beef is uncooked add and cook til brown and crumbly. drain if desired. add all the other ingredients and simmer for 30 minutes or until potatoes are done.

serve with pita or any bread. or in a pita or a bun.

kima is a south-asian ground-meat curry dish. this recipe has been adapted from the la leche league cookbook, whole foods for the whole family, 1993 edition.