A longtime mentor and friend urged me, in my early 50’s, be like the water, don’t fight the rocks, flow around them… so this hooked me! In Portland Maine, at Street & Co, my ex ordered an appetizer. It was an odd description, stewed garlicky squid in a tomato based broth…. Squid as you are aware can be tough and rubbery if over or under cooked. But they can be sublime. This little dish, served in a small pottery crock, was the latter!
"Benumbed alacrity." "The hell with it." "Whatever." "Everybody gets it in the end. . ."
These are all internal coping mechanisms-- uttered, muttered, or thought-- that have been shared with me over the years by folks who'd just "had it up to here" with life's vicissitudes but figured out a way to deal with them without becoming apoplectic.
Now I have another. Thank you.
(BTW, those chiles rellenos sound absolutely scrumptious-- and me stuck up here in this torrential rain in the wee hours without a clam or an octopus in sight. . . .)
The hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life? Teaching my son with Asperger's to be flexible. One of the constants in David's life was his need of routines. He had to have everything the same way every single day. He had meltdowns that he had trouble calming down from every time his routine was disrupted. Until we realized that warning him ahead of time of the possible disruptions so he could be prepared meant he didn't melt down. Then he developed mini routines that helped him cope with disruptions and reset himself. Nowadays, unless he's completely taken by surprise (such as an accident) he doesn't melt down and even if he does it isn't as bad as it could be--and even then he's developed Mini routines that help him cope. And along the way I've learned a lot about being flexible from my son.
Oh, the last time David even approached a meltdown was his usual indignant "Not drinking, Uncle Jimmy! No wild women!" in response to his uncle's teasing.
Thanks for this, I needed to hear it. I feel the same distress when “wasting” a precious meal while travelling and fear I become a horrible travelling partner for a short period of time afterwards while I process the disappointment. Be like water… and I probably need to grow tf up while I’m at it.
Good read, as always. I never thought of seafood as a filling for rellenos. I am going to have to try that. Good to see that they were just roasted, too. Battered and fried plans make me sad.
EDIT: POBLANOS, not Plans, but I guess that would also be sad...
Thanks, Hank. Life can be an act of creative imagination, but it's so easy to get sidetracked. Your reminders to see beyond and stay relaxed and flexible are couched in how you personally live that attitude. I appreciate your example. And your wonderful dishes. Lynda J.
I am jealous of your coping skills. Thank you for reminding us to be conscious beings. I felt my blood pressure rising as you told of the constant returns from the waiters. LOL. As my mother used to say, "It ALWAYS works out," although it may not be as you had hoped or anticipated.
Bruce Lee, wow...another thing we have in common. I have always loved and admired pretty much everything about him. Next time that I'm in La Paz or Todos Santos (this year?) I will check out those two restaurants you mentioned. BUT I HAVE A BURNING QUESTION: I love lamb and I love cumin and use both regularly in dinner making. Where oh where is that Chinese restaurant with the lamb cumin? I live in Truckee so not THAT far away and I have friends all over the Sac area.
We really are like water. I've spent so much time on rivers and realized a long time ago that like a river we are flowing to an end at the sea. It's up to us to enjoy the journey, there will be sandbars logs and uncertainty you just find the way around them.
So true Hank, as a former resident of Southern CA and now a resident of the Denver metro, it's hard to find real good Mexican food that hasn't been bastardized into some shadow of itself to please the other gringos. When I walk into a new place I'll always ask for a chile relleno, I figure if they can't make a good relleno they're probably not making other stuff the way I'll like it either. I've learned to be flexible and gracious though, as one has to be when being taken out to dinner by my midwestern in-laws...
I’m saving quotes from this piece of writing. Change and uncertainty are ironically constants in life - adapt and flow my new mantras. Thank you, Hank.
Nothing grates me more than people who act (and eat) like a caricature of a tourist. I was lucky enough in 2004-2006 to work on a project based in Munich, at one point going over every 6-7 weeks. I became an unofficial tour guide for all the newbie’s on their first trip over. Inevitably they’d ask to go the the Hard Rock. Munich has an amazing food scene, there was no way I was eating hamburgers there. Especially with the Hof Brau Haus (still touristy, but at least they’ve got some cred) right around the corner. I don’t drink, but I’d rather eat at any of the multitude of beer gardens and restaurants there. I’d take them and leave them, then come back for them. I haven’t been back since 2007, but now I’m retired and am plotting 10-14 days with Munich as my base.
Be like water, is fabulous. Going through a divorce, one of my friends challenged me every week: "imagine if it all works out". Somehow it does, and is more amazing than the stories we would have written for ourselves.
A longtime mentor and friend urged me, in my early 50’s, be like the water, don’t fight the rocks, flow around them… so this hooked me! In Portland Maine, at Street & Co, my ex ordered an appetizer. It was an odd description, stewed garlicky squid in a tomato based broth…. Squid as you are aware can be tough and rubbery if over or under cooked. But they can be sublime. This little dish, served in a small pottery crock, was the latter!
We’d have eaten it as the entree…
"Benumbed alacrity." "The hell with it." "Whatever." "Everybody gets it in the end. . ."
These are all internal coping mechanisms-- uttered, muttered, or thought-- that have been shared with me over the years by folks who'd just "had it up to here" with life's vicissitudes but figured out a way to deal with them without becoming apoplectic.
Now I have another. Thank you.
(BTW, those chiles rellenos sound absolutely scrumptious-- and me stuck up here in this torrential rain in the wee hours without a clam or an octopus in sight. . . .)
Semper Gumby, Hank, Semper Gumby :-)
The hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life? Teaching my son with Asperger's to be flexible. One of the constants in David's life was his need of routines. He had to have everything the same way every single day. He had meltdowns that he had trouble calming down from every time his routine was disrupted. Until we realized that warning him ahead of time of the possible disruptions so he could be prepared meant he didn't melt down. Then he developed mini routines that helped him cope with disruptions and reset himself. Nowadays, unless he's completely taken by surprise (such as an accident) he doesn't melt down and even if he does it isn't as bad as it could be--and even then he's developed Mini routines that help him cope. And along the way I've learned a lot about being flexible from my son.
Oh, the last time David even approached a meltdown was his usual indignant "Not drinking, Uncle Jimmy! No wild women!" in response to his uncle's teasing.
Thanks for this, I needed to hear it. I feel the same distress when “wasting” a precious meal while travelling and fear I become a horrible travelling partner for a short period of time afterwards while I process the disappointment. Be like water… and I probably need to grow tf up while I’m at it.
Hank, once again you pass along something so worth sharing and realizing in our lives. Always enjoy your writings and work.
Thank you. Safe travels……
Good read, as always. I never thought of seafood as a filling for rellenos. I am going to have to try that. Good to see that they were just roasted, too. Battered and fried plans make me sad.
EDIT: POBLANOS, not Plans, but I guess that would also be sad...
Thanks, Hank. Life can be an act of creative imagination, but it's so easy to get sidetracked. Your reminders to see beyond and stay relaxed and flexible are couched in how you personally live that attitude. I appreciate your example. And your wonderful dishes. Lynda J.
I am jealous of your coping skills. Thank you for reminding us to be conscious beings. I felt my blood pressure rising as you told of the constant returns from the waiters. LOL. As my mother used to say, "It ALWAYS works out," although it may not be as you had hoped or anticipated.
Bruce Lee, wow...another thing we have in common. I have always loved and admired pretty much everything about him. Next time that I'm in La Paz or Todos Santos (this year?) I will check out those two restaurants you mentioned. BUT I HAVE A BURNING QUESTION: I love lamb and I love cumin and use both regularly in dinner making. Where oh where is that Chinese restaurant with the lamb cumin? I live in Truckee so not THAT far away and I have friends all over the Sac area.
We really are like water. I've spent so much time on rivers and realized a long time ago that like a river we are flowing to an end at the sea. It's up to us to enjoy the journey, there will be sandbars logs and uncertainty you just find the way around them.
So true Hank, as a former resident of Southern CA and now a resident of the Denver metro, it's hard to find real good Mexican food that hasn't been bastardized into some shadow of itself to please the other gringos. When I walk into a new place I'll always ask for a chile relleno, I figure if they can't make a good relleno they're probably not making other stuff the way I'll like it either. I've learned to be flexible and gracious though, as one has to be when being taken out to dinner by my midwestern in-laws...
I’m saving quotes from this piece of writing. Change and uncertainty are ironically constants in life - adapt and flow my new mantras. Thank you, Hank.
Wow, be like water ...
Nothing grates me more than people who act (and eat) like a caricature of a tourist. I was lucky enough in 2004-2006 to work on a project based in Munich, at one point going over every 6-7 weeks. I became an unofficial tour guide for all the newbie’s on their first trip over. Inevitably they’d ask to go the the Hard Rock. Munich has an amazing food scene, there was no way I was eating hamburgers there. Especially with the Hof Brau Haus (still touristy, but at least they’ve got some cred) right around the corner. I don’t drink, but I’d rather eat at any of the multitude of beer gardens and restaurants there. I’d take them and leave them, then come back for them. I haven’t been back since 2007, but now I’m retired and am plotting 10-14 days with Munich as my base.
Be like water, is fabulous. Going through a divorce, one of my friends challenged me every week: "imagine if it all works out". Somehow it does, and is more amazing than the stories we would have written for ourselves.