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Hailstones

Another day spent on the sofa watching the Olympics and blowing my nose; another day with unusual weather. Hail is extremely rare in these parts. Snow is even more uncommon.

(I know there's nothing in the above photo to give a sense of scale. The green stuff is moss, not grass, and these hailstones are about the size of peppercorns.)

I have CABIN FEVER. I have done all the laundry but even going up and down the stairs makes me winded. My cold has migrated to my lungs so now I have a painful, barking cough. And I have lost my sense of smell and taste so even eating is completely unsatisfying. That in itself is really depressing. Especially when I kill the time between Olympics broadcasts by watching cooking shows.

After watching Rick Bayless cook Mexican food for an hour on PBS (man, was I craving a taco after that), I stumbled on Rick's treatise on eating well and maintaining a healthy weight. It is interesting reading. He provides sensible advice for eating nutritious, whole food on a daily basis and enjoying occasional "feasts." As I sat there on the couch, feeling sorry for myself because I haven't been able to taste anything for 24 hours, I started to envision myself eating more unprocessed foods, cooking more simple meals, cutting out more junk, and taking my lunch to work.

Dave and I actually eat pretty well, when we're at home at least. We eat brown rice, whole-grain bread and pasta, lean meat, lots of veggies. But I also eat more than my share of chocolate pudding, Spaghettios, turkey hot dogs, and frozen burritos. Not to mention way too much cheese. And boy, do I love to bake. And my typical weekday lunch is not great. We'll see if the inspiration carries over past my sudafed haze into the next time I go food shopping.

Of course, it would be a lot easier if my workplace were a kitchen stocked every day with farm-fresh foods and staffed with professional chefs.

February 18, 2006 9:44 PM