Dang, that chili was good. The recipe called for two pounds of ground beef, which felt excessive. We swapped one pound of ground beef for another pound of kidney beans. Perfect. Since we get our beef from a local farmer, it’s expensive—which in turn makes us a bit more sensitive to its overuse.
Chili is cooking over the coals. We went with chili because it’s easy to cook outside—which was more important to us than what we actually cooked. I used Kent Rollins’ recipe; Rachel has her own chili recipe but we went with this one because we’ve been enjoying Kent’s stuff lately.
First act of the solstice: light the Yule fire from flint and steel. I wanted to use that method because it is more bodily and patient than striking a match. This candle will be used to light all the other candles and the cooking fire today.
Darcy works at Bath and Body Works and she reports that–five days before Christmas–there is an influx of men who clearly know nothing about their wives and are looking for the sales clerks to tell them what to buy for the women they have sworn to love and honor for the rest of their lives.
Rachel and I are establishing a new holiday season tradition: playing gin rummy every evening with Christmas movies on in the background. It’s been so fun!
The Given Life, part four
Just beneath my skin is a religious zealot, full of fierce denunciation, austerity and ecstasy. Twenty years ago, I tried to kill him with intellectual ambition and respectable religion–and then finally with atheism. The attempt failed and, over the past few years, he and I have begun talking again. But that’s a story for another time. Today’s story is about the birth and early years of my inner zealot. As I said in my last post, my teen years at Hilltop were busy.
Beans are cooking!
I do wonder (especially after reading Dopamine Nation) if we are living in an age of widespread, low-key addiction. Do I think this because everyone tends to think their time is unique in some way—or are we really in the middle of a genuine crisis?