Today’s happy hour happened at Zingerman’s Roadhouse, courtesy of my ‘thank you for helping Fall start without utter catastrophe’ gift certificate. And I need to take a moment to sing the praises of Zingerman’s, because I just spent a hundred bucks on dinner, and it was worth every electronic dime.

First off, the cocktails were strong and delicious. Tequila, mezcal, grapefruit, and lime are a fine combination; I may have to try mixing that one myself.

Next, the cheese flight was heavenly. I love strong cheeses, so aged goat cheddar, a lovely farmhouse, and a /goat Brie/ really hit the spot.

I am thankful I thought to order a cup of the veggie beef soup, because holy wow. Seasonal vegetables and tender, shredded beef in a frankly amazing broth. I was hard-pressed to eat decorously, with an actual spoon, and not just shove my face in the bowl.

The crowning touch was a pimento cheese bacon burger. It was juicy and delicious and perfectly on the edge of well done with that just-grilled taste. The bacon was done just to the point of crisp. The pimento cheese made it so rich I could barely finish half of it. And the fries were so light and crisp I nearly cried.

There is a salted caramel cupcake filled with dulce du leche for when I am able to contemplate eating again. Probably tomorrow evening. And while I was there, the bar tender came and spent ten minutes talking with the couple at the next table in order to re-create a cocktail they remembered having there years ago.

Every now and then I think “is Zingerman’s starting to hype themselves too much?” And then I go buy a loaf of fresh rye, or a reuben-like-god-intended, or a Roadhouse meal, and I have to admit… probably not.

I'd like to take a moment to post about something very nice that has (almost) nothing to do with C-19.

That thing is eshakti.com, and specifically the Tie Waist Empire Cotton Knit dress. I just got my order, today, and I have to say OH MY GOD, IT'S AMAZING. I got it in teal, and the color is beautiful. The fit is perfect. My boobs look incredible, and that's with just my normal bra, and the neckline is a miracle of apparently-plunging-yet-not-showing-my-bra-or-flashing-anyone-at-all, even when I bend over.

AND IT HAS POCKETS.

Plus, as a small bonus, they sent me two well-made and prettily color-coordinated face masks for free! Best sun-dress ever. I immediately went and ordered another in loden green, which was on sale.

I feel better, after twirling around in front of the mirror a few times, even if the faculty are collectively losing their minds and descending on my instructional designers in a frothing horde.

isolohr:

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© Jürgen Heckel

This pine forest picture reminded me.

Back when I was in 7th grade, I went to a week-long camp, having spent a month or two stumping around the neighborhood with my grade-mates selling overpriced cheese and meat products to raise the money. It was a standard summer type camp, for the most part, but with odd “educational” things pasted on here and there.

One of those things was an extremely peculiar exercise that involved having the whole camp draw cards to see what “animal” we were, and then being turned loose in the patch of forest behind the camp to run around (without maps) variously “mating with” or “preying on/being preyed on” by each other. At the end of the game, we would be scored based on how often we’d “mated,” “fed,” or “died.”

Yeah, looking back I kind of wonder what the organizers were smoking, too.

But that wasn’t the most peculiar part. No, the strangest part was that, after clattering around the deciduous area, rubbing our animal-name cards against each other (our rather embarrassed consensus gesture for mating) or else gingerly negotiating to reveal what animal we were preparatory to either running like fuck or chasing like mad, a lot of us came out into a small pine forest. Like the one pictured above, it was old and established, with straight trunks going up quite a ways before branches reached for the sun, and several inches of old needles turning the ground soft and silent underfoot.

And in that area, we all just… stopped. Stopped “mating” and “preying” and just wandered around in the quiet green and gold light, nodding silently at each other now and then, “rabbits” leaning against old trunks next to “wolves” just… being.

It was a suspended moment, in that bizarre “naturalistic” scenario, when we all just dropped aside our assigned hierarchy, ignored the prompts of the teachers, and sat together.

And today, today when I’ve been crying at my desk on and off all day, when I’ve seen, not the normal one or two, but six emergency vehicles run past the window with sirens on, all of them ambulances, when views of my stories have skyrocketed and all I can do is be glad I can, in some small way, be there for someone… Today, I’m glad I remember this.

A bunch of kids, given permission, even directions, to be their rawest selves to each other, shrugging it all off, sitting together under the shelter of old evergreens, just being.

from Tumblr http://branch-and-root.tumblr.com/post/152969233569
via IFTTT

*lifts her wineglass in a toast*

To Dreamwidth!