Category Archives: Food
Each time
Each time we say farewell
may be the last time.
Until it is, and when it is,
this I know:
I love you;
I will remember you;
I am grateful
for all that has been,
all that is,
and all that may yet be.
Thanksgiving 2019
Thanksgiving 2019 was spent at the Shire in New York. Sean and Henrik came and visited. Cooking went well with the exception of dropping a bowl of oysters on the floor. They would have been a new recipe. Ah well. Some other time.
The bison steak was the star of the plate.
Changes August 2019
August has been a breakthrough month in terms of self-care. Eating and exercising have gone really well, particularly since August 10. A corner may have been turned.
I spent the time from August 9 through August 28 providing support to my wife as she recovered (really well!) from hip surgery in Louisville, KY. I ate well and worked out there. The workouts were guided by my friend and trainer Nicole Kung of NK Body Philosophy.
Today was the first day I had a training session with Nicole. I asked her to take a photo to use as a starting point as I live into this new way of living. She said, I think I have one from before. She took today’s photo and provided a comparison with a photo from February. There’s a long way to go, but it’s a good beginning.
13 August 2019
Pharmacy at Kroger. Hungry. Tired. Frustrated waiting for pharmacists to wrestle with insurance (for the record, the pharmacists were wonderful)! No junk food!!
Progress comes through what we do.
Progress comes through what we do not do.
11,297 steps. Most of them in Baptist East Hospital in Louisville related to bringing Tricia home after hip replacement surgery.
Filed under Family, Food, Louisville
Changes – 12 steps
They say one should only make one or two changes at a time. In a deja vu moment, many changes are needed. Many of these ideas have been tried in the past. All those failures can be viewed as practice, right?
New and reinforced habits:
- Cardio 30 minutes a day
- 10,000 steps per day
- Stretch every day
- Strength exercise two to four times a week
- Take walking breaks during the day; maybe even leave the Shire – go to the gym or outside (per NP Dina Shah)
- Drink 10 glasses of water
- Eliminate diet soda (a “chemical-filled diuretic” per NP Dina Shah)
- Establish the Shire as a junk-food free zone
- No more Seamless (or limit it and change the type of food ordered)
- Healthy snacks
- Eat more vegetables
- Do meal planning (last because it may well be the most difficult)
That’s a start. More will probably follow.
Spicy cauliflower & Dijon salmon
I’m trying to do better at self-care. This means a deep reduction in the Seamless orders and some cooking on my own. It’s not my best thing, but I am getting there.
Traveling with Tricia for our 40th anniversary reminded me of how much I like cauliflower. I have always liked salmon. Now I am trying to figure out how to cook both of them.
This was my meal on March 23.
Are you from Pittsburgh?
“Excuse me. Are you from Pittsburgh?” the woman spoke gently.
“Lenore is,” Charles replied.
“We heard you talking about Pittsburgh,” the woman said, gesturing to the radiant, bald, younger woman with whom she shared the table.
Of course they heard us. It’s New York. Restaurants put tables pretty much on top of one another.
Lenore Williams had come from Pittsburgh to New York. She arranged to meet Charles Atkins Jr and me to talk about the Presbyterian Church’s Freedom Rising Initiative to address the impact of racism on African-American men.
We met at the TGIFridays in Penn Station. Charles’ son is playing in one of the New Jersey state basketball championship semifinal games tonight. This location made it easy for him to join us and then to get home for the game.
We talked about the work being done by the Presbytery of Pittsburgh and by the Presbytery of New York City. We explored how the presbyteries might support one another and partner for effetive ministry.
Our conversation touched on the city of Pittsburgh. Lenore lived there almost all her life; Charles had recently been there for a meeting; part of my childhood was spent on Neville Island.
After a fruitful conversation, and when we finished our meal, Charles stood to leave for his son’s basketball game. That’s when the woman stood, took the half step needed to cross the aisle in the restaurant and spoke.
“My daughter Erin goes to school outside Pittsburgh,” she informed us. We smiled at Erin who sat with her back to the wall. It appeared she was returning to Pittsburgh. She had her suitcase with her.
“We heard you praying,” the woman stated. “Erin has cancer. We were wondering. Would you pray with her?”
We would. We did.
Lenore and I stood beside Charles. Erin and her mother stood. We joined hands and prayed.
We prayed for Erin. For healing. For strength. For courage. For grace.
We prayed for Erin’s mother and family. For Erin’s friends. For the medical personnel who care for her.
When we finished, we realized we had blocked the aisle. We moved so others who had waited patiently, at least outwardly, could get by.
A man stepped toward the exit. Our eyes locked for a moment. He must have been allergic to something in the restaurant because moisture rimmed his eyes, a little bit leaking out of one corner.
The restaurant’s host came from the other direction. He had been a tad grumpy when we asked for more napkins. Now a grin stretched from ear to ear. “Thank you,” he said. “That was wonderful. Thank you.”
Erin and her mother thanked us. Hugs were shared, by all save one person. I did smile a lot and shake everyone’s hand.
We are made from dust. And to the dust we will all return. But until we do, moments of grace will find us. Thanks be to God.
Filed under Food, Friends, Presbytery of New York City
