It's All Too Beautiful

Maybe it takes a good bout of the creeping crud flu, keeping one trapped inside a couple of weeks to not pass up a chance to take a brief ride to the other side and find the world looks shinier, brighter more gorgeous than usual. Did you follow that? I sort of didn't. Maybe I'm not getting as better as I thought.

Or maybe, and I figure this more close to the truth, everything is just like it always is but my eyes and spirit had been denied too long (and my brain pan is just getting more scrambled with time). 

Even though just looking out my door is pretty soul sigh satisfying

La Pela, looking out to St. Thomas and other assorted rocks

Looking South (where, on a clear day, St. Croix can be seen)

From the plaza toward Vieques

Everywhere was eye boggling beauty and even though the day was warm, out in the freshness of it, I'd say it was pretty much momentary perfection. Is there more to ask for? I think not.

Thanks to a couple of laddies for helping me get some wowness through the last bits of this stay-home-and-get-all-better time.

Some days I wake up thinking about this blog and this morning, when I did, this is the song that accompanied it. Mine is not to reason why...

Have a magnetically mesmerizing Monday. Do something migratory.

Simple Sunday ~ Culebra

Beauty will wither

Age rings in its toll

But oh! still pretty.

Free Range Friday ~ Culebra

I've definitely got to get back into the blog mind zone! Last night my son came over for dinner. I  made grilled pork chops, baked potatoes and sautéed onions in a sauce made from the marinade of the pork chops - basically OJ and red wine, with some seasonings to put over the chops. But did I take photos? No I did not.

Cooking on the grill in the dark (if it isn't hurricane season, for some reason my flashlights all run away) was a by-feel thing. They were those not as skinny as the skinniest ones from Milka's, but pretty thin, so that wasn't too difficult to judge. The potatoes I did in the toaster oven, smearing them with butter and kosher salt and wrapped in foil, at 425 for an hour and they were only to the smidge side of not done perfectly. 

A leftover potato that will become some part of lunch

There was supposed to be an avocado too but it would have been avocado sacrilege to use it, one of those 'it's alllllllllllmost ripe, maybe it's...no, it's not; you will wreck it' times I find all too often with avocados. Too soon, bad, ten minutes too late, bad in the more icky way. I need an avocado tree bearing fruit! All of my trees are in the 'wait a few years' stage.

The paper bag trick really does work. It should be ready by tonight. Maybe.

If I had a photo of the pork chops on the grill, it might look something like this. Maybe, because it was dark and I really couldn't see them. I could see the light of the fire through them, which was pretty interesting... These pork chops are from the blog Dad Cooks Dinner, where there is a nice recipe for grilling thin pork chops. Luckily, I did almost everything right, according to him. Check it out.

photo credit: Dad Cooks Dinner

For the marinade I used red wine, orange juice, some guava jelly, a little local honey and a sprinkle of cumin and pepper. With some finely sliced onion. The chops swam in that mix for a few hours. When I sautéed the onions and tomato to where they were soft and slightly browned, the marinade went in to cook on low for another 15 minutes or so and then it was dinner. I'll try to remember to take photos next time, promise. 

The most extraordinary thing was the sight of Cwim and Nesta being in the same small space together. My son's dog that he had had the last nine years or so, since she was a pup, is well known to me, a wonderful dog. And the first dog Cwim has let near her. Ever. I am still in shock.

Cwim is still the Queen

Meals don't always turn out as planned. Whether your avocado isn't ripe or you end up grilling in the dark, it's really about the love put into the making of it. Sitting with my son, chatting, eating, drinking, it was a gourmet feast. I think we can waste a lot of energy saying this or that didn't work quite like the plan in our head rather than just saying, it is good to share this meal with you. 

Buen provecho!

Have a feastable Friday. Do something fundamentally fulfilling.