Page 20 - FDCC Pandemic Book

Living in a Pandemic: A Collection of Stories on Coping, Resilience & Hope
Recently, I compared 2020 to being in one car accident after another, for 12 straight months. My car kept crashing in 2021, but I hope I’m at least rolling to a stop. Which means I’ll have to get out, dust myself off, and figure out how to face the world again, and for various reasons, that poses a monumental challenge.
Challenges demand action. Action requires inspiration. The more daunting the challenge, the further you have to reach for the inspiration that will catapult you forward.
My grandfather was slim and strong the way men were supposed to look back in his day. He had good posture, and he moved with a slow, relaxed gait that seemed to assume that nothing on this earth would stand for long between him and his destination. When he was 12, his own father died, so he went out and got a construction job to support his mother and his 12 brothers and sisters. Since then, everyone – even the white people in Louisiana, in 1913 – called him “Man.”
I remember two of his culinary activities: fermenting wine in his basement and cooking greens. I felt sufficiently inspired on the alcohol front, so I decided to pivot toward greens. They are reasonably easy to make, and they freeze well, so you can store them easily.
For 2021, I made vegetable soup. I sautéed onions, carrots, and celery in a stockpot. I cut up and threw in three zucchini that had been around for a while. I saw some shiitake mushrooms that were about to overstay their welcome, so I cut them up and added them. A couple of jalapenos in the fridge looked about to shuffle off their mortal coils, so they went in the pot. I poured in two cans of whole tomatoes and mashed them up. I added six cups of water, two cups of homemade chicken stock, Worcestershire sauce, and dried herbs. Then I added two bunches of kale. I had the heat on medium high, but the kale didn’t really wilt. It kept its shape, and it didn’t lose much of its color.
I got myself a bowl. My wife came downstairs and had some. My kids, who rarely care about vegetables, each got a bowl. The world still seemed like a difficult place. I ate a spoonful of soup. I started planning dinner.
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