A dear friend who lives in Tampa is spending the day at the beach. I, on the other hand, am preparing for “snowpocalypse” with the rest of New England. I choose to love her any way.
With projected wind gusts of up to 60 mph, there is a very strong possibility we will lose power. If someone sneezes on my road, one of the older trees tumbles down, so they will be no match for the upcoming blizzard. Blizzard! As a Floridian, I just do what I would do if a hurricane was coming — clean the house (a dirty house with no power is exponentially worse than a dirty house with power), remove deadly projectiles, fill the bathtub with water, and most importantly, BUY TASTY TREATS.
When you are faced with shoveling driveways, roofs, and walkways sporting at least two feet of snow, tasty treats are critical elements of storm endurance. At Chez Burt/Masterson, we lose water when we lose power, but we still have our gas and wood stoves. In an effort not to gain 10 pounds in the next two days (still possible even if you are shoveling), I resisted purchasing several jars of Nutella, my self-medication of choice, while shopping at the grocery store, where even hearty New Englanders acted as if we were expecting a nuclear fallout. Instead, I will step outside of my comfort zone and try a new delicacy — homemade molasses cookies with bleu cheese on top, apparently a divine combination of sweet and savory, and probably just as fattening as Nutella, but please let me live my dream.
While the storm rages outside for the next two days, I will continue to work on my memoir. Frankly, that’s where the internal winds really gust, which is both exciting and terrifying. Ideas fly around — some kept, some tossed — as I try to create order on the page and in my mind while all sorts of emotions whirl. I’ll need more than just those molasses cookies to weather the storm. Homemade bread with jams; kale, bean, and sausage soup; and of course, black beans and yellow rice. Everything, even “snowpocalypse,” is better with black beans and yellow rice.
To all my New England pals, see you once we’ve dug ourselves out — hopefully the snow will be light and fluffy and not the mashed potato variety. To everyone else, please wish us easy shoveling and continuous power!
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