Comfort Food on a Cold Day

This is Gang Gai, a delicious and warming dish of chicken simmered in red curry with bamboo shoots, basil leaves, bell peppers, and coconut milk, which I enjoyed for lunch today at Busara, a nearby Thai restaurant.

My friend R and I have been trying for more months than I care to count to meet for lunch, which I know sounds ludicrous since we're both retired, but we're busy retirees! Busara is a favorite of hers, but I'd not eaten there before. On a day yet again filled with cold, wind, and heavy rain, it was a perfect choice.

I'll definitely go back again -- in addition to the excellent food and service, I appreciated the attractive decor, generous space between the tables, and unobtrusive background music.

On another topic, every January I do a single page, two column list to consider throughout the new year. (I was a bit late with that for 2012, having completed it yesterday.) The left column lists proposed home, financial, and organizational projects, and anticipated travel and visitors. The right column lists the current year and the next nine, under which go major family birthdays and other events, as well as passport renewal dates and similar long-term deadlines.

It's all too easy to get caught up in the planned and unplanned events on a day-to-day or month-to-month basis, and forget to look at the big picture of the next five to ten years. I'll be 70 in five years, and no matter how many Silver Sneakers classes I take at the Y, or Gentle Yoga, I can only hope to slow the inevitable effects of aging, not stop them. "Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today" has a new urgency to me now.