2022 Thursday — Boats in the Harbor

My May mornings almost always start early. The illumination just after 5:00 a.m. feels like a bonus of two hours. Back in the mid-1980s (way back there), during May we used to roll out of our front door with our 18-speed tandem bicycle slightly after 5:00 a.m. and the two of us would pedal just under 40 miles to Huntington Beach to enjoy breakfast (it was not an electric bike), and then we'd pedal back home. We had left two older teenagers, a he and a she, in their beds snoozing. It was an invigorating way to spend our Saturdays. The early light was our motivation.

Today I was awake just before 5:00. Really awake, not drowsy or groggy. I read for awhile, wrote for awhile, and read out loud with Mr. Fun (together we read thru the Bible every year). Half of a breakfast burrito was in the refrigerator from yesterday morning; so I suggested that Mr. Fun have that. Breakfast for me was a bowl of Cheerios. That was the breakfast of my childhood.

Later I did the 17 minute walk to the Cayucos library and Mr. Fun and the pups met me there. Then we headed toward Morro Bay; we got a couple pieces of pizza at the Pizza Port for a mid-day snack and then took the pups to Tidelands Park to walk. They sniffed and peed a lot and enjoyed themselves immensely. Once we got them back in the car, I started walking north to Tognazzini's Dockside Restaurant (another 17 minutes of walking) and captured photos all along the way; Mr. Fun drove there to meet me. My goal is to get 30 minutes of walking completed every day. Then we had a couple more stops to make: Rite-aid for vitamins and the Dollar Tree for several items. Then home.

For dinner, yes the daily chore, I decided we would enjoy spaghetti sauce with fresh lean ground beef sautéed into crumbles and placed on top of angel hair pasta. I started the meat cooking and a pan of water heating to cook the noodles. Then I spread butter on four slices of whole grain wheat bread and started it warming in the toaster oven. I diced a brown onion to add to the meat and to fill our nostrils with the savory bouquet that is uniquely onion. Years ago when my mom used to own a little beer bar out in the middle of nowhere in California’s Central Valley, if she wanted to get people ordering food, she told me, she’d walk to the grill and sauté an onion. The aroma is magic!

Meanwhile I filled a small clear glass mixing bowl with garden salad and tossed it with raspberry vinaigrette; once it was thoroughly tossed I filled two salad bowls with the garden greens and topped each bowl with diced strawberries and crumbled goat cheese. Then I opened the toaster oven to add a light sprinkle of garlic powder to each of the warmed pieces of bread and tapped the toaster function. I drained the noodles, put a bed of spinach leaves on each plate, then a layer of noodles, a generous scoop of spaghetti sauce, a helping of sautéed meat, a handful of sliced black olives, and finally a spoonful of capers. Dinner was served on our table that faces a horizon of ocean and we dined till we arrived at contentment.

Good night from
California's Central Coast,
Rosie (& Mr. Fun), aka Carol
and Chloe & Mitzi too!