Our world food tour wrapped up in India. Chef Ben will tell you he’s “not a big fan” of Indian food, but from a pandemic point of view, curried lentil tomato and coconut soup is the perfect dish, because nearly everything can be found in the pantry. Luckily, Chef Ben is always willing to pitch in and help make any dish, whether he’s a big fan or not, and this one is really easy.
https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/curried-lentil-tomato-and-coconut-soup
One of Ben’s biggest disappointments these last few weeks has been the postponement of the play he is in, Annie Jr. For the past four years, the Community Theater League has embraced the special needs community by staging performances through The Penguin Project, a program that pairs individuals with special needs and typical peers to produce plays.
The artists and their mentors have been working since September to put together the show, but performances had to be rescheduled from March to July, so Ben is understandably disappointed. Though he reports being excited for July, what he misses the most is play practice. The staff and mentors for The Penguin Project are amazingly dedicated, patient, and kind. Ben plays the role of the butler in the upcoming show, and I helpfully suggested that he could continue practicing here at home by throwing in a few “Yes, sir”s, and by doing our bidding, but he didn’t seem to think that was necessary.
I am trying to keep a semblance of a schedule for us because Ben thrives on routine, and frankly, so do I. I insist that we take a bike-walk every day when my remote instruction office hours are over, and yes, sometimes it rains. It is tempting, as the adult who understands calendars and the news, to try to burn through these days as quickly as possible just to get them over with, to wait out the clock in my pajamas, but where does that get us in the end? We are left with a pile of discarded days, while we wait for better ones. To throw away a whole day because it is imperfect, because it isn’t what we planned, just seems like a waste. Don’t get me wrong. I will rejoice when the sun finally reappears, but until then, you can bet your bottom dollar that I’ll enjoy every bike-walk I can, rain or shine.
