Inspiration Finds Us (not the reverse)
Good morning everyone! You discover a lot of things about yourself by writing a “column” (rather than a trail notice) to keep a loosely knit community together during a pandemic when we would all rather be hiking and it has rained for just about every day of this tender new year. (How about that for a run-on sentence?)
One of the best insights I’ve gained has to do with the creative process. I usually start obsessing about a topic around Sunday evening and change my mind 50 times between then and Wednesday morning. Then something new and exciting pops up like an errant daffodil shoot. So it went this week.
When I woke up, warmed myself a stale cup of coffee and opened the NY Times to find a farewell column from one of my favorite writers Samin Nosrat, “Saying Goodbye with Beans.” In case you haven’t come across her, Ms. Nosrat is an amazing chef/philosopher and author of the book Salt Fat Acid Heat, also a lovely Netflix series. She until this week wrote a column in the Times. Here is a link to her farewell.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/03/magazine/samin-nosrat-beans-recipe.html
And a few treasures from it:”As with other meaningful rituals, cooking beans connects me with memories, traditions, art, nature and of course people who have been important to me.” ”These days we have to take joy where we can find it, even if that’s a pot of beans.”
And it is true: I’ve made a lima bean soup, a pot of pintos and split peas in the past month. It must be the season — and the new Instant Pot. I do like mine.
A couple of other quick notes: Next Monday is Presidents’ Day: the road to Hurricane Ridge will be open. Reservation season for the Enchantments, Wonderland Trail and Olympics arrives soon. Plan your trips! Be careful driving: I saw a story of a person being rescued by DNR personnel when his car went into a ditch on the way up to the Elinor trailhead (Duh!)
Also, my cardiologist informed me that I have almost no heart damage and can return to hiking whenever I feel ready! So more pics from the trail are coming. Here is a sad picture of that mystery hiker from Kristi.
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