Lost in a book

I’ve rediscovered my love of reading.  Once again, I feel like that little kid sitting on the floor of her pink bedroom.   My long and sometimes ashy brown legs would be stretched way out against the light green carpet.   I was lost in a book.

I remember this intensely pleasurable reading taking place during the summer of my childhood.  My mother, a school teacher, would be home with us during the long summer months.  As soon as we mentioned that we were bored, Ma would say Bored?  Ok.  Go get your things.  We’re going to the library.  Her tone suggested that we were in some sort of trouble.  I loved to read so I was always a little confused by this parental display.  She piled her 3 kids into the back of the green Chevy Nova and off we went. 

The authors of my childhood were Beverly Cleary, Maya Angelou and Judy Blume.  Not too long after that I discovered James Baldwin.  I don’t remember my mother scrutinizing my stack of books which is why I could slip in James Baldwin at a fairly young age.  At that time children were really children.  This was before cable and the only source of corruption was the Brady Bunch, Threes Company and Fat Albert.  Even if my mother saw me reading James Baldwin she probably thought I was trying to learn about my black history.   

Somewhere along the way I lost my love of reading.  It probably started with all of the volumes of required reading for college and graduate school.  This was followed by jobs that required more reading.  When I got home in the evenings, the last thing I wanted to do was deal with more words.   But I kept reading anyway.  There were moments that I enjoyed but it felt a lot like laundry.  The main difference is that I could remember a time when I loved reading and that memory buoyed me along from book to book. 

It made no sense for me to approach a book like a kid trying to get through a plate full of peas. So I stopped trying.  I would read what I wanted and when I wanted.  I would read an article here and a blog there.  Sometimes I would read parts of books with no goal of completion.  This went on for a few years. 

Last May, I was with my walking buddy Arlene and we decided to visit a new library we noticed passed on our way to Arabia Mountain.  We casually walked around the library marveling at the architecture.  Eventually we got to the books to check out their selection.  Suddenly I had this urge to read which took me by surprise.   I ended up choosing Jonah’s Gourd Vine by Zorah Neale Hurston which was first published in 1934.  I loved the wonderfully flawed main character of preacher John Pearson.  The dialect was challenging and delightful.

I then turned to my own bookshelf for the next selection, Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin.   I savored every word.  When I finished the last chapter, I declared once again that Baldwin is the best.  Now, I’m reading Anne Lamott’s book – Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life.  She has some very practical suggestions that I find quite helpful.  I’m amused by her use of lavish sarcasm.

I continue to read as I can.  I take my time.   I lay across my bed with only a night lamp on and sometimes I burn a candle.  And the sensation is the same as it was a long, long time ago.   

Rediscovering Reading at the Stonecrest Library, Lithonia, GA

Back to blogging :)

Here I am.  I thought it was time that I get back to blogging.  I’ve missed it.  I stopped blogging because it began to feel like another thing I had to do and that’s never good.   A lot of my creative energy had been depleted by an overwhelming and stressful work environment.   That has been resolved.   I found the courage to resolve it.  I’ll be blogging about that in the future.  Maybe my experiences and revelations can help someone else.    I then spent the next several months reclaiming my soul and enjoying life. I’m looking forward to sharing my adventures over the next few weeks and months.   I’m excited about the Fall, my favorite season, and closing out the last quarter of the year. Cheers!

Autumn, the year's last, loveliest smile. - William Cullen Bryant

Reclaiming my soul - May 2012, Tybee Island, GA. 

Where did I go?

I hate when I'm following a blog faithfully and suddenly the blogger disappears.  What happened?  Where did they go?  In an effort to not be one of those persons...lol...I wanted to at least let readers know that I am alive and well.

However, I am in the process of starting a new blog which means that I will no longer post on this site.  The new blog will be about life experiences, health and wellness.   The tone and theme of this new blog will be similiar to Know Thy Neighbors, Sunday Get Away, To Die All Alone, Sunday Mornings, and Daddy's Ambrosia.   In other words, it will be similar to Breakfastatkarens minus the recipes.

Thanks for reading and see you soon!

The Waffle House and Friends

Yesterday I did one of my most favorite things in the whole wide world.  I had breakfast with a friend.  I do this often.  I'm sure that some would think that this could get to be quite expensive.  But my ready reply is that it is much cheaper than a therapist or prozac.  Having these heart-to-heart sessions a few times a month with a sane female friend is good for the soul. 

We were trying to decide where to go for breakfast.  Usually, I like to try someplace new, unique or special.  If not, I will settle for one of my tried and true breakfast spots.  My friend Karen often allows me to pick the restaurant.  After tossing  a few ideas back and forth over email, Karen said we can always go to Waffle House.  When I saw the name Waffle House on my laptop screen, I must say that I was a little surprised.  You can find a Waffle House on just about every other street in metro Atlanta.   In a knee-jerk reaction, I started to rapidly reply with another suggestion.  However, I paused for a moment.  Let me think about this.

There was a time when I was very familiar with Waffle House back in the 90's when I was still twenty-something.  Waffle House was what I, and my friends, could afford at that time.  I'm not sure if I even had an awareness of any other breakfast joint.  Way back then, I remember being in Waffle House with another friend Joyce.  It was either at the end of the year or the start of a new year.  I recall Joyce saying to me Hey Kurrrrn... And she said Kurrrn instead of Karen because that is how many a black folk born and raised in the D.C. and Baltimore area or urrrea say Karen.  So Joyce said, Hey Kurrrn, let's make a New Year's resolution.  We ain't eating at no more places where our feet stick to the floor and the servers are missing teeth!  She said this while looking around Waffle House with contempt and suspicion - as if the two naturally went together.  At that point I stopped eating at the Waffle House for many years and have been back less than 5 times.

But after I got over that memory and myself and then climbed down from my high, high horse; I decided there wasn't anything wrong with going to the Waffle House for breakfast.

I initially tried to order a waffle, eggs and meat and coffee.  However, the waitress said that it was cheaper to get the All Star Breakfast which included much more and coffee for about $6.49 (not including tax).  There are various combinations of All Star specials but here's what I had:

As it is my duty, I must point out the real stars of this All Star Breakfast -the grits and the pecan waffles.  These are not gourmet grits nor are they the best grits I've had in my life.  However, I consider these to be pretty good grits.  The pecan waffle was cooked well and arrived warm and full of pecans.  At times, there were almost too many pecans for my liking.  I guess Waffle House is not affected by the soaring price of pecans.  Nevertheless, this was a tasty waffle.  Everything else was decent.  I didn't try the wheat toast as this was already a lot of food to consume. 

The service was good in terms of friendliness and getting our orders correct the first time around.  The coffee was hot and flowing which I attribute to good customer service.   One important area of customer service that was neglected was that the syrup bottle was brought to our table with syrup running down the sides.  It was dripping so much that we placed a napkin underneath it.  Karen and I looked at each other like....eeeuuuuuuwwwwww!  Karen said something like Well, we are at the Waffle House!  We shrugged and kept on eating.

Raisin Bread French Toast

The weekend forecast was dismal.  In spite of it, I went out on Friday night to Jazz at the High Museum.  I had a really good time.  And when you've had a great time on a Friday night the best thing to follow up is a delicious breakfast the next morning.  On my way home, I stopped by the 24 hr. Kroger and picked up a few items to make french toast the next day.  I've made french toast with all kinds of bread including regular white or wheat bread.  I've also made it with challah bread.  I wondered what it would taste like if I made it with raisin bread.  I selected the cheapest raisin bread that I could find in the store with the lowest amount of calories and fat.  I found the Kroger brand which was $2.39.  The comparable name brand was about $3.99.

 

 

The weather, as predicted by the weather folks continued to be rainy and gloomy.  It was perfect for staying inside the house and fixing one of my favorite breakfast meals.   That would be followed by leisurely walking around in my pjs, drinking coffee and doing a little this and that.

Nothing but clouds in the sky...

I've been making french toast since I was a kid living at home with my parents.  I don't remember ever seeing a recipe.  I just remember always making it.  It's kind of like my father going into the kitchen and making some bread pudding or rice pudding.  One time I asked him how he made it and did he use a recipe and he said just put in some eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and raisins.  Oh...ok.  For me, I'm going to need a recipe for that one although it is very similar to making french toast.   

This particular morning, I used two eggs and 1% milk which is what I keep in the house.  I usually add vanilla to the egg mixture and cinnamon.  On this day, I left out the vanilla flavoring because I figured that it wasn't needed since I was using the raisin bread.  Later that day, I discovered another cooking show, The Pioneer Woman, and Ree makes her french toast with egg yolks and half n half. 

I prefer fruit and yogurt on top of my french toast instead of syrup.  My favorite combination is apples, bananas and strawberries.  I prefer vanilla yogurt although this time I used a tablespoon or two of honey flavored greek yogurt. 

Dante's Down the Hatch

I was interested in going out for dinner and live music. I called my friend Kim who I knew would be down. As we were thinking about where to go I casually mentioned Dante’s. She was excited about it and said it was a place that she always wanted to try. Dante’s it is!

I had been there once before more than 10 years ago although it might have even been as far back as the 90’s. At that time I thought it was just ok. I don’t remember anything about live music. I remembered the fondue and I wasn’t a big fan of that just because I just don’t find that style of eating interesting or satisfying.  However, I am one to give things a second try. I didn’t mention any of this to Kim because I didn’t want to taint her experience.

The food. Well, this second visit to Dante confirmed that I’m just not into fondue-ing. Kim does not eat meat outside of fish. There were few options for those in her condition. Chuckle. The theme of Dante’s is that of an 18th century ship tied to the wharf of a Mediterranean village. If that were really true, then shouldn’t there be some fish around somewhere? Kim ordered the Imported Cheese Fondue. Per Kim, the cheese fondue was amazing but other than that the vegetables for dipping and the bread were just ok. I ordered the Chinese dumplings which were decent in taste and in texture. I did not fondue them as they came with a sauce for dipping. I dipped a few pieces of bread in Kim’s cheese fondue and I agree that the cheese was very good. I will say that if bread croutons are provided as part of the fondue experience that the bread should be high quality and unique. This bread was neither. It was rather generic and didn’t seem very fresh. In terms of eating, Dante’s is mostly geared for fondue- eating carnivores.

The Jazz. I made reservations ahead of time to make sure that we would be seated by the jazz trio. This also means a $9 cover charge. I have no problems with that at all because musicians gotta get paid… right? Live music is available every night of the week. Monday’s there is an acoustic guitar and vocalist. The remaining 6 days are reserved for jazz which Dante’s has been doing for 33 years. On Fridays and Saturdays, the jazz trio plays until midnight. The John Robertson Trio was there when I visited last Saturday night. The trio included John Robertson on piano who is also a vocalist, a string bass, drums and a female vocalist. There was also a 13 year old guest artist playing alto saxophone and he did not sound like a 13 year old playing alto sax. His last name was also Robertson so I’m assuming it could be the son or a relative. It was so nice watching this young man, dressed up and fitting right in with these professional musicians. In fact, if I was just listening to the music and not seeing the kid, I probably would have thought it was another adult playing. He seemed so talented, earnest and unaffected. That was very refreshing to see. We had a blast! It was more of a casual and cool kind of blast. I really enjoyed the music. The style of jazz is kind of like a modern take on Ella Fitzgerald or Joe Williams. I’m not a jazz aficionado but that was my impression.

Other observations. The restaurant is huge and has many levels to it. You can hear the music from anywhere in the club. We were sitting one floor above the jazz trio and were able to look down and watch them play. We were initially seated at a tiny little awkward table. After I realized that this just wasn’t going to do I asked that we be moved. Our server happily and graciously moved us to a much better spot. The service was good.

The club is located off of Peachtree Street in the affluent Buckhead area amidst high rises. The restaurant and parking lot were full when we arrived around 8 pm. The entrance to the club is entered through the back of the club.  There are these antique cars along the back and the side entrance to restaurant as if we were entering into an antique car museum.  I wondered what in the world that had to do with an 18th century ship or the Mediterranean.

We were dressed nicely as if we were going out to a classy jazz club. Although I saw signage about appropriate dress required, I saw a few jeans and a flannel shirt or two. However, we supposedly are on a ship tied to a wharf bereft of fish so that would not signal to most people that they should look nice.

I would definitely go back to Dante’s. I would pay the cover charge to be near the musicians. I would look nice and go with a friend who would do likewise. I would have dinner at home or elsewhere first. I would order dessert and coffee. Then, I would sit back and enjoy myself.

Flying

I love to fly. I love the feeling that I'm going somewhere and doing something different. I also like being really high up in the sky. I can't believe how different the world appears from this perspective. The clouds look thick enough to lie upon and the land like one big geographic puzzle. It's a new way to see the world. I think most people love this part of flying.

Of course, there are some aspects of flying that I find terrifying. Turbulence or rough air reminds me that I'm 30,000 feet in the air – trapped in a metal contraption with wings. I consider that something could go wrong. I might just plummet to the earth. Strangely, I have learned to appreciate this part as well. I’m trying to go somewhere and do something different but fear and anxiety want to hitch a ride. And that’s ok with me because I’m still going. I just acknowledge them and get on board.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

  Photos from Iphone en route to Philadelphia, July 2011.