The Sidebar: It's Only Life After All
How to find the recipe for a perfect week (plus a real recipe for Roasted Veggies with Spice-Roasted Chickpeas). And hello, Indigo Girls.
And the best thing you ever done for me
Is to help me take my life less seriously
It’s only life after all.
— Indigo Girls, lyrics from Closer to Fine
I have had the best week. Something clicked and I dropped like a coin into my comfort slot. It wasn’t random gambling though, no throwing darts at a board to see what might work. I chose to do the things that both ease and stimulate me, if that makes any sense. There is a zone where I’m learning new things, pushing myself just a little bit, but also moving sideways and sometimes backwards, deeper into the place where I want to exist. It’s feeling present and also nostalgic at the same time, but the anxiety of projecting into the future isn’t there. I love being in this zone.
Wednesday night, I hung out with a bunch of drunks (sober drunks, the best kind). Thursday night, I listened to a panel of female farmers (all of whom I admire) at the Ag Hall. Friday night, we went to The Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival, which is taking place right up the road in our little village of West Tisbury, and watched It’s Only Life After All, the fantastic documentary about the iconic folk rock duo, Indigo Girls.
All this – plus the completion of the hoop house, plus some comforting meals (including the Roasted Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, Shallots and Peppers with Spice-Roasted Chickpeas below) – and it was the recipe for a perfect week.
I got to thinking about how I’d quantify that recipe if I wanted to do it over again – or if I wanted to pass it on to you.
Here goes: