Did you know this is Religious Freedom
Day? So declared each January 16 by presidential proclamation. It honors the
late-18th-century proclamation of Virginia Freedom of Religion Day,
but was enacted into law by the U. S. Congress in 1992 as an annual recognition
of our tradition of worshipping, each of us as we please, and respecting how
others prefer to worship. It’s a day of recognition worth taking to heart in
these conflicted times of hate and prejudice.
My day started off well, a day
laziness. I love waking in the night and realizing how much longer I have to
sleep. But when I woke to go to the bathroom at seven this morning and crawled
back into bed, Jacob demanded, “Juju, are you aware that it’s morning?” I
assured him I was, and he asked, “Then why are you just coming to bed for the
first time?” I told him I’d been in the bed all night long—and I stayed there
until an anxious dog got me up about eight.
I’ve had a roll of food successes with
Jacob, but it came to a crashing halt this morning. When his dad came to take
him to a golf lesson, he told me Jacob said it was impossible to eat his
breakfast because I put the fork in the middle of the waffles and it got all
sticky. His father asked why he didn’t just get up, go to the sink, and rinse
it. Later Jacob would explain that it was because I was always rushing him. He’s
not the sweetest child in the mornings.
Tonight, however, I scored a food
victory. Jordan was returning from Costa Rica, a business trip, and since
Christian was to go to a party, she’d come here for supper. I bought salmon
which she loves and he won’t touch. We ended up with Christian, who really didn’t
want to go to the party alone, and Jacob but Christian brought their dinners.
What I didn’t tell Jordan was that I
was cooking the salmon in anchovy-garlic butter—I figured she’d beg me to leave
out the anchovies. Christian watched and said how good it looked—he wanted to
try a bit, but “What’s the brown flakes in the butter?” I replied I’d reveal
all after dinner. They both loved it, and he wants me to cook it again. You pan
sear the salmon, skin side down, in the butter mix, then sprinkle capers on the
pan and put it in the oven at 400 for eight minutes. The capers get crispy and
good, and the anchovies are barely discernible but add a certain piquancy. I
can’t believe Christian ate salmon and anchovies and lived to tell the tale.
My lazy day was marked by work at the
computer, though I still have trouble posting books to Kindle. But I had a long
nap and a nice cuddle with Sophie. The blot on the whole day was that I caught
my toe on a rug and went down on all fours, badly bruising my right knee which
now hurts like fire. I knew I’d have to explain my awkward, slow gait to Jordan
so when she asked how my back was, I said I’d bruised my knee. “On what?” she
asked, and I had to say, “The floor.” It’s one of those two seconds I’d like to
recall and I’m sure I’ll be limping around here for a couple of days. Moral of
the story: don’t shuffle-be sure to life your feet off the floor.
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