An Illusion of Separateness

In the doctor’s office waiting room, I was overcome with the strangeness of our efforts to pretend we are alone in the world.  Everyone in the waiting room was sitting with at least one chair between them and a stranger.  Every single person avoided eye contact with everyone else.  I even tried an experiment where I looked around and tried to catch someone’s eye.  It seemed to make people even more uncomfortable, pulling closer into their personal bubbles.  Obviously, we are all people.  We are all sharing space here.  Why the very conscious efforts to look down, to pretend to read a magazine, to remain separate?  What are we afraid of?  (OK, it is the doctor’s office… maybe we’re afraid of communicable diseases…)

So, what about when you’re stopped at a red light, consciously looking straight ahead, anywhere but at the car next to you (especially if you’ve just behaved badly on the road, thinking of racing the other little box beside you and not thinking of the person behind the wheel)?  What about those who text the whole time they are out to dinner?  How emails, chats, and smart phones are quickly replacing face-to-face exchanges?

I’ve begun to notice that everywhere I go, people seem to be trying with all of their might to pretend that they are the only ones there.  At restaurants, movie theaters, in lines.  I’ve always been so busy doing the same that it never occurred to me how STRANGE it is to pretend other human beings aren’t there.

Are we not all sharing in this journey?

What is happening to our society?  Would we rather wrap ourselves in little bubbles and not interact – ever?

I don’t know where the balance is, however.  Obviously, we can’t go have conversations with everyone in an entire restaurant.  There is a point where you just want to talk to the person you came with.  Sometimes, the waitress wants to get your tip and go, not chat.  And we're all so used to this as the expected norm. 

I’ve tried looking into the other car and either the other person isn’t looking or it seems pretty creepy for both.   Why do I feel weird looking for a human behind the wheel?  We're not "supposed to" do that...

I’m not proposing we turn the entire world into a kumbaya commune.  But I am asking, has anyone else noticed that we might be going in a weird direction? 

*Note:  Image borrowed from: blog.lib.umn.edu

Sweet Corn on the Grill with Fresh & Fruity Salsa

It had been a rough day and I was actually thinking about getting some pizza instead of washing all the veggies on my delightful CSA pick-up day.  But then I saw the first ears of fresh corn for the season and I felt excited and renewed, happily washing the lettuce for one of my giant salads.

My favorite way to grill the corn is directly on the grill, without the husk.  It gets charred in places and tastes so nice and sweet.  Because we’re going out of town in a couple of days, we grilled all of the corn and I made mango salsa, a black bean & corn mixture for the salad, and then scraped some more corn to freeze for later.  Using grilled corn in soups adds a nice little crunch of smoky flavor.

Oh, wow, I hear you shouting: “Mango salsa?!  Recipe please!”  I had some mango left over from making mango pina coladas over the weekend (you can use mangoes instead of or in addition to pineapples), so I chopped up the mango slices into little cubes, diced ¼ onion, diced one jalapeno pepper, and added the kernels from about one ear of corn and half a can of black beans, the juice of one lime, a squirt of honey, some fresh cilantro (optional), plus salt and pepper.  I’ve made a similar variation with pineapple- it’s also delicious!

I love summer salads!  I took the rest of the black beans and mixed with an avocado, ½ onion, kernels of corn from two ears, diced jalapeno, and a squeeze of lemon.  I also added chipotle chili pepper, a dash of cumin, garlic powder, salt and pepper.  We grilled zucchini and onions as well and threw all of these things on top of the lettuce.  Add your favorite Mexican dressing.  The only thing that could have made it better would have been some tomato, which we didn’t have this week. 

Having green beans frozen and waiting enhances fall and winter crock pot meals, but it’s always so difficult for me not to eat them immediately!  This time, our upcoming vacation made it easier for me to freeze the green beans for the future.  I snipped and washed them, just like I would if I were eating them right away, but then I laid them on paper towels to dry thoroughly before freezing.  Finally, I threw them into a gallon size freezer bag and tucked them away for the days I don’t want to think about - when I’ll be missing my fresh CSA veggies (and sunshine!)  With a smile, I realized that this little bit of summer will be waiting to cheer me- in minestrone soup, perhaps?