Anyway, there is much to celebrate. And when there is much to celebrate, that is a good time to play some Apache. Fair warning though- you may be compelled to bounce around your apartment a little bit.
I have to say, it has been a banner weekend. I know I ought to write a more circumspect post, chronicling the significance of this day. Other people have done a better job of that, however. I, on the other hand, have simply been revelling in the notion of having this extra day off. No running around out of town, no longwinded rambles about conflicting ideas or tough decisions.
In fact, even though I complained of the cold in my last post, I quickly got over it. For one thing, I feel like I need to suck it up and deal- not just because I'm from the colder parts of this country, but also because I might be headed back there soon. I thought back to the ways I used to combat the cold. At first, all I came up with was stay inside. That was not going to work, since the insulation in my apartment does a great job of blocking about 5% of the cold out. But upon further consideration, I figured out what I needed to do.
- Step 1: Drink. In a big sweater, with a warm jacket and gloves, but still. Drink.
Step 2: Have dinner with ads. The common denominator with Step 1 is that, theoretically, this requires leaving the house. Leaving the house is important in acclimating to the frigid air. Cake for dessert and good conversation helps as well- ads and I had both.
Step 3: Go hiking. Go hiking? I know, it seems counterintuitive, right? Go outside for a long walk in this weather? But here's the thing. It makes you appreciate the cold. I'd caught on to this earlier this week, when I noticed that it was so cold in San Francisco that all manner of fog had been chased away from the area, affording truly stunning views of the city from certain lookouts. So, even though hiking involved a great deal of shivering and silently b*tching to myself, there were moments of redemption looking out on this beautiful part of the world. Of course, apparently, my brain was frozen, because I forgot to bring my camera. The other advantage of this hiking thing? Everything seemed tolerably warm after that.
Step 4: Watch the Pats game. All the nailbiting and cursing at the offense was enough to raise my temperature.
Step 5: Bake, bake, and then when you get tired- bake some more. I started out just baking based on whatever was available in my apartment. That resulted in an almond tea cake. I'm not impressed with it. Then, as I realized I was not going to stop there, I switched strategy. The funny thing about my interest in baking is this- I am generally not a fan of eating much of what I make. But today, I decided to make some things that I enjoy. So, I set about making Jam Buttons, which are butter cookies with strawberry jam baked into the middle. They are not at all good for you, but they are one of the few things I enjoy eating. The Jam Buttons require one egg yolk. That meant I had one egg white. I think it's because I feel impending poverty coming my way, but I'm feeling this need of late not to be as wasteful. So I made the other thing I enjoy- chocolate-chip meringues. I figured out how to make these the way I like them over the holidays. I actually rarely make them, simply because I cannot resist every last one of them, and then I feel myself drifting into a diabetic coma.
It helps if you do all of these things in as warm a sweater as you can find. And warm socks- warm socks are key. But I feel I am making the best of this weather. Maybe I can even handle an entire season of it. Somewhere else. However, I'll probably be grumpy if next weekend rolls along, and there is still frost on the ground. That's just wrong in San Francisco.
Still, it was one of those weekends. One of those very San Francisco weekends. The kind that you don't plan- they just happen to you. And at the end, it feels as though you were given this weekend, offered its many gifts. And you wonder- can I really walk away from this? And you know the answer is yes, but you feel aware, you feel that you know you should hold such weekends close to your heart, because they'll always be yours, and they'll always be golden. The cold, you won't remember. The sunshine, the city lights, the dancing light on the waves, and oh, the green, that you will.
p.s. I am extremely paranoid that one of my non-blogger acquaintances has stumbled upon this space. If you are that person, just tell me you know, so that I can stop cultivating an ulcer about it. Oh, and also? It would be great if you could not be offended that I didn't tell you about this. Think about how much random nonsense I write about- would you really expect me to brag about this?
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