Salad days

I often think that I've been extremely lucky in my life. I love my family and friends. Our animals are funny and strange. We get a lot of entertainment just from watching them.


I live in a vibrant international city, and teach in the
country just north of town.

I also think that noticing what works in your life is a
choice every day. So why the salad? My son Christopher
has Timbah the cat perched on his shoulder. Timbah
is even stranger since we got the Siamese cat, Fiona.
There's Sam carrying the flowers he bought for his
girlfriend's birthday. The lady in the flower store arranged
them to perfection for him. And the salad? Why the salad?
That's been part of dinner for the past two years, and delicious.
My friend Flora puts great food shots on her blog, and Lina's
blog is about food -- so here's a variant on
Nanny Muir's salad.
4 tbsp. good olive oil
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 clove garlic, pressed
Salt -- a shake or two
Pepper, a grind or two
A baby fingernail size pinch of Keen's dry mustard
A shot of Worchestershire sauce
Blend together in a large bowl.
Add -- two cups of grape tomatoes (ripe)
A tomato or two if you have some
One large red pepper, sliced (throw out the seeds and core)
One avocado (ripe) cut into pieces (throw out the peel)
Any other salad vegetable you like
A large colander's worth of salad greens, rinsed and spun

Toss -- Eat -- Yum.

So -- two fine sons, a sweet husband, two lovely insane cats, a
faithful dog, a warm extended family, good friends, great work,
wonderful bosses, engaging work friends, super students, a car
that runs, a warm house, wonderful chances to produce
and sell art, great art clients, and a super community,
and salad. That is the good life my friends!