The smell of memories. — I had to take a sniff to make sure I got the memory right. There it is, celery seed. What a drug. Holidays always happened at Grandma’s. A house that never had a locked front door; shabby white in my memories, even though my grandfather had painted it a baby…

A year I would forget if the Universe would let me — The story does not begin or end in 2006 — that is just when it got complicated. It actually started in 1995; had highlights in ’99; got back shelved between 2001–02. Oh man, but in 2003, that is when it got good. By 2004 it had relocated to Hawai’i. Everything…

The journey to healing my guts. — The Nachos BellGrande went flying. There was crying. No yelling. Just silence — nearly a year's worth of it. That was the last time I voluntarily spoke to my father. Not the last chance I had to eat the nachos — praise. Some might think this to be a sad…

This Recipe Is Not — We went straight to the leftover sandwiches for Thanksgiving. We picked out the fresh sourdough loaves from the Whole Foods bakery — one in rosemary for the stuffing and the other plain for the holders. We bought the smoked turkey from Costco that we love for ease as much as…

Everything is a balance between waste and necessity, and the people have to be part of the equation — What is there to be said that hasn’t been said already? That keeps me off of here, yet the nudge that will bring me back every time. And, I couldn’t find the Write tab. Did they take away that option in the app? That’s how long I’ve been gone, or…

McCoy Avenue —

Breakups hurt, but they are worth more than money — When my son was around four, we did our first Whole30. If you are not familiar, a basic description of the program is that it is designed to change your relationship with food, for the health benefits and the emotional ones. For thirty days, you eat nothing but real, whole…

“I am not worried, Harry…I am with you.” — trig·gered adjective (of a mechanism) activated by a trigger. “a triggered alarm” (of a response) caused by a particular action, process, or situation. “a triggered memory of his childhood” That word. Today it is appropriate. The burning of Harry Potter by an infamous pastor outside of Nashville has triggered a most…

Power of the striped moniker — Tigger. Tony. Daniel and Eldrick. All the tigers I can name off the top of my head. Way to go... Go get ’em… Whoa there, Tiger. There’s the balm — the good stuff, as my knees call it. Can’t forget the eye of — the gemstone and the song. And…