For the last three weeks I’ve rushed around yelling and screaming, panicking and feeling generally stressed out about, well, nothing of much significance other than baking cookies and getting my holiday shopping done. That now seems kind of ridiculous.
When things come to a screeching halt out of nowhere, sometimes the silence afterwards is so loud you can’t ignore it. The daily shit falls away and you’re left with the little things. The things you can hold onto like smooth pebbles in your hand. The things you can focus on while the landscape crumbles into dust. And the people who step forward out of nowhere with outstretched arms to catch you.
So here’s what I’m thankful for this holiday season.
– A community that loves to eat with me.
– Biteclubbers who have my back.
– The Best Banh Mi
– The Newcomers
– Jackson’s hamburgers
– Reggie Bacon and the Gleason Ranch peeps
– The Barbecue Boom here. And here.
– A boss who trusts me to do the right thing.
– Rama The King here.
– Getting spicy here.
– Fair Food Scrambles
– Cookies. Cookies. Cookies.
– Children who are glad to see me when I come home every night. Okay, most every night.
– People who give a shit.
– Locals who take a chance
– Chefs who give a shit
– Restaurants that soldier on. And on. And on.
– A little Latin flavor
– The amazing food of Sonoma County. And our amazing producers.
– Everyone who helped me with this. Damn you guys rock.
– Stories that are fun to write.
– Bacon believers.
– Co-workers I’m glad to see every day.
– People who never give up and stand for something even if it isn’t popular.
– A family whose first response to any problem is, “We’ll get through this together.”
– Virtual friends who always have a cheerful word to share on Facebook. And here.
– A normal electrocardiogram (whew!)
– My rock. Even though he can’t update his Facebook page to save his life.
– At least it’s not as bad as this…
There are a million others, but for the sake of brevity, I’ll leave it at that. Thank you to every chef, restaurateur and amazing producer I’ve had the privilege to write about this year. Thanks to Brent and Debbie at KZST. Thanks to all of you. I admire you all and can’t wait for the next chapter.
So, what are you thankful for?