My friend Julie came over last night to spend the night and drink wine with me. I love friends who will support me in my wine (and guacamole) addictions. The avocados are so good and cheap right now I have been making guacamole several times per week. Sometimes I just cut an avocado in half and eat it with a spoon like yogurt or something. Not kidding. It tastes really good with Heidi’s slobber.
Here is my guacamole recipe. It is very complex and you might not have the ingredients on hand:
2 avocados diced, then mashed
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
Mix it up.
I call this minimalist guac. The reason I don’t season it any more than that is that I’m lazy and it actually tastes amazing just like this. The ONLY bad thing about guacamole is that the leftovers are hideous and resemble something you would not normally eat because it would be found in your Diaper Genie:
I know, appetizing! That is a really good wine, by the way. I am a cheapskate when it comes to buying wine (well, when it comes to everything). This one is normally goes for about $16 (WAY expensive for me), but I found it for 40% off.
So, Julie and I took a 31 mile bike ride this morning. Julie is pretty much an animal who has become a very competitive duathlete. She really pushes me, which I hate and love at the same time. I hate it when I can’t breathe, but I love it when we are done.
After our ride I was driving Sam to a friend’s house on some back roads. We saw a bunch of cyclists stopped in the road. As we got closer, we noticed there was a cyclist down in the middle of the road, and bystanders were holding a tarp over him. I don’t know what happened, but it looked awful. I said a little prayer.
Again I’m reminded of how risky life can be even when you are just out doing something you love. You forget sometimes. But, every single time I get on my bike, or go out for a run or drive my car, I suppose there is risk involved. But, you just have to keep living, right? Beyond taking standard precautions like wearing a helmet and riding well over into the shoulder and not being stupid, what else can you do?
This got me to thinking about times I almost died. I think we all have at least one memory of a time when we got lucky and didn’t perish.
Mine occurred when I was 25 years old and at the beach in North Carolina with a bunch of friends. Which one am I below? Hint: “mom” high-waisted shorts were in back then. Oh, and I don’t have a penis.
There had a been a huge storm the night before, and the waves were angry. Regardless, that morning I wanted to take a swim in the ocean. Alone. Amongst the undertow and huge surf.
This is what I remember (and I’m not being dramatic): I quickly got carried out by the current. I was being pulled further and further away from the shore and was powerless to fight my way back. I remembered that if you got caught in an undertow you were not supposed to fight it because you would get too tired out and drown (or, maybe I made that up). So, I floated on my back, looking at the sky thinking THIS IS IT. If you’ve ever had that “this is it” feeling, you know what I mean. I was so tired I could hardly breathe and no one knew where I was. Finally, I knew it was literally sink or swim, so I let the current carry me down the shore and it eventually pulled me into the crashing waves. I washed up on the sand like a dead fish. I suppose it wasn’t my time.
This better not happen when I swim in the Gulf of Mexico for Ironman Florida. Maybe I’ll just get eaten by a shark instead. Are there sharks there, does anyone know?
Have you had a terrifying, possibly near death experience?
SUAR
