sea salt

A few weeks ago on the train, I tried not to read over the shoulder of the young woman next to me.  I couldn't help it, though - she was reading the glossary of her book, and I had to know the words she was trying to learn. I saw one word and stopped reading.  I stopped because after one word I knew she was reading a book about music, and I stopped because the definition was so arresting I spent the rest of the train ride thinking about it: Monophony: a musical style employing a single melodic line without accompaniment. A single melodic line.  Without accompaniment.  Single.  Accompany.  Melody.  This concept was beautiful to me, as it defines both a musical style and a style of life.  Can one person - one single melodic line - create a melody?  Is it always necessary to be accompanied to give life to musical notes, bars, rests, and melodies?  Can a single melodic line resonate as powerfully as harmony?  As melodic li...

I arrived early for my appointment at Porter Square Veterinarian, so I checked in and sat next to my cat Lucca, who was crying from his little blue carrier.  The vet came out to see me, apologized for the fact that I'd have to wait, and said, "I'd see him early, but I'm about to euthanize." Suddenly I wasn't grateful that there'd been no traffic, that I'd managed to get Lucca in the carrier in just a few minutes, and that for once I wasn't rushing into the vet five minutes after my appointment.  I didn't want to be around for this, and I didn't want to be the next appointment after the vet had just euthanized somebody's pet.  Dr. Champagne rushed into the back room with the swinging door, and came out a few minutes later carrying a white, medium-sized dog.  The dog's legs dangled from the vet's arms, and despite the fact that he was too big of a dog to be carried on a regular basis, he didn't put up a fight.  He swun...

"She's been discharged.  And all she wants now is a steak." - my mother, referring to my grandmother, who was recently hospitalized Over the weekend, my grandmother was admitted to the hospital with chest pains.  Tests were run, blood pressure was monitored, and she was released two nights later with a clean bill of health.  However, she was disappointed with the hospital food.  So when I called my mother last night for an update, she told me that she, my father, and my grandparents had just left the hospital and were headed straight to The Outback to get Grammy a steak.  She didn't want to go home first, didn't want to freshen up.  She wanted that steak. I laughed at this news, which is objectively funny but not at all surprising.  My grandmother loves food, and loves all different kinds.  She's the adventurous one, the one who isn't afraid to order a new item every time she goes out to dinner, the one who wants a bite of everythi...