Sixteen Percent

“Candy in the morning?”  It was the first thing Luswin said to me today.  Shortly after 6am, I was woken by the coffee grinder instead of my jetlag for the first time since arriving home last week.  I climbed out of bed and had my hand in a bowl of Hershey’s Kisses on the dining room table.  Already the night before I had to hide a bowl of red and green M&Ms to stop myself.


Being back has been a junk food tour de force.  I arrived in Washington on Tuesday night and gorged on pecan pie, mini-brownies and some raspberry pastries in George’s kitchen.   And again Wednesday morning.  Then an egg and bacon (hmmm, bacon!) croissant at a buffet downtown DC.  Dinner that night was a taco salad with college friends Rachel and Bryce.  Craig joined us too. 


Thursday morning was round three with the mini-brownies.  Some secret ingredient was keeping them fresh.  I flew to the dedication of the Asia Trail in the National Zoo and afterwards grabbed a Blimpie sandwich.  After the memorial service at the National Cathedral I continued my diet regimen with rocky road fudge, assorted cheeses, and tarts.  And an herbal tea.  That night at the second reception I nibbled on beef satay and a carrot stick.


Back in George’s kitchen I had another mini-brownie.  They’re so small, you know?  Friday morning I made waffles, and managed to eat three throughout the day.  George wisely stuck with one before heading to work.


The real fun began Friday night when I relocated to Karen’s home in Alexandria.  The piece de resistance was a bag of Cheetos.  It called to me from on top of the refrigerator (sorry Rachel, they weren’t the baked kind).  And then some potato chips and French onion dip.  Karen and I went to a bar on Capitol Hill where we found Tommy Yost.  He’s in the process of moving to DC and she let me know that he isn’t in the habit of eating everything in sight when he stays with her. 
We lamented the fact that Kristin couldn’t join us, but deduced that having just the three of us in the same room was the equivalent of 16% of the PIBHS 1989-1990.  Math is hard and took a little bit to figure it out.  The biggest laugh came after we counted everyone in HS that year using only fingers and toes. 


In the morning the eating continued when I discovered a secret stash of rice krispy treats in the laundry room and Karen made a bowl of popcorn.  I put my foot down at lunch time and had a salad.  Which I then smothered in creamy Italian dressing.  Tangy!


Dinner was at Alper and Jeremy’s house where they were having a holiday party.  The first thing on my plate was a chocolate chip cookie made by Gerry Altoff.  (He wasn’t there but Kristin and Cyndee were.) 


For breakfast on Sunday I discovered a packet of apple and brown sugar oatmeal next to the bag of cheetos (which I finished).  Karen’s roommate Leeana made me two sausage links too, even though I only asked for one.   But I ate both. 


On the drive up to NJ with Nate and Naomi we stopped twice for gas and bathroom breaks.  Somehow I just wasn’t interested in the honey roasted peanuts Nate was pushing.  Not the trail mix Naomi offered either.


But there were the bowls of candy at Luswin and Fritz’s.  And the grilled steak and mashed potatoes.  And the cheese and crackers. 


It’s good to be home.  Even if I get tsk-tsked for my morning food habits

Blessing

The Blessing from the World Wildlife Fund Memorial Service, held November 30 at the National Cathedral:

May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart.
May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.
May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and turn their pain to joy.
And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.  Amen.

WWF update on the Eastern Himalayas team.