Maybe returning from vacation is more difficult than I remember. I've always thought it was a bit of a downer to return to work, to face up to the fact that I can't continue with the anything goes attitude I adopt on holiday. But I don't recall re-entry ever being quite so tough.
I've tried to be good, to deal with the blahs by hitting the gym every day, but it doesn't seem to be working. I cried myself to sleep after watching the final episode of Six Feet Under on DVD last night. It's a touching episode, sure, but my body chemistry must be wonky. Or I need a major life change. Or something.
What to do in the meantime? I sought a food pick me up. Not in the douse-your-sorrows-in-vats-of-ice-cream-and-brownies-way (though it sounds good, doesn't it?), but in the comforting-yet-good-for-you-way, finding foods that are healthy and good, that fill me up and leave me satisfied. Something delicious and wholesome and wonderful.
I turned to avocado on toast for today's lunch. Thin slices of ripe avocado atop toasted whole grain bread, sprinkled with kosher salt, doused with a bit of lemon juice, and garnished with baby pea shoots. You can mash the avocado if you prefer a guacamole-like texture, add tomato, substitute lime juice for lemon, skip the pea shoots.
It may not warrant a recipe, but avocado on toast is my idea of great comfort food. And with any luck, it may chase away the blahs.
Ahh, my friend, I don't know about for you, but for me the light of long summer days thinning and shortening and fall tip-toeing towards us is unhelpful for the melancholies. I'm glad you had a good vacation. Reentry is hard. Also, the end of Six Feet Under was devastating.
ReplyDeleteSorry for the post-vacation blues! But glad it was a good trip. This sounds like a great comfort food! I may have to try it after the college drop-off tomorrow.
ReplyDelete-Lisa
I always need a holiday to cure my post holiday blues... this avocado toast will do.
ReplyDeleteLemon Gloria - Thank you.
ReplyDeleteLisa - Best of luck with the drop off! Empty nest syndrome could be difficult.
Ellie - That's a good way to put it.
I used to literally weep as we departed the Outer Banks each year, gushing, gulping, sputtering weeping. Since we no longer go, the weeping has found other outlets, rest assured. The college drop-off, yes, some years ago. And then every time she comes home for a bit and goes back...Most recently, when she came home this past Sunday, a double dose was in order. She had "rescued" a puppy last fall, despite her lease not allowing animals. Needless to say, mom and dad got the puppy on a temporary basis, until she moved into a house that allowed animals. Well that just happened; a new school year, a new house, and an empty nest that echoes with lonesomeness. Re-entry blues, no-puppy blues, college drop-off blues, I feel your pain.
ReplyDeleteBAE - Your tales made me feel a little less foolish for having the a case of the blues. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteYou know me. I am the one who sobbed in the Marie Callender's parking lot when I had to leave Napa in 2005. At least you wait until you go through the re-entry. I cry at just the thought of normal life.
ReplyDeleteCaroline - Maybe it's better to get it out of your system early.
ReplyDeleteI agree its hard to get back in to the swing of fall, there is definitely something to be said about the changing of seasons. I hope you had a good visit to the Bay Area.
ReplyDeleteAvocado on toast is a guaranteed pick me up for me. What a brilliant idea.
OysterCulture - I actually love autumn, my favorite time of year. It's the crazy heat and humidity of NC that's bringing me down. I had a wonderful time in California - didn't want to come home.
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