1. I never know when one of my big toes or the side/top of my left foot might suddenly stage a protest, but it didn't happen today. I walked over 5000 steps today. I racked up a big chunk of this total when I skipped out the front door, walked east on Cameron to Hill St, turned south, strolled to the Yoke's parking lot, cut through it to a path on the south side of the CdA River, followed the former Lead Creek east to Bunker Ave where I crossed the bridge over the river and then the freeway overpass, and turned east once again on Cameron and back to our house, completing a loop.
My legs felt strong, not at peak strength. but stronger than they've felt in months. I didn't get winded on this walk, another improvement. When I started walking again, a week or so ago, after I'd been inactive due to weather and my foot problems, even walking on a level sidewalk or path tested my wind.
Not today.
It's encouraging.
2. Back home, I settled into, first, a baking project and, second, I prepared dinner.
I baked over twenty Morning Glory muffins. I followed this recipe almost exactly, but I boosted both the amount of nutmeg and cinnamon, used walnuts instead of pecans, and I added a handful or two of fresh blueberries to the batter.
Once I'd finished baking, I opened the bag of tonight's HelloFresh ingredients.
After thinly slicing a shallot and a garlic clove, I put on a pot of water to salt and boil and heated up a glug of olive oil in the cast iron pan. I dropped the shallot and the package of chopped kale into the oil and cooked it until the kale was soft and then added the garlic and cooked it for about a minute until fragrant.
I removed the kale and set it aside in a bowl.
I put the package of mushroom raviolis in the boiling water. After about three minutes, I drained them.
I wiped out the pan the kale had been in and melted a hunk of butter and roasted a packet of walnuts.
I returned the kale to the pan with the roasted walnuts, and added a packet of creme fraiche, half a cup of pasta water, and vegetable stock and brought it to a simmer. I added the ravioli to this sauce, made sure they were all coated with sauce and let it all cook at a low temperature for a minute or two.
I divided the mushroom/cheese ravioli and sauce between two bowls, topped each with Parmesan cheese and served Debbie and me tonight's meal.
3. All the while I was cooking, I listened to trumpet players soar into the stratosphere, but also play in more down to earth ranges. Listening to Chicago the other day inspired me to listen to Chase, Maynard Ferguson, Tower of Power, Ides of March, and others. It was thrilling to feel my spirits soar, especially as the Chase trumpet players and Maynard Ferguson played at dizzying heights of sound in tunes I found invigorating and deliciously nostalgic.
Later on, after dinner, Debbie and I watched the last episode ever made of Columbo. Columbo's investigation of a tabloid writer's apparent suicide introduced him to the L. A. rave scene and even led to his rubbing elbows with the Mafia.
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