Three Beautiful Things 03-02-2024: Snow Shoveling and Back to *Abraxas*, Seattle Plans Solidifying, A New (and Perfect) Dinner Combination

1. I knew, deep down inside, and from information online, that this morning's snowfall on the sidewalks would melt off by this afternoon. Nonetheless, I decided to shovel our sidewalk and Christy's. The snow was wet and heavy, but not deep. Shoveling accelerated my heart beat. It winded me a bit. I was finished in under fifteen minutes. It was solid pre-workout exercise.

I dialed up Santana's Abraxas again at the Fitness Center this morning. I'd had an ecstatic experience on Friday listening to this album and wondered how it would sound to me a day later. 

Even better. 

Yes.

Even better.

Yes, Carlos Santana's lead guitar work is the heart of this band. Its soul. The life blood nourishing Santana's heart and soul is the vigorous rhythm section, bass, drums and percussion, and Greg Rolie's splendid vocals and keyboard work. 

More than once, I thought to myself: this album has some of the most perfect passages of music I've ever listened to. 

2. Mark Cutshall called me this afternoon, Hugh Croier and I exchanged emails, I heard from Peter Bomquist yesterday, and Diane Schulstad and I concluded a two day conversation on Messenger. 

The upshot?

A schedule is emerging. I've got a solid idea of who I'll see when in Seattle starting this coming Friday and it all looks awesome. 

3. This afternoon I was suddenly hungry for chickpeas and jasmine rice. I bolted to our basement pantry and, as I reached for a can of garbanzo beans, I noticed a can of Margaret Holmes Tomatoes, Okra & Corn. 

Aha! 

I knew just what to do.

I chopped a white onion, cooked it until soft, added three cloves of finely chopped garlic, and then poured the can of Tomatoes, Okra & Corn and a can of chickpeas into the frying pan. While these ingredients simmered, I made a pot of jasmine rice. 

I topped a layer of rice with the garbanzo beans, tomatoes, okra, and corn, sprinkled some Braggs Liquid Aminos over it and satisfied the yearning I'd had for just such a meal.

Later, I combined orange wedges, a chopped Cosmic Crisp apple, slices of strawberries, and a small handful of blueberries with Nancy's plain whole milk yogurt, a perfect fruit salad to round out my dinner.