2 cures for depression
Thanks for those who have written and called. Although this blog is about speedskating, there are moments when life comes up and smacks you with things far more important. My friend is doing much better, and is out of the hospital.
It has been a hard week; here are my 2 small ways of dealing:
#1 attempting to follow my grandmother’s mastery in the art of creating perfect grilled cheese sandwiches:
#2 Riding my mountain bike up into the Wasatch Mountains. Climbing switchback singletrack for an hour and a half straight in your tiniest gear will knock the existential blues out of anyone. If that fails, the white knuckled warp speed descent does pretty a good job too.
It was a 70 degree day, and I got high enough into the mountains to be into the snowpack.
On a mountain bike, one can quickly get waaaaay up into the hills, and feel truly small and alone. I had no company but the music of my hammering heart, squish of mud underneath the tires, and my bike bucking and diving through the trails.
But that seemed to be just the company & perspective I needed.
(p.s. one of the most well know blogs on the internet is also written by a Salt Lake resident, Dooce is astonishingly funny, well written, and thoughtful. On the same day I ruminate about grilled cheese as a depression cure, check out what she wrote, it seems that food is the friday theme in Salt Lake, also her stress cure is far more advanced in complexity & themeatic content than mine.)
Filed under: from home
Hey Andrew,
The perfect grilled cheese sandwich, eh? My grandmother always burnt them - I learned how to make a great grilled cheese sandwich a few years back (the guy I was dating at the time lived for grilled cheese, and could eat ten a day and still not gain an ounce), but I haven’t practiced my grilled cheese skills as of recent.
By the way, have you received any of my recent e-mails? I asked about the skinsuit, as well as how to send a gift to you and Jess!
Hope to hear from you soon,
Renee
andrew
mud-o-rama time on the skyline trail! or is that city creek canyon? at any rate, there’s not that many ‘real’ mountain bikers actually willing to eat mud! there is definetely something therapeutic about it? but even i have my ‘Wasatch Mud’ threshold, not having fenders. it can get near-lethal!
Hey Andrew, I’m so glad he is doing better and I hope he stays well. As for grilled cheese, my parents and I used to make it by toasting bread and cheese in the toaster oven (the kind with the grill rack and door). I didn’t know that was not the standard Grilled Cheese until people thought I was crazy when I mentioned it with college friends.
Don’t forget the tomatoe soup with the sandwich. They go together PERFECTLY!!!
So happy to hear he’s doing better.
What I like about grilled cheeses is
1. you CAN get them perfect; unlike so many things where perfection isn’t even in reach
2. that wonderful greasy, almost slimy texture of properly-melted cheese in contrast with the crispy bits of the bread. (If the outer surface of the sandwich doesn’t have crispy bits, it isn’t perfect)
It does seem that your two comfort mechanisms are harmonious - the perfect food is best, and almost anything can be eaten without this-is-bad-for-me guilt, after serious exercise, eh?
Hey Andrew… don’t forget about the Lei!
Glad your friend is doing better.