Perhaps you remember this photo:

And now, this headline:

Santorini: The Ground is Moving Again in Paradise

I didn’t restart the thing on purpose, I swear.

Highs near 80 this week, though the meteorologist (or, as he says it, “meat-eater-ologist”) on the radio reminded us that it is technically still winter. Yuck!

A meat-eater-ologist would have a lot of study subjects in this area.

The whole winter was absurdly warm, and since early February we’ve had a constant deluge, so we’re having Mud Season this year, just like Vermont. I fear the Mosquito Problem to Come. Because you know every time I get a headache this summer I’ll spend at least 20 minutes being convinced that it’s West Nile encephalitis.

Some trees never really lost their leaves. Some are unfolding pale green, as usual.

So very many are dead. Last year’s drought was brutal for Houston’s trees, with estimates that up to a third of them died. We should be thankful, I guess, for a mild winter, which might have coddled some of the weaker ones through until this spring’s rain. But plenty of them couldn’t take even the tiny bits of cold weather, and they remain grey and skeletal, sad shadows.

(*When I was little, we had a pale blue beach towel with a blue walrus on it. On one end was a smaller walrus with the word “harrumph” underneath. This was, of course, “the harrumph towel.” My sister and I used to fight over it. I’ve never seen anything else with Harrumph [the walrus’s name, of course] on it. Wouldn’t I just love a harrumph mug!)

I think that one of my most useful and maddening attributes is that I will regularly open my mouth and say something very smart that I didn’t realize I knew.

For example: a couple of years ago, someone made the comment that I’m “so weird.”

“I beg your pardon,” said I, “I am perfectly normal for me.”

This was such a relief. It’s true! Inky fingers: normal for me. Love of both schmancy meals and fish sticks: totally normal. Glee for dichotomy: run of the mill. Holding two contradictory opinions at once: standard. Viewing the sun as an enemy: practically hard-wired. Hatred of peaches: in the operating instructions.

Since then, I have become an evangelist of my own normality. “You are a honey-roasted nutbar, V.” “No I’m not! I’m normal for me!”

And, like any recent convert, I figured that because I found this idea to be liberating and comforting, so would everyone else.

“Ooo, *giggle* I’m such a weirdo!” one friend said.

“Naw. You’re normal for you!” I said.

And I watched as she briefly considered setting me on fire.

Turns out, some people are comforted by the thought of being complete weirdies who are Misunderstood By The World. Huh!

Far be it from me to learn a lesson the first time. I spent a good six months trumpeting the Personal Normality Theory to people and getting Napalm Eyes in return. So, okay. I shut the hell up.

About other people, anyhow. I still insist that I am a Perfectly Normal Virginia.

The eatin’ has been good around my house lately.

I bought a head of cabbage, just because it looked good at the time, which of course led to Cabbage Conundrum by the time I got home. I’ve made roasted cabbage within recent memory, but I consider that a failed experiment. I believe the source of the error was having made an entire giant head all at once and then being left with a large container filled with limp, cold, leftover roasted cabbage stinking up the joint. After sufficient shudder time has passed, I may try it again, one or two wedges at a time.

So I knew what I did NOT want to do with my (more reasonably sized) new head of cabbie. I turned to the ever-reliable 101 Cookbooks and found Rustic Cabbage Soup. Recommended! Great for the raw, wet days we had in mid-February. Filling and virtuous.

I also found myself in possession of red lentils, sweet potatoes, and acorn squash. I suppose I was having an Orange Moment. Praise be to Google, which gave me Lentil, Spinach, and Sweet Potato Ragout from Recipes 4 Every Kitchen when I plugged the ingredients into the search bar. Because I made it with red lentils, I think mine’s prettier than the picture on the site – a nice bright yellow punctuated by the orange sweet potato and green spinach. Man, it is so good: unctuous, smooth. The mint is like tiny bits of firecracker in there. I’ve been eating it under or on top of all kinds of things. Tonight I’ll top it with some nice salmon. Last week I had it over cheese ravioli. Highly recommended.