Week Seventeen: Maximizing Alive-ness
Things that make you more alive
My week:
Last week, I was trying to make it to the farmers’ market before work so that I could buy a bundle of perfectly in-season garlic scapes. Because free time is in short supply lately, I decided to combine my scape mission with my morning run. The only catch? When I woke up, it was pouring buckets.
Well, I thought, whatever. I want the scapes, and I want to run, and I won’t have another chance to get those things today. I went out into the rain and began my sodden jog to the farmers’ market. I was surprised to find it an incredibly joyous experience. Normally, I’m a grump about rain, but I knew that I’d be able to change right out of my wet clothes, and I knew that it would be silly and fun to run back to my apartment with garlic scapes tucked under my arm, so I was able to just enjoy the feeling of getting rained on.
As I ran, with water dripping down my forehead and squelching in my shoes, I thought about those videos where a guy sticks his hand in mud and rates how alive it makes him feel.
That was how I felt about running in the rain. That’s something that makes you more alive. So, this week, I thought I’d compile a list of things that make you more alive (and food, don’t worry).
Getting rained on: See above.
Talking to strangers: I recently moved to a truly urban environment for the first time in my life, and the best part by far is randomly interacting with strangers. In the past 3 weeks I’ve already had tons of spontaneous interactions, all delightful, but I’ll just tell you about one. I was standing outside my building, waiting for someone. A family walked past me: a mother, a sixteen-year-old girl, and her fourteen-year-old brother. The young man, I think, had a cut on his lip or something, because his mother and sister were desperately trying to put some sort of tinted ointment on him. “That’s lip gloss!” he cried, jerking his head away from their hands. “It’s not!” his sister insisted. “It’s literally Vaseline.” He writhed around like they were pouring acid onto him. I couldn’t help but smile at the scene. The teenaged girl noticed me and loudly told her brother, “Hold on, let’s go over here so we don’t disturb this BEAUTIFUL young lady.” They took a few steps to the right, and the brother finally accepted the—let’s be honest—lip gloss. Suffice it to say, it made my day. I’m never quite bold enough to initiate interactions with strangers, but I almost always enjoy them. Maybe someday I’ll work up the nerve.
Reading informational plaques: Reading a plaque is worth it 100% of the time. I don’t care how much of a rush you’re in—you have to stop and read any plaque you see. (If you’re in a reaaaaalllly big rush, I guess you can skip it.) They call attention to interesting things that might not look interesting. For example: this camperdown elm that is at least 153 years old and is one of the first camperdown elms propagated in the U.S.
The Camperdown Elm I never would have noticed if not for the plaque Being competitive: I’ve been running a lot lately, which by itself is already something that makes you more alive, but I’ve been running on well-trafficked paths, which has rekindled my high school cross-country competitiveness. I’m sorry, but if you try to pass me, we are racing. This is a race. I don’t care that you’re doing hill sprints and I’m phoning in 12 minute miles. As soon as I can hear somebody gaining on me, it’s a race. I’m not about to get passed. And you know what, I’ve been surprised at how many people I’ve been able to stave off. It’s really quite a thrill to suddenly turn on the gas and outrun somebody. There’s also a weird phenomenon in running that, once you pass someone, they will never pass you. I mean, truly. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve kicked it up a notch to briefly outrun somebody much faster than me, only to never see them again. Why don’t they repass me? I don’t know. It must be psychological. Anyway, maybe this is bad public running etiquette, but it makes me feel too alive to care.
Climbing something: I was visiting my dad last month, and we found these huge metal (possibly concrete) spheres in a park. I wish I had a picture I could share here, but they kind of looked like enormous, solid beach balls. Or giant kettle bell weights. I was put to mind of one of those exercise balls with a handle that you sit on, and that are fun to bounce around on as a kid. Anyway, in no time at all, my dad and I had hauled ourselves gracelessly onto these bizarre orbs. There was something ridiculously invigorating about sitting ~8 feet off the ground on something we were not really supposed to sit on.
Noticing nature: Look at this little ladybug I saw! And all the aphids it’s about to eat. And can you spot the swans (quite literally lovebirds)? I also saw a rat scamper across the sidewalk in an oddly endearing way. It made me wonder why a rat is less charming than a squirrel. I guess because we can feel confident that the squirrel is not living in our homes. Anyway, being in touch with things around you that are alive will definitely make you more alive.
Living things! Taking the stairs: Especially upstairs. There is something delicious about the slight burn in the quads. Like, yeah, I have muscles, and I move through space. Because I’m alive.
Cooking: Okay, duh, of course I was gonna say this as a segue. But it’s also true! When I make myself a thoughtful dinner, I notice that it will put me in a much better mood than heating up some random prepackaged thing. I do think this is true of many hobbies; of course taking time to do something creative and enjoyable is going to make your day better. But I think cooking is especially enlivening because it’s so connected to our basest animal needs. I always find it sort of comforting to remember that I am only an animal, and never do I feel more like an animal than when I’m hungry or eating. So somehow, the ritual of putting effort into that animal-ness makes me feel real and present and corporeal and ALIVE.
What I made:
Tiny scape scramble: This was my first foray into the world of scapes, and I underestimated how long they would need to cook. The scramble kind of wound up being crunchy, which was not really what I had wanted. The flavor was great, though.
Peanut butter noodles: With scapes!!! This, I must say, was extremely delicious. I’m beginning to learn that Reddit is a great resource for cheap, easy, no-nonsense meals. I feel like the recipes on there are pretty reliable because they’re what normal people actually make for themselves. But, of course, if it looks crazy, don’t trust it. There’s no vetting system. I skipped about half of the ingredients in this recipe, and it still made a very nice sauce. Hooray! I added tofu to later rounds of leftovers.
Scape tostadas: These were fine. Could have done with some onion. A little more visually appealing than my last tostada attempt. I even tried garnishing with some scapes on top, but it wound up looking silly, so I discarded them. Anyway, I’m mostly just including these because they had scapes in them and because I didn’t, in all honesty, do a ton of cooking this week!
What I learned:
I learned about garlic scapes!
I learned some grocery lessons. I really didn’t buy any groceries this week, which is why there aren’t a ton of fresh ingredients in this week’s offering (except the scapes!). I’m definitely still dialing in my grocery shopping strategy.
This week, I had a couple issues with smoking up the kitchen. Surprisingly, I haven’t had any problems with that earlier in my cooking journey. I guess I just had the heat on too high. I have unlocked a new fear, though, which is setting off the smoke alarm in a massive apartment building. It makes my blood run cold just thinking about it.
Thanks for reading! :)
The best! Love this one and yes squirrels aren’t in our homes so not as squirmy. Nice you’re loving the urban scene