It’s been over a month since the last Sunday Gravy, and 46 fresh faces (emails) have subscribed to The Midnight Run.
If this is the first one to hit your inbox, Sunday Gravy is a subset of this newsletter where I congeal my latest thoughts and doings — like an Italian grandmother making marinara.
In this edition, I’m baking with George Jetson and getting settled in Las Vegas.
Cinnamon Rolls
Today was long — in the best way. Time passed slowly. So much so that I thought my watch was wrong every instance I glanced at it… but it was a welcome reprieve from too many racing weekdays. I was happy to have lots of time on my hands.
I’m often busy trying to get this done… busy trying to make that happen… busy wondering if 24 hours is even enough… but none of those thoughts even crossed my mind today, which meant it was a perfect opportunity to bake. Baking is a dedication. Tedious even… but when my mind’s free of worry, I welcome such tasks.
Somewhere in the process of making dough, letting it rise, whisking, folding, and browning butter, I think about this: “What would I be doing every day if I wasn’t rushing and busy with x, y, and z?”.
That makes me think of older times and different circumstances, when the day was built around “survival” in varying degrees. People still live that way — just not most of the ones I know. I think that’s why I find Alaskan frontier shows so interesting. Their entire day revolves around seasons… daylight… harvesting food… hunting… prepping firewood and water. I do too much of my “survival” planning in small, spare chunks of free time. I’m lucky to find enough motivation to run to the grocery store for 40 minutes during a weeknight. That is so backwards compared to every other living creature on Earth.
When I see someone dedicating hours at a time to one task, I think “why the hell would you want to spend your time doing that? You can get that anywhere". Until I spend a few hours doing it myself and remember how it makes me feel: connected, working with conviction.
You’d think with the mass exposure of convenience, you’d have more time to focus on what you want. It has the opposite effect. You can get it quickly, so you don’t put the same thought into it. There’s 20 types of cinnamon rolls at the grocery store, so I’ll just order one and not care what’s in it.
Too much is actually paralyzing. When nothing requires your focus, it leaves you to the wind… and the human brain will always find the next thing to worry about, whether it’s truly important or not.
The focus tonight was a loaf of bread, an apple crisp, a batch of cinnamon rolls, and writing this with The Jetsons playing in the background. I loved watching the Flintstones and Jetsons as a kid. My dad recorded it on TiVo, and I still enjoy it as an adult.
Energy flows where attention goes. Best to focus on something worthwhile… even if it’s a 60’s cartoon.
The other half of the day was spent leisurely outside the kitchen. Rex and I gained a roommate (
) — so we took a drive, explored the local area, and got to feeling at home.
What Else?
I spent my first weekend here with friends, and while I loved catching up after a few years, I started to think about what my next “thing” will be. There’s not much water around Las Vegas, so the fly rods probably won’t be out too often. I struggled accepting that in Los Angeles, but now I’ve got another chance to pick up something totally new.
Cycling and mountain biking, maybe, after a convincing conversation with a friend. Rock climbing, despite my fear of heights? Archery and hunting, most likely. Especially after reading the latest CWD adventures.
I’ve also got some lingering projects to knock out, which should be a lot easier now that I’m not in a studio apartment:
overland drawers / sleeping platform in the Landcruiser.
fix the other motorcycle I brought out from California.
Re-assemble and mount my roof rack.
Screen-printing t-shirts.
We went to the farmer’s market and shopped around a kitchenware store. Lots of cool food and cooking tools on display. It got me thinking… if I could only have two things in the kitchen it would be these:
French carbon steel pan , I have an assortment of stainless steel, cast iron, and enamel coated cookware… carbon steel is by far my favorite. It takes some TLC to get it seasoned and patina’d, but it only gets better with time. Non-toxic, no weird coating/materials to worry about, non-stick, and can take a beating. Fried eggs, omelettes, sautéing vegetables, searing big cuts of meat… it makes everything fun.
8in chef’s knife, this was my first good knife. I’ve used this constantly for 3+ years and still love it. A good knife will make prep work enjoyable.
Photos:
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Keep on truckin’. See you out there.
Good read! Love that Valley of Fire pic.
You bring up a lot of good points of living simpler. I have been trying to lean into that concept recently, of doing things the hard way on purpose. It’s not always about the destination, sometimes it’s about the journey. A lot of people don’t understand that, most people opt for the most efficient way. But when we look back at our lives, are we going to be happy to say that our life was efficient? I know thats not going to be me, life is adventure. Wether you take the adventure or not is up too you.