Comfort foods

Its been so evident to me lately how strong the relationship is between food and memory. I've been finding myself seeking out foods that remind me of people I miss or pleasant situations. For my sister, it is sour gummy worms. I remember her eating an entire bag of them in the Walmart parking lot when we were younger. Whenever I eat any, I think of her.

For my brother, it is pizza rolls. Although I typically do not buy them myself; it only seems appropriate to take down half a box of them when we are hanging out.

This came to mind as I am eating a black bean veggie burger with ketchup, hold the bun. It reminds me of a friend I haven't seen in awhile, and the last time I did we had a great time together. Other things that reminds me of friends are cheese-filled garlic breadsticks, omelets, taco bell (numerous occasions and people), peanut butter cups, rum balls, lazy pancakes...and probably many more that I cannot remember at the moment.

Each time I eat any one of these foods I feel like these people are closer to me or I remember the situation in which we both consumed them or who would make them for me. Sometimes it causes me sadness, such as the softbatch chocolate cookies and sprite that my Grandpa would always have for us whenever we came over. He is no longer with us, but anytime I have either I think of him. I try to drink the sprite out of a plastic glass as he always served it to us. I've been missing him a lot lately, although it has been 9 years since he passed away. I know that he would be proud of all I've accomplished and excited that I would be going to Germany. He emigrated from there in 1929. He could help me with my German for sure :-)

I suppose I'm just feeling nostalgic and remembering that I have a lot of people that I miss. Food seems to help somewhat; feeling closer to those people brings up some memories and shenanigans that we engaged in :-)

The wonders of air travel...

After a trip to Savannah to visit my Grandma, I’m back in Akron. Actually, I’ve been back since Thursday night. I actually had a fairly good experience flying United. My flights were on time, even early except for one. And I connected at O’Hare? When does that happen? I was supposed to connect in Dulles, then O’Hare, and then back to Akron. The flight to Dulles was delayed and the gate agent automatically rebooked me straight to Chicago, with an exit row seat! Talk about southern hospitality! I did, however, have to spend 5 hours in the Savannah airport. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a very nice airport. But it is very small – 15 gates. I did get a good nap on my backpack though.

Once I got to Chicago, I had 2.5 hours to kill. I ended up walking most of it – finally got some exercise after a week of not running J . The shuttle bus that I had to take to get to another terminal was crazy! It haphazardly drove on the tarmac, zipping past planes being towed to/from that gate!

The flight to Akron was…interesting to say the least. When the gate agent announces “Attention passengers: I have some news for you”, it can never be good. It turns out the air-conditioning was broken! We did have the option of rebooking the next day. I considered it, but I was tired and just wanted to get back home. Another announcement was made that it was currently 95 degree in the aircraft…great. Luckily, I had a tank top on underneath my long sleeved shirt (I’m usually cold on planes), and I was sitting in 2D (still coach, small plane). I did get some breeze when the door was open. I can’t imagine how hot the people in the back must have been!

We sat there for awhile before takeoff – say 30 minutes or so. The air-conditioning was working once we were in flight – yay! Luckily, I was seated near to people that had a sense of humor. I always seem to be lucky in that respect, whether I make the first snide comment or not. The guy next to me was an industrial engineer and we talked about I/O stuff on the way back. Good conversation, for sure. I’m sure I annoyed people that were trying to sleep.

A sidenote that I forgot to mention – I almost got arrested at the Akron/Canton airport on the way there! My backpack had to be gate-checked last minute, so I got off the plane to give it to the guy loading the luggage on the plane (it was one of those you board using the stairs). I got too close to the wing and when I got back on; the flight attendants told me that normally they arrest people for that. I had to promise to never do it again. The flight attendant from that flight ended up being on the flight on my way back too! I avoided her gaze…

I’ll be going to LA Friday through Sunday this week. Direct from C-bus. Kind of a drive, but the only ticket I could afford. Red-eye w/middle seat on the way back. Hopefully I’ll be too tired to care…