mexican pizza

it is a sunday afternoon. . . gorgeous weather.  i refuse to go anywhere.  i am sitting outside, an afternoon glass of red wine, the sun dimpling through the vegetation. . . pretending that i am in france.

it has felt like a long week.  a long month really.  my heart, my head, and my body are all exhausted.  it is a good day to stop and just sit.  .  . very still.

i live in a city that i love.  a city that holds me when i am un-well and invites me into health.  a city that  matches my moods, that lets me wander around in skirts and sweatpants equally, never feeling like i need to be someone else.  

on friday evening, after a long week at work and feeling exhausted, i (somewhat irritably) needed to run to the store to pick-up some things so that  i could bake muffins for an event on saturday.  i love cooking, when i want to cook.  i hate cooking when someone asks/tells me i need to "bring" something along.

i come home and change into normal clothes and run out to grab groceries at the food co-op.  as i am driving, i am trying to think about food.  it is this never-ending thought process when you enjoy eating.  i wasn't very hungry, but i needed to eat something and i didn't want junk food and i didn't want to cook and i didn't want to clean anything up.  i ran through a list of take-out places, none of which sounded appealing.

i grab my eggs at the co-op and as i am checking out, the cashier has this interesting looking thing next to the register. . .

"what is that?  it looks delicious."

"it's mexican pizza and they already closed the food bar and there is lots left over. . . let me grab you a piece and you can have it for free, we can't sell it now."

and she stopped mid-ringing me up and ran into the back and came out with a piece of carroty-looking pizza and handed it to me on a real plate. . . it was delicious. . .

i'm sure that she will never know how much it meant to me that on a cold, exhausted friday she extended a gift with no expectation of anything in return.  this stranger in this city took care of me in such a loving way.  i'm really glad i live here.