There are times in life when things hit you so hard and with so much clarity that it is impossible not to wonder why it happened. When I was in Morocco, I naturally had to speak French most of the time, since a) it’s a second language and b) I don’t speak Arabic. Now, what I’m about to write isn’t new, or unobvious — it’s something I’ve known for a while. But, the French word for lens is lentille. As in, lentil. Lenses focus light on a small area. They can burn away darkness by redirecting the power of the sun, and bring clarity to a bleak or undefined moment in life. I eat a lot of lentils, and have come to define myself by my food, but I never really put this together in this way until recently.

There are times when you wonder if life has run out of curve balls. This is apparently, never going to happen, since the Powers that Be just keep switching pitchers on me. Lately, it has seemed as though certain paths in life have had lenses focus light on them, illuminating them, and making them seem less foreboding, a more obvious choice. The better road, perhaps. Maybe the road that should have been taken instead. Is it possible to backtrack? It’s not possible to undo what has been done, but perhaps a different path can be chosen, or if nothing is defined, maybe it is possible to blaze something new. Forward to a point in life that is better, maybe. Maybe.

So, I’m sitting here with a mug of coffee and I felt like I had to comment on it. Okay, seriously — this Honduras El Manzano roast from 49th Parallel roasters is really fine. Seriously. Barrett, I doubt you read this, but if you are, damn fine job. You are the man. Now, if you’d only offer a subscription service where I can get my fix in bulk once a month, I’d be set. Maybe I will talk to you about this possibility.

Honeycrisp apples are out, which is also fine. Local, which is a bonus. It isn’t often that one of my favourite things grows right around here (I’m looking at YOU, mango), but when this time of year rolls around, I am all about lugging bushels of the darn things back from the Market. Which is where I am off to in a few minutes.

The leaves are starting to turn and the Fall colours are beginning to make an appearance here in town. Most mornings, of late, have been quite foggy and generally miserable with rain so I haven’t been doing a lot of photography, but this morning looks promising. We’ll see.

And yes, I know I still need to upload a few recipes. I picked up some really nice broccoli yesterday so maybe a soup is in order.