A Beautiful Mess

I had a dream last night that I wandered into an open field. It was bright green and looked out over a lake. I sat down in the tall grass and put my head on my knees.

It's a strong contrast with where I sit right now at my messy desk with piles of papers and a half eaten banana, a cup of coffee I had to heat up in the microwave. When I finish my desk work I will head into the commercial kitchen (home of Curio manufacturing) which is in an industrial area of Somerville; the one window in the kitchen looks out over a car junkyard, smashed up sedans whose airbags have deployed; a spooky stillness hovering amidst the glinting metal.

But then I can lean my head into a jar of cinnamon and disappear. The fragrance of spices is transportive: it's one of the reasons I am grateful that I chose this line of work, when all else seems so full of rusted metal, gray clouds and lukewarm coffee. 

The other reason I'm grateful is that it provides the impetus to travel. So while I strive to stay present in every moment, sometimes I need to remember the context, lest I crumple into a chaotic amalgam of existential woes and end up lying on the floor listening to the soundtrack from The Labyrinth (great songs though, worth a listen. RIP Bowie). Since I can't hand you a jar of spice through the computer, here are a few transportive moments from my travels in the last few months, with love from our messy, flavorful world:

Sorrel, a relative of hibiscus, blooming on the island of St. Kitts (British Virgin Islands). Used mostly for tea, but also as a tart flavoring for desserts and cocktails. Mark and I celebrated a glorious New Years on this island.

Sorrel buds at market

These are seasoning peppers. They don't have a fancy name (I asked some chefs) they are just tasty peppers. For seasoning.

Vanilla vines and vipers in Costa Rica. Headed there with my dear friend (and Curio counselor), Alex in Feb. My camera got rained on in the rainforest and stopped working, so the above photos were shot with an iphone. Then I took up painting: 

"Dreams await us in a country we can't get tickets to." Hélène Cixous