When the Almond Tree Blooms

Did the food photo lure you to click on the link and find your way here? Those food pics we see on social media have a way of capturing our attention, and can spark a variety of feelings from disgust, curiosity and mild jealousy to “damn I need to eat that now”. This happened to me the other night, when I saw a photo of mole poblano and decided I had to get some. So, I found a highly reviewed taqueria on yelp in the Southwest Washington town of Chehalis that has mole on its menu. On Friday, after taking Roco out for his walk and fetch, I drove half an hour down I-5 to get some enchiladas en mole , which are my favorite food. Enchiladas en Mole, Taqueria Juquilita, Centralia WA  I first had mole many years ago when I was working as a garden and nutrition education teacher at Park School in Hayward, California. The school year was almost over, and I had been invited to the after-school program staff end of the year party. Mrs. Marquez, who worked for program, had cooked a b...

My long break from blogging began in March 2013. At the time, I thought I had figured it all out. Things were looking good in the world: Obama had just begun his second term, the U.S. was recovering from the Great Recession, and California had not yet entered the depths of multi-year drought. I was incredibly optimistic about my life. I was thriving in my Master of Accountancy program at UC Davis and had accepted my first real professional job at the California State Auditor. I began cultivating my community garden plot in Davis and was at the beginning stage of my dance addiction. What happened between now and March 2013? Among the usual things—work, life and failed romances—I danced, a lot. I’ve always liked to dance, but for most of my life I thought I was bad at it. Back in high school, I’d look forward to dances in the cafeteria, where I enthusiastically but awkwardly shuffled around to all that great 90s music. Many years later, after I’d finished college and was living in ...