I don’t believe that I have ever eaten cassoulet. I can’t say that the recipe much appeals to me, though that big beautiful pork chop sticking out does look scrumptious and I suspect the sausage and fava beans in the bowl would be tasty.
I kind of believe that contrary is in my genes. My late father would sometimes spend the first half of a party or gathering arguing passionately for one side of some controversial matter, then half way through switch to arguing the exact opposite. I suppose it could be that we just like to argue. And certainly, it is good to consider opposing views before making up your mind. I try not be contrary, but to always remember how important it is to consider at least two (and preferably more) sides to any contentious issue.
In my early twenties, after having lived away from home at college for a few years, I got to a point where I felt the need to be independent. That I chose to move from my native New Orleans to the Boston area was probably one of the worst decisions I ever made. I did not like Boston. Many of the people seemed extraordinarily rude, and after the first few winter storms snow turned from a novelty into an enormous pain in the neck. In Boston, the weather was never considered a reasonable excuse for being late or being absent. (When I moved to the Seattle area, I woke up one morning and found two or three inches of snow on the ground. I brushed it off my car and hastened to work. I was delayed an hour or so, by a bus that had spun out and completely blocked a roadway. When I finally got to the office, exactly one person was there. He had come in only to turn away anyone so foolish as to try to go work when it was snowing in Seattle.) I do think that everyone should try living on their own at least once, to see how they like it. I also think that life is a lot better when we live with people who love us.
Like my friend Peter Wright, who suggested these three words, I do consider myself something of an eccentric. A one of a kind if you will. I apologize that this post is so very tardy. For days and days now I have just been unable to bring myself to sit down and write. My thanks to Peter for today’s words and to each and every one of you who reads and comments on this post.
