Thursday, August 29, 2024

The Fall

 Life is interesting when you are going through something. But aren't you always going through something? That is the very definition of life - and yet you panic. Because you fear the wind pushing your ship around and forget that when at the steering wheel the wind is your friend. When you are surfing, the waves are your friends. Yes, they are unpredictable and they should be, because how else is a dance possible?

I thought I'd hate everything. I thought I'd see the world through dark grey shades. I had fallen in love with the winter, grown attached even. And I didn't want it to end. I was scared. What I didn't know was that I had just fallen in love. When spring came I fell in love with spring and when summer came I fell in love with summer. I fell in love with my friends, I also fell in love with strangers. I fell in love with the guy sitting beside me in the tram. I fell in love with the shopkeeper who gave me free baklava. I fell in love with the colors. I fell in love with Berlin. I fell in love with life. And this wouldn't have happened if I didn't first fall.

Purple Cabbage

 I was asked to do some quick and short creative writing with 'purple' and 'cabbage', so here we go...

When you mention marinated purple cabbage among the list of ingredients in my tacos, you needn't say no more. I'm already drooling, waiting for my taco order. I forgot whether it was barbacoa or carne asada. I forgot whether I asked for extra cheese. I do remember though, that I asked for generous amounts of red salsa and green salsa and guacamole. Staring at the counter waiting for my order, I already feel my teeth biting through the slightly sour and crunchy purple cabbage while an explosion of juices from the delicious salsa and flavors from the tender meat fill my mouth. I'd slowly savour it as time would stop, until it reached my stomach with a wholesome gulp and a kick of euphoria. I was rudely woken up from my reverie by a man telling me - "I am sorry, we are out of purple cabbage. We only have green cabbage. Would you still like your tacos or would you prefer your money back?"

My heart sank and then I felt angry and then I made one of the most difficult decisions of the day. "I'd still like to have my tacos," I said. So, I had my tacos with boring but standard green cabbage, which wasn't so bad. I was satisfied enough with my day.