My life was boring yesterday. I went to my PO box and found junk mail. I went to Aldi. I should do that combination more often as I can take one train from PO box to the store. The most exciting thing yesterday was dinner. I tried something new, a bacon-wrapped pork loin medallion. It bought it because it was on sale. Pork loin is not a regular part of my dinner rotation. I’ve had mixed luck with it; when Gary made it, it was magnificent, when I tried, so so. Those were roasts, this was a medallion that I grilled. There were instructions right on the package. It counts as magnificent. I have never had more tender meat. The only thing I added to it was barbecue sauce, so it was simple. It’s now in my rotation, I’ll buy it when it’s on sale. The mashed potatoes also came out extra good. I thought I put in too much half & half and butter, perhaps I did, but I loved how creamy they were.
I hope everyone enjoys good food as much as I do. How would I know? How do we compare subjective experiences? I can’t begin to guess. Perhaps I’m just more verbal about it than others. That barrier between our minds has always intrigued me. As a kid I asked my mother, “how do I know that green I see is the same as the green you see?” She had no idea what I meant. Do you? We can usually agree on what color to call things and when we disagree it is probably more about language than perception. But then there’s the dress of many colors. I enjoyed that debate as it reflects on the mystery that has puzzled me all my life. Without telepathy I don’t know how to resolve this. Maybe my subjective experience of sights and sounds are different than yours. Maybe we all integrate the raw data our senses provide in different ways, or maybe in just a few ways, but not all the same.
Perhaps taste is where the differences are clearest. If you put a pea in my mouth it will generate a gag reflex. Other people love them. It seems like we are clearly perceiving the same chemical clues differently. My own perceptions have changed. As a kid coffee with two sugars was great. Now I all I taste is the sugar. What changed? My taste buds or the way my brain processed the information? I grew up hating eggs, now I eat them almost every day. I just finished a bacon and egg breakfast and thought it divine. I even like my eggs runny. This feels different that changes in my musical taste. My growing love of jazz came by learning more about it. I learned how to listen to it. It was not a gut reaction.
When I started today’s blog I thought I was going to write about Brexit. As so often happens, food distracted me. Some things never change. I have always loved chocolate. I have always loved peanut butter. I might write more about other things but those are my two greatest comfort foods. They bring not only pleasure but peace of mind. Before I was on meds and when my anxiety was raging I would calm myself with chocolate. It got me through the hardest part of my life. It’s how I self-medicated.
I better get going. I have an appointment with the ophthalmologist in 45 minutes. I’m not sure what he’s going to do, how much he will accept the previous tests I’ve had. I want to schedule my cataract surgery as soon as possible. I want to be able to see. I’ll let you know how it goes tomorrow.
Wise Madness 