Yesterday was a busy day of being dr deb. Right before I left my office to meet a colleague for a lunch meeting, I listened to voicemails. By the end of the first message, I was in tears, off my feet. Terribly sad news about someone I’ve known and cared about for many years; my job requires confidentiality, so I can’t say more than that, but you get the idea.

If you know me, you know that death has been a very strong presence in my life for a long time. The “veil” that protects all of us from focusing too sharply on mortality is quite sheer for me. Yet. News like this still has the capacity to stop me in my tracks. And to remind me, once again, of how important it is to center myself in the present, and to appreciate the wonder that is my life right now.

The kids, Bob and I have a text thread that we keep alive with this and that throughout the week, mostly silliness and food, movies and food, massively irreverent musings about Six Feet Under, newsy bits. And food. So, I let them know I was sad, and they all responded with care and concern.

Brian called from GWU at suppertime to check on me. He was sitting in front of his oven drinking red wine. He’d spent the afternoon creating a zucchini lasagna (he promises to do a guest post soon) and was watching carefully to make sure it didn’t burn. We caught up on events of the week and I could tell he was making sure I was ok. And by the time I hung up the phone, the hurt in my heart had been replaced with love. And gratitude.

On my run this morning, I reflected on the richness of my life. I know too well how easy it is for good fortune to change, sometimes in an instant. So, I try to remember to experience abundance fully and to be grateful.

Megan and I are working on a new food blog together! It will be called Chick Pea and Rutabaga and the first post is about Abundance. We’ll be ready to share it soon! In the meantime, I have some teasers for you.

This is the Abundance Bowl I made for supper last night. It is called “Leftover Abundance Bowl with Quail Eggs.”

Apricot-sesame glazed organic chicken thighs, local red leaf lettuce, baked local sweet potatoes (yup, I dug ’em myself!), steamed local organic broccoli and the aforementioned quail eggs.

I couldn’t help playing with the quail eggs before I peeled them.

Aren’t they adorable?

And here’s the teaser. I’ll tell you more about it in Chick Pea and Rutabaga. Hint: there are no chick peas or rutabagas in here…

What would you put in your abundance bowl?