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Remembering the process

From the archives:

{before construction}

Here's the view of the old building facing south at S street. This is the reason our first bank turned us down for a loan. In their words, "It's too far removed. There is nothing down that way that make it an appealing investment." An entrepreneur must possess vision and belief in the idea, long before anyone else sees what you see

{original interior}

This view faces west inside our space. There were no west facing windows originally.

Three Years

{finishing touches}

I remember vividly what it felt like this week three years ago, trying to get all the I’s dotted and T’s crossed in order to get that final approval from the Health Department before we could open. There was nervous tension, but balanced by anticipated excitement. The folks in the building could smell the aroma of bread baking, but we could host no customers quite yet. We were assembling our fledgling staff, trying to present an air of confidence to them while deep inside fending off the butterflies that fluttered from the thought that we had never done this before, and hoping it doesn’t show.

The taste of summer

Summer means memories of heat, bailing hay and sweet corn. I shucked a dozen dozen of the yellow kerneled cobs yesterday. Despite the sticky hands and feathery silks all over my clothes, I still find it an enjoyable task. I hope you get to try some of the dishes we are creating with it.

I'll take another cup...

Here is one of those moments we must embrace as sustained chefs; letting the operation run according to plan.

I’ve been at it for four hours now. I have all my market shopping done. The menu is set, printed and posted. The folks down at the booth have everything they need. My chefs are stocked and churning out food that customers have already stopped to tell me how much they enjoyed their meal. So here I am with a few moments to myself to sit calmly in the eye of the vortex and watch it all develop.

{kitchen}

Day 24

{how do I look?}

Karen had her second treatment on Monday and the side effects followed suit with the first week. Nausea and achy, but still in her words, manageable. Still hard for me to be an onlooker with nothing more to do than wait.

Chemo is all about waiting. For each treatment, it’s about a six hour process, with most of that time spent waiting. Waiting on the doctor, waiting on the blood work, waiting on the IV to drip. Seems like I have been in this position many times before.