I can give you the recipe for my risotto. That’s easy. Onion, garlic, a 1/2 cup of dry white. (However chicken or vegetable stock only–not beef. Tonight’s experimentation was not well received by the man of the household.) But it’s the risotto experience anyway that was truly delectable.

Our kitchen sits at the base of Cape Palliser–a cheerful candy cane of a lighthouse situated on a small bluff. She sends me a wink from her perch twice every 20 seconds. I give her a satisfied smile back in between my stirring. Eric has gone down to count the seals in the bay and I have the van to myself. From the window behind the sink I watch him pick his way across the rocks. Between us, the seals bob and swim like periscopes upon the waves. Billie Holiday croons softly in the background as I pour myself another slow glass of wine. Cozied up to our little stove in my underwear, the sun is golden upon my bare skin. Dinner shall soon be ready. Some recipes, some moments, y0u just want to savor all evening long.

Filed under: “I don’t think I’ve understood what relaxation meant until this moment.”

-K