Made to Last

I walk the streets and squares of Paris and think how long... how long all this has been here. I pass by churches a thousand years old or older. Cobblestones are smooth under my feet, scoured by the ages. Renaissance buildings look out over a square where once there were jousts. What fine ladies peered out the windows, from these places that were made to last?

As I walk, I think of how small I am, how brief my life. I watch my children balance where knights made good on vows or showed bravado. Horses hooves that trampled this dust are long gone, except in my imagination. I consider whether I am building anything made to last.

Maybe just this... love that nurtures little bodies and souls, that perhaps will go on to nurture bodies and souls, down through the ages rubbed clean of any memory of me. Perhaps that would be enough. It must, after all, be enough. The little cobblestones of my life set down in a line of others. Love, made to last.

(Below, just a little practical nurture for today. Black bean soup, from my small kitchen...)



Black Bean Soup

Saute until lightly browned...

• 1 onion, chopped small
• 1 stalk celery, chopped small


Add and stir briefly...

• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4- 1/2 tsp fennel seed
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano


Add and cook 25 minutes or until thickened...

• 3 cans black beans or 2 1/2 cups dry (then cooked) black beans
• 1 carrot, chopped in small squares
• 1 heaping TB tomato paste
• water to cover


Finish...

• few pours olive oil
• 1 TB lime juice (lemon in a pinch)
• small handful fresh chopped cilantro
• salt and pepper to taste


Garnish...

• Spoonful of salsa
• Spoonful of sour cream

Serve with homemade cornbread and coleslaw.

Place de Vosges in Paris photo, Black Bean Soup photo, by L.L. Barkat.

RELATED:

Paris Lost and Found