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Weekend Butler: “The apple that falls to the earth also lifts the ground.” Prince Harry is right, and here’s the proof. Weekend reading and compelling streaming. An easy recipe that’s a crowd favorite. And more.
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Published: Jan 26, 2023
Category:
Weekend
“THE APPLE THAT FALLS TO THE EARTH ALSO LIFTS THE GROUND”
On our last night in Jamaica, I slipped on wet tile in the shower and landed, hard, on my left ankle. My friends are professionals at the highest level of the healing arts, and they made all the right moves: an ice pack, elevate the leg, a wheelchair at the airport, farewell hopes it was just a sprain. It wasn’t. X-rays revealed a 2″ hairline fracture of the ankle. No need for surgery. A boot (photo, above) would do the trick. But not quickly: I’m to wear the boot 24/7 for 6 weeks.
That was three weeks ago. Forever ago. I’ve been reading Buddhism for decades, and I spent the last two years writing a novel, “The Next Dalai Lama” — intellectually, I have total clarity that the most important truth about life is that it changes, incessantly, and often in unanticipated and surprising ways. So I have accepted the boot. It’s my friend. It takes care of my ankle. Sound silly? Looking at it any other way yields misery.
What’s the difference between a writer who works at home and a housebound writer?
Hard to say. The good news is that I have a great deal of work, some of it with deadlines, and I quickly discovered that a day of writing, short naps, another burst of work after dinner followed by reading or a streamed movie — that’s a good day. The trick is to keep busy. Soon enough it will be mid-February, and there will be another X-ray, and if I’m lucky, I’ll discard the boot.
Then there’s the learning piece. My issues are impatience, a journalist’s desire to know what comes next and how the story ends, and a tendency, common to others with quick minds, to make judgments on inadequate information. Now I must be patient, mostly with myself. I must avoid “tone” with myself and others. Above all, I must live not just in the moment but in the second — I have a walking cane, and when I venture out, I can’t let my mind wander, because that could lead to a fall, and who, really, would welcome a busted hip?
I’m well aware of my good fortune. I’m not in Ukraine or teaching at a school that could be the next destination for a nut with a gun, and my lifeboat crew has been spectacular. So I don’t write this to seek your sympathy, but to share what, in my Advil-fueled isolation, seems like an obvious learning. Problems are opportunities in disguise, especially if you see them that way. I have a month to write at the top of my game, that is, to write and rewrite and polish until the words shine.
When I lived in Vermont, I made a holiday card with a photograph of apples on the front. The text: “The apple that falls to the earth also lifts the ground.” Not a sentiment that makes a lot of sense in my city, which is transactional in the extreme. And for decades, when I unearthed that card, it seemed like a sentimental souvenir of my post-college “lost” years. Today, at my writing table, it feels more like an affirmation, a home truth. I hope it lasts. And I hope the thought is of some use to you.
WHEN DAVID CROSBY DIED, MANY OFFERED ASSESSMENTS AND PRAISE
My favorite? Bob Dylan: “He could freak out a whole city block by himself.”
“PRINCE HARRY IS RIGHT, AND IT’S NOT JUST A MATTER OF ROYAL GOSSIP”
In the Times, Zeynep Tufekci lays out, factual paragraph after factual paragraph, how the Royals conspired — yes, conspired — with London’s tabloid press to make Charles and Camilla and William and Kate appear to be the victims of media-hungry Harry and Meghan. In my review of Spare, I touched upon this, but Tuferci has the receipts. Her column is a must-read.
WEEKEND READING AND MOVIE STREAMING: ONE WRITER, THREE CHOICES
My favorite writer, born on this day in 1874, is Somerset Maugham. His easy, direct style — the style of a man telling you a story over a dinner table after the dishes have been cleared and another bottle of wine has been opened — is a large reason he became the most famous writer in the world, and the richest. If you’re looking for a great novel or to stream a great movie from one… .
Of Human Bondage. My review. To stream the movie, click here.
The Razor’s Edge: My review. To stream the movie, click here.
The Letter: A devastating story of obsessive, secret love and its consequences in British Malaya in the ’20s. Another great performance by Bette Davis, great direction by William Wyler. My review. To stream the movie, click here.
THE SUPREME COURT LEAK
They investigated the staff, found no leakers. The Justices were interviewed, but not asked to sign affidavits. Not exactly a brain-splitter for Sherlock Holmes: The leaker was a Justice. Here’s the Times piece.
THE WEEKEND POEM
Mark Strand, “Keeping Things Whole”
In a field
I am the absence
of field.
This is
always the case.
Wherever I am
I am what is missing.
When I walk
I part the air
and always
the air moves in
to fill the spaces
where my body’s been.
We all have reasons
for moving.
I move
to keep things whole.
WEEKEND RECIPE
from Five Ways to Cook Asparagus (and Other Recipes): The Art and Practice of Making Dinner
Carrots Roasted with Herbs
Serves 2 to 4
If you serve these carrots to guests as hors d’oeuvres, you will get the empty plate right back. Roasted carrots love being a solo performer—people then will pay attention to the taste. They are, as well, a wonderful side dish to any main course. Use early carrots, if you can get them. I have an old roasting pan, blackened on its exterior, and roasting carrots—or bread crumbs, or bell peppers—is what keeps it employed.
1 pound carrots
Sea salt
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
Pinch of Aleppo pepper (pul biber) or cayenne
6 to 8 sprigs fresh thyme
Flaky sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Cut the carrots into 4- to 6-inch (10- to 15-cm) lengths and halve them lengthwise. Toss the carrots, a good pinch of sea salt, and the olive oil in a stainless-steel bowl. Add the Aleppo pepper. Turn out the carrots into a roasting pan and toss half the thyme on top.
Roast for 10 minutes, then give the pan a good shake so the carrots roll about. Ten minutes later, turn the oven temperature down to 300 degrees and shake the pan again. Bake for 10 minutes more (for a total of 30 minutes), until the carrots are a little blackened and softened.
Pull them out of the oven and lay them willy-nilly on a white dinner plate, with a little extra olive oil, some cracked black pepper, the rest of the thyme, and a visible scattering of flaky sea salt.
