BYOImagination

Here's another thing about me that drives me crazy!  I can never have just ONE favorite thing!  Its impossible to choose just one because it just is.  I don't have one favorite color.  I have two favorite colors:  black and purple.  I don't have one favorite restaurant to eat at, but I have at least three favorite places for each Hobbit meal of the day.  Lets start with coffee.  My two favorite coffee dives are Swede Hollow in St. Paul and the Urban Bean in Minneapolis.  For a loosen-my-belt kind of breakfast, I'll go with the omelettes at Sunnyside Up or the Red & Green plate at Seward Cafe.  But, if I'm in the mood for a light breakfast I'd order up the plantain pancakes at Maria's Cafe or grab a pastry at the Franklin Street Bakery.  If I want an exceptionally exquisite breakfast, I must go to Meritage in downtown St. Paul.  True foodies (and hobbits) know that breakfast is only the warm up run.  I love brunch as much as Memei loves cream in her tea.  The best brunches are at Mandarin Kitchen, Granite City or at Pashia's house.  I could go on about favorite food places, but do you really want to hear?  Leave me a comment, if you do.

As undecided as I am, I do actually have a favorite place to dine (eat).  My favorite place is in my backyard.  Alfresco dinners in the spring time with family and friends, and summer tea parties in the backyard are some of the reasons why it's my favorite place.  The intimate experiences with loved ones are what makes some meals more than just delicious.  Also, most of you have probably seen all the pictures I've posted on Facebook of my backyard - I could do anything I wanted to there, and I have a lot of things I should do too.

I love looking out into the six acres behind the house not because I'm vain, but because it frees my mind.  The late afternoon sun slowly rolling over to the west, and fluffy clouds parading by like marshmallow men .  A cold glass of Riesling on the patio table, and a rack of ribs smoking on the grill while I soak in some sun.  I find myself zoning out to the sound of leaves rustling as a breeze sneaks through the day, or I might get caught up in the afternoon gossip of a flock of sparrows nesting in the trees on the western edge of the property.  Some times, I close my eyes and pretend that when I open them, there will be a beautiful lake before me, and on the other side, a blinking green light.  Or, maybe this time I might find myself looking upon Thornfield or Misselthewaite Manor.  And some times I slip further back into my mind, and I'm meeting up with old characters in stories I've started to write, but never finished.  Its the only place I can truly escape and find my own truth in life.

That seems to be the ingredient for me.  Realizations.  The places that are my favorite are places that I have had a significant experience... and that can not be cooked up on blueprints or hot stoves, it has to happen organically.  That's it, I'm going to open a restaurant and serve up Organice Experiences, but you must Bring Your Own Imagination!