Potatoes, on the rocks

Yesterday was really long and tiring day for me. After 15 hours of studying, working, running around town, meeting people and working some more I was finally dragging my leaden feet on our shady home alley.

Seeing as we are so many in the house, we've come up with a system for shared meals. On most evenings one of us is making dinner for everyone in the house who wants to participate. Some of us have small kitchens of our own, but the house also has one big main kitchen. We put a list up there on the big kitchen wall where people can announce when they're making dinner and others can sign up for that. The system is terrific, and on super busy days it's such a boon to come home to a warm meal.

I could smell the food all the way from the porch. My mouth filled up with saliva and my stomach wailed loudly, like a baby vulture calling for the attention of its mother, who's just about to vomit the lunch into the baby's open and eager mouth.

Roasted potatoes. Spread out on the porch, some of them inside the pan, some of them all around it. Still warm.

Inside, David, one of the guys from downstairs, and Bethany, the slender dark-haired single mom, yelling at each other like it's doomsday. Beth calling David names and David threatening to throw all of Bethany's stuff outside. It turned out that David had been about to start cooking today's shared meal, apparently not in the best of moods, and Bethany had been selfishly occupying the best spot on the stove for making pancakes for her and her son. David had told her to get her pancakes out of the way or he'd do the favor for her. Beth had told him to shove it, one thing led to another and suddenly there were burns on little Seth's left hand from the hot pan.

Mommy instincts got the better of Bethany, and after bandaging scared little Seth's hand and putting him to bed she stormed back into the kitchen and, with a mighty gesture, flung the hot, roasted, spicy, tasty, delicious potatoes out on the cold cement porch. More yelling and general craziness ensued.

I love living with people. You never need come home to a cold, empty, boring house. Something is always going on!