« Home sweet home? | Main | Expenses mount »

The diet of chaos

For the past 10 days, I've eaten nothing healthy, just a diet of what, I guess, could be termed comfort food. Lots of eating out. Lots of beef and sugar and starch. Lots and lots of quantity.

For the four days I was staying in Chattanooga, Tenn., during my evacuation, I had baked beans at least once a day, if not twice. Ice cream several times. Breakfast was usually at Waffle House, which isn't known for its light fare.

The hotel I stayed at in Florida had a free continental breakfast, and I had grits every morning, usually with a side of donut or pancake.

But it's not just quantities of food I've consumed. I remember over a week ago when I looked strangely at all the locals buying tons of beer and booze at the grocery store. (Are they getting ready to throw a hurricane party, I remember thinking.) Now, I know the answer. They were just trying to get through the chaos of the hurricane.

I'm not what you'd call a regular drinker, more of just on social occasions, and even then, MAYBE, just once a month, if that. And yet, this past week, almost like clockwork, I've reached for the Jack or the wine or a few beers each night.

I know I'm not alone. It's not that these few drinks make the hurricane more bearable or go away. It's just that the Jack and the wine and the few beers are there every night, like clockwork, and the weather is unpredictable.

School starts Monday. And hopefully Ike will drift off to sea. Otherwise, I've gotta hit the liquor store again.

Posted by Lara Richards at 10:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)