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SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE
Setting the Scene:
Dill, a chef, recently separated from the woman he couldn’t imagine being
without, is remembering how Willa, aforementioned woman, taught him that the best
remedy for the blues is good food.
Excerpt from NEARVANA: JUST SOUTH OF NIRVANA:
When Willa took one half of their double-wide trailer and headed north from
Oregon on I-5, Dill took the other half and went south, toward Nirvana, New Mexico.
Dill loved green chilies.
He could love New Mexico.
Trailers don’t travel well cross-country though. That is how Dill’s half, the Cafe,
came to land in Near-Vana, just south of Nirvana. Dill decided it was about as good a
name for his cafe as any, so it stuck.
Cafe NearVana.
These days Dill stands in front of his trailer, stroking the outside wall—right
there, where Willa’s half used to be joined to his, half-believing it to still be there.
Feeling it, like a missing limb.
Thinking of Willa makes Dill hungry. When she wanted to make him feel happy,
she would cook dinner and dessert—recipes that had always brought her comfort when
she was down, before Dill. They were not low-cal, low-fat, meager-portioned meals, but
full-bodied, warming, fill-you-up-you-are-not-alone dinners. And she was right. He
always felt better. As a Chef, he knew it wasn’t healthy, but as a man, a husband, and a
human being, he could think of no better remedy for the blues.
“Willa called me her sweet potato. The first time she made this dish for me, we
talked about having our own little sweet potatoes. You know, children.”
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