The World As I Know It

...But now,the love affair is over. Until about 8 months ago, I worked in a cardio/pulmonary ICU. With the COVID 19 surges, dangerously short staffing, and the physical and emotional pain that followed me home after a 12 hour shift I was done. I had to get out. Travel nursing was just not an option, as both travel and ICU nursing are a young person's gig. Can't afford to retire, and simply quitting wasn't an option.So, I took a job AWAY from the ICU and the bedside. I went to work in our radiology nusing unit. This was, at first, a welcome respite from the insanity of the ICU. I don't gocome home in pain anymore. My wife says I'm not a big ball of stress when I come home from work and,for the most part, I sleep better at night. Win...Win...Win...right? No. I am am masters degree nurse, don't ask why I'm not working as an NP...another story entirely. All of my training and education has been directd at providing care to the critically ill...their famili...

I first learned about fried green tomatoes when I was about six years old. My mom had a bunch of green tomatoes she was slicing up, dredging in egg and flour and throwing into akillet full of Crisco. When they were crisp and brown, she scooped them out of the pan an threw them onto a plate stacked with paper towels and a flurry of Motron's Iodized Salt from the shaker on the box top. SHe offered me one but I made a face and backed up a step. However, she gave me that look I knew meant, "Don't you DARE run away!" So, I gingerly took one and bit into it. And...damn...I was in Heaven. The salty slightly bitter, slightly sweet crunchiness left me standing by the stove snatching one every now and then until she was done. Then, we sat down at the kitchen table and finished off the plate. In the decades since, I've refined the recipe to what I have here. I don't measure exactly, as I adjust the portions depending on how many green tomatoe...