The good luck charm is supposed to be San Lorenzo, of course. I’ve actually looked for paintings or statues and have not found them.
So I settled for better. I have the Virgin Mary looking down on me, from Da Vinci. Of course it’s a tourist print that I framed and she is serene and beatific. I also have a fan by Halbrund of a Degas from the Staatsgallerie Stuttgart, a photo of fresh peaches at a farmers’ market from Montreal, and a 1991 NYTimes article of bungled or over-complicated restaurant menu terms.
These, along with my many knives on a wall-mounted magnetic rack below, bring me peace and tranquility as I cook our meals.
My “office” is a corner with a view. While I will move it and finish the space right now I have three office witches. My old cat Nathan, who I got as a surprise 3,000 miles away at five weeks of age. He fell off the 7′ shelf in the garage he was born in, and was rejected by his real mother so came to me for 13 years. I’ve a photo of him serene on his monogrammed bean bag bed in the California sunshine.
Then there’s a holiday ornament of a Yellow Lab with angel wings and a halo. That would be Chani, my first dog. Chani and Nathan got along well and both have been gone for over a decade. Nathan always got the last word in a discussion, until I held him when he was dead. Chani was severely abused but got over it. The neighborhood put up a tree in “her” park in her honor after her death at age 12.
The animals keep me grounded as an older “single gal” and let me know my volunteering on their behalf has not been in vain.
Then there’s me, at about 18 months of age with all possibilities available. I look at that tiny photo whenever I’m afraid of change or moving forward. That little girl in the pink snowsuit out in the cold could, and can, change the world. She may have already done so.
What is your good luck charm? Please don’t say a rabbit’s foot. Cheers! Dee
Cooking with Dee 