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Another long bike ride tonight. Feels good to get back into shape. I left work at 5:30, biked from Sterling to Vienna - through Herndon and Reston. Good hour each way. Got back to my car at 7:30 sweating like a dog, but calm and relaxed. Biking has become my new form of therapy. For 2 hours everyday, I just have my thoughts. I was thinking - what a luxury. Number one - because I barely have enough time to do what I can in a 24 hour day - number two, because I can think while I excersize and travel through the country/suburbs and cities on the trail.

I think about all sorts of crap. Mostly undramatic domestic or philisophical junkets. While biking today, I was trying to remember the dream i had last night. And after 3 miles of trying to remember - it came to me when I crossed a bridge over a small stream. This dream is one of a continuum of reoccuring dreams involving being on a vacation with my family - usually at the beach...or at a house at the lake...or at some suburban house like for a reunion. It only involves my immediate family - my brothers, parents and I. Other characters also show up in these dreams - usually odd old friends or colleagues, classmates from long ago.

So in this particular dream, I dreampt that I was with my Dad, my older brother and an old friend from grad school fishing at a stream somewhere out in the boonies. I caught this HUGE catfish. When I mean huge - I mean it was like 8 feet long. It was a huge struggle to reel this suckah in. My arms were tired in the dream. I was finally able to reel him close enough to the shore where my Dad and my friend from grad school waded into the water to wrestle this huge ass catfish. Between the three of us..we dragged it up out of the water and onto some shallow grass near the stream. This fish was still flopping around, but it was calming down. My dad asked how we should skin it up. SO we walked over to this shed next to the lake house and started to look for something to kill it and cut it up. My Dad grabbed a hoe and pointed to a chainsaw in the corner of the shed. About that time, my Mom came around the corner and said, "My gosh, that is a HUGE fish, are we gonna have enough room in the freezer for that?" End of dream. I couldn't remember anymore. I'm thinking I should go see the movie (or read the book) Big Fish.

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On my bikeride tonight, I see this cat, again. Seemingly everyday, this cat is on the bike trail. He (or she) is always poised there in a perpetual pounce position like a hunting pointer dog...ready to pounce onto it's mouse, bird or whatever. The funny thing about this cat is that it's never skiddish by all the bike/pedestrian/rollerblader traffic. He's like a constant. A milestone in my bike journey, like the old buildings, the pastures, the streams, the upward hill struggles, the downhill glee of being in 12th gear and wind whipping my face til my eyes water. He's always there. But I feel semi-sad for this cat, even though he's a free spirit wandering the wilderness, possibly friendly to the pedestrians - and his owners (he's obviously owned by someone, he has a collar and tags) - BUT, the owners put a little bell on his collar. I bet that cat is really pissed off. I can imagine what that cat is thinking, "I spend all day in hunter mode - ready to catch my prey - but as soon as I make my move, this damn bell rings and scares the prey off. Damn humans. I'll poop outside of the litter box tonight just for that"

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Holy camunga, what a beautiful day it was today. The PERFECT spring day. Not a cloud in the sky, perfect 70-73 degrees. The kinda day where everyone who owns a convertable or a motorcycle is outside. The sort of day where you eat out on the patio at your favorite restaurant. The sort of day where you take a long bike ride. Which is what I did after work. Now that it's daylight savings time, it stays lighter later - and now until June 21st the days will grow longer. Which is great for my evening bike rides on the W O&D bike trails near my office. The other thing about my bike rides is that at 5:30, I change into my bike clothes - indicating to the office that I'm about to leave (otherwise - I'll end up staying until I'm the last one standing). I'm trying to get into the habit of leaving on time - not to be rude, it's just in principle, because I'm not being paid overtime. And I need to get a life.

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Unsure what it is about spinach. Lately, It seems like every time I cook - spinach is involved. More than likely, because it's a-plentiful 'round these parts this time o'year. It's springlike food, to eat it gives you Popeye-esque virility. It's a versitile green - you can steam it, braise it, blanche it, make salads out of it raw......or like what I did this evening.....roll it into tenderized chicken breasts. With out adu, I present:

Le poulet a roulé avec des épinards en vin et sauce aux champignons
(Chicken rolled with spinach in wine and mushroom sauce)

4 medium chicken breasts, tenderized to 3/16th-1/4" thin
1.5 lbs fresh spinach leaves/baby spinach
large handful of cilantro, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
1tsp finely chopped ginger root
2 scallions
10 small fresh mushrooms, sliced medium thickness
2tbsp light virgin olive oil
1/2 cup dry Chardonnay
3/4 cup chicken stock
fresh ground pepper to taste
Kosher salt to taste

In a large skillet on high heat, saute 1/2 the garlic and scallions for one minute in 1tbsp olive oil. Add spinach and stir for a minute then add cilantro and ginger root, salt and pepper. Stir for five minutes or until spinach has reduced to a moist green. Take off heat, place spinach in bowl to cool. Do not clean out skillet, add rest of olive oil - set aside to brown chicken later.

Lay tenderized chicken breasts flat. Lightly salt and pepper each side. Take a large tablespoon of the spinach mix and spread on each chicken breast. Spread thin. Roll each chicken breast with spinach spread and secure with one toothpick. Fire up skillet on medium heat and add rest of garlic and scallions, saute. Lightly brown rolled chicken breasts on each side for 1 minute. Slowly pour in chicken stock and Chardonnay. Add mushrooms and move chicken rolls around sauce. Cover skillet and let cook for 5 minutes. Turn chicken and stir mushrooms cover and cook for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Place one rolled chicken breast on each plate and drizzle wine sauce and top with mushrooms. Enjoy!

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Today is Passover. I remember exactly what I did tonight 10 years ago. It's a really bizarre incident, but to say the least - ironic and memorable. Let me first say, I am a goy. I say that loosely with humor, because I am not Jewish, but my live in girlfriend of many years (years ago) was jewish - a progresive Jew and taught me many of the mannerisms of Jewish culture...customs through stereotypes. I suppose every disenfranchized culture or religion has it's own way of identifying with marginalization - especially with humor. Oy vay, anyhoo.

It was Passover night back on this day a decade ago. She and I were running embarrassingly late to a passover dinner at a friend's house in Williamsburg part Brooklyn, NYC (for passover and other sabbath - one has to be at attendence or at home before dark). It was dark. It was raining. We were sitting at an intersection in Lower Williamsburg (which is primarilly a heavilly populated Hasidic Orthodox Jewish neighborhood) and the car right in front of us jumped the light...and a car racing to catch the tail end of a yellow light barreled into the car....huge accident. I put our car in park, and jumped out to see if I could help flag down for some help or go to a house there and ask someone to call 911 (because it was obviously a bad accident). I look up...and through the rain, I see about 15 children...all Hasidic jewish kids all pressed up against the glass of the windows watching the drama unfold on the street .

I was screaming up to them and their parents to PLEASE call 911 for help. They gestured down that they could not. (explanation, orthodox jews are forbidden by Jewish law to not use any form of electronics - including the telephone after dark on sabbath...ESPECIALLY on Passover, this is known as "Melacha") . This I knew but thought one could take exception in a possible case of life or death. They said no, cannot and closed all doors and windows. Fortunately, a good samaritan was driving by who happenned to have a cell phone (back then not many people had them) and called for help.

Suffice to say, we were late to the Passover dinner. The Gentile with the cell phone who called for help happened to be Jewish, as were the 3 people who were hurt (and lived) in the accident. Enjoy Passover!

- your goy melacha d'Orysa

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I am now an uncle 6 times over today. My younger brother and his wife had their third child today. Big little girl. 9lbs. at 2:14pm (04:14 - fourteen hundred, fourteen in military time) on April 4th, 2004 - so born 04:14 on 04/04/04.

Elizia Rose is her name. Her two older brothers must be happy to have a sister. This will be a fun time for the family. I am happy for them. :)

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