Just had my first serving ever of sailfish. I had no idea it would taste so wonderful. It’s a new addition to my list of protein sources!

 

When I bused into Grecia last week

 

…I went to my usual chicken breast tienda at Mercado Municipal, where I was enthusiastically greeted by the English-speaking vendor there. The place was just being set up for business that morning, but he told me he was working another storefront that day and to follow him over. He said he would slice and de-skin two boneless chicken breasts for me right away.

 

While I was waiting

 

…I noticed that he also had tilapia (which is one of the protein sources I enjoy) and another, dark-meat fish. I asked him what it was.

 

He answered, “Sailfish” and started to look up an image on his phone to show me the fish in the wild.  I said, “Oh, I know what sailfish are. What do they taste like?  Good? ”

 

He said, “Very good!”

 

I asked, “Prepared in oil or butter in a skillet on a stove?”

 

He said, “Either way.”

 

So, I asked him for a tilapia and for a small piece of sailfish. He cut off a piece a little larger than the size of a deck of cards.

 

I just cooked the sailfish this morning

 

…added some all spice for meats, a little salt and pepper, and OH MY GOSH.  I don’t think I’ve ever eaten a better tasting fish. It isn’t “fishy” at all. It’s sublime.

 

I will have to see what the price is on it. I didn’t really look when I bought this piece but, with the chicken and the tilapia, the total seemed within my budget, for sure.  I might swap out tilapia for sailfish in the future if the price is similar!

 

This Morning (Sunday)

 

…I’m planning to vegetate.  Not going to walk today.  If Sonia sends me her final three stories to edit, I may work on those. Or I may not.  We’ll see!

 

Ever since I’ve been working on Sonia’s children’s stories

 

…with her, I have been having some of the most vivid (not lucid, vivid), creative dreams. Staying creative super-charges my spirit, it seems!

 

I even thought of a children’s story idea for Sonia that she might want to tackle.

 

It’s sorta autobiographical

 

As many of you know, I was a “sparkler” (Shirley Temple-style, some said) as a kid: an effervescent “scene-stealer” without being any the wiser.  My vibrational frequency was far higher than either of my parents, and so they thought I needed “moderating”  —  mostly so they could hear themselves think, and have conversations, and not be interrupted by singing and dancing!

 

But, in “correcting” me (ham-handedly) they conveyed to me that there was something terribly wrong/unsightly/unseemly about myself, and so (in public and in school) I became a quiet, shy kid who didn’t want any attention paid to me.  I got the message that I should be seen but NOT heard, loud and clear.

 

And that was the beginning of what turned out to be low-grade, chronic depression.

 

You see, if a “sparkly” kid isn’t able to shine at their personal vibrational frequency, they internalize their sparkle/effervescence as error, as dysfunction, as a great big no-no.

 

Every time I would get excited or thrilled or joyous, my kinetic energy and decibel level would skyrocket and I would be “moderated” back into line.

 

It took me years — decades — to figure out that I wasn’t defective.  I was just joyful and energetic and that I should feel free to be me, period. Not a bad thing at all, even if “not normal.”

 

Of course, my transgender status also factored into the equation, but it wouldn’t have to in a children’s story.

 

The moral of the children’s story would be something like, “If you have a sparkler, they whave the potential to eventually light  up the world.  Don’t douse them with your doubts and fears. Don’t anchor them to a personality that doesn’t serve them. Let them shine!”

 

Think that would make a good children’s story?  Or maybe an adult article for some other publication?

 

I became a writer partly because it’s QUIET!  (Again, my favorite saying about writers is “Writing is show business for shy people.”)

 

But I didn’t start out shy. I started out the gate like I was running for the roses, head held high, full speed ahead.  It took becoming an independent adult to finally break free and say, “This is who I am. Love me or hate me, I’m NOT gonna pretend anymore!”