A Worker Among Workers Salad

I walked slowly down the hallway, my eyes swollen and red from too many late nights and early mornings. Fitting in the time to assemble somewhat of a balanced life in grad school has presented a challenge in itself, and one that I am starting to actually enjoy.

At 5 am the world is all mine, and I run through the empty streets exploring familiar territory with new eyes. When the sky lifts its dark blue veil I am reminded that I share this planet with other people, people who have ideas about what I need to be doing and exactly what time I need to be doing it. Interacting with them is a game of when to assert and when to gracefully submit, when to lead and when to be led.

At 5 PM I stand on the top floor of the building where I work and watch as the people pour out like ants. Their badges swing from side to side and their shoulders sag under the weight of their shoulder bags. In the corridor on the way back to my apartment I am dropped back into my world as the dusk folds down.

I turn the handle and am flooded with music. Jesse is rocking vigorously back and forth, waving his arms in pure joy and smiling from ear to ear. Christina is standing in the living room assembling new desk chairs for us. She dances around, and I can't tell if she is more excited about the project of assembling chairs or the fact that we now have them.

The cats are playing like crazy, due to the arrival of several large empty brown boxes. They dive from one box to the next, occasionally chasing each other onto one of the old desk chairs and sending it flying across the hard wood floors. They ride with pinned back ears and wide eyes, digging their claws into the leather and holding tight as though embarking on a sleigh ride. The office door has been left open and they chase each other back and forth across the entryway, celebrating the freedom to pass through the forbidden territory.

A cameo appearance from Catherine and Everett comes just as my hands are putting the finishing touches on today's salad. I look down and notice that somehow I managed to make just enough food for all of us, and I wondered how my subconscious self knew that they would be coming. After salad there was tea, toast, and typing, and new comfy desk chairs. The cats were stretched long, and there was Jesse, slowly rocking back and forth, grinning from ear to ear.

A Worker Among Workers Salad
1 bulb fennel, shaved or sliced thin
8 small fresh carrots, sliced
1 small bunch spinach
1 small bunch basil
1 cup pepitas
2 small red heirloom tomatoes

Dress with:
4 Tbsp grape seed oil
2 Tbsp lime juice
3/4 Tbsp raw honey
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp tarragon
salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

Christina's vote: "This salad made me want to run up a tree"