Update

Eastside Road, July 30, 2010—

I KNEW A MAN ONCE who was notorious among his friends (and he had many) for the pot of eternal soup he kept on his stove. The idea was, you'd drop by for supper, maybe you'd bring something — a couple of carrots, some beans, a handful of herbs — and it would go into the pot, always ready at the back of the stove. I assume and hope it was always simmering. I managed never to partake of the pot. Lou lived almost to his 85th birthday, so I guess the soup was nutritious in some way. (He died on the threshhold of a fast-food restaurant he was being taken to against his better judgement.)

This chili threatens to turn into something similar. Tonight it was extended with more beans and garnished with a delicious avocado a friend brought the other day — a Reed; you don't find those easily — along with the onion. Broccoli before; a bad movie after.

Water