One of the mouse traps in my bedroom has disappeared. I did a cursory hunt last night when I was going to bed, but I didn’t find it. My guess is the occupant scratched and pushed and moved it, but that’s just a guess, a good guess though as past occupants also managed to move it. Their exertions used to wake me up. The missing trap has to be near the bookcase on which I had been setting them (if you call putting in peanut butter setting them). Later, when it gets lighter, I’ll do a better hunt.

I haven’t caught a mouse in two days so my old record stands.

Tonight is Patriots’ football. I made chili yesterday and have put it on low this morning so it can finish cooking. I have corn bread and some toppings for the chili: cheese, chopped jalapeños, sour cream and Fritos. I’m thinking chili and football on a cold winter’s night are a perfect combination.

I wonder sometimes how food comes into our lives. I don’t mean the common every day sort of meal but different foods. My mother never made chili or any kind of Mexican food, but my sisters, my brother and I love it. I wonder where we first tasted it. Middle Eastern food is a favorite of mine: hummus, tabouleh, falafel and baba ghannoush, but that I can trace to Ghana. In Accra in those days there were many Lebanese restaurants, and they were cheap which is a great find for a Peace Corps volunteer in the big city on little money. Ghana was also where I first tasted Indian food. It was at the Maharaja, a restaurant compete with pillows on the floor for seating. I have no idea what prompted me to taste all that foreign food back then as some of it was not visually appealing, but I think it was my being a bit adventurous in another country. I have tried stuff which I really hated including blood sausage. It was probably the name which put me off even before the tasting. Thai food is among my favorites. I usually hit my favorite restaurant, a hole in the wall, at least once or twice a month. There used to be a Caribbean restaurant in Falmouth, and I’d make the trek just for the goat curry, but that restaurant closed a long time ago.

When I read about a restaurant serving different foreign foods, I make a note of the name and address and put it in a book. It is my I hope to eat there book. The list includes a Moroccan, Indonesian and Caribbean restaurant.

My taste buds would love some more exploration. It’s been a while.