I started watching this four-part series on Netflix last night: “Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat.” I heard the creator in an interview on MPR this last week and how she was talking about the history of olive oil and how Americans really don’t know very much about it. How olive oil is truly supposed to taste, and how our taste buds are not sharpened, or honed into when the oils begin to age and become rancid.

There was the cutest Italian woman showing the host how to truly make pesto with the back drop in Italy’s beautiful landscape. The sounds, textures, sights, and tastes . . . oh my god I thought, this is memorizing, I want to try and make pesto like this, ground in a mortar. Did you know it start with pine nuts? However, I am not sure if America has one of the cheeses that the Italians do though.

Here is this older Italian woman passing her gift how to truly make pesto to her family and now in this special.

I woke up this morning and close to my first thought was – everyone has gifts to give; innate gifts that are at our finger tips. We are born with these, unbeknownst to us or not. I think many of us are aware of these gifts we may have, but don’t believe they are gifts and often don’t provide adequate space for them in our lives. Some of us might and I have a feeling some of us don’t as much.

I just thought, if we started out from a place, or a space, a word better suited, that we know we have a gift and some of us multiple gifts; and given that, the thought process inside out has its own trajectory that almost cannot be touched.

Also a friend of mine told me a magical story she experienced first-hand experienced yesterday. A truly magical story. And I am sorry, I cannot relay that story because it is her story and not mine. Her mission is to curate that from her own innate gifts.

I think the magical story interlaced with the pesto created these thoughts this morning.

More magic, more gifts: I want to plug this YA book called Five Feet Apart by Rachel Lippincott. An actual book about two CFers. It is number 9 on the New York Times best sellers list this week, and a true movie has been made, due out March 2019.

Claire Wineland, whom has passed, in one of her many gifts consulted for the accuracy while the movie was in production; such a bright star.

Cystic Fibrosis is not known like some other diseases, and it needs more awareness. Many people have heard of it, but not much more than that unless they know of someone whom has CF.

I am not sure if the book or the movie would be good for my head, as I am hesitant on both accounts – but both is needed in the CF awareness space.

So, these are my thoughts this morning, and now I must switch-over and give whatever I may have into the interesting and challenging world of English and writing research. It is fun stuff, truly. I am not joking.