Tranquille. Les Pieds Dans L'eau.

 

 Once when I was traveling in the south of France, and agitated about something, a French native said to me, “Tranquille, pieds dans l’eau.” Meaning, relax, and imagine the gentle waves of the nearby Mediterranean lapping at your feet. This picture exemplifies the pieds dans l’eau moment I needed when I took a break from blogging.

Blogging was hard work. It took weekly recipe planning, shopping, cooking, photographing. It took planning to finish cooking in time to photograph using natural light. And then the writing, the requisite tweeting, the reading others’ blogs. While a wonderful creative outlet, and the only thing I had attempted for which I was solely responsible, I had hoped that one day my blogging would eventually lead to an additional source of income, and I was making, oh, 52 cents per month from ads. I had also recently broken up with my husband, and had starting dating. With a name like Banu Ogan, and a public blog, one click and any potential suitor had quick access to my life’s details, and at that moment, I wanted to live more privately.

But I have missed it. Often, during lunch, my dance students ask me what I’m eating, and for the recipe. I’ve missed widely sharing my healthy, one-pot meals with these dancers, ever concerned about nutrition and finances. I have missed the community of food bloggers I met here, and I have missed being inspired by others’ recipes and stories. Some of you aren’t cooks, but claim to have enjoyed reading my posts, and have encouraged me again and again to restart.

So, here I am. It is a first post back, with no guarantees. I’ve never done anything with the express goal of making tons of money, so bring on those 52 cents per month! I’m still dating, but I’ve relaxed about the privacy stuff. After all, aren’t lots of people posting nude pictures and discussing debaucherous evenings online? Writing about what I ate yesterday seems Puritanical in comparison, but I must say, those are some pretty naked toes.