Chicken soup

This week, driving home from work and stopping by Bruno's to pick up some chicken soup to sooth my cold, I thought about what I would have done in Chicago.

Walking home from the train, I would have stopped by Rosded, a Thai restaurant, and ordered take-out Chicken Tom Ka Kay, extra spicy. At home, I'd take the lid off the soup and breathe in, the steam itself so hot from the extra chili peppers that my sinuses would clear instantly. I'd strain the soup to pick out the galangal and lemongrass, so the broth was clear with its chicken, and sometimes cabbage. The takeout container was so large, I'd often get two meals out of it, which only got spicier by the second bowl if I didn't take out the peppers in the beginning, too.

Thinking about that while heating the Campbell's on the stove made the noodle soup seem so bland and unappetizing, and I realized how completely different my life is now. Though its simplicity is finally comforting and appealing to me, I'll always pick living someplace where I can walk home and pick up Thai food on the way above all else.