It was Friday at lunchtime. Being from the coast, I cannot bring myself to eat fish here. Looking over at the other choice, I paused to ponder the ability of my stomach to digest anything. In my youth, I could drink chocolate milk while eating Chinese take-out. I could, and did, eat just about anything. I’m on the larger side of 30 now, could I still process iron ores, BoJangle’s Chicken, Insane-O Hot Wings, or cafeteria leftovers?

You see, lent is a big deal here. All the fast food places offer a fish sandwich (even Popeye’s). In case you don’t know, Catholics cannot eat meat on Fridays during Lent. Ergo, everyone offers Fish Frys, Fish Sandwiches, Fish this, Fish That — the variations are endless.

So, I was in line at the cafeteria and our two choices were Filet of Cod in Lemon sauce or Gourmet Casserole. I chose the casserole.
Now, our cafeteria does pretty well when it comes to food. It doesn’t always feel like cafeteria food. It’s inexpensive and tasty, especially the Chicken in Hunter Sauce.

Still, everyone knows what gourmet casserole is — it is left over ground meat + spaghetti noodles + pepperoni + sour cream + cheese. It is not very popular because it is an obvious attempt to get rid of leftovers.

So, I ate it.
******
Let’s move ahead to today (Sunday).

I woke up at 4am, finally feeling somewhat human. Dehydrated, exhausted, and very achey, but nowhere near as badly as the blur that was Saturday. I am told that yesterday was 72 degrees, not humid, and otherwise lovely. All I know is that I lost three pounds the hard way.

I may be able to handle many things in my digestive track, but gourmet casserole is not one of them.

I’m writing this to prime the pump for other writings. I am a week late with the monologue for our Easter service. I need to finish it today. I still feel like I have cardboard for brains and a marble of ache rolling around my body, but I think I am coherent enough to give it a good try.

Wish me luck.