Crispy Gnocchi with Tomatoes and Mozzarella

I am going to share something that's a little embarrassing: Reading the news in the morning very frequently brings tears to my eyes. Sometimes I even indulge in a few sobs before I start my day. 

My companion when I read the morning news

This is not new. These past couple weeks it's in response to what's happening in Israel and Gaza, but there's also Russia's war against Ukraine, and the Afghanistan earthquakes, and before that it was the flooding in Libya and the earthquake in Morocco and the Hawaii wildfires, and before that it was something else, going back forever. Sometimes the trigger for tears is on a smaller scale, like the gun violence that is almost constant, or the exploitation or abuse of a person.

Yesterday, as I dried my eyes and blew my nose, I thought to myself, "Can this possibly be a normal response to simply reading the news?" But then I reasoned that I might have to be abnormal NOT to be gutted by the awful things that people experience, and--even more depressing--the awful things that people do to other people. That's why I'm confessing my tears, even though it makes me feel sort of ridiculous. We shouldn't spend our lives crying, of course, but being upset is, I think, a natural response to awfulness, and we can allow our distress to motivate us.

I remind myself that even though I feel personally powerless to stop war and terrorism (let alone earthquakes), I do have the power to act in ways that encourage and model kindness, helping people, and accepting responsibility for my actions that might harm others.

I accept responsibility for my potential contributions to climate change, for example, which increasingly has "widespread adverse impacts and related losses and damages to nature and people" around the world (IPCC AR6 Synthesis Report: Climate Change 2023). To reduce my contributions, I try to minimize actions like driving, and flying, and turning up the heat, and eating meat. 

It took me a while to get out of my lifelong habit of defaulting to meat, when I started this effort in 2019. But now vegetarian dishes are an easy lift when I'm preparing food for myself and my family. Take, for example, "Crispy Gnocchi With Burst Tomatoes and Mozzarella" (NYT Cooking), which is basically pizza in gnocchi form. It's as tasty and as easy to prepare as the recipe makes it sound, though my tomatoes took a few extra minutes to cook down.

A friend gave me the most precious gift: surplus homegrown cherry tomatoes! They represent about half the tomatoes I used for the sauce, and gave the dish an extra dose of delicious.

Good food is a joy, and the world needs more joy.

Here's another joy: seeing Judy Blume speak at the New Yorker Festival on October 7. I am in awe of Judy, whose books have been lodestars for me and kids everywhere, and who is full of life at 85 years old.

Judy Blume (center)