Forced Minimalism

by Ester Harrison

Oh, hello there. 

How's it been?

Yeah, I admit it. Lately I have sucked at keeping up with my The Roaming Ramekins blog. Why? Mostly due to all of this stuff: move to the new house, new job, an election and other life-changing stuff. You know. I'm sure you are right there with me. 

For months now I have been collecting images and stories with hopes to catch up on blog posts this winter break. I was going to write amazing recaps, like one on our trip to LA where we dined at places like Abigaile and Canele, stayed in the cutest AirBnB in Hermosa Beach, relaxed on the beach, and visited Getty Villa and the Broad museums. Or cover the past two Podcasts and Casserole supper meals that included a breakfast night and a Tapas-style meal.

I knew that once winter came I would have two weeks staycation. TWO WEEKS(!) of time to write and update and organize! 

But, as the saying goes, "man plans, God laughs."

Three weeks ago my phone broke and all the files I believed I was backing up disappeared with that phone. Where are they? In that great abyss of nothingness where socks go. 

After realizing my grand mistake I gave myself a moment to despair. And what did I feel next? Relief, actually. In this age of millions of photos (my phone had at least a few thousand), I often feel overwhelmed. What am I expected to with these. Let's be honest, I am not going to scrapbook. It's not my style. So, thanks to my technological gaffe and the wonder of the universe, I no longer have to figure that out. Instead, I get to deal with a forced minimalism. 

What does that mean for you, dear reader? Well, for one thing I'm not going to try to play catch up on several months of posts. I didn't write, I lost the images, life goes on. 

Ultimately it means that I have to reanalyze the point of this blog. But that's a post for another day. For now, enjoy the images I was able to scrounge together from social media.