My mom loved Easter. She had a fondness for Cadbury eggs, even though — if I remember correctly — she almost never ate one because they upset her stomach terribly. When we were very, very young she used to play three or four songs on her guitar and we’d all sing along. I know probably everyone thinks this about their mothers, but she really did have an incredibly beautiful singing voice.
And of course she baked Easter bread. Oh, man. That was some crazy delicious treat, made even more enjoyable because she only ever made it once each year. A dozen loaves she’d make. It took forever, and she was so careful. She’d braid the bread into patterns, and usually bake an Easter egg right into the crust. They were fantastic creations. She would wrap them in aluminum foil and ship me a couple of loaves while I was at UF, and she continued to send me a loaf or two almost every year since then.
She’d try to coax me into returning to Florida every Spring by promising me that she’d make me Easter bread. And when I invariably couldn’t (or wouldn’t) be there, she’d mail me some anyway.
I found a recipe for something she referred to as “Nana’s Sweet Bread” on the 3×5 index card. The instructions don’t look like they could possibly yield the same result as her Easter bread, and there’s no way I can bring myself to attempt it this year, my first one without her. But maybe one year I’ll try.
These are the things I was thinking as I ran through Los Angeles this morning at dawn. It’s been a little more than seven months now and I haven’t made it through a run yet without having to wipe away some tears.
I just finished a 8.01 mi run with a pace of 9'05"/mi with Nike+ Running. http://t.co/eAtxDeYQ27 #nikeplus
— David Vincent Gagne (@davidgagne) March 25, 2013
Here are the songs I heard this morning:
- All These Things That I’ve Done — Killers, The
This song started playing as I was leaving my driveway and it’s a good one to use to sort of ease into a morning run. - Celebrity Skin — Hole
- Roller Coaster — blink-182
- Spectacular Views — Rilo Kiley
- Wake Up — Rage Against the Machine
- New Way Home — Foo Fighters
- 25 Minutes to Go (unplugged) — Pearl Jam
- Fast As You — Yoakam, Dwight
- Two Way Action — Andrew Bird’s Bowl of Fire
Good God, this is a great song. - Holiday — Green Day
- Los Angeles — Sugarcult
The title of this post is from this song. - Head On — Pixies
My mind was wandering while running and I didn’t think to skip this song when it started playing. - My Life Would Suck Without You — Clarkson, Kelly
Good, clean pop. - Homecoming / The Death Of St. Jimmy / East 12th St. / Nobody Likes You / Rock And Roll Girlfriend / We’re Coming Home Again — Green Day
For some reason I cannot ever skip this song, and since I’ve given it four stars in iTunes, I tend to hear it frequently. - Points of Authority / 99 Problems / One Step Closer (featuring Linkin Park) — Jay-Z
This song simply has a great running cadence.