shadow

we hung the blinds
one after another
mark the window
drill two holes on each side
screw in the brackets
hang the blind
untangle the cords
make sure it works

next

and my sister worked in the kitchen with my mom
ancient cookbook open to the beef strogonoff recipe
my mom read each step
looked at the pan
reminding herself where she was in the process
butter
onions
garlic
brown the meat
salt
paprika
red pepper
my mom panicked when she read next line
one tablespoon tomato paste
she was sure she didnt have any tomato paste
she paused for a minute and pulled a plastic container of blue cheese out of the fridge
offering to use it instead
and my jaw dropped

growing up we had dinner every night as a family
everyone at the table
rotating menu of which beef strogonoff was the star
my mom must have made it more than a thousand times
rote
by sight
by taste
by smell
we knew when her allergies were getting the best of her
the strogonoff was spicy

i like blue cheese she said
and my sister looked at me blankly
we are not going to use blue cheese mom
i do like blue cheese though - it will be fine
and i walked to the pantry and found a small can of tomoato paste on the shelf