This feels good.
Impromptu beach, a friend's cookbook, and healing from a long cold.
Fellow Earth beings,
At the beach, I bite into a tangerine, let the juice roll down a bit, and lick the droplet of citrus sea water under my lip to savor the punchy mix of sweet and salty.
Life has been like this lately, a practice of caring for myself. Bringing her on a date to the beach, making cute little lunches, and stringing sparkly moments of “this feels good,” and wearing it as a necklace so that every time I walk past the mirror, the twinkle catches my eye, stops me in my tracks, and I remember once again that life is beautiful.
Fish the size of a butcher’s forearm, sleepy waves rocking round silver bodies. I let my eyes follow their translucent fins, their irregular movements and imagine what it is like to have scales for skin, what it is like to dream underwater, and already, the watercolor ocean has blurred the fish away.
I decide to blur back too, through the sand and past the tragic still life of someone’s dropped gelato. On this hot afternoon, the train stomps through dusty towns like a pouty teenager who hates the world. Summer is coming.
My dear friend, the culinary witch.
Lisanna Wallance is a culinary witch, clinical herbalist, and chef who works with plants to make meals and potions that soothe chronic pain and nourish the body. Now this is someone who knows how to take amazing care of herself.
Ever since Lisanna and I met in elementary school, I have thought of her as a kind fairy who temporarily stepped out of the forest to share her magic with us. A couple of years ago, our paths crossed again in the world of publishing—Lisanna was growing roots as a cookbook author in Paris, and I was starting to sow seeds in picture book land.
Lisanna was born with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome or EDS, a connective tissue disorder that causes mutated collagen, fragile connective tissues, and dysfunction throughout the body. She has also been diagnosed with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, or POTS, a condition where dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system causes spikes in heart rate, and also Mast Cell Activation Syndrome, or MCAS, a co-morbid immunological condition where white blood cells overreact and cause allergic reactions.
From afar, I rooted for her and watched in awe as she researched, wrote, styled, and photographed this beautiful book while battling these chronic illnesses and Long COVID. Into this book she poured the knowledge that she acquired during some of her hardest health battles, editing pages from hospital beds and styling strawberry cupcakes between immunotherapy treatments.
I am so proud of Lisanna, and I feel so happy to be able to share her work and her gorgeous book with you too. Perhaps there is someone in your community who is experiencing chronic pain and is looking for a way to heal through food. You can get your copy here and follow Lisanna on Instagram at @culinary.witch.
Besides celebrating my friend’s new cookbook…
I have been out and about, popping over to an afternoon opening at a friend’s artist residency and staying for dinner, getting lost in moody live music with my picture book friend and her mom, touring a designer’s home on the other side of town as part of Lisbon Design Week, deciding to wander into a picturesque alleyway that opens up to a pink courtyard and realizing after a few minutes of touring this artist’s textile studio that wait a second… didn’t we meet at a costume party a few years ago? How have you been?!
The first half of May looked very different. I came down with an intense cold and fever that forced me to stay home, rest, and ask for help. My lovely friends who live by the river cooked an incredible chicken soup and delivered big jars of it to our door. I felt so loved and cared for.
In my studio this week, I am finishing up a watercolor painting for a client and working out an idea sketch to send to The New Yorker. And although I can’t tell you just yet… there is exciting book-related news I will be announcing at the end of June. Stay tuned.
“Music for bike voyages through the Italian countryside and city streets on hot summer nights”
… has been playing in my house as I repot plants, hang the laundry in the sunshine, and prepare my coffee in the morning. This mix always gives me an extra dose of happy. I hope you enjoy it too.
Happy June and Happy Pride, beautiful!
Love,
Haruka
happy to hear your voice ~ can almost feel the ocean from across the globe. good to be reminded of all the things that feel good 🌊