From Emma – Second Breakfast

“What about breakfast?”
“You’ve already had it.”
“We’ve had one, yes. What about second breakfast?”
“I don’t think he knows about second breakfast, Pip.”
“What about elevenses? Luncheon? Afternoon tea? Dinner? Supper? He knows about them, doesn’t he?”
“I wouldn’t count on it.”

— The Fellowship of the Ring, 2001

We started out this season with Cravings and The Little Farm Show, two guest-presented shows about the food we eat and the importance of the things that sustain us. Five months into the season, and I am still way struggling with that concept. This week has been especially demonstrative of that.

Lunch hour is usually spent in the office or in a meeting, trying to catch up on work in between rehearsal hours, or trying to keep momentum going on work without breaking. Lunch dishes are determined (in part) by how well they fit in between my computer and my piles of papers and sticky notes. A bowl of soup is nice and compact, not to mention warm and comforting on a cold day, and canned soup is usually on sale.

Dinner is two parts. After the bulk of the day at Touchstone, I’m off to Moravian, helping to stage manage their production of The Memorandum. Dinner part one is a small coffee or tea or hot chocolate, to help me push through the last few hours of the day, and a small tupperware full of pita chips, because I am profoundly fond of pita chips. Dinner part two is something easy after rehearsal ends– pasta or salad or sandwiches. Or Wawa. Usually Wawa. Delicious, life-sustaining Wawa.

Due to late evening rehearsals, I’ve been trying to pace myself by taking a later start on some days. A variable breakfast time follows, anywhere between 7:30 and 10. A bowl of Kix or a Naked Juice smoothie while I sit with the cat and get myself settled for the day.

Oh yeah.

Snacks are sprinkled throughout the day, when there’s room. This is the time of year where my favorite snack of all, the Cadbury Egg, graces stores with its presence, and I begin stockpiling them for when I need a chocolate pick-me-up.

So, clearly, this is not exactly what we call a healthy diet.

As the schedule continues picking up the pace, it’s easier and easier to fall into bad habits. I’m trying to look ahead to pockets of spare time where I can actually make a proper meal, and it’s always a nice treat to manage when possible, but it takes constant attention, and it’s so easy to let slip. Looking ahead, I’m counting the days until my evenings return to normal and I can try to resume slightly more regular mealtimes, and I’m definitely looking forward to that.

But until then, I’ll make do. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to grab a sandwich and coffee from Wawa. And it’s going to be delicious.