#01: Entry for 17 September, 2023

Love (/lʌv/), verb: when you hang out with a recently-made friend of yours and you make lunch together. (By this you mean, they mostly did the cooking and you mostly did the petting of their dog.) It was beetroot salad with mixed greens and barrata cheese, with a side of leftover risotto (it was better fresh, they apologize to you as your mouth is full of risotto). Then you used the remaining beetroot juices to attempt to dye a few old fabrics you both had; the juice was a scarlet so red it felt alive, and seemed joyful for it. You still don't know how it turned out because they have to sit for 24 hours to let the dye set, but you had a lot of fun just splashing the fabrics around in the dye and chatting while the time passed by.

Even though you've only seen each other a few times before, you know somehow that your friendship will be a deep one. You talked about your parents and about your exes, and about how the former will never shut up about the latter when you want them to. You talked about how beetroots are the hearts of the earth and about how vinegar makes you remember the floors you walked on as a child. You talked about what your name would be if you were a ranch hand. You tried to paint a small beetroot heart on the dog, but it looked a bit gory so you washed it off with a good laugh, right away.
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