Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, I’ve never been far from what feels like wilderness. My childhood home was surrounded by woods, the beach was only ten minutes away, and the Cascade and Olympic Mountains embraced me on either side of the Sound. Even if the woods around my house were full of nothing scarier than a coyote or two, the whole island felt like it was just one step removed from the fantasy settings I loved reading about so much.
I’ve traveled far, but not necessarily widely, and I have yet to find a place that agrees with me as well as the Pacific Northwest. Even when I’m at my most stressed–which is often–there’s something comforting in knowing I’m so close to any kind of nature I’d want to escape to.
Anyway, here’s a drabble.
!["[Food] is how we care for and nourish ourselves, each other, and our communities."
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There are many terrible things about this pandemic. One of the ones I'm struggling with the most is that it's not safe for me to see friends, and therefore it's not safe for me to cook for them or eat with them. Going out for coffee or dinner is one of my favorite things to do with friends, along with cooking and playing games in person. We're staying connected as best we can, but eating chips and salsa over Discord just isn't the same as eating them together.
The Corners of Their Mouth is a queer food zine, exploring some of the relationships queer folks have with food. It begins with a question: what is the queerest food? Many answers are provided by a variety of people, including nachos, cocoa, figs, pancakes and honey, and rainbow goldfish. I think mango is my answer, but "queer food," to me, is anything cooked by or for my friends. Queer food is us gathered in the kitchen, me cussing as I screw up our Friendsgiving turkey for the sixth year in a row. Queer food is us dropping spinach dip all over my Gloom cards. Queer food is the ramen we made the last time we hung out together before the pandemic, when I was sick and we all hoped it wouldn't be the last time this year we'd get to interact in person.
But right, the zine. It's very good. The Corners of Their Mouth Press do a wonderful job of putting together thought-provoking content on queerness and living with great sensitivity. It's not just about showcasing queer life; it's about caring for it, nurturing it, letting it blossom in its own unique way. If you come upon one of their zines, pick them up, read them. They're lovely and strong things.
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