By I walked without crutches on Wednesday. Not far — thirty feet down the hallway and back, Rivera walking beside me like a very muscular shadow, ready to catch me if the leg gave out. It didn't give out. It hurt. It hurt the way things hurt when they're working again, which is different from the way things hurt when they're broken. Rivera said, "Good." One word. The highest praise in the Rivera vocabulary. I'll take it.
Fort Carson is confirmed. Two weeks. They'll fly me to Colorado Springs, continue the rehab there, run the medical evaluation board. Colorado is closer to Montana than D.C. is. Eight hundred miles closer. I keep measuring the distance between me and the ranch like it matters, like fewer miles means something. Maybe it does. Maybe closer to home is a kind of healing the doctors don't have a form for.
Mom called Tuesday and talked about the garden. She's putting in tomatoes, peppers, herbs — the usual. She goes through the garden plan every May the way some people go through a playbook: this row for the Romas, that row for the bells, basil near the tomatoes because they're companions, she says, which means they grow better together. I listened for twenty minutes. I didn't say much. I didn't need to. Colleen Gallagher talking about her garden is better than any therapy session I've had, and I'd apologize to Dr. Hannigan for that except it's true and he'd probably agree.
She said the chives are up. The chives are always first — tough, sharp little things that push through frozen ground before anything else dares. I used to chop them over scrambled eggs on Saturday mornings. Nothing fancy. Eggs in the cast iron, butter, salt, chives on top, eaten standing at the counter because sitting down for breakfast on a ranch is a luxury nobody takes. I'm going to make those eggs when I get home. I have the skillet. I'll have the chives. I'll stand at the counter.
It's midnight and the ward is quiet except for the sounds wards make at night — machines, footsteps, someone down the hall having a dream they don't want. I'm having them too. But tonight I'm also thinking about chives. About eggs. About a garden in Montana where things push through frozen ground because that's what they do. They push through. It's not a metaphor. It's just chives. But it's also not just chives. I'm too tired to figure out which. Both. It's both.
I don’t have the chives yet—not until I’m home—but I wrote this down anyway, the way I want it to go: cast iron, butter, salt, chives on top, eaten standing at the counter like a person who belongs there. Some recipes are about food and some are about the place you’re going back to. This one is both. Here’s how I’ll make it.
Cast Iron Scrambled Eggs with Fresh Chives
Prep Time: 3 min | Cook Time: 6 min | Total Time: 9 min | Servings: 1
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons fresh chives, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped (optional)
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon whole milk or cream (optional, for softness)
Instructions
- Crack and whisk. Crack the eggs into a bowl. Add milk if using, salt, and pepper. Whisk briskly until the yolks and whites are fully combined and a little frothy — about 30 seconds.
- Heat the skillet. Place a seasoned cast iron skillet over medium-low heat. Add the butter and let it melt fully, swirling to coat the pan. When the butter foams and just begins to subside, the pan is ready.
- Cook low and slow. Pour in the eggs. Let them sit undisturbed for 20 seconds, then use a silicone spatula to gently push the eggs from the edges toward the center in slow, wide folds. Work patiently — low heat and slow folding are what make them creamy rather than rubbery.
- Pull early. When the eggs are just barely set — still glossy and slightly underdone-looking — remove the skillet from heat. Residual heat will finish the cook. They should be soft, in large loose curds, not browned on the bottom.
- Top and serve. Slide onto a plate or eat straight from the skillet. Scatter the chopped chives (and parsley if using) generously over the top. Add a pinch more salt if needed. Eat standing at the counter if that’s your way.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 285 | Protein: 18g | Fat: 22g | Carbs: 2g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 420mg