Exercise is nature’s anti-depressant. You’ve heard it before, from such annoying loudmouths as Tom Cruise, for example, but it really is true. Running is the most energizing and uplifting and mentally clarifying thing I know how to do. So yesterday I headed out as the sun was setting, trying to escape the worst of the heat, for a quick run through the neighborhood.

Yeah, it didn’t exactly have the soothing and therapeutic effect I was hoping for. About a half mile into it, I somehow managed to trip over my own feet or the sidewalk or my own sense of self importance or SOMETHING, I don’t KNOW what, and I went skidding down the sidewalk a couple of feet. There were cars and people all around (I was right in front of the post office) and no one stopped to see if I was OK. I imagine they were all too busy snickering to themselves in their cars to bother. Hey, it’s funny when someone falls down, I admit.

So I had cuts all over my hands and road rash on both legs. I managed to bang up one knee pretty thoroughly as well — what looked like this yesterday

has now blossomed into a gorgeous purple bruise and red lacerations. So colorful!

The other leg is also quite disgusting today.

Last night I did my best to clean things up but I had no gauze or bandages or anything big enough, so I would up going to sleep with two Always pantyliners taped, upside-down, to the worst part of it. To any men reading, I apologize for having just mentioned a feminine hygiene product, but, you know what? Those things came in pretty damn handy!

This morning I made it to the store to get some proper supplies and I think I have bandaged it all up fairly well. It is pretty ugly though, I’m not gonna lie.

So this week sure doesn’t seem to be going my way, does it? It’s kind of interesting to have highly visible and disgusting outward physical manifestation of what my emotions feel like on the inside, though. Both have a nasty raw hamburger quality to them. I am going to appease myself by imagining that once the scrapes on my legs and hands heal up, it will mean the insides are back to normal, too.

But running as therapy did not exactly work out yesterday (I’ll try again tomorrow for the first long run of my marathon training — more on that later). I have also been trying whiskey as therapy, which is usually pretty fine (if not glorious and excellent!) at the time but the effects seem to be diminished by the next day’s hangover. I went with cooking as therapy today. I’ve been having a low appetite and feeling kind of sick to my stomach the past few days, which partly has to be because of too much drinking but is partly because of stress and whatnot. I need to make sure I am actually eating a healthy diet, though, so I decided to make a huge vat of butternut squash soup today.

I had a bunch of small butternuts left over from the CSA — you can keep these for a while — so I knew I could go to town and just make a big, delicious batch.

I basically just use this recipe from Epicurious – it’s so simple and it turns out really, really well.

I blend everything in small batches in my blender and it gets nice and silky smooth. I’d like to buy an immersion blender (Clarabella and Philly have one of these and I saw it in action this past weekend – it rules) but this works for now.

One of the best parts of the soup is this roasted garlic and red pepper puree that you make as a garnish. It adds a nice intensity of rich flavor and some spice.

The original recipe doesn’t call to roast the garlic, but I prefer that flavor, so that’s a change I made.

That’s a bit of fresh thyme on top. Delicious!

So tell me — what are your favorite comfort foods or “therapeutic” activities when you are feeling bruised and battered by life? I may need more to try here.