My tooth is fine, really...

I think Montrealers, or maybe Canadians like talking about the weather at least some point in the day - in the winter anyway. It drastically changes from one day to the next and you never know what to expect. Friday it was freezing cold (minus 25 with the windchill factor) and today it's zero with ice pellets and freezing rain; went to the post office and it was pretty slippery. Supposed to be getting heavy snow for the rest of the week. Sigh. March here in Montreal doesn't mean Spring is coming; it means we still have another few weeks of serious winter. Oh well.

Some of you may know I play taiko, or Japanese drums. They are rather large drums and we play with rather larger drum sticks, or bachi. At every practice we practice a piece called Yatai Bayashi, where we are sitting on the ground and using chunkier than usual bachi; it's an intense, physically difficult piece and if played with anywhere near the intensity it's supposed to be played, it could look like this photo below. This is the world famous Kodo group from Japan, in rehearsal:

Fujimoto-san, the group's most senior player, plays an amazing Yatai Bayashi, and as you can see, when you're playing all out, and your abs are in pain and your shoulders and pecs think you can't play anymore, it's hard to keep a neutral face.

My face is rarely in neutral when playing this piece, and on Friday night, I smacked my front tooth and bottom lip with my chunky bachi, so hard my head was vibrating. I thought for sure my tooth was cracked or something since it hurt so much, but the next morning my lip was only a little swollen and the tooth looked fine. Today it's pretty much back to normal but I will still make an appointment with the dentist just to be sure. I'll try to keep my mouth closed in the future.

Last night, JF was inspired by his favourite tv cook, Pinard, to make mayonnaise, which worked out perfectly since he had already planned to make salmon and asparagus (hey, that's a sign that Spring is on its way - baby asparagus, the small tasty ones), both yummy with mayo. It turned out wonderfully, nice and creamy with a bite from the dijon in it. Just look at this lovely meal:
Baked salmon, asparagus and fresh mayonnaise and portobello mushrooms. JF is definitely a keeper ☺