Ahhh, the coziness of certain foods! I’m talking about those foods that evoke a sense of nostalgic happiness and emotional well-being, providing temporary calm and security. We crave them because they’re often linked to positive childhood memories, family traditions, and celebrations. They can also provide a biological reward. These are foods high in sugar, fat, and carbs and they trigger the release of dopamine, which improves mood, even perspective.

What certain foods? We know them as “comfort” foods. Everybody has their favorites. What are yours? At our house it’s homemade mac ‘n cheese, toasted cheese sandwiches and tomato soup, chowder in a bread bowl, bacon and eggs, waffles floating in butter and syrup, chocolate cake, hot cocoa, and ANY cookies with milk.

These foods are aptly named. Comfort is typically what we need when we turn to ‘em and comfort is what we get. Since November 16, my hubby, Rich, and I have been relying on a lot of comfort food. That was the day we lost 5 priceless and lovingly restored vintage tractors (4 John Deere and 1 Oliver), a vintage Mercedes sedan, a vintage Mercedes coupe, a vintage Studebaker, a vintage Eldorado Brougham, a vintage El Camino, and Rich’s specialty tools and equipment he used for all these restorations.

25 years of his life’s work, gone in a matter of a few hours because the warehouses where we stored them caught fire. This was such a massive fire that it could be seen from over 15 miles away.

The fire broke out about 4:00 am, and this is a shot from the front yard of one of our neighbors. It raged for several hours, died down, then started up again.

Luckily Rich had 1 other vintage tractor stored in a neighbor’s shop, since there wasn’t enough room for it with the other tractors at the warehouse. One tractor left out of the 6.

It’s been a tradition every year for us to enter all of them in our community’s summer Alpine Days parade. Friends would fly in from California to help us drive them. It was always an awesome experience. People loved seeing these gems and got a kick out of a little old lady driving one of them.

After the parade, we’d drive them home and line them up in our yard, along the street, so folks could continue to enjoy them for a couple days. It was common for families to pull up and ask if they could have their picture taken around one of them.

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While Rich has been dealing with his heartbreak, I’ve been dealing with my own. The above-mentioned 1955 Westerner travel trailer (affectionately known as a “Can Ham”) was my own restoration project. I spent a few years fixing and restoring this treasure, and to see its remaining ashes has been depressing.

The wooden ironing board was our “buffet table” that we’d place alongside the campsite picnic table. The adorable yellow-enameled stove and oven cooked up absolutely delicious meals. We had so much fun dining in this darling home-away-from-home.

We understand that it’s all just STUFF, and what matters most is family and friends. No one was maimed or killed in this fire, and we have our health. But this reality doesn’t diminish the pain of our loss. Nothing was insured (wouldn’t that have been smart?), and nothing was salvageable. Surveying the resultant damage done that day was almost more than we could bear.

But bear it we are, thanks to lots of extended love and concern from friends and neighbors. It’s been comforting to know how much our tractors meant to our community, for instance.

Besides being rather therapeutic to talk about, I’m sharing this sad tale as an example of just how important our favorite foods can be to us, especially in times of disaster and sorrow. “Comfort” food really does bring comfort! It sure has gotten us through tough times. Who knows…enough mac ‘n cheese under our belts and we might even smile about this one day.

And the other thing about comfort food—it’s keepin’ up our strength. After all, we have one more tractor and a manure spreader to restore. Maybe down, but not out—Alpine Days parade 2026 here we come!