Day 1 -- or "Thoughts on Prison Food"

I've always wondered about that last meal they serve to death row prisoners before execution.  You know, where they let them order anything they want.  Why do they do that?  What's the point, exactly?  Is it to make them happy?  There are more meaningful ways to do that.  I wonder what the convict feels -- does he look forward to that last meal, knowing it's just that much closer to his death?  Does he enjoy eating it?  What does he feel when it's over -- knowing that he will never eat another bite of food in this life?

Morbidly enough, I thought about that last night when I was eating dinner with the girls.  We had hot dogs and tater tots, steamed carrots and home-made cookies with milk for dessert.  It was nice.  I did enjoy it, but it was weird thinking, "Well, that's the last food I'll eat until June."  It looks crazy typed out like that, and I wonder if I'm insane for considering it.  In truth I have no idea how hard it will be, and I've never been long on will-power.

I'm sure I will miss regular meals, but I won't miss the heart-burn I got last night before bed, and the hot-heavy feeling in my stomach after eating that saps my energy, makes it next to impossible to get anything productive done without dragging.

So here I am, the next morning, sipping my first-day green juice.  I made a V-8 concoction with 2 cucumbers, a quarter head of green leaf lettuce, half a green pepper, an eighth of a head of green cabbage, 4 carrots, 1 tomato, 3 apples, and  half of a lemon.  I was shooting for 4 cups, and made precisely 5.  It occurs to me that I could have put some celery in, but that would have made it "V-9."  Well, I'll make another green juice this afternoon.  Note to self:  don't forget the celery.  Lots of it.  The last thing I need today is sodium withdrawals.