I am trying to figure out how to transport a chicken stew – just enough liquid to incite disaster – to my parents’. It’s a thank you for watching my ornery cat for the life-changing two weeks while I was in LA, or maybe a thank you for permitting me a life-changing experience, I’m not sure which.

Looking at this clunky piece of Corningware I have a sudden flash: The same dish, not exact, but brand and style replicated, with red rubber bands tied onto the top to hold the lid on. The glass lid and ceramic dish fit perfectly together with a satisfying hollow sound of settling in, but not quite enough of an embrace for a 45-minute car trip when stewed tomatoes and chicken stock fight to flood the edge. So –

The red rubber bands on the ceramic dish start at the bottom, twist around the top handle of the lid. The rubber bands keep snapping at me in irritation, I can’t figure it out, how to do it, I only have the picture in my mind. And it’s from when my grandfather would make us dinner – stuffed cabbage, kielbasa and mashed potatoes – he’d tie rubber bands just like that for transport, sometimes putting the dish in a cardboard box with high sides.

I have the box, actually. I had to ship stuff back from Los Angeles (beach blankets, water bottle, hiking gear – things I don’t need every day here, but I wish I did, and know I will some day soon because I promised myself), and this box is perfect.

I can’t figure out how to tie the rubber bands though, and it occurs to me that this is the first time I had a question for someone specific and wasn’t able to ask them.