Shortly before the pandemic hit, one brutally, bitterly cold winter’s day, I spent hours tucked into a warm and toasty Chinese restaurant I’d accidentally discovered. My love language is Chinese take-out, the dive-ier the better. But Crepe and Go was a legit sit-down restaurant, the food and ambiance closer to home cooking than takeout. It took a while into the pandemic for me to stop by again, when I learned it’d been destroyed in a fire.

A couple days ago I learned they re-opened in a new location, so last night I ordered delivery. My taste buds had a flashback, the good kind. While I ate I watched the New York Knicks beat the Atlanta Hawks 126-120 in Atlanta, a win that carried that same fun flashback quality. Especially seeing all the differences between now and 2021, when the two teams met in the playoffs. Fire destroys, but it also brings renewal.

Maybe it was the good grub, but I had a warm, easygoing feeling the whole game. I never doubted the Knicks would win. Hitting 10 threes in the opening half has a way of raising confidence.