friction

this is a collaborative post: concepts and words by jeaux carroll and josh martinez.(josh) It's Saturday morning. I'm heating up tortillas on the comal I've carried with me for years. I hear the sound of fat from the tortilla sizzling against the hot cast iron surface. As the fat renders it heats the moisture between layers in the dough. The tortilla begins to puff in places as the space between those layers fills with steam. Rings of char begin to form on the outer layer where it makes the most contact with the pan. Wafts of steam rise as the smell of warm tortillas fills the house. I handle each disc with a deftness that comes from years of practice. My hands have cooked thousands of tortillas on this comal or one just like it. The practice is all muscle memory by now but still takes some focus. My fingers slide, pinch, and flip each tortilla ripe with a heat that scalds but no longer burns.friction as timeWhat is friction? To some, it means unplanned interruptions or breaks in a…