I saw the sun come up today. My normal work schedule is early morning to noonish, so I typically arrive at work while it’s still dark outside, especially during these shorter winter days. But this morning, feeling sluggish, I left a little later and found myself blessed with an extravagant sunrise. The colors were – in a word – astonishing. I’m searching about trying to recreate the colors I saw into words for you, but I feel failure before I even begin. Here’s my best effort: to the east, over my left shoulder, the sky was full of slender and pale peach clouds hanging on a background of bright cyan blue. The contrast was unreal, like a painting a preschooler had created not yet understanding that a sky can’t contain those colors… and especially not together. Then, ahead of me, to the south, the clouds became thick, striped with hues of pink and purple against a cornflower blue backing. As I drove along I noticed stands of hardwood trees, bare and bereft of leaves, with limbs intertwined making it seem that I was looking at the sun through a piece of dark brown lace. The show lasted at least fifteen minutes until the curtains closed and the morning changed out of its theater garb into its normal street clothes. I wondered if any of the busy people traveling with me along U.S. Highway 1 noticed.
A phrase in a book I’m listening to caught my attention: “to know the things that must be known.” It made me think about all the things that must be known and wonder if I am passing them on to my daughters. Here are some things that came to mind right away:
-->Never, ever take your wedding band off, even when you have to go to surgery and the nurses say you must. Stand your ground and make them put a piece of tape over it. They’ll do it if you make big enough of a fuss.
-->Keep up with at least two of your childhood girlfriends no matter the effort. There’s something precious about having friends who knew you when you cried over skinned knees and lost puppies. This is one of my biggest regrets.
-->A tiny bit of cayenne pepper goes a really long way.
-->Never ask your husband which of your friends he would like to marry if you died. It will only make you mad.
I was thinking about food and how important it is in our memories. I work with a man who told me about a lady who used to make Amalgamation Cakes for him when he was a boy fifty years ago. Another friend told me about visiting a neighbor’s house as a little girl and tasting tomato aspic for the first time. This, too, was over fifty years ago. I just recently told a coworker about a favorite dish of my grandfather’s. He ate it every night for dinner. We just called it “milk and bread.” It consists of three or four pieces of white bread torn into chunks and ten or so crumbled Nilla Wafers. This is put in a cereal bowl and covered with milk. Let it sit for about five minutes until everything is good and mushy. Then, yum! I know it sounds horrible, but it’s surprisingly good. I think he used to eat it to keep his bowels going… because…well… my experience says that’s a pretty consistent side effect!
The painting at the top of this post is one I greatly admire. It's The Arnolfini Wedding painted in 1434 by Jan van Eyck. You can read more about it here. My favorite part? They're barefoot. My favorite way to be!
I think I'll start reading this online magazine. I've added it to my "Honey Pots" on the sidebar.
A phrase in a book I’m listening to caught my attention: “to know the things that must be known.” It made me think about all the things that must be known and wonder if I am passing them on to my daughters. Here are some things that came to mind right away:
-->Never, ever take your wedding band off, even when you have to go to surgery and the nurses say you must. Stand your ground and make them put a piece of tape over it. They’ll do it if you make big enough of a fuss.
-->Keep up with at least two of your childhood girlfriends no matter the effort. There’s something precious about having friends who knew you when you cried over skinned knees and lost puppies. This is one of my biggest regrets.
-->A tiny bit of cayenne pepper goes a really long way.
-->Never ask your husband which of your friends he would like to marry if you died. It will only make you mad.
I was thinking about food and how important it is in our memories. I work with a man who told me about a lady who used to make Amalgamation Cakes for him when he was a boy fifty years ago. Another friend told me about visiting a neighbor’s house as a little girl and tasting tomato aspic for the first time. This, too, was over fifty years ago. I just recently told a coworker about a favorite dish of my grandfather’s. He ate it every night for dinner. We just called it “milk and bread.” It consists of three or four pieces of white bread torn into chunks and ten or so crumbled Nilla Wafers. This is put in a cereal bowl and covered with milk. Let it sit for about five minutes until everything is good and mushy. Then, yum! I know it sounds horrible, but it’s surprisingly good. I think he used to eat it to keep his bowels going… because…well… my experience says that’s a pretty consistent side effect!
The painting at the top of this post is one I greatly admire. It's The Arnolfini Wedding painted in 1434 by Jan van Eyck. You can read more about it here. My favorite part? They're barefoot. My favorite way to be!
I think I'll start reading this online magazine. I've added it to my "Honey Pots" on the sidebar.
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