30 days:5

(30 Days is a free writing exercise in which a quote is chosen and written about.  Please participate by sharing your comments on the quote.  The idea is that this is an exercise to get our intuitive minds to open rather than writing polished pieces)





 “If thou tastest a crust of bread, thou tastest all the stars and all the heavens.”
            --Robert Browning

     My first thought is that this blog is changing.  It is starting to change as I myself change.  I think it is starting to blend more with my current life, what I think about on a daily basis rather than just being more of a place to come for weekly meditations.  Why is this?
    Maybe because these days I am taking great pleasure in life's simple moments and offerings.    I am falling in love with the day to day of life.  And that is big stuff for someone who has always been more prone to the adventurous side of life.  I am not sure what the impetus is, I just know it feels lovely. 
   In light of that, I learned to bake bread this week.  Here are loaves #4 and #5.    And this bread baking is a part of one of those big times of change.  I awake wanting to make more.  My husband was the inspiration for the process.  Three months ago, when we saw grocery bills sky rocket we decided to take a look at what we consume and what we could make on our own.  He came up with bread.    So for three months he has been making bread 3 times a week with the kids. 
   Then last week, he didn't.  It was one of those busy busy weeks where the tick-tocking moments of the clock get engulfed in some deep crack in the wooden floorboards of our kitchen. Because of this busyness there was no bread.  We had to go to the store to get our bread.
  And it wasn't the same.  I missed knowing that my kids and my husband and been apart of the process.  It was not as yummy.    It cost more.    I shyly turned open the pages of the King Arthur's Cookbook.  Without a word, I poured in the yeast.  It bubbled and so I mixed in the flour and salt.  Throughout the course of the morning, the dough rose.  And again.  I divided it and it rose again. 
   I created steam in the oven and brushed water on the tops of the loaves to soften them.  I put them in to the heat bath of the oven and slowly, they browned and became  beautiful loaves of bread.
   Later, when my kids and I sliced the bread to make toast for lunch, a feeling of pride swelled in me.  I laughed as I reminded myself that I have  far more interesting accomplishments.   But  then I stopped thinking that maybe it isn't about  what is the most impressive item on our resumes or what others find most intriguing about us, or the topics about ourselves that make fodder for great small talk. 
    Maybe what most moves our souls are the quiet moments at lunch when we break bread with ourselves or with our loved ones.  Maybe these are the moments that last longest in our hearts.  Maybe we really can taste the stars and heavens or at least our inextricable link to it all.
   I know one thing for sure,  I am going to need an apron. 

Comments

[Erik West]

That is soo true. What a great read. I got into the rhythm of the process with that. And I think you are right to note the power of such a simple achievement. It's really grounding.

[Stacy]

This is my favorite post! It is so down to earth you and lovely. Baking bread is one of the most fantastic pieces of being human in my mind. The new pizza owner asked if I would be in soon to have pizza and I said the polite, "yes" but in my mind "No" because we make our own dough at home and make the pizza together and that can never be replaced. Baking is art and love and creativity...that is nourishment for the soul.
Peace