Digging through the freezer a while back in search of something else, I came upon a bulky, foil-wrapped package. Hmm, I thought, what's this? Aha! Zucchini bread! What a lucky squirrel I am. After all, how many squirrels ever find, or even remember, where they buried their treasures? It sat on the counter, defrosting, overnight. We had it with coffee next morning, luscious, moist, dense with nuts, plump with raisins. That's what I call comfort. And who's not looking for a little comfort in these recent crazy days? My note to self said I'd made it the day before I'd flown out west in early October. Slowly it came back to me. Wanting to leave nothing that could rot in the fridge in my absence (the OC would eat rocks before it would occur to him to cook a vegetable) I'd found a couple zucchini in the vegetable drawer. I could have tossed them on the compost pile (the squirrels would have been delighted!) But, they were still good so, being a frugal soul, I made zucchini bread. And stashed it in the freezer. And flew west the next day. And forgot all about it, in the manner of squirrels everywhere. I know who plants the seeds of all those little oak saplings that keep popping up around here.
It's not only a hunger for comfort food we're feeling this year, but a hunger for things the corona virus has snatched from us. Being human, we never seem to appreciate what we've got 'til it's gone. (Sounds familiar - sixties song? So many mindless lyrics permanently etched on my brain.) Youth, for instance. I look at pictures from decades ago and think - I was gorgeous! I didn't think so at the time, and was told that, though not beautiful, I had 'a nice' face. Yeah. Thanks for that. Damn with faint praise. And by gorgeous I don't mean Vanessa Redgrave or Ingrid Bergman gorgeous. But - the shiny hair, the smooth skin, the muscle tone, no baggy eyes, no nasty lines, no crowsfeet, no furrowed brow, boundless energy - so yes, gorgeous! At the time I thought the hips too big, the eyes too small, the eyebrows too scant, the freckles too plentiful. A little peek into the future and I'd have been slobbering in gratitude! With age comes, if not beauty, at least a small measure of wisdom. Nowadays I'll take 'nice' over 'beautiful.' Physical beauty has a shelf life, nice doesn't.
How shallow I was, rejecting any poor sot who didn't meet my height, IQ or handsomeness requirements. As it happened, I got lucky, found someone who, though just about qualifying on the height requirement, met all the others with knobs on and, best of all, could always make me laugh. Intelligence, I believe, is a prerequisite for humor. It makes it easier to spot the absurdities of life, one of which we're living in at present.
I know it's a serious problem. But every time we turn around the experts are telling us something different, usually contradicting the last piece of 'expert' advice. I wear a mask out in public though I think I need a defogging device to keep my glasses from clouding up and making me bump into somebody, thereby breaking the social distancing rule and incurring the wrath of fellow grocery shoppers. Alternately, here's an idea for some enterprising inventor - windshield wipers for glasses. Off you go. Let me know when they're available.
Since we first crawled out from our caves, humans have been dying. Nobody's exempt. Not even the rich and powerful. Every last one of us has an expiration date. Along with taxes, it's one of life's guarantees. We'll all die of something. With people losing their jobs, and businesses closing left and right, the possibility of starvation being what does one in is becoming very real. Not to mention the isolation, loneliness, mental illness and depression some are suffering as a result of (pardon my language) this wildly politicised pandemic sh_tshow.)
We talk regularly with friends and family, those who want to talk, and do our best to keep spirits from nosediving into the doldrums. We're blessed with a garden large enough to get lost in, if we so desire; surrounded by beautiful pine trees, home to all kinds of birds (most recently, to our delight, great horned owls) and the ever present gift of sunshine. It reminds me of a favourite quote "You are nearest to God in a garden than anywhere else on earth."
And when it rains, as it frequently does, we read, sew, practice yoga and, like the rest of the world, bake sourdough bread. And when we wake up next morning we do it all again, And again, and again. It could be so much worse, and is, for many people, so I am certainly not complaining. I think we (the human race) were in dire need of a siesta, a chance to slow down, room to breathe and reflect on what really matters. And so the universe provided. It remains to be seen what we learn from it.
I have no more zucchini, but I do have cranberries, walnuts and raisins. I think, while the world is waiting for what comes next, I'll go make me some cranberry bread.
18 comments:
Cranberry bread? Recipe please.
A big yes on the rest of your post. I was told I had quite nice hair. And looking back, I had energy, suppleness, and certainly no ginormous bags under my eyes. Let alone the wrinkles.
I would also trade nice for beauty. In a heart beat.
A lovely post. Thank you.
Yes a lovely post indeed!
Humans need to communicate...what would we have done without the internet!!
I hope that humans will learn from this, but I fear that many won't.
Ah, the treasure trove called the chest freezer..
Wonderful, inspiring thoughts! I love to ‘find’ treasures in the freezer, such as Xmas cookies in a June or handpicked blueberries in February. Having a positive attitude is the best a Covid medicine. I appreciated your thoughts.
A timely reminder for me to always label things in the freezer. I'm confident I'll remember what I've stashed away in small quantity, and then I can't so I'm lost when faced with an opaque bag full of ice crystals and ?curried chicken ?cooked rhubarb.
A timely reminder that we're all on limited time - so must make the most of it especially in these strange times, and that we were all fairly presentable when young and glossy (but didn't always make the most of it, which was probably not a bad thing in some cases!).
Thank you for your great ramblings.
Brilliant as always - as is your previous post which I seem to have missed and only now read. I think that if you and I got together in person we'd have a lot in common and would be able to chat for hours about the subjects which really matter in our world. I'd love the recipe for the cranberry bread and the courgette one too sometime before next summer as my vegetable box always has a few of those in it and one can only eat so many of them as a simple vegetable. Keep you wisdom coming it really cheers me to realise that there are others in the world who think along similar lines to me and that all is not lost if at least some of us hope for more wisdom, compassion and sense in the world.
Oh and although I am with you in having been unwrinkled, fit and with thicker hair etc I really would rather be me now with the wisdom(?) of experience even though bits are falling off and creaking!!
I loved reading this and it brought to mind a recent essay my daughter had me read, here is a quote:
"In some ways, we are at our most human before puberty and after menopause. In those times of our lives, we have the luxury of focusing on learning and teaching, instead of the four Fs (feeding, fighting, fleeing and … reproducing) that occupy most other adult primates (and are, understandably, so important to humans in our middle years)."
https://aeon.co/essays/why-childhood-and-old-age-are-key-to-our-human-capacities
I am going to reuse that brilliant phrase, "with knobs on", from now on, frequently. How did I not know about it?
As for the foggy glasses with the face mask, I tried and tested shaving cream successfully, just wipe the glasses with it so that it comes off but leaves a fine layer. I have been told it also works with soapy water.
Oh, how I wish I had a forgotten loaf of zucchini bread I could stumble upon in my freezer. What a gift to oneself.
Right now we have lots of courgettes so I need to do stage 1...so I can find it next year!!
Your garden quote suits me as I love spending time in my large garden. It never gets finished so I always have something to do.
Stay safe dear friend. We know we are so lucky down here and have our freedom to do most things. Staying home in NZ is fine by me.
Ahhh, you're always so full of wisdom Miss Molly - what a pleasure it always is to read from you! I've been thinking much the same things. But, I really don't understand why this pandemic and how we handle it has been so political. I'm betting we'll be nicer to each other in the short run, but will shortly forget the lessons that should have been learned and will return to all our bickering. Ah well. And cranberries? Make Cranberry Pudding!!! Much more decadent than Cranberry Bread! ;-D
You guys are the best! (I know you're not 'guys,' but when in 'Rome'... I've lived here 50 years, give or take a few, so have naturally picked up some of the natives' lingo.) No matter how random, how rare, how silent for months on end, as soon as I finally get a few words down you're here with encouraging comments. Especially now, with covid sending us all to our rooms with no hint of when we'll be allowed downstairs again, let alone hang out casually with our friends, it's especially nice to have a bunch of blogging friends who'll show up for you, no matter if you post every day, once a month, or once in the blue moon. I appreciate all of you!
EC - Cranberry bread recipe incoming! Just give me a few days. Covid certainly brings us all closer, despite social distancing! Not too many people could be further apart, physically, than you and me, and here (and there) we are, both enduring the same situation. Fingers crossed things will improve all over in 2021.
gz - I agree. Was just talking to youngest son who is feeling very isolated because of the lack of social contact in his rural environment. Our need for other people is as basic as our need for food and shelter. I'd never make it as a hermit...
Bijou - Speaking of blueberries - I have an inordinate stash of said jewels in my freezer. When Christmas baking is over I need to start making blueberry muffins - every day for a few weeks!
RR - I hear you! I keep telling myself to label things as I put them in the freezer, but sometimes think it's not neccessary, I'll remember. Ha! The older I get the more neccessary it is. When a mysterious package rises from the depths, in my search for something else, covered, as you said, in crystals, of dubious vintage, and totally lacking identification, more often than not it ends up in the bin. And that's not very frugal!
MJ - Will put those recipes, or links to them, in my next post. All this talk of wisdom - me? would make some people, who think I'm a total scatterbrain, fall down laughing! But it would be a sorry case if we didn't learn something from life, and our mistakes, even the scatterbrains among us. BTW - I very seldom manage to get to your blog - maybe only when you put a new post up. How can I fix that?
Sabine - I really enjoyed reading that essay, thank you! I feel utterly cheated as my grandchildren live far away and I have not been around them near as much as I would have liked. 'With knobs on,' just came to me - from way back in my childhood. I hadn't used it in years. Pretty expressive, isn't it.
Colette - I have a plan for how you can get one. Here's what you do: Buy some zucchini. Fry some up for dinner, but leave that too big one for another time. Next, buy yourself a ticket to somewhere, anywhere. Plan on being gone at least a month. The night before departure, check your fridge for any suspicious looking science experiments, lurking in the furthest corners. Chuck them out. Check the vegetable drawer. Oh dear! How did you forget about that lovely zucchini? Quick! Make some zucchinin bread. It'll be cool before you leave for the airport in the morning. Next morning wrap it in foil, put a label and date on it. Insert in freezer bag (use a straw to suck out all the air.) Put it in that empty space in the back corner of your freezer. Enjoy your trip, visit the relatives, see the sights. Come home, greet the cat, pet the dog, put on the kettle. The cupboard's probably bare, but I wonder if there might be a little smackeral of something tasty in the freezer? Have a look. Nothing, nada, zilch....oh, but wait. What's that foil package back there? Aha! Zucchini bread! You may have to wait 'til morning but when you stumble, half awake, into the kitchen, it'll be defrosted, you can make another cup of tea and slice yourself a gift to go with it. There. Wasn't that easy? (Sorry. I couldn't help myself.)
Ali - So true that a garden is never finished. The OC is always puttering around in ours. Sometimes I even go out there and help!
Anna-Banana - That's me - a wise guy! Too bad we don't have wiser politicians. Every thing is fair game for their own self interest and being re-elected. Never mind whose rights they trample on. Cranberry pudding? I'm intrigued!
Great post... we can't do anything to help in the big picture. So doing something for the small picture at home is a wise way to go . And take advantage of the siesta, we DO need it and need to take advantage of it. Meet new friends online. CHECK.
Gemma's Person - So true. We can't change the world, but we can make changes in our own small orbits and, if enough people make small changes together they could turn into a big one! Fingers crossed!
I was just looking at Allrecipes.com for suggestions for candied orange peel. I bet they had tons to deal with cranberries.
SK - I'm sure they do! I hardly use my cookbooks anymore since it's so easy (I guess I've become lazy) to just google what you want to use up and Presto! A million options!
Well, just tonight I feel very fed up. But that's not the attitude, I know. Happy Christmas!
Pam - Not feeling too much in the way of 'Comfort and Joy' myself. I wish my children and grandchildren lived within reasonable reach. But, as my Dad used to say, 'If wishes were horses beggars would ride.' I think the secret is to focus on the original meaning of Christmas and ignore all the noisy consumerism. I hope you feel better tomorrow and enjoy the week with your family.
Dear, I so enjoyed your "ramblings," which made ultimate sense to me. My mother instilled in me at an early age the belief that out of everything can come good--if we look for it and are willing to accept it. So out of this pandemic and all the pain its causes to so many human being, I do hope we find and remember and accept the good. Whatever it is. But surely some of that good has to be the realization that "less is more" and that gratitude is the most wholesome approach to life.
As to your youth, I, too, experienced friends using the word "nice" to describe me. I told my mom how this really annoyed me, to be "just" nice. And she asked what I hoped my friends would say. I said, "well charming or interesting or smart or funny or something that means I've got an ounce of blood in me. Nice doesn't cut it!" And Mom said, "Dolores, one of these days, you'll be so appreciative of people thinking you are nice. We need nice people!" As the years have now become--in April--85, I finally understanding what she was trying to tell me!
Peace.
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