Essays and Okra

Today's not-so-favorite moments included . . .

. . . going to a store in search of a specific item of clothing, and not finding anything I liked.  You'd think I'd be used to that by now.

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . cooking with my two oldest kids.  I've made a goal to start doing that once a week, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed teaching them about cooking techniques and turning them loose with a spoon or even a knife.  They actually took the initiative to sample some of the raw okra* we were preparing to cook, and they each liked it enough that they asked to eat more.  I tried some, too, and it wasn't that bad.

And another thing . . .

. . . this afternoon, I somehow ended up reading a few essays I wrote in grad school.  It was a little surreal to read my writing about topics I barely remember, using turns of phrase that I haven’t employed in years.  I found the essays enjoyable, but I almost felt like someone else had written them.  I feel like my brain has since been rewired by years of parenting, that my focus, approach, and word choices would be very different if I attempted to research and write about those same topics again a decade later.


*I told the kids to choose something new for us to try at the Farmer's Market, and they voted for okra.  I had never purchased or prepared it before in my life.  I'm not even sure I had eaten it before today.