What a Week
Greetings one and all! Thanks for reading But First Breakfast. This week instead of a recipe, I'm sharing a few thoughts, a list of favorites, and wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving.
This week, I’m not doing much cooking.
This week I’m busy packing up, moving house, and looking forward to living in my new digs.
I probably don’t need to tell you how overwhelming it is to be surrounded by boxes of all sizes, packing material, and mostly empty closets. There’s less than a week until the movers show up. What’s left to pack of the kitchen goods are the dishes, glassware, coffee mugs, silverware, 2 non-stick skillets, a set of nesting mixing bowls, various silicone spatulas, and the knives.
Oh, and the toaster oven and coffee maker!
These two items will be the last I pack and the first to be plugged in at the new house.
For those of you who are new here, welcome! I’ve written a little bit about the fact that I’ve moved seven times in my adult life. That is equal to a move roughly every five years or so. Most of the moves have been interstate. One was an overseas move. This move is the first within the same city.
My dwindling supply of kitchen wares feels a little unnerving and oddly calming.
Having a little less stuff means fewer decisions to make. Instead of deciding what kind of muffins to bake or if I have time try a new bread recipe, I remember that the baking gear is packed. At this point in the moving process, I can’t bake, even if I wanted to. The mixer, the food processor, the muffin tin, the sheet pans and cake pans, all are snuggled in their tightly wrapped boxes.
Even deciding which spatula to reach for or which slotted spoon might serve me best is simpler this week than it was last week. There’s little choice to make. It’s either the one at hand or the one waiting to be washed.
And right now, two weeks and one day post-election? Right now, I could do with a little bit of the comfort that simplicity brings.
It feels good to know that I can make do with less, even if I want more. That even though the election fall-out is nightmarish, I am capable of the decision making needed to strategically pack up my belongings, acting well on my own behalf rather than bundling up my despair and fear right along with the Pyrex casserole dishes.
Sadly, I am not shocked or surprised by the election results.
A fundamental shift has taken hold here allowing political leaders to tap into peoples’ fears concerning economic inequality and instability. Fortunately, we have not suffered an economic Depression sine the 1930s or fought a war on our own soil. But our country’s demographics have changed along with an increasing amount of tension and polarization between the haves and have nots.
Some people think these changes occurred in recent years, but they’ve been happening slowly for a number of decades.
If you’ve ever visited the Space Needle in Seattle, maybe you know what I mean. When you’re there, standing on that rotating glass floor, you don’t have the sensation of being in motion, that you’re in fact turning too, until the view changes.
I just read a great article from UC Berkeley News which I’ll link here:
In the article, Ulrike Malmendier, a behavioral economist at UC Berkeley says:
“People think, ‘Something around me isn’t quite as it used to be. My work skills might not be as valuable as they were. I’m constantly worrying, ‘What does that mean for me?’
She explains further that:
“With technological change, or demographic change, the constant worry of how you fit into this place might be as big as if there was a war — ‘I now live in a different environment. I’m feeling displaced.’”
The article goes on to say:
Malmendier hasn’t studied anti-democratic movements, but she sees a connection: Once this sort of trauma gets wired into the brain, people can believe it’s “very, very likely that the next traumatic event is just around the corner,” she explained. “They might make an exaggerated attempt to avoid being put in this painful situation again.
“That is where you might see a link to extremism, or maybe populism.”
Reading this article helped me understand the way lots of people might be feeling. How their everyday and reasonable expectations, dreams and hard work have been undermined by societal changes. That in essence, they have been robbed of opportunities they thought would always be available, that reaching their goals wouldn’t feel out of reach.
This election has confirmed and cemented my suspicions about America. We seem to value and reward bluster over humility. We seem to regard scientific facts with skepticism. We seem to be comfortable with increasingly isolationist policies over developing our leadership in the global economy and struggle to effect climate change.
I’ve never considered myself to be terribly patriotic. As a young teenager I didn’t understand why we were at war with Viet Nam. My parents took my brother and I to a baseball game at the now defunct Memorial Stadium in Baltimore where I refused to stand for or sing the national anthem. At fourteen, I was too young, too timid to join the marches in Washington on my own so this literal “sit out” of the singing of the national anthem was the most defiant act I could muster.
The election results have also confirmed for me that I have to and want to become more involved in upholding democracy. That instead of only feeling anger towards people who see things and voted differently from me, I have to dig deep in order to understand their viewpoint, their perspective. Otherwise, I too am part of the problem, the polarization, the inability to talk and find some modicum of common ground.
That in and of itself may be the most truly patriotic act I can partake in.
Vice President Harris said in her concession speech,
“This is not a time to throw up our hands. This is a time to roll up our sleeves. This is a time to organize, to mobilize, and to stay engaged for the sake of freedom and justice and the future that we all know we can build together.”
I’m not sure what kind of civic action I’m going to take. But after I settle into the new house, I’m going to refer back to this quote to help keep my fighting spirit up.
Because doing nothing is not an option.
In the meantime, I’m trying to focus on the things I can control. Last week, when I went in for a haircut, my stylist said to me as I settled into the chair, “tell me one good thing.”
What a great way to frame a conversation. Since then, I’ve been trying to take a moment each day to tell myself one good thing. Some days it’s harder than others. Some days I want to pull the covers over my head, never to re-surface. But there’s power in appreciating everyday things that make me happy, put a little lilt in my step. Some of these things are drawn from close observation like watching sunrise light the morning sky, listening to the rustle of leaves falling from trees bearing their limbs, tasting the first sip of morning coffee, spending time with friends and family.
Lists make me happy too. I’m a sucker for a list. I like writing lists, whether they be grocery lists, or to-do lists, or wish lists. Listicles, those easy to read “fluff” pieces with headlines like “The 10 Best Travel Destinations” almost always command my attention.
Maybe you’re a sucker for a list too.
Here’s a list of some little gems that are bringing me joy right now.
Using this spatula/jar scraper by Tovolo makes me happy. It also reminds me of my friend who has one. I discovered how terrific it is while using it in her kitchen when I visited her this past summer. It comes in about 6 different colors, is dishwasher safe, and heat resistant to 600ºF.
https://www.breville.com/en-us/product/bov450?sku=BOV450XL
This is the toaster I have. It’s a little pricey but also one of the best purchases I’ve ever made. I use it most mornings for toast and also for small batch baking and roasting.
https://truetreatscandy.com/products/necco-
Aah, candy. Need I say more? These are a favorite, not overly sweet, crunchy, simply rolled in waxed paper just as they were when I was a child.
https://www.happyorganics.co/products/beeswax-cherry-birthday-candles
These candles are on my wish list! Happy Organics make a variety of bees wax candles shaped like fruit and vegetables. They might be too pretty to burn but they’re guaranteed to make me smile with delight.
https://shop.yukikomorita.com/en/products/pampshade0047
This kaiser roll battery powered accent lamp is just the living end. I lived in Vienna, Austria for almost two years where these rolls, semmel brot, are ubiquitous. How great it would be having this, or any bread or toast shaped lamp from the Yukiko Morita online shop, in my kitchen.
https://www.revlon.com/lips/lip-liner/colorstay-multi-liner?shade=dynamic-doer
And speaking of little gems, the last thing on my wish list is this multi-tasker from Revlon’s Color Stay collection called the Multi-Liner. It can be used on the lips, cheeks and eyes..The shade called Dynamic Doer is calling to me.