In the prologue to Poor Man's Feast, by Elissa Altman, she writes: "There is poetry in food, kindness in the act of preparing it, and peace in sharing it."
"The act of preparing food for ourselves, and for others, makes us kind. And the act of conviviality, of sharing it with others--Marion Cunningham called it modern tribal fire--is what makes us human, whether it is tarted up and tortured into vertical excess, or nothing more than butter spread on a piece of bread."
Today I got to be a part of some modern tribal fire when Gerlinde invited Charlotte, Kate and me to have lunch in her kitchen. An excellent cook (shall I say a poet in the kitchen?), she served us delicious seafood salad, cucumber salad, and peach cobbler.
We so often meet friends at restaurants--which is convenient. Nobody has to cook. But lunch in a home, made by Someone for other Someones, is a real treat! When we arrived, the tea and lemonade were waiting on the counter, the meal was made, and the table was colorfully set with a vase of lilies. I made a mental note: start doing this, just like Gerlinde does it!
Gerlinde and her husband Tim have had such exciting adventures traveling all over the world, most recently with Road Scholars tours. I've never imagined myself wanting to take a cruise, but I'm re-thinking that. Having heard her stories about Road Scholars and Kate's experience of traveling to China on Viking River Cruises, I'm ready to start packing!
Turkey. Scotland. Greece. Where to begin?
But in the meanwhile, I'll take vicarious conversational journeys while enjoying leisurely lunches with friends. That's its own kind of vacation!
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