Art

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     It's springtime in northeastern Ohio, finally, and I'm struck every time I look out my window.  It seems as if the world wakes up and turns green overnight, and it will continue to sneak up on me for a week or two.  After that, I'll get used to it, summer will start to add its own colors to our world, and the changing landscape will still be appreciated, but no longer surprising.  Spring is wonderful that way.


     As I was making dinner tonight, I stopped for a second to admire my broccoli.  I realize this is a slightly creepy attitude to have toward a vegetable, but hear me out.  When you blanch and shock green veggies, their color intensifies and is locked in, and they look as beautiful as the green grass outside my window.  I was reminded of spring, and I took another second to turn around and look outside again.  Yep....still beautiful, and still very welcome after the gray of winter.  I was reminded again that you eat with your eyes first, and that food that looks good tastes that much better, too.

     I thought about that part of my personality for a second, and wondered if all chefs are artistic.  I can't draw or paint, wish I could, but I love to write, I am a musician and have always loved singing and music, I love paintings and photographs, and just appreciate beauty.  I want my food to taste good, of course, but I also love it when it looks beautiful.  I know I often make the family impatient while I try and plate our meals in a way that makes them look as good as I hope they taste.

     Tonight's meal wasn't well plated.  We were rushed....The Boy and The Girl were heading off to youth group and The Man was still working, but I admired it.  Quinoa is kind of cool to look at, with the squiggles and the herbs you can see in there.  The chicken had some color thanks to the seasoning and the grill, and the broccoli was a beautiful, spring green.

     I hope I always remember to find beauty in little things.  I may not live underneath the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel; I may not look out my window every day to the awe-inspiring vistas of the Grand Canyon; the face I see in the mirror may be way more Picasso than da Vinci.  But I pray that I continue to thank God for the beauty around me....in my home, in my view, in myself, and in my food.