Friday, September 14, 2012
In-class writing 9/13
The toast pops up as my great-grandmother stands in the middle of the small kitchen - her small kitchen - making breakfast. It has become a ritual, a routine. She stands in a long blue robe, faded from years of being worn each morning, white hair perfectly curled, as she leans over the yellowed white Formica countertops. Steam rises as she pours herself a cup of Folders. Her toast sits on a small plate she has had since the 60s accompanied by a red-lidded jar of J.I.F. After she takes a sip of her dark black brew, she moves on to applying an even, almost perfect later of peanut butter on the golden brown toast. Those two smells, the earthy coffee and nutty scent fill the small, bright room. I sit watching on a stool propped against the wall, out of the way, as I wait for my Strawberry Poptarts to be toasted to their own golden brown perfection.
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Kelsey,
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you decided to post this in-class writing! What a great idea!
I love thinking about this cozy kitchen filled with the "earthy and nutty" scents of peanut butter and coffee. Coffee is one of my most favorite smells. Isn't it so comforting?
I also think it's so interesting the detail with which you described your grandmother's meal while you illustrated yours so simply!
It sounds like your great-grandmother making breakfast is such a process. In a good way. It sounds like it's almost a formula: Putting in the proper ratios of coffee grounds and water to get her brew black and not brown, and getting the toast golden but not black.
ReplyDeleteI can really feel the brown colors and smells. The earthiness, the nuttiness; a very natural, organic sensation.
Smelling is a sense that always strike us, but I think we acknowledge it less on the conscious level. Like we put it in the back of our minds because sight and sound are just so stimulating. I'm glad you shared your in-class writing.