Blog Cream

Right in front of you, there is a bowl. In this bowl is your favorite flavor of ice cream.

Perfectly soft. Perfectly silky. Perfectly smooth.

You look closer, only to discover that drizzled on top of this perfection is your favorite ice cream topper (mine is caramel). The silver spoon is in your hand. All you have to do is dip it into that bit of delicious.

Take a moment.

You’ve been anticipating that first bite.

Not just anticipating. . . . but actually putting off this first bite--knowing that to wait. . .well

You thought about ice cream earlier in the week, but decided to wait because waiting only makes you want it more—only makes that moment of the first bite that much more exhilarating. There’s been a lot of thought put into this bite. . .

The flavor, the toppings (did I mention caramel), the surroundings. . .

Now, there it is right in front of you. Ready for the taking.

The stars have aligned.

The time is now.

Your favorite ice cream, and favorite topping (hello, caramel), is there. . .in front of you.

Your spoon dips, turns, and scoops up the perfect morsel, the caramel drips, a bit lands on your finger. Your heart accelerates as this delectable delicious decadence touches your bottom lip, and. . .

Oh my god. . .it passes on to the tongue, and. . .and. . .and. . .

Yep, it’s ice cream. Just as you expected.

And that moment becomes much like your first sexual experience. It was the foreplay on your mind’s part that made it exciting. . .the actual moment. . .

Meh.

**Note: I equate most everything about life with food. We could get all philosophical on this and pretend that it’s because food gives me life, and in essence by loving food I am loving life. . .but whatever. . . .

Food. Delicious. There are no ifs ands or buts about that. . .I love food. I love life. I love sex. This is probably why I run. In order to enjoy all three of these things. . .you should be athletic. (Also, my family and I take food extremely serious)

Moving on. . .

Back to ice cream. . .

You enjoy your bowl of ice cream. It is sweet and succulent, and well worth the wait. You make your way through. It. . .savoring it. Thankful for its presence. . .but you find yourself reaching the end. You are saddened by this prospect, but know it is inevitable. . .However. . .

Suddenly. .

You scrape the bowl for those last bits. . .the leftovers. Not much to them. . .just (what you think will be) some cold milky ice cream and topping (caramel) mixed together. . .you fill your spoon with these icy bits. . .then bring it to your mouth. . .

And behold. . .

Your heart stops. . .

You have just experienced the best bite of the entire bowl of ice cream.

Sure the first bite was wanted and anticipated. . .

But this last bite. . .this last moment of delicious. . .all the flavors combined into one special specific moment. . .well, that. . .

That. . . .

Was unexpected.

And that made the walk to the convenience store in the bitter cold to get the ice cream. . .the walk to three (THREE!) grocery stores to find the (perhaps I've mentioned this) the caramel. . .the getting home. . . the scooping. . .the drizzling. . .all these efforts were well worth that very last bite. Not the first, but the last. That last glorious bite that combined your efforts and your flavors into one final perfection of a moment.

And truly, my life is that bowl of ice cream. It’s not a box of chocolates. . .it’s ice cream. It is a scattering of bits. . .the moments that I think will be gorgeous turn out to be “meh”. . .and the moments that I think will be the end. . .turn out to be extraordinary. As I scrape that bowl, things I don’t even remember being there end up on that spoon. . .

Just as that ice cream becomes more delicious and more desirable than I remember. . .

So does life. . .

We all have our life metaphors. . .I have a lot. . just think for a moment. . .Your favorite painting--how many colors does it have in it?

You favorite song---how many instruments?

You favorite story—how many words?

Your favorite food—how many ingredients?

All the best moments are really a collage aren’t they? That first kiss. . .there were a lot of elements mixed with it right?

And the best kiss, was when that person, you and the surrounding elements mixed perfectly. . .maybe it didn’t look pretty (like that caramel mixed with ice cream) but it felt and tasted perfect.

I am a theatre practitioner who hates reading plays. There, I said it out loud. I think a play should be combined with all the intended elements. Just like a song. . .Yes, the words are great, but filling them in with guitar and bass, and oh my, drums. . .well, I’ve just blushed. . .

The same goes with food, love, and life.

The more ingredients, the more mixing, the more you combine those experiences, the greater it all becomes.

You are alone right now. . .or you are with someone. . .you are planning your next move, or you are in the middle of your next big thing. . .all these things are little moments. . .all of them mixing together. . .no matter. Because in between all of them you will have several lone moments. . . where you sit on your couch (or perhaps in a bar or on a bench in a park or on a sidewalk in a bustling city), and your thoughts will wander and all of these moments will come into the foreground, and you will find yourself smiling because your wandering thoughts have allowed you to taste the best bite of your life. . .

And you know what??

That’s only the end of one bowl.

You have countless more waiting to be filled with your efforts (three stores for caramel!) and hard work.

At least I do.

I am a lucky person. I have a family and friends who love me. They love me.

They actually do. And I am sure of it.

Wow.

(taking a moment)

So, I spent my night watching a silly FX show called Archer, which I adore. . .and then I trampled out into the cold for said ice cream, and this blog was the result.

Not bad for a night in Korea.

And now a quote, as I wander on. . .to my next thought. . .

"One cannot think well, loved well, or sleep well, if one has not dined well." --Virginia Woolf

and even kings understood the importance of a good pun. . .

"For its merit, I will knight it, and then it will be Sir-Loin." --Charles II

my furry friends, be well.