Saturday 7 October 2006
It is funny how sugar coated peanuts are so simple to make and I would never have made them back in the US. Because I can buy gummy bears and doughnuts. I can even buy sugar coated peanuts in a can.
In a world of abundance, of commerce, of making a buck, the experience of the simple sugar coated peanut has been forgotten. Yeah, in the mall we can stop at the German nut counter and buy some hot freshly prepared sweet nuts for 4 dollars, packaged in a cute paper funnel that we carry as we browse the store windows barely noticing the stuff we are chewing. Where is pleasure found eating peanuts in a mall?
Today I bought grilled peanuts from the woman down the road, still warm, a source of income for working the land. I stood at my stove stirring the simple mixture of sugar, water, and peanuts, as children peered through my window saying hello every 5 minutes. Now I have a bag full of organic candy, treats to hand out to the children, treats for my sweet tooth.
There is something so much more pleasant about this experience than buying peanuts in the mall. Who would have thought peanuts could be so special?
We have lost something in America with our fast-food, super stores, car culture, and it is dying with our grandparents. Is convenience and an easy life worth losing the ability to recognize contentment, pace, and happiness in a well prepared meal, in a freshly peeled orange, in the smile of a young child gobbling sweet peanuts?
After a full day's work, eating a hamburger, stopping for a rental movie, and then driving home, are you happy?
Where is your pleasure derived from?
Friday, October 27, 2006
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