The weather here changes quickly.  I like that.  Right now the morning heat is starting to build in the office; not hot yet, but it will be in a few hours.

The neighbor across the street is power-washing his driveway for the second time in a month, which makes me think he barely won the argument to purchase it and is now trying to justify its use.  Or he just really likes the whirring noise it makes..which I’ll admit I found obnoxious at first, but I know when he’s finished the silence will be disconcerting.

Hypothetically doing homework but thinking about power-washer noises and things to make for dinner instead, I have to laugh.  It’s always been distracting to the point of being a stressor if I don’t know what’s for dinner- so I’ll roll it around in my head, for hours sometimes at the edge of consciousness, as if it’s the decision by which the world shall rise or fall.

Hoisin Grilled Beef Tongue

And when I figure it out the rest of my day is instantly productive, usually in direct relation to how excited I am about the coming meal.

I’ve often wondered why that is; why that one piece of information is so important to me every single day.  I was never starving or denied dinner as a child, in fact we enjoyed cooking in my house growing up.  I don’t recall every being scared I wasn’t going to find something to eat through college or in the early years of being on my own.  So why this continual, unstoppable ritual every day?

I’ve recently started paying attention to my environment, and find it’s very relaxing.  That sounds like a broad and relatively ridiculous statement to make, but how many of us these days pay attention to the heat of the sun or the feel of the wind and not only enjoy it, but acknowledge their existence.

Sitting here, doing both in an attempt to fill the silent void that’s now been left by my neighbor finishing his waterworks extravaganza, the answer to my question popped into my head.

The decision of what to cook and produce in the kitchen is so exceedingly important to me, because it’s the main way I know how to add value to the world…

Every day is a new potential, a new way to add, to contribute.

In a way, it’s my universal translator.

What’s yours?