The Enjoy Agenda by Rick Bailey

Author:Rick Bailey
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: BIO026000 Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs, TRV010000 Travel / Essays & Travelogues
Publisher: UNP - Nebraska

Before the auction I grabbed a few tools I wanted. In particular I looked for screwdrivers, the old ones with wood handles, with dirt and sweat massaged into the grain from long years of use. They were his. Now they’re mine.

Yesterday at a grocery store in San Marino, in a moment of what-the-hellness, I bought two wooden utensils, ideal for turning scrambled eggs on the nonstick pan we bought down in Rimini last week. They will join my mother-in-law’s collection of wooden spoons in the drawer over here. I’ve used one of my new pieces already. It’s just what I needed, or rather, just what I wanted. (The difference between need and want is often difficult to unblur.) It takes years to season a wooden spoon. The ones I just bought are smooth and blonde; those in the drawer are dark, stained by decades of olive oil and meat fat and tomato, nicked and pitted from use. They are historical spoons.

Someday someone will have to open the drawers and empty them. I’m thinking about that, about zones of economy and excess, what I can and want to do, what I should do about stuff.

Who needs forty-nine beach towels?

Who needs twenty-six bill caps?

Who needs dozens of screwdrivers and wooden spoons?

Who needs an anvil?

Some of our stuff we just want. It’s how we know we are ourselves. It’s a reminder of where we’ve been, where we come from; a reminder of those we loved and those who loved us.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.