Grief
The Quiet Man wasn’t amused that I referred to our kitchen as the "most mundane of places" in a previous ‘blog.’ He wasn’t particularly appeased when I suggested I could change it to say an "ordinary, everyday place" instead. In his words "our kitchen is a happy place, you spend most of your time there so you must like it. "And he’s right. I do. Our kitchen is a place of creation, of clutter, colour and chaos, of laughter, gatherings, spirited arguments and music. Dirty dishes, laundry, spilt coffee and toast crumbs regularly take centre stage as do muddy foot prints from the resident Spaniel on rainy days. The battle over whether the door stays open or closed is never ending and nobody, but nobody, was the last to leave the oven switched on. Our kitchen really is the heart and soul of the house. Yet it’s more than that even. It’s also the brain of the house. It’s where things happen, where things are made-successes and messes. Where solutions are discovered over pots of tea (or bottles of wine), where memories are made and dreams declared. The kitchen table, far too big for the space it’s squeezed into, currently plays host only to quiet meals and FaceTime calls whilst we experience our quarantine, staying safe at home. This kitchen is currently quiet and not being used as much as it could but, like my brain, it’s never empty.
There are memories in this kitchen, at this table, of kids doing homework, building lego and careers and new lives that will take them away to return with girlfriends for dinners and celebrations. There are memories of people and pets who will never return, and of opportunities lost There is a sense of excitement in this kitchen, at this table, in my brain, hope for things to come, more memories to be made, adventures to be had, new people to meet, conversations to unfold and recipes to be created and consumed and new thoughts to be mulled over with coffee or wine in hand. This kitchen, this table, is untidy and disordered, like my brain, like all our brains. Always ready for a forgotten or mislaid gem of a recipe to be rediscovered, repurposed or redesigned and used for good.
