I’m a creative, experienced, multi-purpose artist and art director
who can take projects start to finish in a variety of styles.

Good designs sell –
my designs sell out!

Sunday, July 17, 2016

"Stomach"

I've continued watching psychiatrists' youtube videos about mental disorders and one of them called tv cooking shows "Food Porn".  What?!!  I looove cooking shows!  Friendly people chop, mix, sizzle, and chat, and I like to play this in the background when I'm trying to relax.  It's not like I'm going to actually follow any of their recipes.  I just prefer cooking shows to seeing a video of who's gotten blown up in the streets last.

Nice people cooking is a normal, pleasant world, and I want life to be pleasant and normal.  They remind me of the safety and love in Grandma's kitchen.  A full stomach means there's enough to go around and share.

The perky youtube therapist said my Food Porn is an unhealthy preoccupation with food.  Grrr.  I suspect she's probably right, but that doesn't make me want to give it up either.  Well, I'm very willing to give up vegetarian cooking shows, but I don't want to give up the fat old ladies making cookies.  I'm not eating them, so it's a non-caloric food obsession.

The strawberries and yogurt is a memory of a shared breakfast.  If you've followed my blog a while, you may have noticed I've painted other shared meals.  Food and love go together no matter what Dr. Phil says.  I had dinner last night with a couple of friends.  Lunch was with more friends.  Friends --> food.  Okay, maybe my friends and I should spend more time in the park walking it off too?

Big meals at Grandma's house were always followed by a walk in the park with the men while the women cleaned the kitchen.  I held Grandpa's hand and we journeyed across the street to Goodyear Park to poke around at the pond and hike through the woods in the summer, sled and warm up by the burn barrel in the winter.

I recently visited my friend's new condo in Akron, Ohio, not far from where my grandparents lived.  I decided to go past their house.  It's been years and years since I've been there, and I was happy to see that so much of the neighborhood looked the same as when I was a child -- until I got to Grandma and Grandpa's house.  It looked horrible.  The pretty porch windows with a fan design at the top were falling apart and paint was slopped on the glass.  A sign hung on the door that said the police were watching the property, so I suppose it's been used as a drug house.  The garage looks like it's going to fall down.  Grandpa must be having a fit in the afterlife.

A young couple with a baby watched me from the steps of Mrs. Edward's house.  A picnic was going on behind Aunt Sally's.  The park looked green and inviting.  Everything looked happy and wonderful for a new generation except our house.

I went home and thought about all the warm memories and cookies in the bright, turquoise kitchen and decided that the current state of things doesn't change anything.  The house and my grandparents live within me.  They're like rereading a beloved book, something I can pull off the bookshelf anytime and feel the warmth again with thanks.

13 comments:

  1. So nice to read one of your cheery life essays. Love, food, friends, and family (even food porn) are a good mix of a "normal, pleasant" world that we so desire.

    Great image!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Anita! I enjoy your "normal, pleasant" postings too.

      Delete
  2. I know what you mean, Linda. Food and memory are so intertwined. I must confess to using googlemaps to spy on houses we've lived in, and it always makes me a little sad, seeing how different it is now compared to when we lived there. Walks taken, trees climbed, memories and meals. A note about food porn. It's always been my understanding that food porn just meant a feast (for the eyes)of food that is beautiful or something really yummy in a picture, or video. Sign me up for all of that!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm all for aesthetics wherever beauty is found. Food just has that extra happiness of sharing the beauty :)

      Delete
  3. Food porn? Oh please, the kitchen is the center of most any loving home. I love to watch cooking shows too. Your illustration looked like a photo at first glance - wonderful!

    Sad story about your grandparents neglected former home. My brother and his wife recently fixed up my parents' rundown house so that her parents could move in. It looks great! But it's strange for me to see it with other people and their stuff.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The last time I did a drive-by of my grandparents' home I had the same feeling when I realized other people were living entirely different lives there. I guess that's why I hadn't gone back again for so long. Life is change though. Maybe that's why I like to preserve the past in my memories too.

      Delete
  4. I used to have food shows on in the background too, pausing to watch if something tasty came up. The only one I occasionally watch now is pioneer woman. I guess she replaced Giada.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'll have to look for that show. Sounds like the kind of thing I'd love :)

      Delete
  5. What a shame the house of your grandparents is falling apart. I hope that next time you visit it, it is in good hands.

    ReplyDelete
  6. There are so many opinions about everything these days, even among psychiatrists—but that's all it is, opinions. I wouldn't really trust anyone who tell how the world is or are suppose to be on youtube. :-). On the other hand I totally agree with you about food. It's great and a good thing to share with friends. Of course it can become an obsession, but that doesn't make everything about food bad or pornographic.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, it really hasn't stopped me from watching the cooking shows :)

      Delete
  7. You are fantastic, we are in the kitchen & bath remodeling for years and I just found your blog randomly, excellent cheery life essays. Granite Countertops Akron

    ReplyDelete