Looking back with fondness. Looking forward with a zest for life. Not sure if it was kettle, the saucepan, the drawn butter or the old photo that made me smile most this morning.
My kettle started leaking around mid September and I had no choice but to throw it away. Mind you, there was no shame on the thing as it had served its purpose well – since the summer of 1990. Funny how I remember something so inconsequential. I haven’t got a clue about that summer except the kettle. I recall buying it at Canadian Tire – $11.88 + tax. So began my search for a new one – with the same price in mind, naturally. A quick and simple quest without complication or pressure, one would have thought.
Holy Crow! Have you looked at the price of an electric kettle lately. From what I could see, they range from $16.99 to $349.99. All I want the darned thing to do is boil a bit of water – not make popcorn, talk to me or clean my kitchen. I kept looking for the perfect one for me. Not too big, not to small, cordless, black and the right price tag. Secretly, I had decided I would go as high as $12.99. After all, I am not an unreasonable person and there had been a sale on that summer of 1990.
So what to do in the meantime? Use a saucepan of course.
Not A Good Idea!
Really! Remember my earlier blog, Your Trip Around the Sun? You would think I would know the difference by now.
“A watched pot never boils”. There was always so much time, just watching and waiting. It didn’t take more than a couple of pots for me to clue in. So, full of water and the burner on, I would rush upstairs to read an email, write a line or two or make a quick call. I didn’t need an exercise plan or a Fitbit. I have counted those steps many times – at varying speeds.
This little saucepan has been around for more than 65 years. My mom used it in her kitchen, perhaps my grandmother used it in hers. It’s just the bottom that has recently changed colour.
On many occasions I recall this little pot full of drawn butter ready to be served over one of my favourite meals – boiled bologna and creamed corn. Now that’s something I haven’t made in a while.
A Zest for Life
This morning my cousin, Linda, sent a copy of a photo of family and friends taken in 1969. She and another cousin, Bettina, were wondering about a couple of people – faces they struggled to recognize amidst others who they knew immediately, although then so young. It brought smiles to see all those beautiful faces in that photo – my mom, special aunties and uncles, cousins and friends.
How we love to look back – whether photos of special people, a kettle, an old saucepan, a favourite meal, or just a pleasant memory that brings a smile or happy tear to our eyes. Old photos and special memories, especially those that bring us joy, are so very important in our lives.
And then, the balance comes with forward face and living every moment with a zest for life.
Let me live from day to day
not longing for the things that were
but with a happy heart that reaches out
and travels against the wind
Each time we look back and share the stories of our lives, we preserve a part of our history and create a space where we can look forward with hope.
Today I will make boiled bologna, creamed corn and drawn butter.
As for the kettle – I can run those stairs much faster now, the house is still standing and in the end it was my family who saved the day. What a wonderful gift on Christmas morning!
If you would like to leave a comment, there’s a space below. I’d love to hear from you.
© 2022 Beulah Peyton Bouzane
I keep waiting to see how much you actually did spend on a kettle. Your family spoiled that bit of fun. Balogna, drawnbutter and corn. Who would even want to eat that meal! Balogna is meant to be eaten with Heinz 57. Don’t spoil good food. As for the picture, I hope you identify each person and post it in the family page. May you always have that zest for life. Happy days ahead.
Happy days for sure. You are the best role model when it comes to a zest for life. Oh the kettle! Believe me, I searched the globe. Heinz 57 … oh yes! And, of course, it has to be the original. That photo – there are a couple of people that neither Bettina. Linda or me recognize. Suzanne said the same thing.
Spoil yourself buy that kettle it is only stuff! You will still have a bit of $ to leave behind so that someone else can debate if a good kettle is worth it’s weight in gold.lol
Oh Lynda, it has become such valuable stuff – now 12 days since getting my new kettle and I still get excited when I push that button. I’ve boiled so much water in the last 12 days, and for no good reason, except to watch it work. ha ha ha
Priceless! Only you, Beulah. And I know the challenge of running those stairs. Those CIRCULAR stairs! 🤦♀️ So glad the family came to your rescue and bought the kettle.
Haven’t had boiled bologna in decades! But that photo!!! I’m stumped on a couple I don’t recognize. But check out Momma … stylin’!!!!
There are a couple in that photo who are a mystery to me too. We all are stumped so it seems. So wonderful to see all those young faces. It was the first time I had ever seen that photo. Mom looks so cool in that line up.
Love this story. You will never lose your zest for life and that makes you pretty awesome!
Ahhhh! What a nice thing to say. Thank you!