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United States, Minnesota, Red Wing, English, Spanish, Leah, Female, 36-40, Cooking, History, , Domesticity, Feminism, New Urbanism.

Friday, February 06, 2004

It has been a very bad day.  Lately it seems about one day a month I fall to pieces like an overcooked lentil.  The day occurs about the same time every month so I know it is related to my cycle.  Still, that knowledge doesn’t make it any easier to bear when there is a little man in my brain with a pair of hot pincers and Kipp is carrying on hysterically for 45 minutes about the indignity of having to wear overalls.   As a diversionary tactic, off we went to the grocery store, where I let him push the cart for the entire time, load all the groceries, and sample all the free stuff he wanted.    PMS never used to affect me so. But, I know the occasional bad days are just the shadow side of  a cycle that is otherwise pretty delightful so I’m not about to medicate them away. I just wish, on days like today, someone would cook for me!   The Lentil soup was pretty unpalatable, by the way; the lentils disintegrated completely and the juice of one entire lime makes for mighty tangy mouthfuls.  I probably resembled Lao-Tzu himself as I attempted to eat it.    I won’t give up on lentils,  but don’t bother with the recipe below.  comment []7:59:12 PM     I intend to think more about my upbringing as eldest daughter of a man who had no sons during the height of the second wave of feminism, but at least for today I feel like heeding these wise words:                                                      Stop thinking and end your problems:                                                                                                        --Lao Tzu                                                                Besides, there is a lentil curry soup I want to try.  Whenever the weight of the world seems a bit heavy, when modern life gets too complex, when I cannot comprehend why little girls are kidnapped and murdered, and when there are too many darn Legos on the floor, I take solace in lentils.   Curry-Lentil Soup   Saute in 2 T melted unsalted butter, about 5 minutes: --1 yellow onion finely diced   Add and Saute, about 1 minute --2 T fresh ginger, peeled, minced --1 T curry powder --1/2 t crushed red pepper flakes --pinch of sugar   Add and Simmer, 15-20 minutes --4 cups vegetable broth --1/2 cup red lentils --juice of one lime   Stir in --1/4 cup heavy cream --Salt to taste   Garnish soup with coconut, peanuts, scallions or mint.       comment []11:32:02 AM     Miki at Theory of the Daily has gone and done it again:  posted a fascinating reaction to the new Atlantic Monthly—in particular to Caitlyn Flanagan’s, “How Serfdom Saved the Women’s Movement.”    I was reading The History of the English Yeoman not too long ago (a yeoman was a free laborer, between serfs and knights on the English social scale)—for the domestic bits on late medieval life, of course. The book was written by renowned Harvard historian Mildred Campbell in 1944.  Maybe because it was written by a woman, the English yeoman’s wife gets her fair share of attention, and I take inspiration from her when it comes to managing my own household, (a household that includes weekly help with cleaning, laundry and babysitting):  It should be remembered that ordinarily the yeoman's wife did as much work as anyone; if a servant was hired it was not to relieve her but to do the work which was beyond her capacity. Now, I don’t have to churn the butter, bake the bread, or concoct my own medicaments from herbs; I don’t have to shear the sheep, spin the yarn, or weave the cloth for our garments. Hell, I don’t even scrapbook. Nevertheless, it has been my experience that the modern expectations—or maybe my own high expectations--of tending a home, feeding a family, helping my husband to run our business, raising a child, and keeping body and soul together are beyond my capacity.   Why is this so?  I’m  able-bodied and have a brain. I was not brought up to be lazy.   I’ve shut out worthless distractions, have shed myself of silly vanities, and have happily lowered all standards except those pertaining to cooking.  So why am I still such a bungling, ineffectual, and overwhelmed modern woman?      In answer to my own question, I think it’s because I was brought up to be a man.   This is not a complaint, just an observation. I’m not about to accuse my parents of ruining my life.  God, no.  I’ve had a beautiful life.  I’m just wondering why I feel so ill-equipped sometimes for this business of being, in essence, a 21st century yeoman’s wife.   comment []12:47:28 AM

© Copyright 2004 L. L. Adams. Last update: 3/2/2004; 4:54:44 AM.