Sunday, August 2, 2009

Ordinary Miracles

Things have been very busy around here, so it’s nice to have some time to reflect on the ordinary miracles of the past week.

First off is this piece of history we uncovered during the demo of our kitchen. Behind the drywall we found this:


I love tearing apart an old house (if 1947 can be considered old) and coming across fun things like this border! A previous owner just put drywall over it, and I’m glad he did because uncovering it was a fun surprise. I try to imagine the woman who wanted this on her kitchen wall (we are not gingham-and-geese types) and am reminded that she cooked her family dinners in very same room where Mr. Beale and I do our cooking now. I think of how she worried over a roast getting too dry, how she yelled at her kids to “close the fridge door!” or pulled out the good china for Thanksgiving dinner. It’s a neat connection to someone I’ll never know, but with whom I share something very personal.

The other ordinary miracle is my garden, which flourishes in the cool, wet summer we’re experiencing in Nashville this year. This is the first time I’ve planted tomatoes and peppers. It always amazes me that one can just add water and get ... food!