38 • Yum

Yum

This evening provided a stark juxtaposition of food. We started the night at a restaurant, where the meal was expertly and meticulously prepared with attention to both taste and presentation. A pinch of this, a gentle warming of that, a searing of this, a sprinkling of that. Our bellies were nourished, yes, but also our taste buds and our eyes were entertained and delighted.

And then we went to see Oceans, Disney's new documentary about underwater life. Again, our eyes and ears were delighted -- it was stunning to see. But I couldn't help noticing how differently food was portrayed in the animal kingdom. It was snatched, swallowed whole, with little attention even to removing, say, the shell from the baby turtle. At best, a creature might break the leg of the crab to suck the meat out -- but another creature just vacuumed the bottom of the seabed, sucking up not only green grasses but also sand, debris, and surely fecal matter from other fish. Food was nourishment -- in fact, I would say it was a barrier to enjoying life, because it was the primary task one had to accomplish. Whales traveled literally thousands of miles, meanwhile shedding hundreds and hundreds of pounds in hunger, in order to find their feeding ground in the north.

It all makes me a little less grumpy about my not-so-difficult task of preparing three certainly-more-delicious-than-any-of-that meals every day for my family.