Painted Desert, Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona.

when i was little

my neighbor

went with his family

to visit

the painted desert

far away

in

the exotic land of

arizona

i was so excited for him

and a little bit jealous

and

i ran to his car

when i saw them

return home

as they

pulled in the driveway

he jumped out

yelling

‘i have the best souvenir in the world!!!’

it was

beyond my expectations

a miniature version

of this stunning desert

all under glass

 in one place

i had

never seen

anything like it

there must have been

at least

a bijillion

or more

grains of sand

of all colors

and i was in awe

of its beauty

it felt like

i had gone there too

kind of

and then

we had an idea

it was brilliant

‘let’s shake it up all together and see how pretty it is

and then we can sort it out again,

into all of the layers and colors.’

 the first part of that idea worked

 the second part

the part where we sorted it all back out

didn’t go quite as well

and we looked at it

and each other

 wondering

what happened

 amazed

how the sand

could shift

so quickly

never to be

the same again.

—

experience is simply the name we give our mistakes. – oscar wilde

—

image credits: googleimages, nationalparkservice

 there was a time

years ago

when there was not much money

but lots of imagination

and my three growing daughters

and so

the special casseroles were born

along with their legends

jewel of the sea

(tuna, old noodles, mushroom soup, peas and crushed potato chips on top)

‘it’s what the mermaids eat.’

cluck-a-doodle-doo

(same as the recipe above, just sub in chicken in a can for the tuna)

‘the crunchy bits on top (stale potato chips), are the special part of this secret recipe. it’s what the farmers eat.’

cowboy roundup 

(cut up leftover hot dogs, beans, cheese, ketchup, mustard)

‘it’s what the cowboys eat on the trail, during the big roundup.’

just mix everything together

make something new out of them

turn them into a collage of food

give it all a name

create a story

bake it for a while

until it bubbles

scoop it out

eat until full.

‘yes, you can mix green beans, onion soup and ketchup,

it’s one of the most popular casseroles in the world.

not everyone gets the chance to eat this’

and we ate

and we were full

though there was

a bit of rebellion

and some questions

and organized sentinel duty

at times

‘let’s take turns standing by mom when she makes the chili.

 make sure she doesn’t put anything weird in it. 

don’t leave her side for a minute. 

you’re the youngest, you go first.’

yet we all lived to tell.

happy mother’s day

to my three daughters

who are all now mothers themselves

and wonderful cooks

and to all of the

other mothers out there

and those who now have

or have had mothers

and mother figures

in their lives

may you always find a way to feed your brood

with creativity

with whatever food you have

and

with much love.

——

images: googleimages, pinterest.com