Herd About It?
by Ana Grarian
Advent, for Christians is a time of anticipation and waiting. The four Sundays before Christmas serve as a time for us to prepare ourselves and to focus on the promise of the coming savior. It is a time to reflect on the promises God has given us, the love God has shown us in preparing a way for us and providing for our needs. We experience the joy of the coming fulfillment of God’s word through the birth of Christ and in our anticipation of a second coming when the promise of God’s peace will be fulfilled.
For all who observe Christmas it is a time of preparation and anticipation. We prepare our homes, our gifts, our meals and rituals. We wait expectantly for sharing presents around the tree and sharing community activities. Christmas like Thanksgiving is a time when treasured family rituals are re-enacted. We come together with friends and neighbors to reminisce and hope for a better future.
For the Pagans winter solstice is a time when the dark days of winter wane and they look forward to the sun’s return and the promise of another spring. It is also a time of celebrating in community
What brought me to be in such a sermonizing mood?
A few days ago my daughter and I had a much anticipated dinner at a chain restaurant. We had been looking forward to this day as it entailed traveling to another city. We complained a bit about not having one in our town, but then we thought about how special this was. How we had looked forward to it and planned for it. If the restaurant was just down the road we would go there often and it would become humdrum.
Like Christmas and our chain restaurant dinner, food used to be something we anticipated. Before we shipped immature produce around the world in refrigerated trucks, ripening it in some gas chamber, we looked forward to it. Strawberries in June. Apples in fall. Those first red, ripe, luscious tomatoes in July. Fresh picked corn on the cob, watermelons, etc. In our family we have a tradition of an orange in our stocking. In my mother’s day, during the depression and then war time, an orange in late December was quite a treat.
Not so long ago dinner was an anticipated event. Mom (usually) had been planning what she would make, looking at what was in the pantry or garden or root cellar. That was before we relied on value added products that could be nuked after adding water. The house would be filled with wonderful smells and kids and Dad would burst into the kitchen asking what’s for dinner? and getting shooshed away when they tried to steal a taste. We usually still make some of these recipes at holiday time. Mom’s apple pie, traditional stuffing, Gran’s Christmas cookies.
Many of us remember a time or two when we sneaked a peak at what we were getting for Christmas, and learned that the day was less exciting when we did. The anticipation and wonder was part of the deal. I think food should be like that again. Real food, in season, prepared by our own hands, for ourselves and those we love. Planning and anticipating a meal together.
PS The meal at the chain restaurant made us almost immediately ill. Not in a food poisoning way, but in a scary bloated, wanting to upchuck for relief way. I’ve since found out that the seafood in a place like that is packaged in a chemical brine to preserve freshness. I think perhaps my system is sensitive to it. I never had that problem with Mom’s home cooked meals (or my own).
Am I being forgetful? Maybe us kids didn’t participate as much in Advent? I don’t recall much ado made regarding Advent at the old corner First Baptist church I went to, so when I married into a Catholic family I was surprised at how much was made of that part of Christian mythology. (I use that as “story,” not “fiction.”)
I too am amazed at all we can get now, and a little suspicious of the processes that make it all possible.
Ironically last weekend I was sick too. I judged beer in competition in Chattanooga. (The full story is in the beer section, including pictures… the ones that came out.) I judged the first session and we broke for lunch. Millie and I had a pizza and a very rare buffalo burger. Apparently very rare meat can trigger gastroenteritis. I had to beg off the second session half way through because I was sweating like a maniac and could hardly stand. My temp had shot up. I slept the rest of the afternoon, most of the way home and all night until about 10am: unusual for me. After that I felt like a well shaken rag doll that had been in a dog’s mouth.
I love very rare steaks and burgers and never have a problem with them, so… processing? Millie had almost all the pizza and little of the burger.
If that was Red Lobster I have had problems with them too, though no the sickly kind. I find the prices high for what you get and the prep kind of blase’. Unfortunately they have gotten this unwarranted (IMO) nationwide rep. for great meals and deals.
The best seafood place I’ve ever been to was Hook, Line and Sinker in New Hartford, NY. Been quite a while, so I can’t claim how good it is now, though I do know this incredible place for seafood chowder Union, Maine that my Aunt Arley took me to a few times. Wow. I should check out seafood in New England more.
I don’t recall advent being specified in my old Baptist church, though I might not have been paying attention. I’m sure the message was the same as it is just the story leading up to the birth of Christ. In my church here in farm country it is celebrated by the lighting of a candle and reading the relevant scripture or perhaps a pertinent secular reading such as a poem.
Meat is not processed as it used to be. Much larger volumes of beef, thousands of pounds, run through the grinder, and then sprayed down with ammonia to kill bacteria. (Recall an earlier column).
I don’t know what was in our food but we became badly, painfully bloated almost immediately. Fortunately when that passed through we were ok. I’ll be more careful in the future.
Hey – when you’re in the area check out the Bandwagon Brew Pub. They just opened in Ithaca NY with some quirky brews. I tried the raspberry jalapeno which you might enjoy. I liked the strawberry cream which I am sure you would label a “girly” beer. Very startling “crisp”.
I’ll bet that strawberry cream is “cream” in the sense of a Cream Ale. If you’ve had Genessee Cream that’s kind of the main example of the style, though Sleeman is better. (Too many adjuncts in GC, IMO.) That would be interesting.
Well, seeing as how I have relatives in Ithaca, I just might do that.