B-Words

Preparing for a family jaunt to our cabin in the Kentucky hills last summer, I asked my eldest to give me his grocery wish list.  He named food items that violate the rules of the Mayo Clinic Diet book that I am currently reading and every version of the food pyramid that has ever been written:

• Beer
• Brownies
• Bacon
• Bread
• Bourbon
• Burgers
• Beef
• BLT's

"They all start with a "B", he said.  " Come to think of it, most things that start with a "B" are good,"  he added.  He continued his list of favorite b-words, "beach, breakfast,  boy, bicycle, boobs..."  I changed the direction of the conversation after the final installation, which is not a subject a Mother wants to discuss with her adult son.


So we talked about how the things he named were distinctly male on the goodness quotient.  If I were asked what I wanted food-wise for the lake trip I would have said:

• Red wine (old vine zinfandel)
• Spinach
• Turkey
• Light cheese
• Chicken
• Broccoli (a B-word he did not name)

Sure, a few of his b-words are ones I like, too, but my list is more eclectic and heart-healthy.  While I would partake in some of the enjoyment of his b-foods, they would not be things I would generally tempt myself with at the lake.  For me, the trip was really one big B-word, bonding, but more specifically about G-words including only a few food items:

• Grainy bread
• Green leafy vegetables
• Goat Cheese
• Generosity
• Getaway
• God
• Grits
• Generations
• Genealogy (we spent time researching some of the WWII letters of Dad's and other family history)
• Good food

When you are in your 20's, vacation seems more about sensual pleasures like food, for example; with age, you move down the alphabet to the deeper pleasures of creating lasting Memories and stealing Time away to Observe life Simply and Study Nature.


The result was a great weekend and fun for us both.  He got his B-words and I my bonding, family, nature and peaceful time.  Maybe this year he will ask for C-words.  I can only just imagine what those might be.


I am skipping to the J-words this year.  The first of those, having nothing to do with vacation, is JOB!  I just hope it isn't June before I realize it!!  But I will Jump for Joy when it happens.  And I might go for a Jog.  But the food choices will be limited.