I can see clearly now the screen is gone.
Are you singing while reading it like I'm singing while writing it?
Screens.
There are pros, but there are also cons. They work as a filter, but they do it, of course, without bias. They can be efficient in blocking out what we don't want. We can get used to that, which can be a detriment, even in some instances dangerous, because we often give no thought to the fact that they also filter out what we might want, what we don't even realize that we need, to see.
I love having the window over my kitchen sink open off and on over 3 seasons: to feel the warmth of the air in the summer, the light breezes in the spring, the change in temperature through the day in the fall. But I hate having beetles, flies, spiders, and bees as house guests. Especially in my kitchen. The screen in that window has allowed me that balance.
A balance I'd gotten so used to, I'd never questioned it.
But I also love my view of the woods, the lush green leaves in the summer, the fresh white snow on the brown arms of those same trees in the winter. The screen dulls that view, pixelates it, hiding its true identity and its full impact.
Last month Hubs took that screen down. I'm not saying it hasn't been taken down before, rinsed on the lawn with the hose and replaced, because it has. I'm not really sure whether I've been in other rooms when it's been cleaned, just not looked, or that it hasn't been done on such a beautiful fall day before, but on this day I noticed.
Noticed the sun streaming into my kitchen onto the counter, the unobstructed view of the woods, the peaceful tableau: my outdoor table, the deck railing, the wood line above. Even where the stain Hubs and I had meticulously painted onto the deck over a grueling 3 day period was peeling away. The good and the bad, I saw it all. Clearly.
Once I saw, unobstructed, all I'd been missing, I knew immediately that I wanted this view.
I now feel a connection to the outdoors when I do the dishes, can feel the sun streaming in as I create in this kitchen.
And yes, the darkness as a storm comes through is more menacing, flashes of lightning more ominous. That power too is no longer pixelated, its true identity on full and unadulterated display.
Apple Butter Turkey Grilled Cheese
You can make correlations between the clarity achieved when filters are removed from a window, and our recent (for me, anyway) unobstructed view of our politicians, the state of our country, and our future. You and I both know that I'm fully cognizant those parallels. But I will also say this, no matter the weather outside the window, or the future of our democracy, I prefer the clear view.
Only in clarity can we properly assess, prepare, strategize, and even realistically maintain a level of hope:
It's gonna be a bright, bright, bright, bright sunshiny day.
Apple Butter Turkey Grilled Cheese
©www.BakingInATornado.com
Printable Recipe
Ingredients (per sandwich):
2 slices bread
2 TBSP apple butter
1 slice provolone cheese
1 slice pepper jack cheese
4 slices deli turkey
1/2 TBSP butter
Directions:
*Spread 1 TBSP apple butter on one slice of bread. Top with a slice of provolone cheese, the turkey, then the pepper jack cheese.
*Spread the other 1 TBSP apple butter onto the other slice of bread and place, apple butter side down, onto the pepper jack cheese to form a sandwich.
*Heat the butter over medium heat in a small skillet. Once hot, add the sandwich. Cook, pressing down lightly now and then, until the bottom has completely browned.
*Lower the temperature a notch, flip the sandwich over and cook, pressing down lightly now and then, until the other side has browned. Serve warm.
I love your ruminations on screens today. I'd never thought about it like that! /Carol Cassara
ReplyDeleteI have to admit that I'd never thought of it before either.
DeleteAmazing how something so seemingly innocuous can be soooo limiting!
ReplyDeleteYes, also strange that I'd never thought it through, just accepted the status quo.
DeleteThat grilled cheese looks delicious. I need to make it. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeletewww.rsrue.blogspot.com
So happy you're going to try it, let me know what you think.
DeleteWe are blessed to have some windows with screens that we can open, and next to them windows without that we leave closed, but that give the clearer view. It's nice to get both sometimes.
ReplyDeleteYou are right, though, about needing a clear view to see how to best proceed.
Yes, the best of both worlds, some that open for air and some that don't for the lack of obstruction.
DeleteThis brings back childhood memories -not of turkey sandwiches with cheese because I lived in a kosher household until I was nearly 13, but because of apple butter. How I love it growing up. Alana ramblinwitham.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteI've actually only had apple butter a few times in my life, I'm not sure why, it's so good.
DeleteVery Well Put.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteNever heard of apple butter
ReplyDeleteI'd only had it a few times myself, this recipe was inspired by a jar my son brought home from a wedding.
Delete