Oatmeal And Lovers

I was in the kitchen staring at a pot of oatmeal on the stove and thought, "Is this a pot of love? I wonder if this oatmeal is a form of love." Many writers have written about love and found it challenging. It's easier to write about oatmeal, so I'm going to write about oatmeal.

All the bowls of oatmeal you've eaten are faint memories, but they have combined to make me who I am. I bet you are wondering where I'm going with this. In this short essay, which is my attempt to join the millions of writers who've written about love, every time I say oatmeal, think love, and every time I say love think oatmeal. Hopefully, this will all come together and make sense when we reach the end.

Let me tell you about the importance of starting your day with oatmeal. Without a healthy helping of oatmeal, your day sputters and splatters. Letting oatmeal work its magic in you puts a smile on your face. Making love is as complex as making oatmeal. The goal is to please, impress an imaginary critic, take a fashionable pose, curry favor, and reach for approval from some distant region of the universe.

I might prepare breakfast 10,000 times and never think, “Wow, that is a lot of meals, and there are many more to come.” Instead, I think, “What’s for breakfast?”

We're lovers. Not the usual kind. Not that there is a usual kind. She likes to wait a couple of hours after waking before she eats. I wake up with my blood sugar racing toward zero. I routinely cook two servings of oatmeal. I eat mine fresh while it's hot. She likes to reheat her's a couple of hours later. We are what we do, our routines define us, and our private rituals bond us together. We are oatmeal-eating machines.

What does oatmeal look like in the face of love? What does love look like in the face of oatmeal? Those questions are too philosophical for this writer. Who knows? All I know is that I love making and eating oatmeal. Each time I eat oatmeal, it simmers with just a bit of love. Over time, these bowls of oatmeal percolate, making me realize the truthfulness of my love of oatmeal. After making oatmeal every day for years, I realized that this is all about love. Yet, I can't remember the precise moment this love began.

The gulf between love and oatmeal can seem like a deep chasm, yet I must try to build a bridge to it daily. I don't know how often I've made oatmeal for Mary over the years, but each time has incrementally added to our love. Every time I make oatmeal, it may be the last time I get to make Mary oatmeal. Every moment leads to the last time. One day we'll have our last bowl of oatmeal. We'll have our last bowl of love.

I consider eating breakfast to be about unconditional love, an acceptance of every taste that comes across our tongue: sweet oatmeal, sparkling blueberries, and the nutty crunch of granola. We have no choice but to taste anything that lands in our mouths. We can’t choose not to taste the oatmeal. Any more than we can choose not to hear what we hear or see what we see.

Oatmeal's taste reminds me of the dryland fields surrounding our home at harvest time. Its nutty flavor and aroma come from the earth. The scent of cooking oatmeal and its sweet taste form a secret memoir of love. Oatmeal is also a color.

My wife, Mary, wants oatmeal for breakfast, and I want to cook it for her. I'm not proud of it, but sometimes I take oatmeal for granted. I live in a time and place of plenty. I eat better than kings and queens just a couple of centuries ago. They had to have legions of workers to acquire, grow, and prepare their simple meals. I can pick up Extra Virgin Olive oil from Italy at my local Costco. I don't have to build an olive press and hire a ship's crew to sail to Italy to retrieve a load of olives.

Sitting at the breakfast table, I think, "Our supply chain is amazing in that it produces all this wonderful stuff that miraculously comes together so I can make this oatmeal?" Pause for a moment and consider just one of the things that will contribute to breakfast; the bowl that holds the oatmeal. Not any bowl, but my particular bowl. It is ceramic, inscribed on the bottom with the potter's name, "Wood." A couple of times, many years ago, Wood sold his wares at the Farmer's Market. My girlfriend, Mary, then bought the matching pair of his bowls we still use daily. I've clumsily dropped my bowl several times, gluing the pieces back together, creating surprisingly beautiful patterns. That is how we know who's bowl is who's—creating a unique aura extending the bowl's life. This bowl tells a story of oatmeal, and it is a love story.

How does our consumption of oatmeal and love experiences relate to the food system we are a part?

Dear reader, most of us don’t think too deeply about the food we eat. We’re too busy thinking about what’s for breakfast or what comes after breakfast. But where does this oatmeal come from? How far away was it grown? Who produced it, and were they kind to their workers? Was it produced sustainably? How does where we buy our oatmeal impact the environment and global warming? These are lofty questions about love.

Become philosophical about food and consider yourself a 'Philosophical Foodie .'To take up the 'Philosophical Foodie' badge, you must live an examined life and think about your daily food choices. Consider your food habits, even those as simple as morning oatmeal. Decide to live a life upholding your global values. Live in the way you want the world to be.

Philosophical foodies are people who are curious about the origins of their food. They adopt the mindset of making global values like human rights and sustainability their own. They are people who question their eating habits. They are people who strive for sustainability. They believe in fair and kind treatment of everyone, human or animal, involved in food production. This mindset is about being more reflective about our food choices and living more philosophically.

Take a practical approach to seriously thinking and developing a better understanding of how love can define our place in the food system. Each time we sit down to eat, we make a choice. We might choose to eat oatmeal. We can choose to eat with love. What we choose will echo across many lifetimes. (Lagerlund)

Not everyone will agree, but oatmeal is the best breakfast food. It's a simple, healthy, and delicious meal. Oatmeal can be eaten alone or with others. It's a meal that can be eaten unembellished or dressed in a showy array of delectable toppings. It's a meal you eat in a rush or with a slow, meditative spirit.

We've reached the end of the story of oatmeal and love I've found it hard to write about love. It's been easier to write about a bowl of oatmeal. Oatmeal allowed me to break down the locked chambers of possibility—the possibility of finding love in a bowl of oatmeal.

The gulf between oatmeal and love is unbridgable, yet we must try to cross that bridge daily. I don't know how often I've made oatmeal for Mary in 34 years, but each time has incrementally added to our love. This morning I've topped mine with organic blueberries, crunchy pumpkin seeds, and a drizzle of agave syrup and I've set aside Mary's ready for her when her hunger for oatmeal peaks. Gazing into this bowl of oatmeal, I'm still confused about where oatmeal ends and love begins.

Oatmeal Recipe

Ingredients enough for two lovers One heaping cup of Organic Quaker Rolled Oats (Not the quick-cooking kind) Five shakes of the salt shaker 16 oz. water ½ cup frozen Organic Blueberries ¼ Pumpkin and Flax Seed Granola 1 tsp. Organic Agave Syrup

Method In a small saucepan, add salt to the water and bring it to a boil. Use this time to retrieve and measure the oatmeal. These are different from the quick cooking kind and take a few minutes to prepare.

Once the water is boiling, add the oatmeal and stir. Reduce the heat to a point where the oatmeal will boil vigorously without boiling over unattended. Let the oatmeal cook uncovered for 8 minutes. It takes a little practice to get the temperature setting for your stove right. Mine is 1/5 of a notch above the medium setting.

While the oatmeal cooks, add the frozen blueberries to a small saucepan and heat them on low. This will take about 5 minutes. The blueberries will thaw and release their juices. Add the agave syrup to the blueberries and stir.

When the oatmeal is done, add the blueberries and stir. Serve in a bowl and top with the granola or your favorite alternative.

Alternative Ingredients

• Raisons
• Cinnamon, cardamom, or nutmeg
• Organic Honey, Brown Sugar, or Maple Syrup
• raw almonds
• macadamia nuts
• Cosmic Crisp Apple slices
• raw pumpkin seeds
• raspberries
• banana slices
• coconut flakes
• dried cranberries, or any dried fruit
• and a gazillion other options; let your imagination run wild.

Works Cited

Lagerlund, Henrik. "Philosophy in the Contemporary World: The Philosophy of Food". Blog of the APA. 7 December 2017. blog.apaonline.org/2017/12/07/philosophy-in-the-contemporary-world-the-philosophy-of-food/.