Jewish Musings, Monday Aug. 29

[louise]

What’s on your mind — how to make kugel? this week’s Torah reading? life goals? prayer? We are all engaged in weight loss/weight maintenance journeys and we are all Jewish or at least interested in Judaism. We like to eat, we like to discuss. It is our goal here to provide each other support on our journeys, to share experiences, to call on our rich cultural heritage and texts, and to help each other grow spiritually.

Some of us take weekly turns starting the thread:
Angelika
Holly
Lee
Louise
Lynne
Peachy

[louise]

Merle Feld is a favorite of mine. She often writes very movingly on Jewish themes. Here she captures a bit of life and learning from when she was a girl. Maybe it would have been censored on our old thread (but I don’t really think so). At any rate, it’s not a lesson I put into practice very well – there have been any number of times I looked in the waste basket in my office and wondered how all those candy wrappers got there.

A 9-ounce Nestle bar

passed between us in the evenings
Sometimes with almonds, sometimes
without. Thick little blocks
of chocolate that melted slowly
on the tongue. Patience was learned
as you waited while the small
square dissolved in your mouth,
slowly with only
the mouth’s passive moisture
and an occasional subtle movement
of the tongue to tease the process
to its conclusion.
Much the same patience as is
practice waiting for that adult
explosion of pleasure – the trusting
relaxed attentive waiting
for an explosion of pleasure.

I learned most of what I know
about pleasure sitting
in my living room at the age of 8
in the company of my parents
and older brothers with a small
square of Nestle chocolate
dissolving in my mouth.

[savtele]

Boker Tov All! Louise - I love this poem! And your comment - it immediately brings to mind the old cartoon ad where the young boy asks the wise old owl, "How many licks does it take to get to the tootsie roll center of a tootsie pop?" The owl licks 3 times, then bites into the hard candy. "Three" (I'm thinking that's how my wastebasket gets so full of candy wrappers - I learned this lesson all too well!)

The savoring of pleasure - it doesn't come naturally to me. At least not with food. Although, as I get older, there is something about the early AM hours, before the house gets noisy, with birdsong & river sounds surrounding me. And I sit here with my 1st cup of coffee. I feel the warmth of it in both my hands, and the smoothness of the liquid sliding down my throat. My vitamins/meds are still in a little pile on the desk - waiting until the coffee cools enough for a gulp to swallow them down. Bluejays and chipmunks love the figs on my tree - the bluejays are scolding the chipmunks that have come for breakfast. The chipmunks pay them no mind. This is happening right outside my door.

I'll be heading to the pool soon.
Have a good day ladies!

[peachymom1]

I can't get past the image of sharing a big chocolate bar with the family. When I was a kid, if anyone got candy, it was a highly prized and hoarded, not shared. And it certainly wouldn't have been enjoyed slowly. What a lovely idea, though -- buy a candy bar large enough to really be able to share and enjoy together. Hm.

[gazelle18]

OOOOH, I love this poem, risqué inferences and all.

Re the "adult" pleasure the poet refers to, all I have to say is this: if everytime I wanted chocolate, I reached for DH instead, he'd be s lot happier and I'd be a lot thinner.

One time I went to a mindful eating class, and the instructor had us make our own concoction of graham cracker, gooey marshmallow topping, peanut butter, and chocolate bits. We felt each item, we smelled each item, etc. In other words, we did the whole Megillah with the savoring of the pleasure. When it was finally time to eat, we were told to close our eyes, take small bites and slowly savor each taste. Bottom line: even I couldn't finish the whole thing.

A lesson we could all re-learn. Keep the poetry coming, Louise!!

[louise]

I have talked before about the bell going off in my head and I just gotta have it - whatever "it" is. No savoring going on there. And I'm still in some part of the mourning process that I'm stuffing down with food. Like what I want is to be stuffed. My "good self" knows better but, not where I am.

Lynne, was the workshop perchance with Geneen Roth? There's a woman who knows all about it. I should probably re-read something I have on my shelf of hers!

[hollygail]

I obviously spend too much time obsessing on chocolate; I understood the
"...waiting for that adult
explosion of pleasure – the trusting
relaxed attentive waiting
for an explosion of pleasure..."
to mean waiting for the pleasure of the melting and then melted chocolate, completely coating the tongue and across the roof of the mouth and all across the entire mouth... It wasn't until I read Lynne's post that I went back to read the poem again; and I found myself laughing out loud! How did I miss the "adult" meaning? I must still be a kid, at least when it comes to savoring chocolate. To this day, I eat my half-serving of Costco frozen chocolate yogurt one small spoonful at a time, putting the spoon into my mouth upside down, so that my tongue tastes the cold confection before the yogurt touches the roof of my mouth, and savor it I do, working my tongue toward the roof of my mouth (and one time, I didn't even take my foot off the brake when the red light turned green because the yogurt was still dissolving...)

[gazelle18]

Louise, it wasn't Geneen Roth, it was someone else. But I love everything I've read by Geneen Roth

Can someone tell me how to reply underneath someone's message? What button do I push??

[lee058]

Hi everybody. I've had a busy day doing lots of errands, and this is the first chance I've had to get to the computer. Good to see all of you, good poem, I love chocolate, and I would love to take a workshop with Geneen Roth!

Among the things that I did today was to order a 20-lb. box of Hatch green chile peppers (!). These are very special peppers from New Mexico, and I am looking forward to eating them this fall and possibly winter, depending on how long they last in our house. H and I are going to chop them up and freeze them so that they will be easy to use.

Whew, I'm tired but it's a good tired. I got a lot done today and had a good time for almost all of it.

I'll check back later. Have a peaceful rest of the day, Lee