The following is the first of a 2-part post, please enjoy!:
So, Thanksgiving Day has come and gone, but I couldn't allow the day and the meaning of the day to pass, without some reflection.
Friends, we have a lot to give thanks for: family, friends, other loved ones,etc. :)
But there's something that most of us take for granted - that helps to bring life and meaning to our lives - the art and act of eating.
Our taste buds help to liven-up our lives, giving life added dimension.
They and the memories they evoke, motivate us to go to the same restaurant, or to a friend or family member's home, over and over again...just to get some delicacy/food that we can't make at home.
...Just to savour the particular way in which that delicacy or food is prepared...that leaves us with titillating memories.
Or just to savour the atmosphere in which that delicacy/food is prepared, that makes us feel warm and cozy on the inside, whilst we eat.
However, some people, due to illness, have lost their appetite...
So everything tastes the same to these people - bland.
So it's important that food look great, have varied textures and colours and be prepared nicely, so that they can imagine how it would taste - from sight, smell and past memory.
Think about it...there's no way that you could have really appreciated and enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner/lunch without the active involvement of your taste buds.
There's no way that you could have savored your favorite non-alcoholic drink without them.
Our taste buds enable us to sense and appreciate the differences between salt, sweet, sour, bitter, hot, cold and the many-varied nuances in between.
Friends, the best things in life are indeed free...
Our taste buds are one of the many great gifts given us, for free, by our Creator, upon our development in our mother's womb.
Please allow me to give a big GWAP Blog thank you to God, our Creator, for creating our taste buds.
Friends, please allow me to ask you to tend and care for your taste buds, by putting away harmful habits like smoking, excessive drinking, over-eating and drugs.
These things not only damage our health and well being, they destroy our ability to really enjoy our foods.
Here's to our taste buds...life surely wouldn't be the same without them! :)
(I would like to thank williamhartz for the use of his Flickr inset photo, entitled,"Thanksgiving dinner with friends").
Gillian
