“Do you know how I feel when I look at this counter?” I asked.
Sometimes our kitchen counter has garlic cloves, dishes, a cutting board, a bag of rice, fruits, thing of salt, bottle of vinegar. Butter, an onion, a wrench.
A thing will be his, and I’ll look at it there for a week before peevishly asking, “What are you planning to do with this lid / screwdriver / machine part / bottle?”
He will explain and move it, usually. Or he’ll throw it in the trash, if he realizes it’s not going to work out for his intention.
This day I’m talking about, the counter was clean and bare. There’s the toaster, blender, and crockpot against the wall, but the fore-part of the counter was totally empty.
“How do you feel, when you look at the counter?” he asked.
“I get a kitchen boner!” I said. “So happy and safe and longing. I want to cook…all the foods!”
It really is a special kind of excitement. So much potential in that space.
