Garlic Toast

I have a love affair with garlic toast. I don't like it cheesy (most of the time) and I usually like it the way I make it myself. Regular bread, melted butter and garlic powder, in a 400 degree oven until it smells right.

Tonight I made it for myself, accompaniment to a bowl of soup. I was running around, doing other things, while the two slices sat in my oven. This running around, doing other things, usually gets me in trouble. I'm infamous in my family for burning things in the oven, simply because other things in life get my attention. I have always refused to set a timer, because I believe I know that when I smell the smell, I'll know it's done.

Tonight was not a night of distraction. The smell was right and I opened the oven door. I don't know that I've mentioned my failure to use cookie sheets, pans, etc. The bread goes in right on the oven rack. I leaned over to get the toast and reached in to grab the toast. I had to grasp the edges a few times. The toast for apparent reasons was hot. So I kept touching it and then whipping my hand backwards, touching it and whipping my hand backwards, as if the quick motion would make it less hot. It didn't. But I got the toast out of the oven, sans potholders, and dropped it onto the top of the stove.

Of course, as I sat down with my bowl of soup and garlic toast, a metaphor came to mind. I know how I probably sounded today, like I was ready to hook up the bungee cord and fling you off the small step on the edge of the bridge to nowhere. But I have to push right now. This is the time where you get frustrated with me and the frustration leads somewhere. Not nowhere. This is the time where you get unhappy because you have so many other deadlines and to sit down and write seems nearly impossible. Not impossible.

So maybe we're not ready to jump. Maybe we just need to touch the toast and feel the heat. Maybe we need to keep grabbing at it and try to grasp hold, even though we know it could include pain or scaly dragons or evil stepmothers with black capes and green eye shadow. Can you try? Can you just touch the toast once? Can you feel the burn a little? You don't have to achieve a first degree burn. Just try. That's all I ask. Try until it smells right. You'll know.

~LZH