The things we will eat

I went to a writing workshop hosted by Tamera from the library. I felt a little shy in a group of strangers, especially when I saw that Tamera was going to have us read our writings out loud, so my creative bent was hindered by that, but I enjoyed it very much. Tamera is a very good teacher (and writer too!). One of the prompts she used was scents. She handed out little containers of random things that we were to smell, then write down our associations to that particular scent. I got vinegar, which evoked the kitchen. This is what I wrote:

Jon in the kitchen, carefully, methodically dumping these ingredients in, measured by sight, carelessly tossed into the pot, there to simmer the appointed time.
Our life is composed of these moments, these nightly rituals in the kitchen--he concocting his latest culinary miracle while I read in the living room, keeping my clumsy hands far away from the things we will eat. Our cat goes to and fro, drawn by the smells of fish oil, mewing his pathetic cries, tail bushy with anticipation.
I read and wait--the feast is served.

I'm not sure how fish oil showed up, but that's how the power of association works for you: one thing leads to another, and you discover something new.

This exercise reminded me of a post I made on this blog a while back: "The associations we come up with."