Why do we eat more food in winter? Mom used to say, “It’s because your body is burning energy and feeding the system you were given at birth will make you incredibly warm.”
Truth is…I was born to argue. If eating was created to maintain comfort why then don’t we stop during the months of summer? That’s when Dad took me into his manmade basement with dusty dirt clod flooring and opened the guts of the ventilating machine, “See that? Don’t just look at a chunk of metal and assume it suddenly appeared on earth to perform…it’s required to do a daily job. From the outside, common knowledge tells us that it heats and cools but once you grab a glimpse of what it’s made of…you begin to realize that it requires an enormous amount of energy to keep the process moving.”
At 47…I still disagree.
The battle stems from self delivered sentences designed by unperfected vowels, adverbs, adjectives, nouns and pronouns—the outside shell of the working machines we’ve become hold within their buckets of bolts and bones verbal abuses that melt rust off ancient yard art.
If what we say shall become…why then don’t we feel the same way about leafless trees and the wired vines that fight to keep the assumed thick trunks in its selected place? My argument is…we eat to bring fullness to what to we see.
While a forest takes a well deserved nap between November to March, beneath its anxiety to come popping back into play by spring rests the other makers who turn everything bright, beautiful and unforgettably green—turtles, frogs, big ole hairless black snakes, fiery red ants and giant bumble bees with big thick as mink yellow and black coats that don’t stink.
The human spirit is locked in a mode of performance or fail—combine that with a city made of billions of trees with no leaves and invisibly it becomes our friendship to invite something filling to the presentation of what nature brings. Nobody stops to notice the noise crazy crows who holler and holler or the strikingly stellar Blue Jays that rob the cradles of dazed squirrels and chipmunks. The cattails have exploded sending seeds in places the wind spends millions of years scanning out while poison ivy lay silent patiently waiting for an untrained eye to come walking by.
Every now and then someone might take note of the rising of a daily sun but lost is the true connection, hidden away by a completely natural desire to fill all things that look empty. We eat until there is no more room.
Studies show the heaters and coolers within the bodies we keep…don’t require heaping spoons full of ice cream. The recommended amount of food a dog is supposed to get is 1/3 cup in the morning and at night…a bird is only supposed to receive a few sprinkles of seeds in the cup. Fish get a pinch a day and your neighbor would be satisfied to receive just a beer.
We may be the smartest thing to hit the earth scene since the creation of the apple but in reality the project called human is kinda off track on the smack. We use food to pick us up, it’s a great way to celebrate a holiday or wedding day—food is inviting, a way to tease the imagination, it’s flavorful, blessed with creative flow and sadly unlike a forest of trees who are required to get some sleep…food is nonstop.
Humans don’t take a break and if we do…there’s no shedding of the leaves or scampers to the nearest hole in the backyard dirt pile. McDonalds, Burger King, Wings and BBQ Ribs Are Us and every Chinese, Italian, Mexican and Home Cookery restaurant in the country have led us to believe there is beauty in fine dining.
We eat to bring fullness to winters disappearing act. Toss in snow flakes and life become a desert with irritating waves called mirages that whisper, “Eat a cookie. It’ll make you feel warm.”
Every morning I wake up, the sunrise puts light on a forest of trees that I’ve written beside since July 1994. Each year at this time I write and write and write about how much I can’t stand to see those naked sticks standing out there doing nothing more than catching a quick wink. I guess if I held up ten billion green things for nine months out of twelve by the time winter arrived, I too would dive into the depths of rapid eye movement.
We’re only being human when we want to add compassion to a hillside that looks dead. We crank the music up so loud the wind carries it to the next county, all in the name of making sure there’s always something vibrant around every step we take. Alcohol consumption skyrockets during the winter break…for some, it makes digesting the big change a little easier to handle, which is the very reason why grocery stores stack boxes of cookies, already prepared foods and other rip from the plastic bag items near the cash register because once you’re in the car…you don’t have to deal with Mama Natures break from the everyday bump and grind.
What’s the best way to beat the street and shatter the habit…by becoming aware of how many times you look at the images outside your window and inside the the mirror. Deathly looking trees and shrubs are heavy to hold and so is the image in that sheet of glass in the bathroom...the one you never, never, never say good morning to and yet you expect coworkers and bosses to make your day better than great. Fulfillment begins with adding a plastic rose to your car...everywhere you travel those two eyes are looking back at you. No matter how many times you try to get out of the meeting…you always have to pee.
Starting today take the time to say, “Hi!” Welcome to the worlds greatest diet!
arroecollins@clearchannel.com
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