Tracks In The Dust

A Father's Advice About Learning the Mission of Life

Archive for the tag “Comfort food”

18 Jul 2014

When Going Out Was Special

There was this special time when “going out to eat” was something you did in frequently. It was a time when a family would treat themselves to something out of the routine and give “mom” a night off.

Family outings to restaurants were indeed unique. White table cloths, the waitress with water for all, the crackers in the basket on the table and a list of standard American fare that would come from the swinging doors in the back. You could predict the menu regardless of where you went.

Ah but then there was that special time when you and your parents would venture to a “fast food” emporium. Places that would offer a drive-up area where waiters would arrive at the driver’s window to get your order. A&W Root Beer. Dairy Queens.

But the most special…..when I was a kid was to go to McDonald’s and get a 15 cent hamburger, small fry and a shake. There wasn’t much more on the menu those days, and if you wanted to eat there you would bring the bag back to the car. The window was out doors and they would hand it though the window — with a cardboard tray if there were several drinks. Not pressed board or Styrofoam, but standard cardboard. They had millions sold back then I think- not billions. 🙂

What is your special restaurant when you were young?

02 Apr 2013

The Yearning for Home

I realized over the weekend that in some ways we are all yearning for a place called “home”.

It feels like for many of us, we continue the journey each day trying to embrace the concept of “home” in our lives. The place that we can feel comfort and safety, surrounded by familiar things. Familiar (root word family) in such a way that it creates an ideal combination of the emotional and spiritual things we desire in our lives.

Some say home is where the heart is. Indeed that is an element. Others get a taste and smell of it with “comfort foods” that can allow them a type of time travel back to a time of feeling safe- perhaps with their parents or a wonderful time with their friends or just alone time. The smells of the food, the texture, the way it tastes triggers the senses and the memories that go with it.

Some of it may be the colors that surround you, the home and hearth of another time and place that can make you change a bad mood to a good one. A comfortable chair perhaps. A warm blanket, a sunny afternoon in the yard, the fireplace, the smell of the ocean. Add the things together like a recipe for home in your head.

And home is not defined by one persons idea of it. It could be the home in the woods, or on top a skyscraper over looking metropolitan landscapes. It could be near water or on top of a mountain. In the end as we travel the journey of our lives, many of us will continue to reach out for that “home-base” in our lives. Just that reality check that we need in some way to make the rest of reality tolerant. It’s wrapped in the senses of our spiritual place and needs our attention.