"Dinner's ready." Oh those wonderful words! I used to love hearing them as a child. I loved saying them as a mother-of three girls. The marvelous thing is, I still love saying them as a wife. In some ways it is my favorite line of the day. It is the line that connotes as much as it denotes.
What does the phrase "dinner's ready" speak to us of? It speaks of a family coming together at the end of a day. It speaks of time together to discuss what has been happening in the lives of the people who have been apart for much of the day. It speaks of the chance to exchange thoughts on the world events of the day. It speaks of the chance to have jokes. It speaks of a chance to feel the warmth and affection that comes when you are with people you care about and who care about you. It speaks of time for conversation on any and all topics. It speaks of the atmosphere that envelops one when all of the above, or any of the above happen.
This touches only on the conversational fact of the dinner hour. It says nothing about the wonderful pleasure that comes from preparing the food. There is a satisfaction that comes from handling the food, the feel of a raw carrot, the crunch of fresh lettuce all add to the creative act which makes cooking come alive. Then eating what we have cooked can become one of the great joys of the day that each of us can partake of. Think of the fun of knowing that each day we can settle down at the table and eat food, which will nourish not only our taste buds, but also our bodies. We select the food that we like, that we know is good for us and then we have the pleasure of eating it with our family members. We have the pleasure of smelling food, a chicken broth in the making, bread baking, a garlic shrimp sautéing, to mention just a few cooking odors that entice.
We have the pleasure of seeing the food as it is placed on the table in bowls or plates. Our senses are engaged at this moment, sight, smell, touch and all delightfully so. Is it not wonderful to think that this kind of pleasure is possible for all of us every day? I'm not describing a trip to Paris- a dinner on the town- or any event that calls for unusual expense or occasion. I'm talking about something that is open to all of us who eat food every day. I'm talking about dinner hour.
Now comes the 64 dollar question- is what I have just described a fact in most homes today- or is it a lovely picture of customs past? Has the life style of 1999 made this wonderful civilizing, daily experience a thing that is just a recollection from by gone days?
If it is a thing of the past- what do we have that makes it worthwhile to have given it up? Is a meal carried in plastic containers, really even a meal? Is each one eating at his or her own time, in order to accommodate different schedules worth the lost dinner hour? How do we really get a sense of each other in this world today? Don't we need these moments of relaxation at the dinner table together? If we do not eat together- what do we do together? When do we all see each other in the family? And when do we see each other under these most relaxing moments?
The more festival we introduce to our lives, the more delightful the life. We can make dinner hour a festival. Let's not give it up without a fight!