I find the dusty angel food cake pan underneath a pile of other pans in the pantry. I wash and dry it and put it on the counter. I rip open the angel food cake mix and pour the contents into Mom’s yellow bowl. I pour the 1 1/4 cups of cold water in and get the hand mixer out. I pause. I remember the day, embarrassingly not that long ago, when I pulled the hand mixer out. I plugged it in, then, grabbing hold of one of the beaters, pushed it into the mixer. The mixer was ON, and the beater twisted, taking my fingers with it. Yes, my fingers were deeply imbedded in the beater, and they had mysteriously twisted almost one whole turn around. I quickly turned the mixer off and extricated my fingers from the beater. Dang, that HURT! I was too embarrassed to tell anyone, and I wonder how I could’ve been so stupid, but standing in the kitchen today, gingerly handling the mixer, I think I may have learned a valuable lesson, the painful culinary way. Never plug a utensil in before you are totally ready to use it, and always think before you use a powerful hand tool (well, a hand mixer qualifies as a powerful hand tool in a way, doesn’t it?).
I have the tendency to go automatic, to just DO it, without much thought or preparation. I’ve got STUFF to do, and I can’t mess around with THINKING, can I? Sigh. My fingers swelled up and got totally black for a week, and I eventually had to break down and explain what had happened. My family laughed. Can you blame them? But still… how many times have I gone automatic and gotten twisted up in the energy of my life, forgetting to plug in my intention beaters in BEFORE turning on the manifestation energy? Quite a lot, but I can change. I know I can, and I have been very careful around hand mixers ever since.
I can smell the daffodil cake in the oven, the fragrant orange extract wafting gently through the kitchen and into the front room. I will beat the cream cheese and orange juice extract glaze and finish it tonight, after the cake’s cooled, and we will have it for dessert, after a beautiful salmon dinner with grilled asparagus. Life is a riot, it’s one big party, but it is also staying awake, and aware, and it’s about taking good care of your body… and your fingers, because you just never know when you’re going to get twisted again.