Writing Prompt

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

I've missed you all terribly, but I'm back at my desk and ready to write! Easter is upon us and with the rising of the "sun" and the great celebration come the breaking of the fasts and sacrifices made through the Lenten season. No wonder that Easter brings with it chocolate bunnies and chicks, jelly beans in all sorts of flavors and sizes, sweet cream filled eggs, marshmallow peeps. . . I've been steering clear of the candy aisle, although the sweet scent of chocolate seems to follow me wherever I go. Then, after church there's the big feast with tables weighted down with maple sugar cured hams, scalloped potatoes, savory rolls. . .or whatever is traditional for your feast and we eat, and eat, and eat. Or at least once upon a time we did. Many of us observe Lent all year long. We are always denying ourselves some sweet treat or rich-in-fat meal.

By now you've probably guessed that the writing prompt today has to do with food. But it's not just about food. If you've followed the Hattie series, then you'll be acquainted with her tutor, Mr. Horace Bottle, who makes no bones about loving food. He loves food so much that he's turned it into a "social study" for Hattie. When they go out walking they observe people, and Horace compares people to food. On Page 104-105 of Hattie on Her Way, Horace compares ". . . ladies in their walking suits and parasols to the French pastries and Italian ices we always indulged in on these trips. Pastries were for the well-endowed matrons, ices for the young and lovely. Working men were meaty roasts of beef or mutton. Businessmen were stuffed partridges, peasants, and sometimes turkeys if they were portly and seemed very wealthy. 'The trolley cars were particularly interesting for Social Studies,' he said. The mix of people--the washed and unwashed, the prim with the noisy drunks, the polite with the shocking cursers--all jumbled close together, were often fruits or vegetables--fresh or raw, hot or cold, stewed, colorless, undercooked. . . It was thoroughly educational, clues to the social classes,' Mr. Bottle said, but I [Hattie] enjoyed the entertainment of it more than anything, the specialness of having our own private way of seeing. 'There,' he'd say, winking and pointing with his walking stick, 'is a prime example of a meaty roast that's overdone and touch to chew.'"

Your writing prompt for the day is to first, observe people and then compare them not to a summer day, but to food. See if you can come up with ten food metaphors for people. e.g. He looks like a stalk of celery. Her hair is the color of salsa. To get started you might make a list of your favorite Easter Feast foods and then have fun creating characters from your food. I wouldn't mind being a chocolate chick (solid, of course, not hollow), but I'd rather hate being the creamed spinach.