The Root of It All

I was visiting a fellow classmates room yesterday, catching up and making idle chat on an otherwise boring day when I spied a copy of Shel Silversteins' "Where the Sidewalk Ends" on her bookshelf.

Aghast that she actually had a copy (Mine I left with my son) I picked it up and began thumbing through it.

I have always loved his work but never paid much attention to the topics of which he so amusingly wrote. I began to notice the amount of food related poems in the book and in my head began to remember that many of his other books did have a number of food related poems or short stories as well.

I used to read "Where the Sidewalk Ends" cover to cover, over and over as a child and cant help but wonder if I somehow subconsciously convinced myself of my love of food.

I have adopted his Poem "Recipe: How to Make a Hippopotamus Sandwich" as my header as both a tribute to his work and to make the connection between my love for food and his fun works.

And now I will leave you with another of his pieces that had me smiling as I left my classmates room:

"Thanksgiving dinner's sad and thankless
Christmas dinner's dark and blue
When you stop and try to see it
From the turkey's point of view.

Sunday dinner isn't sunny
Easter feasts are just bad luck
When you see it from the viewpoint
Of a chicken or a duck.

Oh how I once loved tuna salad
Pork and lobsters, lamb chops too
'Til I stopped and looked at dinner
From the dinner's point of view."

    -- Shel Silverstein