With This Now Gone

Our microwave broke two days ago.

You would think this would be a terrible, terrible thing. Oh, but the things we have cooked--slowly and beautifully--without it.

I became old-fashioned like grandma, turning bacon in the pan. The smell filled even the upstairs. I became slow and patient, listening for the song of the tea kettle that heated my water on the gas stove. I became an expert in heating leftovers with olive oil in the pan and added my own seasonings to make it even better.

I embraced the sounds and smells of a different kind of day with this thing I thought we needed, now gone.

When something breaks, it might just be, like my friend Sandy reminded me, to put me back into the joy of an unhurried life.