Dessert

I am willing to bet that if I were to ask all of you to tell me your favorite part of dinner you would agree that it is dessert. Usually dessert is the last part of a meal and almost always appeals to our sweet tooth. As the culmination of time at the table, it is something to which we look forward, though I have heard of some people who will start their dinner with dessert and move backward. That would never appeal to me. I like to have something to which to look forward, something that is special. Life is like that, too. The "desserts" in life are things like visits to or from friends and family, trips booked to places with a special appeal to us, holidays like Christmas, or even something as mundane as getting back to reading a book that we have found to be a "page turner." Over the last month we have seen the diminution of these life "desserts." And, worse, we have no way of knowing when they will again be available on the "menu." Wikipedia has some interesting things to say about dessert, including that the first known use of the word was found in a health education manual from 1600 entitled " Natural and Artificial Directions for Health". Its author, William Vaughan, must have thought dessert was important for maintaining our health and well being. I agree. It is heartening to see how people are finding new ways to create life desserts from Skype and Zoom meetings with friends and family to virtual house and dinner parties. These sweet moments in life uplift us and keep us moving forward. And like those at the culmination of a meal, desserts in life are always better when they can be shared. That's why one of the things I look forward to each day is writing this daily blog. So, here's to dessert. Today's image is of what has typically been my dinner desserts of late, fresh strawberries.