THE CHOPPING BLOCK

We had our big meal at noon when I was a kid. Mother would say, "Stan, come and cut the meat". On the counter was a maple chopping block, a carving knife and a sharpening tool. Daddy would swish the knife back and forth on the sharpening tool, feel the edge with his thumb, turn the meat to cut it in the right direction and carve. He carved the entire roast, regardless of size.

That chopping block was at Mother's when she died; now it is here, in Fargo. Wood cutting boards have always been a favorite over plastic for a number of reasons. But here, at house, I inherited the kitchen lock, stock, and barrel, which, of course, means the plastic cutting boards.

Now Tom had recently read what I always knew, wood does not gather germies like plastic. One weekend, while getting things for the lake, we bought two boards to replace the plastic units. The story means nothing except, when I talked to Ryen on Mother's Day, we were talking about cutting boards, as he gave me a very special one along with information of where and why he bought it.

Both of us were laughing so hard when he said, "I don't have many things left from my youth but I do have the plastic cutting board from the house". It was only after he said it that he realized how funny it sounded. Yet, the board went to the co op where he lived while in college, it went to New York, to Columbus, and now resides in California. He has kept it as a 'thing from his youth'.

My question to you is, what do you have from your youth? Soozi kept her cat eye glasses from tenth grade. I will have to think about it, beyond pictures. It wasn't a cutting board, although I have it now as something I inherited.

Meanwhile, back to the board!

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