July-August 2003

So perhaps I will write about something that has nothing to do with being ordained or installed or Manitoba or moving into my first house or falling in love or anything of that order.

No, instead, I will write about broccoli.

Have you ever noticed just how much fun broccoli can be? Broccoli is a vegetable that just bespeaks green-ness in its very essence. This vegetable is verdant. Verdant vegetables very often vigorize their vores.

And there are those who would do odd things to their broccoli-- yes, there are those who would put cheese sauce on their broccoli. To me, this seems a shame. Why harm a perfectly edible vegetable by hitting it with milk by-product?

Broccoli deserves to be eaten fresh and raw and just newly washed. Broccoli is a thrill in every bite. Broccoli is a fun word to say. I used to hate broccoli, but once I had raw broccoli, I liked it. Now I just hate cauliflower.

My hope is that broccoli just keeps on being broccoli. Unlike bananas. Bananas have changed. The bananas we now eat are not exactly like the bananas we had ten years ago. And don't start me on corn and the various Orville Redenbacher hybrids. No, give me plain, simple, lovely broccoli and I will eat my greens. Oh yes. I will eat my greens and ENJOY them. I will eat them with a flourish, as each little tree of broccoli mixes with the saliva in my mouth and turns into a clump of tasty green mash, winding its way down the esophagus.

Broccoli, long may you run.

Well, maybe not run. If my broccoli were running, that might be a little disturbing. Check that, a lot disturbing.

Broccoli, long may you remain stationary. And on my plate. And in my stomach.