The Season for Joy
The late afternoon sun streams through the porch windows. Its rays give the illusion of warmth on this cold December day. I soak in its brightness and its light lifts my spirits. It even brings a smile to my lips which turns into a tiny gurgle of laughter, perfect for this week where I’m trying to find joy. If you look, you will find!
Last Monday night, it was time to start a levain from my sourdough starter. The levain is a small portion of my starter that I refresh to use for a specific recipe. In this case, I was making a rye flour levain for my favorite French baguette. It bubbles away overnight and is then ready for me to use in the baguette dough in the morning. I keep my trusted and active sourdough starter in the refrigerator in an old vanilla yogurt container. When I opened the fridge to look for it, the only yogurt container at hand was a brand new unopened one. I immediately recognized it as one I get for my mother who is in assisted living and needs me to buy and deliver her groceries. The thing is, I had already delivered her weekly bag with a yogurt container in it. All of a sudden, it dawned on me. I had sent her my sourdough starter container instead. It wouldn’t do as a topping for her breakfast granola.
Even though it was late, I called her up and told her I had to come and get my sourdough in exchange for her yogurt. Without much ado, she grabbed my sourdough starter container and walked it to the entrance where a nursing assistant helped us make the exchange! We all laughed and chuckled and yes, had a moment of joy. I was still grinning as I scooped out the sourdough now safely back at home and mixed my levain for the next day.
Throughout each day, I let myself laugh and smile at the many funny human moments of life. I’ve even tried to frown and discovered my muscles just don’t like to work that way. So if you hear an infectious laugh, that’s me spreading joy. And that’s the thing with joy. It lingers in my mind and makes me momentarily forget the sadness I encounter around me. And when I laugh, ha ha ha, I often pass it on to others. It’s contagious that way. And if I am living through this Covid pandemic, can I also create a pandemic of joy?
As the December days fly by, I’m finding some light and now, I’m finding some joy, both of which counteract the seasonal darkness and cold creeping in, and the hard things of life. May you find some joy as well!
