Leo's birthday cake was sweetened with bananas and applesauce. I made frosting by blending raspberries, blueberries, strawberries and blackberries with whipping cream and adding a little maple syrup. It was healthy and delicious especially for a baby’s first birthday cake.
We sang. We lit the candle. His mother made a wish and blew it out. We cut a sizable slab and set it on his high chair tray. He looked it over. Examined it closely. Lifted his chubby little fist and palmed that piece of cake. The top layer separated from the bottom. He brought it to his mouth and didn’t let go. Until it dissolved or broke away, and then he reached for another piece.
The birthday cake was a success. His actions were adorable. He smacked his lips. He said “Yum yum.”
And then he started to choke. His mom and dad moved in close ready to act. Within seconds, his gag reflex kicked in and baby Leo was safe.
Food. Life sustaining. Without it we starve. With too much, our bodies overload and we become susceptible to disease and sickness.
So much pleasure, so much peril. How could food create such a dichotomy in the human body?
Intermittent fasting. Buffets. Jenny Craig. Michelin rated restaurants. A forty cent banana. A six hundred dollar steak. Paying farmers not to plant. Crops destroyed by flood and drought. North Koreans starving. Obesity in America.
Life-giving food should be like air. Accessible to everyone in the just-needed amounts.
But unlike air, I have to calculate how I shop, what I cook and eat. Even a restaurant is negotiable fare.
In the tense moments before Leo spit out his cake, I wondered about food. I wanted to keep him on a bottle for the rest of his life.
Why is food such a blessing, why can it be a curse?
It's like all of the beautiful benefits of life. Every good thing has its opposite. There is no greater evidence that life is a learning experience. That we come to this sphere to learn. To sort out dangers and fears and balance them with safety and confidence.
The lessons start almost immediately.
Even a baby must learn the finesse of eating pleasure or eating danger.
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