I'm the third Burton sister to post here. Even if you know us, you may not know that we also have three brothers! Once, long ago (I don't even remember how old I was), I accidentally spilled boiling water on my brother Mike's back. I had a pot of macaroni to drain, and as I turned around from the stove with the pot, he ducked under it. He ended up requiring medical attention.
My mother gave me some of her pots and pans a few years ago, and I happened to bring that very pot on a recent extended-family camping trip. Everyone noticed, of course, and I remarked that I never, ever make pasta without remembering the burning incident and checking carefully for children nearby.
More often, though, certain tasks and activities will remind me of a quote from a book. For instance, when cooking potatoes, I always think "Eliza Jane, remember you're paring those potatoes, not slicing them, and don't leave so many eyes they can see to jump out of the pot!" (Farmer Boy, Laura Ingalls Wilder) This is followed by, "Stir the potatoes, Carrie; they'll be too brown." (These Happy Golden Years, Laura Ingalls Wilder)
Do you have any tasks or activities that are irrevocably tied to a quote or passage from a book?
8 comments:
Whenever there's a crisis and I put the coffee pot on, I think of Mr. Ray (The Betsy Tacy series, of course). Limes remind me of Amy in Little Women, even if they aren't pickled.
I know there are more than these two...
"Shelley Latham! Roses in the Disposall!" Every time I turn on the garbage disposal.
I think of Sue Barton or Mary Ellis or Aerospace Nurse or one of the other nurses ALL THE TIME when I do specific tasks at the hospital... and like Bonnie Schuyler in Candy Stripers, sometimes I look at an IV pole and love every inch of it. Well, not really LOVE it, but I think of poor Bonnie holding up an IV jar (!) because there just isn't another IV pole.
Oh, and I think of Trixie and Honey every time I'm kidnapped or held at gunpoint, of course.
I thought of more! I think of Rush Melendy and Mark Herron whenever I see shooting stars, and also whenever I catch a whiff of citronella.
I think of Anne of Green Gables whenever I make tea. I think of Betsy when I knit even though I am waaaaay better than her. I think of Laura and Mary whenever I pass by fields with lovely, tempting bales of hay in them. I think of Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield whenever I am 5'6 and a perfect size 6 with sun-kissed blonde hair, a golden California tan, dazzling blue-green eyes, a tiny dimple in my left cheek while wearing a gold laveliere. And getting assaulted by Bruce Patman.
I think of Anne of Green Gables whenever I am washing dishes ("Oh, you should be in a museum!"). I think of Nancy Drew whenever my investigation requires me to sing in an opera, and I perform creditably.
Whenever I sweep I remember Ma telling Carrie to draw the broom, not flip it; that raises dust.
And when I make a chocolate cake I think of Ginny's mother saying that it's hard to make a good chocolate cake. "Mine always turns out gummy."
Re: LaurieA-B's comment: Oh god, I have a garbage disposal association now, but it's a HORRIBLE one. I was scarred at an early age by an R. L. Stine book where someone's hand was forced into a garbage disposal. I seriously think about this every time I use mine. I won't put my hand in to unstick something even when I KNOW it's off.
Re: Wendy: I associated citronella with the Melendys too!
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