ShannonThomas.Org

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I peeled a mess of potatoes the other night.  I skinned five or six of them, and I realized that I’ve peeled so many in my lifetime that my hands can do it without much conscious direction from my brain.

Peeling potatoes is good for thinking.

I thought back and wondered how and when I learned to peel a potato, concluding that my father must have taught me.  I can’t remember if he gave me direct lessons, or if I learned – as a learned so many things from him – just by watching.  He must have chastised me at some point, for cutting too deeply into the potato and wasting some of it, because to this day I strive to cut as close to the skin as possible, and I always get pissed at myself if I cut t0o deep.

So there I sat, peeling taters and thinking about my father, remembering back to all the times I watched him peel, shuck corn, or string beans.  It’s all good work for thinking.  I wonder if I think about the same things he thought about.

Sometimes, the answer is certainly no, because I think about my work, all binary ones and zeroes, and Dad never had any understanding of such things.

But other times I think about my girlfriend, my family, my future, or my past.  I think about dreams I may never achieve and mistakes for which I may never atone.  I make plans to ensure the people I love are safe and happy.  In  these times, I think my thoughts and my father’s are very close.

I also wonder what he thought about when he looked up from his labors and saw a little blue-eyed boy watching him.  What were his hopes and plans for me?  Did he have any idea of who I would become, the victories I’d achieve, the atrocities I’d commit, the love I’d feel, the hearts I’d break, the creations I’d make, the destruction I’d cause?  Did he know he was teaching me to be a man just by being himself and allowing me to watch?  Did he know that, by teaching me to peel a potato, a piece of him would live in me for years after he was gone?

I looked up from my pile of potato pills, but there was no little boy or girl watching me.  Just a cat,  and she couldn’t give less of a shit about potatoes.

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In case  you hadn’t noticed, the website has had a makeover 

I’m not entirely thrilled with the rotating header images, but they’ll do for now.

How do you like the changes?  Thumbs up or thumbs down?

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