The Happy Blueberry Muffin

I am on vacation in Virginia and it is too cold to go outside and be active so I am getting caught up on tasks that most people do painlessly on a daily basis. I have to be severely bored and deeply focused to make any progress on balancing accounts or following up on any paperwork. I am pleased to report that my ability to focus over the past two weeks and complete mundane tasks has been very good with only a few social temptations because I don’t know many people in the area.

Over the weekend, my daughter made her own special Blueberry muffins with applesauce, wholewheat flower, blueberries and honey. After that, her family left to go out for the day to a hockey tournament and I expected to continue reducing my tall pile of neglected paperwork. But that never happened.

My old friend Bansky showed up and we started discussing the graffiti street scene in Bristol 25 years ago. I was curious and asked him in a city full of nothing but walls and bridges, how did he choose the one he wanted to improve.

He said it was simple, – some structures seemed to have a natural topology and lines which begged for additional enhancement by an artist. As an example, he walked over to the muffin tin and observed that one muffin had the natural shape of a face with a strong furled brow, a nose recess and the natural lines for the mouth. He then proceeded to add the highlights on the naturally occurring face. He was correct, there was no other muffin in the tin just begging to be decorated.

When my daughter returned home and found the decorated muffin she queried her daughters as to who the artist was and they both denied it. Then she turned to me. I told her about my afternoon visit with Bansky discussing his original street art, which was humorous but still with a message. These pieces included a government worker removing neolithic cave art as graffiti and soldiers armed to the teeth painting a peace symbol on a wall. Over time, his humor has gotten more subtle and his social messages stronger but I assured her he was still capable of drawing a face on a muffin to demonstrate a concept.

At this point she started tuning me out and accused me of wasting time in an imaginary world where I may sometimes dwell when I am bored to tears. I assured her that everything I had said was the truth and that I had worked hard all day and never wasted a minute. Oh well, those who do not listen will not learn, but I never thought my daughter would stop listening and accuse me of dwelling in imaginary places that include pirates and Indians and background art by Bansky. However, that sounds like a really great place to visit so maybe I should spend more time in that world. Especially when it’s cold and dreary outside.