Planning banquets themselves a rite of passage
NYTimes: All Grown Up and In Charge of the Seder
http://nyti.ms/1NoJz6c
The most primitive sense
Smell the Flowers by Kirsten Star Smell, to me, is the most primitive sense. When most mammals are born, they immediately can recognize their mother’s smell and form an attachment to that smell. Mammals like puppies are almost entirely limited to only the sense of smell until they develop more of their other senses. The sense of smell also becomes the most primitive when considering humans and the phenomenon of perfume. For years, humans hunted certain animals for the purpose of obtaining the musk produced in the anal gland. This musk in small doses can act as an aphrodisiac when put into a perfume even though it has incredibly primitive origins. Though most of Western culture has an aversion to smells considered gross or undesirable, the wealthiest of women are still willing to pay heavy prices to spray a smell once obtained from the anal glands of other animals. The sense of smell is not something that humans can control and adjust but rather it is only changed by evolution over
Ariella's latest and very timely post get read it to start thinking about our banquet - reminded me of this piece that just appeared in last Sunday's NY times. Planning the kind of things others - parents, grandparents, "grown-ups" have done for us in the past is itself a kind of right of passage into adulthood.
ReplyDelete