Life is Like Eating a Churro

I did it! 1 year sugar free! And I celebrated with... a little sugar. On our recent trip to Disneyland I took a looooong moment to savor a childhood favorite - the Disneyland Churro.

Even as I write this post almost 3 weeks later, I can still recall the details of my churro. In appearance, a foot long brown tube with shallow ridges running up its length. It felt warm. It smelt warm. And sweet. As I brought it into my mouth the cinnamon-sugar granules brushed off, some melting in my mouth, some coating my lips, some falling like snowflakes on my jacket. The bite was at first crispy then gave way to a warm, chewy, crepe-like center - the perfect soft compliment to the flakier surface. With each bite I tried to indulge in a different way: small bites; large mouth-filling bites; sucking the outer layer off first; chewing the inner layer first; and so on. And each bite came with the bonus pleasure of licking up the dispersed cinnamon-sugar granules from my lips as far as my tongue could reach.

I have probably never eaten any food so deliberately in my life. It was a lot of fun and is now an embedded memory. Meanwhile, sitting next to me, my husband wolfed down his churro, licked his sugar crusted lips just once and then jumped in line for Flick's Flyers with the kids.

For the first several minutes, I was certain that my churro eating style was superior to Anthony's - he was missing out on the subtle and rich details! Then, about half-way through my churro, I realized that it was soon going to be over and I wouldn't have another for quite a long time. I was envious of Anthony's ability to eat his churro without a care, confident that he could and would get another treat later. What he lacked in absorbing the details, he made up for in unfettered and unforced enjoyment.

I wish I could live my life with a perfect balance between these two attitudes: savoring the little moments while moving forward joyfully.