Brookes’ Bytes

Ice-Cream: MMMMMMMMMM, so grateful that someone thought up ice-cream. It’s creamy, fatty, sweetened goodness. What’s not to like? I love Chocolate Marshmallow and Peach from UDF, Banana from Cold Stone (as aforementioned), Phish Food by Ben n Jerry’s, Mango Sorbet by Haagan Daas, Vanilla Bean by Bryer’s, and my favorite thing to get at Graeter’s is the Persian Nut Sundae: a jumbo scoop of vanilla topped with caramel that’s been swirled with whipped cream and nuts. The combination is amazing. You all should try one. Seriously. Now I want ice-cream for breakfast. Lol.

Identity: I think humans are really into this, at least here in our developed country. We have books to tell us who we are, tests we can take, stuff that explains what our names mean, etc etc etc. We are searching for definition. For me, I want to be known as having some static characteristic. I.e, “that’s Jes, she’s an artist.” or “that’s Jes, she’s creative.” Who I am is something that I struggle to pin down at times, balancing my right brain tendencies with those very few left brain moments. Although I surprise myself at times with those methodical moments. Never-the-less, it’s nice to know who you are.

Imagination: Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh, imagination. Without it, this world would be a dismal place with no escape. With it, we can envision new things, things yet to be. In this way, imagination reminds me of faith. Imagination is what allowed me to dream as a kid. We lose the social endorsement to imagine out loud when we become adults. It turns into dreaming or creativity that then becomes critiqued by realists. When have you seen an adult say, “let’s imagine that we’ve got wings and we just jumped off a mountain and we’re soaring through the air” and then seen them “fly” all over their yard? Even I would think that’s a crazy person if he wasn’t entertaining some kids.

India: There’s a song by Caedmon’s Call called “Mother India” that makes something in my heart swell. “Father God, you have shed your tears for Mother India…” This is a country I would like to travel to. It’s more than just their amazing spices like curry, that they invented chai tea, make fantastic jewelry and boast some of the beautiful countryside EVER. I want to go for more reasons than just to stand in places I’ve read about in British Literature. I’ve got a 6 year old nephew there. Well, he calls me Aunt Jes anyway. His name is Chandraiah. He lives very close to the sea with his parents and his older sister. He rides an ox cart to school, and he is learning English. I’m looking forward to a letter from him when he learns to write. So far, I’ve only been communicating with his translator. I would like to go to India to soak in the culture, drink some tea and meet Chandraiah when he’s older. I think God is breaking my heart a little for this country. It might become my “far” place. For now, I’ll continue to chow down at Indian buffets and drink my tea and write to Chandraiah. God can do what He wants with my heart and India.