Little lamb bones stared up at us from our plates. I don't generally cook lamb, but my mother-in-law does. She had served the rare delicacy at The Partner's 32nd birthday celebration. I brought out the leftovers at home the next night because, while I don't generally cook it, I have no qualms about reheating it.
The Boss pondered the meat and bone curiously. I think the difference between that piece of meat and the others she eats unquestioningly on a regular basis lays in the nomenclature. "Lamb" is straightforward. Things like "hamburger" and "roast" and "hot dog" beat around the bush a bit more. One can eat them without being reminded via word choice that the food he is consuming once romped around a pasture or looked out longingly from a cage.
"The lamb that had the bones tooken out of it must be dead now, right?" The Boss asked us, looking more toward The Partner than toward me. He's the one with the answers.
"Yup," The Partner said.
"Um, yup," I agreed.
She didn't quite gesticulate into one huge shrug, but she might as well have. "No more life for him." If there was any sorrow in her voice, it was overwritten by the optimism in her follow-up. "But the lambs that weren't food, more life for them!"
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
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3 comments:
This post is striking a chord with me. This weekend my daughter started asking questions like, "If apples grow on trees and fruit and vegetables grow out of the ground, where do the cows and chickens that we eat grow from? I never saw a cow tree." Ugh. . .I almost feel bad telling her the truth. Not bad enough to give up eating meat, though. lol.
Thanks for sharing this story!
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