(Joseph MacRae, published in Come to the Table: Recipes for Loving and Serving, edited by Ched Johnson and Nancy Collins-Warner, Monastery of Saint Gertrude, Cottonwood, Idaho, 2021. Originally written October 31, 2020, eve of All Saints' Day, prompted by the Abbey of the Arts retreat Listening at the Threshhold: Voices of Saints and Ancestors)
A rural Oregonian, Joseph MacRae is a former logger-forest tech-fishery-tech-seaman-farmer. His heart has never quite left the primordial Alaskan bush, which weaves its way into his poetry. Part bear, he's been known to say, "it's not a table without honey". (Those sticky paw prints through the kitchen though, they're not from him.)
Storytelling is something seeped into these ol' bones, from branches on the family tree where poetry was crafted, legends spun. And seeped into these ears, from childhood nights by fire or table where Mama (Trudy), or Grandma (Oza), or Grandpa (Doc MacRae) wove magic to outshine Alladin.
I could write about grief for the downplay of storytelling today. Shorter attention spans prefer tweets and screens and "reality" TV. But I could write about the heart of the sacred, waiting in these stories we need to tell. Even the simplest.
Growing up, for instance, I looked forward to the few days a year I was sick. Yes, you read that right. It was great! Home scot free from school, I'd settle down at the kitchen table and watch my Grandmother Oza MacRae's magic. She'd take bread, fry it golden, slather it with butter and honey and put it in a bowl of hot milk.
Nothing ever tasted so good! "It will soothe your throat", she'd say. And it did! Of course today they tell us differently, that milk makes respiratory issues worse. Glad my grandmother Oza never heared this. Think I'll pretend I didn't hear it either. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some toast on the fry...
Grandma Oza's Magic Milk Toast
2 slices buttered bread, and two cups milk, preferably whole, mixed with honey to taste. Heat the sweetened milk in a pot until hot. Fry buttered bread in a pan until golden. Divide milk between two bowls and put a slice of the fried bread into each. Let it all soften a moment in magical metamorphosis...and eat! Serves two.
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