Artificial Influences
I'm unprepared for pumpkin spice. It's too early. Outdoor temperatures should have to be under a certain threshold (e.g. 40F) on a regular basis before this phenomenon is allowed to be unleashed. Also, calling it "spice" is a misnomer. It's something both different and bigger than cinnamon, ginger, and cloves, more of a feeling or lifestyle. We live in a golden age of manufactured flavors. I'm currently drinking sparkling water that is "naturally essenced" with "LimonCello," an amorphous but pleasing taste that conjures summer. Pumpkin spice is a nimble, however undefined, superstar that continues to find its way into more types of food each year. It doesn't try to be tangible, but exercises its influence through suggestion. The issues I encounter in my work, be they food, water, or housing, are too real. I wish I possessed the molecular wizardry to deconstruct and redefine them, create the lifelike essence of food access, well-managed water, and abundant affordable housing that is just as good as the real thing, maybe even better. I no longer need to understand something to accept it, whether a flavor, client's decision, or personal relationship dynamic. Comprehending the reason, if there is one, behind a line suddenly drawn doesn't change its nature. "Don't waste time being surprised," a wise friend once counseled. The sooner I can accept a change or assertion, the more quickly I can respond and move on. Every time I taste "pumpkin spice," it's a reminder not necessarily of some cozy flannel Fall setting, but of the power of not really needing to know.
