December 27, 2010

My Love Affair with Bacon

It's starting to get embarrassing, this love affair I have with bacon.  And it's not actually like I eat bacon all the time.  In fact, I think I love bacon so much because I don't eat it much at all.

Over the last few months I've chosen to pursue more healthy eating habits -- moderate portions, fresh foods, less processed food, very little sugar.  I thought it would suck, but far from it.  I have had more energy and have noticed quite a few other health benefits that would be of interest to no one but me.  The great bonus is I'm 25 pounds lighter and my husband is about 40 pounds lighter.

But back to this bacon thing...

The other night I had the most amazing dream in which bacon had a starring role.  I was in a tight little galley kitchen that was mostly stainless steel counters and industrial looking kitchen doo-dads all around. My niece was there.  I think she was cooking.  I might have been cooking, too, or rather "over cooking" as I frequently do.

But what was special about this dream was not what was happening as much as the level of sensory detail that was occurring. It was if it were really happening.  The details were rich.  I could smell bacon cooking, hear and feel the popping of hot grease, feel the cold stainless steel on my hands, feel the awkward moment when you must squeeze past someone in a tight space as you try to slip by, your body rubbing against theirs. I could hear the clink of the spatula, the pan rubbing across the cooking grate. Ambient noises.

In the dream, I slipped past row after row of extensive "bacon production" and as I went past I snatched up a cooked piece that I thought would go unnoticed and bit into it heartily, hungrily. And just as I was about to experience the wondrous burst of flavor would send me into artery-clogging nirvana, I woke up.

Why? Because I had just bit into the fingers of my right hand.  In real life.  In my sleep.  I'd say that's a dream gone too far.

Honestly, if I'm gonna have a dream like that I'm disappointed I wasted it on bacon.