Saturday, May 23, 2009

2406 Kitchens

Saturday, May 23, 2009

I was thinking about all the houses I'd lived in, in the 29 years between college and moving into this one in 1994. I remember layouts, floor plans, flooring and lighting. I remember cleaning, decorating, making pillows and curtains, landscaping and gardening. I remember the bathrooms, and doing laundry. I remember bedrooms and basements and attics. I remember almost everything about every room in every house - except the kitchens and cooking.

It's no secret I hate cooking. Nothing important ever comes out right, no matter how closely I follow the recipe.

The kitchens are a blank.

The only thing I can (vaguely, and not consistently) remember about any of the kitchens is washing dishes. The locations of sinks, appliances, cabinets, tables is all a mystery. Except for this house, I don't remember cooking a single meal in any of the kitchens. Many of the houses had eat-in kitchens, where we ate the majority of meals, but I have no memory of ever eating there. I remember grocery shopping and meal planning. One assumes I must have cooked, but I have no memory of actually having done it.

Weirder, I can remember almost every detail about other people's kitchens, even if I visited only briefly. I remember their kitchens even better than other rooms. Other people's kitchens stand out in my memory.

I wonder why I block out my own kitchens.
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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Now you have me thinking back, silk. One kitchen I remember just because the pilot light blew out every time the back door was opened. (poor design if ever there was one) One kitchen I remember because of a exploding ketchup bottle. But, yeah, my kitchens seem to be a memory blur, too. I do, however, remember various resturants in detail, so obviously it wasn't food that I have blanked out. Interesting...now I'll spend the morning trying to remember or understand why I forgot.