I went to the cannery today, was signed up for rice and sugar and dried onions. It's been a good long while since I have been to the cannery. Not sure why I never noticed it before, but I got a trippy sense of deja vous looking around the room and seeing everyone wearing aprons and funny caps on their heads. To be standing side by side in rows all wearing the same drapery and hats performing the repetitive motions of canning... a ritualistic ordinance producing row upon row of shiny cans filled with non-perishable food items.
It's been forever since I have been to the temple. Hell... it's been a good little while since I have been to my ward. Not sure why now I suddenly saw symbols of the endowment all over that wide open warehouse space. But get this... It was FUN! I have a soft spot in my heart for food storage. (Well... more of a paranoid conspiracy-theory driven urge for post-Apocalypse survival, but same thing, sort of. BTW, can't wait for The Road to come out.)
First we canned the wheat, then the pinto beans, then the rice... other tables were canning oats, dried onions, sugar. There was so much powdered milk (weird yellowish stuff) that at the end all of the tables were working hard in a powdery haze to get the last of it in cans.
A ritual of food. (not good food, to be sure... but still.)
No problematic creationist myths with misogynistic undertones; Just food. In cans. I am cool with that. (Well... perhaps a tiny tiny bit sexist in that somehow only men seem to get to operate the big machines that screw the lids on the cans...) (And yes, I am aware of how controversial food is in general. I'll grant you that. But still. Yah.)
And now I have row upon row of shiny cans in my pantry.
PLUS!! Just next door to the cannery is Nimbus Brewery. So I took the opportunity to drop by and grab a six pack of Monkey Shine.
Bonus!
Anyhoo... just a few thoughts for this morning.
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Thanks for this. I always originally imagined the temple to be more ritualistic than it actually was. It is so nice to remember that there is ritual in the world to go and be a part of. Cynical sentence: There are rituals that do not require my payment of money for participation.
what a weird world ...
i just got back from my first trip to the cannery today. i like your perspective although not everyone i was with wore aprons. it was a good experience but crazy. it was nice to accomplish something useful.
for some reason i decided to sign up for the cannery trip in my new ward. i think it gives the impression of super ultra which i definitely never will be again. i even carpooled with the rs president and think i quelled her expectations for me ...
i was there because i'm just afraid of earthquakes. and i'm cheap.
I have never been to the cannery, but I did have the displeasure of spending time at the Bishop's storehouse, which led to delusions of grandeur of encouraging the Church to provide semi-healthy foods to their people and also teach gardening and nutrition classes and some semblance of healthy self-sufficiency instead of giving away toxic barely-food substances like powdered milk...dear god! And don't get me started on how unlikely it is that chocolate pudding is going to save your ass during Armageddon. :) I loved this post.
(and nasty chocolate pudding at that!)
heheh
I never went to the cannery either. I watched my mom and her mother can every summer, and it seemed like such tedious, back-breaking work that I never took the chance to learn. When I moved away from home and they passed around the cannery sign-up sheet in RS, I was always relieved to see that I was in class for most of our shifts. A always wanted me to go, but was never willing to provide the childcare. He never thought to go himself.
Aaaanyyywaaaay, I love that you stopped at the brewery on your way home :D Have I told you lately that I love you? ;-)
Totally looking forward to The Road as well, although I am really trying to lower my expectations. Otherwise I don't think I'd be able to enjoy it. No Country really set the bar high and I can't imagine this could be nearly as good.
I love the cannery (however, when I went, a woman got to use the big machine. Awesome right?) I also love that I am not alone in my fear of the end of the world. lol. You mentioned The Road but what about 2012? Here is the link to the trailer. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hz86TsGx3fc
AHhhhhhh!
aww... john cusack + end of times = yay!!
thanks for the link L :)
.
(now I have)
Th... heheh :)
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