Just so

Surveying the shoddy result of some task he'd given his ten-year old son, my father admonished, "Any job worth doing is worth doing well." Much of his fatherly advice was delivered by cliché. Sadly, I've come to understand that clichés are almost unerringly true reflections of the human condition.

Worth doing well came to me this morning as I was preparing grits for my breakfast. I'm particular about my grits. Even lowly grits are worth doing well. A correct proportion of water to grits, salt in the water, frequent stirring. All are important to achieve a pleasing result. Most important perhaps is the consistency for serving. It must be "just so", stiff enough to eat with a fork without being solidly congealed and–God forbid–lumpy!

Dad would have been proud of me this morning. He might even have said, "You see, the acorn doesn't fall far from the tree."

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