GREEN EGGS AND SPAM

In the chill of an early spring Saturday morning, my son and I snuck out of the house to find a store that would sell us eggs and food coloring. It was April Fool’s Day, and rather than replace eggs with plastic ones with funny sayings on them (my daughter’s idea), G and I had a more colorful idea. We would emulate the great Dr. Seuss and make Green Eggs and Ham, or spam as the cupboard would allow.

By the time we got home, my daughter, C, was awake. She, an eight-year-old aspiring chef wanted in on it…any excuse to make Daddy breakfast, and to scramble eggs. She got out the whisk and the bowl and showed her brother G how to break an egg with one hand. He was too busy with the colors, and thought a pink pile of eggs would go nicely with the green ones. I manned the frying pan, cooking up their colorful scrambles, while C made some toast, and G softened a stick of butter in a ramekin, coloring it to match the eggs.

So this is what I’m missing on Saturday mornings when I commute to our satellite office in Nassau County. Perhaps it is time to reclaim some of my Saturday mornings to spend with my family. The kids went to wake up their Dad. I made a pot of coffee. Daddy smiled at his family’s efforts, complained that the eggs were just a little salty for his taste, then gasped as he poured sky blue Half and Half into his coffee. The children’s laughter was like music.