Last night I opened the horizontally-sliding wooden container that holds our family’s cutlery and a spoon stood up. It kinda popped forward, rising above the others at a ninety-degree angle and quite literally tried to jump into my hand. Now, this could have been the result of spoon overcrowding or the physics involved when a tilted metal utensil meets the pulling force of a hungry person, but I rather think that this little spoon volunteered. I opened the silverware drawer and one enthusiastic inhabitant essentially said, Pick me, pick me! I certainly appreciated the extra effort, the pride this individual spoon took in his job and it made me think – the place where the knives, forks and spoons live is a parallel universe worth exploring.

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