Back twenty years ago my mother-in-law lovingly said,”Jake is one and half and doesn’t talk. You may want to get him checked.”
A week later as my mom poured batter into a cake pan, Jake did not just say a word, but a whole sentence. With eyes, as big as gumdrops, three words dripped out of his mouth like the cake batter dripping from the bowl in…to the pan, “I WANT CAKE.”
And just like Jake, I wanted cake too.
About four years ago, after a decade of scrimping on crumbs as a single mom, I had enough Midwestern meat and potatoes and I was ready to finally order cake… and I wanted a HUGE piece. Jake (yes, the once speech- challenged boy) was wait-listed at Duke so North Carolina was potentially a future home.
Later that Fall, a quick visit to Colorado, hanging out with college friends, the dessert menu looked appetizing or maybe it was the beer menu? All I knew was North Carolina and Colorado were two slices of cake that tempted me to close the menu and potentially the bland chapter of my tasteless existence.
So fast forward to this past week, with my window down and hair whipping in the wind, I took in the majestic landscape of the Rocky Mountains. The openness of the Colorado mountain range felt right, like a good piece of chocolate cake. A day later, the scent of salt water tantalized my skin as I dipped my toes in the shoreline of Atlantic Ocean at Kure Beach, North Carolina. The purity of white sand was like vanilla cake, simple and sweet.
Colorado and North Carolina, were both good choices like chocolate or vanilla cake but God had something special for me planned, not chocolate or vanilla but red velvet with cream cheese frosting. Something I never would of thought to order but everything I could possibly hope for; served up especially for me.
“Now faith is being certain of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1
So today as I weave the Pacific Coast and see the familiar scene of surfers waiting for the perfect ride on their board and as I wind my way through The Santa Monica Mountains, envisioning hikers off in the distance, I am home. God knew me better than I knew myself. Not any beach. Not any mountain. But the beach and the mountains.
My taste buds are alive with adventure… and that’s the icing on the cake. I’m licking my fingers not wanting to waste a smidge of the sweet creamy taste.
Maybe, just maybe, you can have your cake and eat it too. Choose your cake.
Kure Beach, North Carolina
Rocky Mountains, Colorado
Santa Barbara, California
The Whisper Within 
September 23, 2017 at 1:02 pm
I guess in the terms of this post, my cake was the down-town streets of San Francisco. My cousin lives north of the bay, and I’ve flown over to visit a number of times over the years. Walking in the footsteps of Ginsberg and Kerouac, visiting City Lights, walking barefoot in the surf at Stinson, and wandering through the redwoods in Muir Woods left indelible impressions deep in my subconscious.
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September 23, 2017 at 2:28 pm
Wow . I have enjoyed that cake too . It is delicious !
Let me know if you are back in that woods – I’d join you .
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