"...It's the subtlety of sexiness. The moment you try to be sexy, it's not." -- Daniel Craig

 Daniel Craig is, of course, an actor known mostly for his portrayal of James Bond in a series of movies. I have never seen one. Matter of fact, I can count the number of first-run movies I've seen in a theater on one hand over the past 25 or so years. But the quote is spot-on.

The photo is chef Jacques Pepin, his daughter and son-in-law in his kitchen in New England. I love the quote on the shirts because it's so true. It's not what you have but how it's used. The equipment doesn't care. While some equipment can augment or enhance the ease of cooking, the basics remain the same.

To wit....

I went downtown this morning, mostly because I hadn't been for a couple of weeks and it's a holiday weekend so I wanted to take a gander at how things were. There were sure enough tourists wandering around waiting for things to open. I dropped into a coffee place for the first espresso I'd bought since the day we arrived here in June.

It was awful. Be it a dirty machine or lousy coffee blend, the taste was bitter. I had been drinking espresso almost daily in France without issue. But it got me to thinking about the differences between where we were and things here in Canada and what we'll be experiencing once we get back to the US.

 We will actually return stateside tomorrow for about a week, seeing friends, my younger son and two grandkids. It'll be great to see everyone for the first time in three years, I'll get a chance to cook and go to some familiar spots to obtain a few things unavailable over the past 13 months or so. Then back here to Canada for another month ahead of the US return come September.

The US is very good at things writ large. Our Constitution remains a model for representative government (as much as it's under attack these days), The Louisiana Purchase. Fighting a two-front war against fascism. Manifest Destiny (though on the backs of the natives). Lots of things.

But, like the espresso, we're not so good at subtlety. A proper coffee. The turn of garlic in a soup. The dusting of sea salt in butter. The right texture and weight of a baguette. The proper attire for a stroll. The shift from an A Major chord to A Minor to end a song. A vehicle that's enough to do its job without a bigass, gas-guzzling engine. Letting folks just be who they are instead of telling them what or how to be.

In short, too often we try too hard or go too big. Even when we do something right, most of the US has to get in a damn car to drive to it. In only a few places can you walk out the door and it's Right There. We're used to Big Things and we steamroll past those details that make you pause, smile and reflect for a minute or two. To sit and just appreciate is, more and more, a lost art because, well, there's less to appreciate.

We can find small things in parks, on walks, in gardens and in food. This isn't a negative assessment of our pending return to modern US life. But I can guarantee we have a much sharper idea of the small things that hone our view of what's important.

We'll do the best we can.