A change of pace can be healthy

To the Editor:
  A retired man in Israel ate half a grapefruit every single morning as he had for many, many years. It was followed by chopped tomato and cucumber with a little olive oil, bread, and soft cheese. After breakfast he would join other retired men at a nearby community center for conversation and comraderie. The remainder of each day was very routine.
   Then one day, as he sat down to breakfast, he noticed that something was missing, just as his wife appeared in the doorway. She said, "I checked everywhere, but there were no grapefruit." He looked at his plate, then at her, and he froze. Without the grapefruit to start the day…
    This Hebrew story was an assigned reading in an adult class in Tel Aviv. A simple story, to be sure, but I sometimes think of that man, still sitting in his chair.
    As a kid back in Houlton, I ate dry cereal, including Shredded Wheat with the color-me cardboards between layers, or cooked cereal. Sunday brought fried eggs cooked in bacon grease, pancakes, or waffles.
    In the 70s, granola was fun, but the oil went rancid in one batch I made — my last. I went back to oatmeal, but not cooked in a double boiler as my mother had fixed it.
    The consistency of cooked oatmeal does not appeal to everyone. Getting it stuck to the pan from overcooking is another turn-off. A simpler way of preparing the regular oats (for extra nutrition not found in the instant or quick-cooking types) saves both time and energy. After supper I place one-half cup of oats in a cereal dish, add cinnamon and one cup of just-boiled water, and cover the dish with a small plate.
    At breakfast time the cereal is a bit chewier and less sweet than the porridge created by cooking. If prepared in the morning, it's soft enough in about 15 minutes. In either case, I stir in a heaping teaspoon of tahini paste; peanut butter, or just a few nuts, and a cup of yogurt.
    Whatever we eat for breakfast, we should be more flexible than the man who missed his grapefruit. If rigidity and resistance to change are characteristics of aging, then changing a habit occasionally will have an anti-aging effect. Maybe.
Byrna Porter Weir
Rochester, New York