Spirit Matters: Doughnuts bridge to yesteryear

I write this morning on a sugar high, so bear with me.

I have been craving double chocolate doughnuts from a certain Streator bakery lately. (If you know, you know.) Ottawa has the same bakery, although the original opened in Streator in 1984. Both times I have gone in the last few months, they have been sold out of the double chocolate donuts. And this has been around 8 a.m.

Since I woke up at 4:30 a.m. today, I checked to see what time they open on Friday (5 a.m.), bundled my dog Zeke into the car, and drove up town, determined to claim a half dozen of them.

I have eaten two. I plan to share the rest.

While I would normally be a bit embarrassed to admit that number, we aren’t talking about ordinary doughnuts here. I can’t tell you when the last time I had one of these divine masterpieces. And, I can’t tell you when the next time will be that I get one.

And anyway, I can’t control myself when I do have access to them, despite my best efforts to discipline myself to only eating one. Don’t judge; I know I am not alone here.

I am told by a high school classmate who now lives in Chicago she has looked everywhere for something similar, to no avail.

Indeed, Streator natives who have moved away and come home to visit, often mark this bakery as a must stop during their stay ... which is probably why there are never any double chocolate doughnuts left for those of us who actually live here. OK ... I apologize to my Streator friends, family and neighbors who do this. Accusing you of this heinous crime might be going a little too far.

Still.

To be serious, as I sat looking out the window this morning at the wet colorful leaves, I thought of how autumn has a way of reminding me just how important are the simple things in life.

This season strips away everything, so that all that is left is an appreciation for warm, fuzzy blankets; family game or movie nights; cups of hot cocoa in front of a fireplace; candlelight; chicken and rice casserole, your dad’s secret chili recipe, pumpkin and banana breads … double chocolate doughnuts from Steve’s Bakery ...

When everything else in our lives or our world is in chaos, it is comforting to find solace in those little things we have come to treasure. They often carry with them happy nostalgic memories, so that when we are able to take part, we are on some level transported back to those simpler times, if only for a moment.

I remember as a child going to the now-closed Wissen Bakery on the corner of Vermilion and Bridge streets in Streator with my dad after church to get doughnuts for breakfast. As I write this, I can almost see my dad and I walking into the bakery and picking out a variety of them. I didn’t care what doughnuts he got, as long as they included double chocolate and twisters. If I remember correctly, he also had to throw a few jelly doughnuts in there for the rest of the family.

These memories are precious to me, and represent what I have left of tagging along with my dad on various errands. I would trade a dozen double chocolate doughnuts any day just to be able to hear my dad’s voice one more time, and see his belly laugh.

But since that is not possible, I will happily eat one of these doughnuts with a chocolatey smile on my face, whenever I can.

SPIRIT MATTERS is a weekly column that examines experiences common to the human spirit. Contact Jerrilyn Zavada Novak at jzblue33@yahoo.com to share how you engage your spirit in your life and community.