Ducks, Newburyport

by Lucy Ellmann

the fact that making food for people is actually a highly pressured, skilled, responsible job, just like motherhood, but nobody seems to notice, cooking or motherhood, the fact that they just take it for granted that we’re going to keep our kids safe and make safe food, the fact that pies are light relief though actually, compared to kids, and at least there’s some variety with pie-making, like once in a while I have a cup of coffee with a restaurant manager or a waitress, if I can’t get out of it, that is, and usually they compliment me on my stuff, the fact that once I got written up in the paper, the fact that I had to talk to some woman over the phone and I felt so silly, but I thought I better do it because it might lead to more orders, the fact that most of the time I get my privacy though,