The Craftsmanship of Candy?

This Easter we received a box of candy from a local candy shop, Shepperd's Candy in Butte.

Up until now, most of my candy eating has been from "globo big candy" like Mound's bars and Reese's.

(By the way, have you noticed that there are getting to be almost too many varieties of Reese's lately?)

As we started to sample this box of locally made candy, a few things hit me:

1. The candy itself is made with precision and care, for instance the pieces are cut to have clean edges, with an attractive contrast of shapes and colors
2. The pieces are carefully placed on small, crinkle-folded black papers
3. The candies are assorted throughout the box, with truly something for everyone in there
4. Two of the candies are carefully wrapped in wax paper, and the box has a crisp, clean, white paper that folds over the candy, before the box top is put on
5. Best of all (of course!), the candy is delicious! Even though I proclaim that "I don't like sweets!" I have found myself eating many of these candies lately.

After thinking about all these features of the candy, I came to the conclusion that an intentionally high level of craftsmanship goes into every Shepperd's candy.

This means attention at every level: ingredients, candy making, temperature control, cutting, placing, and selling of these candies!

Because it is a small, local operation that is headquartered in a building about the size of a house (it probably was a house at some point), I know that much of this work is done by hand.

And if Ron (the owner of the Shepperd's Candy business) and his team put this much care...

...this much time...

...and this much pride...

...into just this one box of candy, I realize that I need to do a better job of intentionally implementing craft into the work that I do, and across all parts of my life.

Thanks to Shepperd's Candy for the excellent lesson on taking care and pride in one's work! Buy local!