Eliza Leslie, a comely woman, albeit rotund, struggled with the linen apron she adorned.  The white apron starched to stiffness fought back as she struggled to tie the bow behind her back.  She leaned against the massive wood baker's table to hold the apron in place.  Usually, she enjoyed the quiet wee hours of the morning in the kitchen.  Today, she would have welcomed the helpful hands of one of her students.  To ease her frustration, she mumbled the words of one of her favorite authors, Walt Whitman:

            "I exist as I am, that is enough.

             If no other in the world be aware I sit content,

             And if each and all be aware I sit content."