The Town Where I Work

Yesterday, I was broke - dead flat broke. Yes I had a bit of money in the bank, but none to spare, and certainly no cash to spare. But it was Tuesday, the day of my bi-weekly trip with my boss to get spaghetti at the eatery a few hundred feet up the street. My lack of cash for the $5.25 lunch special of salad, spaghetti, and garlic bread, combined with the availability of some two-day-old leftovers prompted me to beg off and eat in my office. I never mentioned my impecunious state to my boss, or he would have insisted on buying my lunch, and I'd look like a beggar - something that I did not want.

So I ate my lunch - happily. But then, around 2:00, I got the need for a cold drink and caffeine dose, so I scraped around in my car, desk, and pockets, and came up with the princely sum of $1.38. Not quite enough for the big iced tea I wanted ($1.50 including tax) but I decided to go up the street (to the same eatery) and see if thay let me owe them the 12 cents.

Now this place is small, old, unpretentious as they come, and has a general air of happy-to-get-by comfort. Hard-working waitresses and cooks, healthy portions of good food. So, I went in, and immediately they got my tea. I met the waitress at the register, and sheepishly handed over my four quarters, two dimes, two nickels and eight pennies, explaining that it was all I had. She waved me off thoughtlessly as if to say "don't even worry about that". Then she inqured as to my absence from the "ritual" spaghetti lunch and I explained that I was broke.

At that point she became upset, as did the other waitress who overheard the conversation, and said "Don't you EVER skip a meal here because of that!! We know you are good for it and know you'll pay us when you can." The manager heard the conversation and affirmed the statement.

I love the town where I work. It is basic, blue-collar, honest, and true. It's funny how hard working honest people without a lot of money are wiling to help out when needed. That's the way I was taught to be. I am saddened by the fact that the world is corrupt and so different than that ideal, but I am even more heartened by the fact that that ideal is out there, still surviving, in places like the town where I work.

On Making Pancakes... or, why am I so slow?

Pancakes! First let me say that I LOVE pancakes. All kinds of pancakes - as long as ther not too exotic or (God forbid) cheesy. Love 'em.

Because of that love and appreciation I tend to want to eat them a lot. And having three little girls means that I have had to fix them a lot over the past few years. Even some of the microwaveable ones are actually quite good, and about as convenient a food as one can fix - period. But lately, thanks to economics and a new electric griddle, I have had the opportunity fix them over and over again.

Usually, I buy a Costco-sized bag of dry mix, add the necessary liquid(s) and start cooking - and they are consistently Very Good. Yesterday morning, however, I was flat out of mix, and decided to try to make them from scratch.

The FIRST ONE was barely off the griddle before I could tell the difference in aroma, appearance, and texture. The first bite and the flavor difference became readily apparent. WOW! I could not believe the difference and could not believe what I had been missing. Admittedly, pancakes are not some Julia Child fancy-pants recipe, but the fresh versus premix difference is all the more astounding.

This episode has had me thinking for the past 24 hours.....

The experience of learning the difference between fresh scratch cooking and pre-mix cooking is not a new one. It is a lesson that I have learned before, but is still being re-learned. And I have to wonder - WHY? Why must I forget such simple, essential lessons? In Other Words - Why Am I So Slow????

The priciple applies to every aspect of life, too. How can we all be so stupid? How is it that God can jump in to our lives and save us - like a fireman dragging us semi-concious from a burning building - and a few months later we are cruising along like He isn't really there or doesn't really care? And I gotta wonder - does He get frustrated with us? Does He know how stupid we feel when we re-learn His love and care?

Will we ever really learn - permanently? Or should we even try? Maybe the experience of actually re-learning His love is an essential part of appreciating it in a deeper and deeper way? And maybe that is why He made us the way we are....

HOPE YOUR VALENTINES DAY IS HAPPY

I know mine will be. My wife one amazing creature. I am well and truly blesssed by her presence in my life. Not to mention the presence of the three little girls sitting in the other room right now, watching TV!

It will be 18 years ago in May since I first laid eyes on her. And my thought then was "that is the sweetest girl I have ever seen".
It will be 18 years in December when I laid eyes on her for the second time, and I thought then "that is the sweetest girl I have ever seen" (I didn't recognize her at first as the same girl). Now, after 17.33 years of marriage - she still is.

Downtrodden No More

It's a lovely day. And a good day. I apologize for the dark tone last week, but I guess that's what a blog is about to some degree - a reflection of a person and a time.

And a new time is here, and I am sure of it. Now I'm kicking myself in the ass for being downtrodden in the first place. The darkness is not over yet, but the sky in the east is getting lighter and lighter. As I think about it, and the unlikely beauty of it all, I consider myself lucky to be living at a time when it is all happening. Who could have dreamed even a few years ago that the Church would be rediscovering itself? Yet it is happening - right now.

Right now there are priests out there learning the old rite, and practicing their Latin. Musicians thinking about and practicing gregorian chant. And just plain old laymen like myself buying and reading and studying Missals so that they will be ready when they finally can attend the Extraordinary use.

Look past the frustrations and ask yourself - did you ever think you'd see this day??