We Broke a Routine...

Usually the idea is to eat light, and keep moving. Eat less, walk more. It's a strategy for a more healthful reality. It sort of agrees with us and seems the best way forward. Yesterday, my lovely companion wheeled a cart-full of pre-cooked food thru the neighborhood to join me at our little Midwestern island of refuge.  She declared: "Meals on Wheels!" So very hobo. I am a lucky boy. We broke our routine. We had a big meal with all the Thanksgiving fixings: stuffing, corn, mashed potatoes, a cheesy brussel sprouts dish, and, instead of a real-deal, dead-bird, turkey we had a vegetarian turkey roll substitute. It did the trick. We were feeling quite thankful. Food & comfort. It seems sort of luxurious, and maybe even a bit decadent. So much of the world is need, want and the lack of the essentials. After a few platefuls of food we walked the neighborhood. So quiet and still. It was a sunny, brisk, autumn day. We marveled at all the amazing lakefront mansions in this neighborhood. Big, hulking overstuffed homes of the abundantly rich. These amazing structures seemed unoccupied, abandoned, folks traveling to far-flung destinations. We always marvel and wonder about how is it these wealthy folks make it. A robust accumulation of wealth that seems so far out of our reach. Unimaginable family wealth. Not our reality. For us, it's all a mystery. We are stuck in a day to day survival-mode. It's all smoke & mirrors, luck and pluck. When we encounter the poor and downtrodden, those folks with even less than us, they are scattered on street corners around town, we think: "There but for the grace of god, go I..." Maybe it's a good thing? Being in touch with basic humility, close to the bone, close to the street. Makes us appreciate all the things we do have, and reminds us we shouldn't worry about what we don't have, no sense taking anything for granted. Thankful. Yes.