Just Have to Use this Up…

My stomach was yelling at me – get to the fridge! Obediently, I opened the door as scotch-taped notes and kid’s art fell to the linoleum.

Frigid air hit my cheek— mixed scents of ripening cantaloupe, blueberries, garlicky meatballs, stale bread, aging milk, and maturing potatoes beckoned my taste-buds.

Supper was calling. Gathering an armful of foodstuffs, I pretended to be tasked on a foodie show, creating the savory and scrumptious out of the leftover what-nots. I responded to this challenge and began chopping it all up.

Whatever for?

Hmm… the issue here is frugality. I wanted to use up what I had, walk away from the unnecessary and alter situations to extend their use.

Some time ago, during the demanding college years, I needed a pristine folder to showcase a completed paper that hopefully would mask the white-out mistakes. And I needed it now! Dashing around the drug store, I walked into a display sending a mountain of candy bars on the floor. As I bent down to pick them up, my gaze caught the image of something. Something so awesome, so shiny and wondrous to behold. Circling around my head, delightful classical notes pirouetted and swirled in the air. I was dizzy with desire.

The piece stood proud. Urgently calling.

Buy me.

I had to have it. I wasn’t even sure what it was … some kind of cream-colored ceramic bowl with a fancy lid and oversized spoon sitting on a decorated plate. Hmm…

Loud voices over the store intercom suddenly distracted my fascination. Glancing at my watch, I paid for the folder and rushed out of the store.

Years later, my husband and I visited a German restaurant known for its tasty cuisine and unique, in-home décor. True to this description, the location was off the beaten track, down a dirt road and surrounded by a thicket of woods. Thinking we had gone too far, my husband began to turn the car around when we saw a peeling gray structure at a distance from the road. We found it. It was an old colonial house.

Curious, we hunted for the front door that was really was the “delivery entrance.” Our hands knocked with vigor as a swish of air blew through our hair. Standing before us was an old woman dressed in well-worn peasant frock. Her large grin met our surprised faces and her laughing eyes crinkled at the corners. In a thick accent, she greeted us and chatted about the history of her home-restaurant. She then walked us through a laundry room and a tiny kitchen steaming with pots and frypans with a floor-to-ceiling pantry. She sat us in a living room that was transformed into a dining area with rustic tables and chairs.

As we settled at our table, the kind host provided a “verbal menu” detailing the specials, the only choices of the day. “Ya, yah, these are tasty dinners,” she said, taking our orders.

She nodded with enthusiasm as we complimented her on the delicate dinnerware and lacy tablecloth. She responded, “Oh my, these dishes had been in the family forever as well as everything you see in this house. Nothing is wasted.” Then, with ease she bent and pushed aside her long skirt and pointed to her feet. “You see these shoes? I wear them for everything…I believe you only need to have one pair of shoes at a time.” She chuckled, “They keep me moving very well around here.”

Our meal was delicious and her service proper and thorough. Yet this woman’s frugal lifestyle and humility not only filled our conversation, it lingered in my memory.

Sometimes we want and we want and then we realize we have all that we need. There are times we can stretch into another territory. We can look at who we are… to ourselves, to each other, to the world. We can realize we are more than what we have, what we eat, what we wear, and what shoes we stomp around in. Yes, more than owning one odd, white ceramic bowl with a big spoon sitting on a fancy dish.

***

After leaving the drug store, my heart pounded…for that ceramic bowl. Then it was completely forgotten. Years later I unwrapped it. It was a wedding gift and I discovered it to be a soup tureen. Soup tureen?

Ah, this lovely piece of dinnerware now sits proudly atop the china cabinet … acquiring dust.

“and that’s how I live it.”