While preparing my dinner this evening,
which consisted of canned tuna fish, mayo, pickles, french bread, cheddar
cheese and a toaster oven, I began to reflect on the fact that I really do live
here and this really is home.
One of the most important things that I’ve
set out to identify on this journey, is what really, truly, deep down in the
depths of my vast, wide soul, do I need to feed my spirit and please my heart,
body and soul. I began to think about
all of the indulgences I’m looking forward to during my visit to the US; I even
thought to myself ‘going to visit home right now is the equivalent of going to
visit a rich friend or family member, with all the wants you could ever dream
of fulfilled. (ie: eating delicious
American food, drinking wines from places other than Chile, spending quality
time with my family, my friends and my puppy dog, traipsing gorgeous waterfronts
and bustling city streets) make me feel RICH.
I’ve always felt fortunate, and blessed, no
matter where I am, but this time it’s different. The old cliché ‘Don’t take what you have for granted or you
won’t miss it till its gone’. But this
time I feel privileged. Even to visit a land
that offers everything at your fingertips.
Let’s say you’re sitting on your couch
at home on a random Wednesday night, watching an early evening sitcom,
and you decide the commercial that just played for Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse
sounds like it would hit the spot for a perfect dinner tonight. So you shut off the TV and shuffle
into the kitchen, check to see if there’s anything to go with this meal you
desire. Canned green beans don’t sound
good tonight. Corn on the Cob is
great this time of year, but you already had it twice this week. Broccoli and cheese might be good, but you
only like the microwave kind with the cheese already in the pkg, and for
some reason the grocery store has a conspiracy against you and quit carrying
it. So fine. Asparagus and fresh chive & sour
cream mashed potatoes it is. Grab
your keys, hop in the car, plug your phone into the stereo to rock out to your
latest itunes download. Open the
sunroof, grab your shades, let’s roll!
THANK god your dry cleaner, located
3 doors down from the grocery store in the same strip mall, stays
open until 7 on weekdays, since you’re passing by already, you swoop in and
pickup $60 worth of dry cleaning. Thank
god they take debit. You stay
parked in the same parking spot, unlock your car and neatly hang your
dry cleaning on the back hook. Lock the
doors halfway between the car and the entrance to the grocery
store. Barrel thru the produce section,
thinking you may as well grab a few things for your morning shake and a few
more things for the BBQ you’re headed to tomorrow evening AND the potluck at
work on Friday. Shit! You have plans to go camping this weekend,
supposed to leave first thing Saturday morning, so you may as well kill 3
birds with one trip, grab a steak for tonight, pre-marinated chicken breasts
for the BBQ and some ready to grill skewers for the weekend.
It’s amazing how full your trunk is, thank
god for all the space. Hopefully you
can fit all your camping gear, 2 coolers and beer in there this weekend!
Head home, fire up the oven, decide you’re
not in the mood for steak, so you throw in Marie Calendar’s Lasagna
instead.
You get my drift. Note the words underlined above. The underlined words represent things that
you either
a)
cannot do or get here or
b) take an act of god to accomplish.
The grocery store is a $6 round trip ride,
and takes about 20 minutes each way. As
the sun falls, it grows harder and less safe to venture that far. The sun goes down this time of year at 6:15,
and in the winter before 6. You never
want to ‘stock your fridge’ partially because you cannot carry that much at one
time, and partly because power goes out regularly here. The basic system runs faults regularly,
causing blackouts that only improve with time.
Should the ‘time’ take hours, your food grows more and more questionable
in 90 degree heat.
I know going home to visit, and
experiencing all if these things, and more, will bring me so much joy and
happiness. The ease of life in the
states is something to be spoken about.
BUT, then again…
When you park your car in a tow zone here, they
don’t write you a ticket. They stand
next to the car and blow a whistle.
When you want something or need something,
but don’t have correct change, or any money at all, you can take it and pay
later, almost always. No questions
asked.
If you’re just having ‘one of those days’
and can’t face the music or need a mental health day from the grind; that’s
it. It’s yours to have, and no one will
think more or less of you.
When your shorts caught snagged in the
wash, and now have a small rip in the pocket on just one side, you won’t throw
them away. You embrace the fact the
important parts are still in tact, and their character just got better.
When you gain business that perhaps your
friend was after as well, chance are, they’ll buy you a beer to celebrate,
because in ‘this life’ we’re all here for the same reason; and money ain’t it.
Everyone has a story to tell. Most here will tell you because they know you’ll
never ask. Some will never tell, because
they’re not here to flaunt it, or re live it.
They’re simply here to be at peace with it.
And that is one thing you can find
anywhere. If you haven’t found it, keep
looking; it’s deep down in there somewhere… I promise.
And by the way, I must say, that was hands
down, the BEST Tuna Melt I have ever had the pleasure of tasting!!
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