Like most adults, my life basically revolves around calendars. I have many of these I need to follow with varying degrees of importance.
At the top of the heap sits the calendar on the side of the refrigerator. That carries all the important information I need to make sure I end up in the right place at the right time.
Because of that, I need to check this calendar regularly. Just because something shows up on there does not mean I already knew about the event. Such is the life of the only male in the house.
But that calendar also drives the calendar I keep. This one has important sporting events on it or other key events that really only matter to me. I keep this calendar online so I can make sure I have continuous access to this information.
So keeping the two calendars – plus any work events which might affect my plans – in sync can provide a tremendous challenge. I have managed to handle this task, but now find myself vexed by a different problem: unwritten calendars.
One morning last week, Maria announced that she planned to make soup for dinner that night. Since the weather can change at a moment’s notice, I had to stop for a moment and consider whether that day really called for soup.
My wife kindly informed me that soup season went through May, a fact I had previously not known. We both agree that an unseasonably warm day rules soup out entirely, but I didn’t know the parameters. In case you need to worry about these kinds of things, soup season runs from September to May. Well, at least it does in our house.
We have had this discussion before. I have even gone so far as to make my own dinner on days where I felt soup or chili made absolutely no sense regardless of what the calendar said.
This may get me in hot water, but I kind of object to creating such hard boundaries on such an important topic. I don’t take soup lightly.
Or grilling, which I also refuse to restrict to certain months of the year.
These things are completely situational. I don’t mind soup in April, but if I have to stop and think about what I saw on the weather report five minutes earlier, I think we may have waded into non-soup territory.
I had no problem walking to my car that morning without a jacket. That also made that day slide away from away from soup and closer to grilling.
But I found soup on the stove when I came home that night. I briefly considered asserting my rights and breaking out the grill. I didn’t have a lot of time though because of my play (still running this weekend at the Hanover Little Theatre).
So I ignored my internal calendar and enjoyed my wife’s wonderful soup. Now if I could only motivate myself to go grill in the snow one time to even things up. Lucky for me, lazy fits in the calendar all year round.
If you get into hot water over this, just add some chicken stock, carrots, herbs, etc…
I can’t conceive of a life where chili was not a possibility any time of the year.
No soup for you!
I love soup and couldn’t imagine having strict guidelines to follow in regards to the seasons I could make it. In fact, I think I rather prefer having some soups in the summer. I’m not sure I’ve ever made Italian Wedding Soup in the cooler months.