Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Pass the Soup



Today at lunch GramTuna, TeenTuna and I had to run an errand, and then decided to get lunch out on the town before returning to work for the afternoon. We chose a local eatery that Gram and I had eaten at once before, but was new to TeenTuna. The Soup Spoon Cafe is small, wonderful place that serves fabulous soups, salads, sandwiches and other entrees that turn a run-of-the-mill lunch on a run-of-the-mill day into something special.



Between the three of us we purposely chose three different soups and three different entrees.  It would have been easier if our entire table was a giant lazy Susan because we spent the entire meal tasting, swooning, passing the food to the left and starting over again.  There wasn't anything that wasn't absolutely scrumptious, and all the way back to work our conversation consisted of three sentences:  Wow, that was good... That was really, REALLY good ... I WANT TO GO BACK!!



In case I haven't made it clear, we really enjoyed our meal.  If you asked me about it, I would gush all over again about the tasty this and the fabulous that.  But if you asked me what my favorite was, you might be disappointed, because I don't believe in favorites.  From music to books to food to entertainment to travel, I am a firm believer in trying something new, exploring the unfamiliar, reading something different, and listening to things I've never heard before.  If you looked at the books by my bed or the contents of my iPod, you might think I suffer from multiple personality disorder.  Fiction, Non-Fiction, Essays, Historical works, Biographies, Humorous books, Spiritual books and even a Children's book and several Sudoku volumes occupy the same bookshelves.  Veggie Tale Silly Songs live happily alongside Ella Fitzgerald singing the American Songbook, Daughtry, Latvian choral music, Shostakovich 5, Bach Violin concertos, Goethe-Lieder and the ever-present Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald (6 minutes, 14 seconds IN CASE YOU FORGOT).




As the "holiday season" come screaming down the turnpike, I am aware that it is the time when lots of people take stock of who and what and why and where they are, be it emotionally, financially, physically or otherwise.  It's the time of making lists and ticking off favorites, memorable events, and those pesky things we'd like to change come the stroke of midnight on New Year's Day.  I tend not to do any of that for a wide variety of excuses reasons.  What I will say, on this Thanksgiving Eve, is that I'm grateful for opportunities.  I'm thankful that with every book I read or CD I hear or fabulous lunch I share that I've given myself the chance to expand my world a little bit more.  And it all doesn't have to be true love.  After all, if we didn't have at least a small roster of things that cause a Grade-A MINCE PIE FACE, what would we have to talk about?



So, here's to recognizing opportunities for what they are:  chances to grow and change.  Maybe some day I'll settle on a favorite, whether it be a taste, a place, a path, a book, a song or a friend.  Or maybe I'll just accept the fact that they are all favorites -- good or bad -- because they the experiences that make up my life.  And no matter what that experience might be, in my life there is always room for one more.

Pass the soup.





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