OK – right up front, I am an anomaly.  Just about every group of people that I run across eventually figures this out.  This reality struck me yesterday when I was thinking about supper.  Bored and not willing to invest the time in some cuisine of taste and health I rummaged around in my pantry, refrigerator, and freezer.  Surely something could come together with minimal effort.

There was about a pound of ground beef  already thawed and awaiting service.  There were some dried out crispy taco shells in the pantry.  I have lettuce and onions but no tomatoes.  Cheese is found in abundance in my fridge.  No, I thought, cooking the ground beef would be easy but then I would have to prepare every taco individually – and I was feeling hungry.

I found a can of Always Save Chili Beans, then a can of some other kind of beans that I never heard of – how that get in my pantry?  There was one eight ounce can of tomato sauce.  I have a couple of onions that need attention.  And there was one package of some name brand Chili Seasoning.  I looked at the ingredients and, because I was so hungry, deduced that this was not enough food prepared for the effort it would take.

The obvious answer to this self-serving anomaly was to check the pantry again for more chili options.  The was a small can of green peppers – you know – that hot stuff that I am careful with.  It is not about the burning tongue – it is more about all of the sweat pouring off my head.  I looked for crackers but found only potato chips.  Then I ran across this can of refried beans.  Hmmmm.  Never had refried beans in my chili before.

There was a time when I felt somewhat lonely in my somewhat odd view of the world.  Never lonely enough to actually concede and act like normal people – but enough to make me wonder about my wackiness.  Most of my life I have enjoyed seeing the world through a different prism.  There are marvels of the universe that many people completely miss – some folks are so busy with their own daily routine that they fail to notice the quirky world around them.  Some see the quirkiness and simply roll their eyes and get on the way.  I usually stop to visit.

This on-line magazine has offered some relief – I can write whatever I want – well, whatever until the Editor, Mr. Clark, pulls in the reins.  He gives me quite a bit of latitude so I should just be grateful.

This past year I noticed that some others in my family tree have some anomalous qualities.  One quality stands out that we all seem to share – a love of words, of reading, of composing, of clever witticisms and sarcasm, of observing and articulating the world in an honest and deserved writing.

I don’t know if my cousin Nancy or nephew Josh would put refried beans in their chili but I suspect they sometimes rummage around the kitchen pantries hoping for inspiration to create something a little different than usual.  They are that kind of people.  Curious, creative, inventive, clever, smart, and even intellectual.

Nancy and I are seniors – not yet elderly.  Josh is a young man.  Every time he speaks I hear the curiosity of the poet, the joy of observation, the candor of honesty, and the love of a very kind person.  Nancy has the wisdom earned by years of trial and error – coupled with that unique quality of seeing the world in the context of human frailty.  Josh is able to imagine being the porch that Mark Twain sits on while pondering life.  All three of us enjoy trying to articulate the observations we make from the sidelines of the game of life.

That chili was pretty good, along with the potato chips.  I prepared enough for three days and it is time for lunch.