Spontaneity

Harley dog out hiking. He was cold, so he has on a Tshirt, a sweater and a vest.
I took about 10 pics of him, all blurry from puppy play, but this one he paused for a nanosecond, right when I snapped the pic. 

I wish there were more spontaneity around here. Maybe it's a cultural thing in America, that things must be planned far in advance. 


In the Caribbean, it seemed so easy to ask folks to do something right here and now and they would!  There were times when I had friends take off sailing with me on a 1-2-3 night trip with only a 10 minute notice and another 10 to grab a few things and go. But we know blue water sailors are lunatics!


Yesterday, some of the workampers were talking about another potluck dinner.One said she didn't know what she would make for dinner that night. I volunteered that I had just made a vegetable stew in my 3 quart crockpot, there are 8 people total, so let's just have potluck right now, and I'll go fetch it. There is plenty to go around. 


They looked at me like I was crazy, then said "Maybe next Monday we will do a potluck dinner..."  


A whole week away...


Yet, I remember not so long ago, I was living in a duplex in the Caribbean with a jacuzzi in the gazebo with a fabulous view. I had a crockpot of chili cooking inside, but I was outside sitting in the jazcuzzi. Over the next few hours, friends stopped by, unannounced. Several went in the jacuzzi borrowing a bathing suit or a sarong from me. We were just chatting and enjoying the views. My gazebo overlooked the harbor and other islands beyond. The heat in the jacuzzi was just enough to keep from being cold, but not the high heat some folks use. 


Oh how my life has gone upside down since that day! But hey, I am making a comeback. I push and prod my body into getting well, and so far, I haven't died. So that is always handy...


Back in the Caribbean...
I think we got into the bar stock at the house, leftover from a past party.  Someone mentioned they were hungry, and might leave, so I fetched them a bowl of chili and some crackers. Pretty soon everyone was eating chili until we cleaned out the pot and emptied out the crackers. 


It was a fun day, one that started off with no plans at all. My friends that stopped by were not officially invited, nor were they expecting jacuzzi and food or even knew whether I was home or not.  Things just fell into place as the day unfolded. 


Yesterday, I wish the other workampers would have said "Yeah!  Let's eat stew!"  I often cook a lot, so that I have leftovers stashed in the fridge for other meals. Part of my budget routine. I cook at home 99.9% of the time. It was a fresh pot, still cooking and very delicious. It would have made a lovely dinner all around. I was sad my idea was shot down. 


Later that evening, I ate my stew alone. 


It had sweet potatoes, celery, onion, mushrooms, garlic, red, black and white beans cooked in a  a thick base made of beef broth and tomato paste plus secret herbs and spices. Really yummy all around. Matter of fact, I may just have a little bowl now. 

Sweet potatoes in the new crockpot, before I added the other veggies.