I'm Smiling Because...

Until about a month ago, some mornings found me scowling into my coffee cup.  My morning irritant was opening a can of sweetened condensed milk, my creamer of choice.  Why would that put me in such a bad mood?  Because I have a bad can opener.  Yep, a kitchen tool.

Ok, it wasn't just the opener, it was the whole tedious process of opening the can.  The condensed milk would well up and get all over the little can opener gear, which I'd have to rinse off, then the "lid" would need to be pried off with much effort, sometimes having to go over and over that one little bit of tin that just will not cut through!  I'm getting sweaty hands and furrowed brow just thinking about this whole process.

Then the condensed milk stuck to the lid would need to be scraped off.  Well, this part wasn't that bad because I sometimes (gasp!) licked off the little bit left behind on the lid.  Of course, I always had visions of cutting my tongue in half and having to explain to the EMTs how that happened....

So it was an ORDEAL that I always dreaded.  But now!  Oh, happy day! I got a new can opener!  It's hard to believe what a difference a really good kitchen tool makes, especially when you've been dealing with a really mediocre kitchen tool.

Really, is it possible to go all giddy about a can opener?  (Don't answer that.)  What makes us smile?  The big victories - honestly won and shared with loved ones - can give us a smile and satisfaction that lasts for a while.  But little daily things can also give the same amount of satisfaction because they are daily.

Someone once said that 5% of our lives is made up of big events: birthdays, anniversaries, parties, special events.  The other 95% is daily life; mundane things that happen over and over.  Most people work to make that 5% special... while leaving the rest to simply pass by, unnoticed, unheralded, unappreciated.  But that's 95% of our lives!  What great little things in your life are going unnoticed and underappreciated; that make you smile?

Anyway, I digress.  The reason this new can opener is so much better is because it somehow "undoes" (is that a word?) the top of the can... it's not cutting through the tin.  So there are no sharp edges, no upwelling of treacherous sweet liquids, nothing.  You use this miracle tool, and then you lift the top off, easy as pie.

I do not work for Pampered Chef and have not been paid to write this blog.  But there it is.  Their can opener puts a smile on my face whenever I have to open a can of anything.  And I think of how simple things like a super duper can opener can make me smile, make my day a little brighter, and appreciate 100% of the life I've been given.

Did you know puffball mushrooms are edible?

Aaah, a puffball mushroom, fried in butter with a little salt... WOW!  I am now a confirmed puffball mushroom nut....  How did THAT happen?  Glad you asked.

Yesterday, as I got out of the van, I looked over to the grass on the side of the driveway and saw a round, white thing poking out of the lawn.  It was about two inches wide and almost perfectly round.  As soon as I got within a few feet, I could tell it was a puffball mushroom.

Now before this encounter, I had the vague inkling that they were edible, but I was well-trained by all the mushroom documentaries where they tell you that mushrooms are delicious -- but every delicious mushroom also has an icky-tasting and/or completely deadly look-alike.  So, these documentaries always say, "Don't EVER try to identify mushrooms without a mushroom expert at your elbow, and even then, you may just die."  Or something like that.

After a few clicks on Google, however, I was able to learn that all varieties of puffball are edible, and some are gigantic.  I could cut and paste some photos, but if you google puffball, that would save me a lot of work.

Anyway, there is one lookalike, and it's pretty easy to tell when you've got the destroying angel mushroom, as it's so descriptively called, versus a puffball.  Since this is a little more important to know, here's a link that  shows destroying angel mushrooms:  http://americanmushrooms.com/taxa/Amanita_virosa_03.htm  .  The interior of a puffball does NOT have that cap-shaped pattern -- it's evenly textured all the way through, kind of like the Magic Erasers you use to clean your walls.

I'm sorry, this is a really pathetic blog today, but my main goal is to tell you that puffball mushrooms are a taste that is out of this world.  I'll try to tell you what they taste like as soon as I finish the rest of the story.

So I picked this round mushroom up off the lawn, and it left a neat, round depression in the grass (where I'm hoping more puffballs will sprout or whatever they do).  This was not the first puffball I've picked out of this lawn, and I'm so sad to say that I threw the other ones out.  I found a similarly-sized one about two weeks ago, in almost the same section of grass, and last year, I found a huge five-incher.  That just makes me want to cry, thinking about the wasted deliciousness.

After examining the snowy-white and firm, spongy inside and determining that it was not, in fact, a destroying angel mushroom, I peeled it, sliced it, and fried it in butter with a little salt.  With just a little trepidation, since I didn't have a mushroom expert at my elbow, I took a taste.  Amazing.

It had such a meaty, almost chicken-y taste, but with a bit of nuttiness (that could be the butter)... it is nearly indescribable.  You have to try it yourself sometime, or, if you're still a little nervous about the lingering after-effects of eating a puffball mushroom, send them all my way.

I did monitor myself afterward, and got a very slight tingling in my throat within an hour after eating it, and maybe a little bit of delirium/hysteria, but that could be explained by my instant addiction to this humble fungus.  The tingling in my throat went away within a few minutes.

You can ask my sister-in-law, who lives across the street about the delirium/hysteria.  I went over there to look for puffballs in her lawn, too, and she witnessed a little bit of the... enthusiasm that I had.  Hysteria's such a strong word.

Brian and Noah both tried little, tiny pieces of cooked puffball, and they're both as normal as could be (or as they normally are, which may not be completely normal).  They both liked it.  Brian was even willing to walk through the woods at his brother's house to look for more.  We'll have to do that as soon as all the poison ivy leaves fall.  Can't wait!

What, Really?

After reading my last post, some of you may be saying that very thing: "What, really?  Is this some kind of Sunday School thing?  'Be a light'?  What kind of purpose is that?!"  I have some reasons for my "simplistic" conclusion from that night:

1. I was very emotional, and it made sense to me at the moment
2. It was night time -- I was tired
3. I didn't explain it or even understand it fully
4. I'm a woman, that's my prerogative
5. I had waaaaay too much chocolate that evening (ok, that's not really a reason -- see #4)

In the bright sunshine of day, as I think further on what I heard from God that night, being a light is suddenly more complicated than I thought.  Shallowness of thought is what comes naturally to me, especially when  I fill all of my "air time" with itunes/internet/radio/television/chatter (even praying without listening)....  I don't often take the time to think things through thoroughly.  Say THAT five times fast.

So what does it mean to be a light?  Is it helpful to picture myself as a lightbulb or candle or glow-in-the-dark bracelet?  Is it doing certain things or being a certain way?

Some of the things light does:

• illuminates
• guides
• gives comfort and courage
• keeps you from stumbling
• heals
• gives life
• provides a focus
• and many, many, many more things

Often I feel compelled to start making a list of what I need to DO when I see a statement like "Be a light."  I think to myself...

"Oooh, I'm gonna start doing my housework more excellently all the time...
I'll always be patient and never yell at my kids again...
I will go out and talk to all of my neighbors...
and invite them all over for lunch over the course of the next 3 months....

I've set myself up for failure, because there's no way to keep that up forever, or even through the end of the week.

Then, inspiration (or God again?) struck... I am NOT the source of the light!  It flows through me and comes from God Himself... I am the glass or vessel through which it flows, and when it appears dim, that's me blocking the light somehow.

I can try to do all these things and get in His way, or I can rest in Him and let Him shine through me... which all comes down to trust.  I trust that He is in control and has a plan for my life, even this part of my life.  As a bonus, I get real peace because everything I do has a reason... it's not useless.

I get out of His way by pushing aside my pride, my selfishness, my need to be praised by people.  Sounds so simple, yet it's so hard!  But the purpose of letting the light shine is so others can see God more clearly, not me.

Now that I've possibly confused you more, I'm going to call it quits.  I'm still working it out and trying to understand and be obedient to what I'm hearing (kind of like personal therapy).  If you have any thoughts or comments, feel free to post.  I'm pretty thick-skinned :-).