The Autodidact

Today was the last time we walked to our library. For 13 years, I have walked with the kids to our lovely neighborhood library. Sure, we could drive, and we do, but many walks were taken there, as well. We would talk about the birds we could hear and see, the flowers blooming in spring or the changing leaves in the fall or we would have deep conversations about this or that. But today was the last day. We would check out our materials, but usually spent time greeting the fish, visiting the fountain or their favorite bust. We would wander into the children's area, marvel at the wooden doors,  and wonder what lurked behind the black door... For years, I had at least one or two kids convinced it was the door to the dungeon where misbehaved children were sent.  The wrought iron fence elicited the imaginations of some... And some pretended to be princes and queens wandering their castle. It was a magical place, fil

Most of the time after a meal of creatively combined leftovers, I say to myself: "Well, I'm glad that's over with." But once in a while, I have just the right combination of leftovers and a bit of this and that needing to be used up, and presto! I have a meal that I would make again, on purpose! I can't quite remember how it happened, but the following ingredients found their way into one skillet: leftover baked potatoes half used up onions, chopped a variety of tomatoes, chopped some bacon, cut into pieces random mushrooms a couple of jalapenos from the garden a quarter of a bell pepper I fried them all up in a bit of butter until the bacon was done and dished it up. But then, I realized that it wasn't quite complete without 2 eggs, over easy with enough runny yolk to ooze down into my dish, and a dash of hot sauce. So, of course, I had to cook some eggs quickly. Oh my, but it was good. And most of the kids liked it too. So, now, this is a regu