That’s a quote on an old picture I have hanging in my Flagstaff home. I’ve had the picture for a long time and still remember the old antique store I purchased it in. Little did I know how much those words would resonate with me at this stage of life. The colorful picture has two old men sitting on a bench together having a good laugh over something one can only imagine.
So where do you get your jollies? If you aren’t quick to answer that question, I suggest you go looking for a few to brighten your day. I have a few to share from the past several weeks of living my best life here in the heartland. First off, I have become a regular at Taco Thursday at the Big Stone Legion. Last week, a group travel discussion led to another round of beer and wine which included 3 shots of $1 Mystery Shots. What is that you ask? Well, I guess their way of getting rid of slow moving liquor is to wrap it in a paper bag and sell it cheap to the curious who either want a cheap pop or are up for a surprise. Paul purchased them along with his second, or was it third, beer of the night to share with the ladies. What a curious lot we were and quick to have a good time with such a simple experience. I guess you could call us “cheap dates!” We all did a taste test in an effort to decipher the various flavor profiles in what, for the most part, ended up in a paper bag for a reason. In the end, I’m not sure we ever did figure out what we were drinking but no matter as the laughter that ensued during the experience was well worth the experiment. I still swear one was a nut-flavored liquor, maybe hazelnut?
Another evening we had supper with a family with four kids aged 7-13. What fun that was; which is always the case when seeing life through the eyes of the young. Our primary entertainment after watching one of the older girls make homemade pasta was viewing a myriad of baby animals. First off was three baby ducks, one of whom was the most beautiful yellow and grey-black color, that are clearly being well loved by its 10 year old care-taker. Then we moved on to viewing multiple generations of rabbits which confirmed what they say about them as new ones just keep arriving, one generation after another, even though they swear they are keeping the male rabbit away from the female rabbit. I don’t know, maybe it’s in the air?
Next, we took a quick trip down a country road “to Grandmother’s house we go” to check in on the baby goats. Along the way we saw a mother deer hoping through a field with her fawn which was quite the sight. As we entered the driveway we came upon fenced pens filled with goats and their offspring. If you have been reading my column for a while you know I am fond of goats so this was a wonderful end of the day experience for me. The 12 baby goats were all quite young, up to 10 days old, and cuter than anything else I’ve seen frolicking in the countryside. After lots of oohing… and aawing… in the field we went inside the barn to check out the brand new baby goats that had arrived over the past 24 hours. It’s always surprising to me how quick and agile baby animals are on their feet but I guess it is part of their survival.The horse, Lucky, galloped alongside us in the field as we moved on to check out two sweet looking bottle fed calves after which we ended our hobby farm tour at the chicken coop. Finally, we were greeted by a shy collie puppy that rounded out the evening quite nicely. Oh, and I ended up with a freshly picked zucchini for the road. After dropping off the kids and picking up Paul, I was sent home with what, for me, was a very unusual birthday present: various frozen game meats, a dozen fresh farm eggs and, last but not least, a box of Fruit Loops; a story for next week’s article about simple guilty pleasures!