The Green Bowl

When my mother-in-law passed away a few years ago, I was responsible for cleaning out her house.  After family members laid claim to items they wanted, what we couldn’t sell at a great garage sale or give away, we took to Goodwill.  But there, among the kitchen items, was this green bowl which I had to have.  This bowl has been the vessel of choice for everything from chocolate mousse to meatloaf.  I use it almost every day.  As mixing bowls go, it isn’t any better or worse than something you could pick up at Walmart for just a few dollars.  But it reminds me of a time gone by and I love it.  I have always been pretty nostalgic.  I think it is because of the wonderful memories I have of the times I spent on my grandparents’ farm.  The green bowl represents a past that is vanishing quickly and it is a reminder of a mother-in-law I wish I had known better.

Anyway, several days ago, I noticed a crack in the green bowl.  It went from side to side, almost through the very center of the bowl.  Today, I bought a new mixing bowl and with great sorrow watched as Gene put the green bowl in the garbage.  The new bowl is plastic and really more suitable for traveling down the highway at 60 mph, but there will always be a warm spot in my heart for Edna’s green bowl.

We have been busy with indoor activities the past two days.  It has turned cold and was only 24 degrees this morning.  Gene has been busy with work—on the phone for the better part of both days.  I have been pouring over the travel books and doing some internet research for our upcoming trip to Texas.  Gosh, Texas is a big place.  Even concentrating on the most southerly portion, I don’t think we can see all we want to see.

As much as we wanted to stay inside and pretend we were already in Texas, we forced ourselves to don coats, gloves, and ear muffs for a brisk few laps around the campground.  Once we got going, it felt good to stretch our legs and breathe the fresh air and the sun made the day simply gorgeous. On our walk yesterday, we slid through the fence to look at the new Montanas at Cullum and Maxey.  There is one on the lot that I have grown fairly fond of.  Lucky for Gene, it is really too heavy for our truck to tow.  But it is fun to look.  I also had an errand to run for Santa.  I walked over to Camping World to take care of that.  Christmas shopping is more fun when you don’t have to worry about parking and Camping World is no farther from my campsite than I would have to walk from the parking lot at the mall.

Our new friends Tony and Diana have invited us to walk a section of the greenway tomorrow morning and go for coffee afterward.  Gene has a call scheduled at 8 AM and has to be downtown at 11:30, but I think we can squeeze it in.  We are looking forward to that.  Hopefully, it won’t be quite as cold as it was this morning.