# 201 EXPIRATION DATES
Yesterday I made the dreaded trip to town. In the dairy aisle I reached for sour cream. I checked the expiration date. It said "December 22". Scared the hell out of me. That is when I realized Christmas is just around the corner and I have nothing done.
"Oh my God", I cried out in disbelief. A shopper nearby responsed by closing in on me and asking what was wrong.
I showed her the stamp on the sour cream container. "Look at that," I ssid. "No one told me Christmas was that close. I didn't realize it until I saw that date stamp and now there is so little time and so much to do."
"There's nothing to do," she said with blank eyes and a passiveness that was irritating. "No one has to bake or shop for Christ's Birthday" Then in those blank eyes a sudden flicker. "Would you look at that? I didn't know they put expiration dates on sour cream containers."
And the irony is, if she never noticed that sour cream has an expiration date, how likely is she to notice when December 25th arrives? She'll probably miss the party. So there is no point in me explaining to her that Christmas won't happen, no matter how she perceives it, without excitement and involvement and a sense of awe and wonder.and focused attention on the expiration date!
posted by Roberta S at 12:20 PM
2 Comments:
I think about your "wanna write,need to write"phrase because i have often thought that I am not a writer because I don't need to write . I can write if there is a need presented to me. But i don't have to write in the way i have to make music or I have to be working on a sculpture or an idea for one . I'm hoping that blogging will pull me into more writing becauseI do feel like I have things i want to tell . Thanks for your cheering me on.
Hi, eileen. Thanks for the note. It is not every day I feel I want to write and need to write. Some days writing is very much a struggle. Still, if I treat it like someone coming in for coffee, engaging in casual conversation, the words usually come a whole lot easier than one would expect.
I get much enjoyment in writing and I do seem to find that with regular writing the things once so difficult to articulate flow easier.
How much others enjoy what I write, I have no idea. But always I am encouraged by the odd person popping in and letting me know they found fun or laughter or even provocative thought for the day.
Just write -- it's like any good sport. The more you do it the more you will enjoy it.
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