“Casting” new thoughts sometimes are as hard as iron

Dear readers,

If you are indeed reading this, I profusely thank you. For this means that you-in spite of my aweful attempt at title-have

chosen to read this post anyway. Therefore, I give a hardy, “here, here” and a toast in your honor.

Now, onto the point of this story.

As I rinsed the dishes that were piled precariously in the kitchen sink today before loading them into the dish washer,

I came across the dreaded cast iron skillet.

Now if you are not familiar with these babies, just reference the beauty that Rapunzel from Tangeled has clutched in her hand.

If these are put through the dish washer enough times they will eventually rust over. In today’s world fewer people buy them for this very reason.

(They are extremely useful though, as they are much heavier than other pots or pans and resist the tendency to buckle over time due to excessive heat. The result is that they offer much flatter surfaces on which to cook which entails a more evenly cooked course. )

I usually dread washing these, because we usually cook the greasiest of food on them, and I have to scrape all the grease out.

Today though I had a thought, what we just simply washed every dish, then put them away immediately  forgoing the washer altogether? It might actually use less water and it wouldn’t be that much more added time to me anyway.

At that moment I stopped seeing the cast iron skillet as a drudgery, as an enemy.

Instead I began to view it as something very useful, a friend so-to-speak.

What if we did that with people? Do you have any enemies who maybe don’t really “deserve” to be?

Some food for thought from Jesus Christ-“I say to you: Love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!”

Going Thrifty-From “Blah” to “Nifty!”

The shiny penny…

the turtle wax…or….

the Super-Deluxe Shine ?

The buttons on the car-wash machine used to blink like the lights strung around a Christmas tree.

They waited impatiently to be pushed as my Dad would feed the dollar into the slot. (It was a rarity

indeed if he was lucky enough to get it accepted on the first go-round. Why do machines never seem to

want to take our money? Everyone else seems to like it alright?)

We would always go with the least expensive option.

Why? might you ask. The answer is found in a childhood memory.

Dad: ” Hey, you know what kind of animal I’d be if I got to choose?”

Me: “What?”

Dad: “A chick cause they go “cheap, cheap” like me!”

I think I’m now beginning to see eye-to-eye with my Dad.

Being frugal isn’t all that bad. I used to be  really concerned with having “the cool” brand of something, but

I’ve found it’s really not all that it’s cracked up to be.

More pressing than the dollars saved, is the peace that letting go of a perfect image can bring.

Enjoying some luxury items every now and then, or spending extra money on a nice gift for someone is by no

means outrageous.

I’ve just come to the conclusion that penny-pinching may save me some stress and could even help

starve out the selfishness, self-consciousness, or even vanity that’s quick to creep in when we focus too much on external things.