The Big Issues

I’ve been doing a lot of soul searching lately. There’s just so much going on that it’s almost impossible not to take inventory and evaluate what really makes sense; what really hits home. Just when you think you’ve got it all figured out, you turn around and something else is coming at you. You soon come to realize that we’re only human and bound to make mistakes and all we can do is analyze the information we have at hand, search our true feelings and our thoughts or fears about the future, make a decision and stand by it regardless of the consequences.

I spent most of yesterday agonizing over one major question that would significantly impact my immediate future in a very tangible way. How much sweet corn should I put up in pints and how many in quarts? It was agonizing. On the one hand a pint may be kind of skimpy on portions depending on how many of us are eating while a quart may leave an unnecessary amount of leftovers and limit the number of meals we will be able to have sweet corn throughout the fall and winter. I made the call and now we’ll live with it throughout the winter for better or worse.

Everything’s been happening so fast that my heads been spinning. I’m already realizing that we didn’t dry enough dill weed for pickles. That’s going to prove a costly misstep. I’ve got more cucumbers than I can shake a stick at and the dill reserve is dwindling fast. We live and learn.

The indecision isn’t all my fault I suppose. I will blame some of the blame on COVID this year. I mean, how can anybody have any idea how much salsa should be made when you don’t even know if there’s going to be a football season or not? Just on the face of it the question is unanswerable. At least that question can be mitigated somewhat. If I just can or freeze the tomatoes as tomatoes, I can always convert them to salsa when needed. The trick is going to be realizing the last of the premade salsa has been used and a big game is coming up. You don’t want to rush around trying to finish up a batch during the pre-game. It just changes the whole experience.

Ketchup? Maybe a gallon or so. Pasta sauce? Of course! Love me some Spaghetti!

Then there’s beans, peas, zucchini for bread, Should I pickle the peppers or dice and freeze them? All questions that can only be answered after deep thought and reflection. “Didn’t we have to throw out some of those jalapenos we diced and froze last year because they got freezer burned?”

“Yeah. Come to think of it, I think we did.”

“Let’s just freeze a few small bags this year and pickle the rest.”

The sheer volume of decisions to be made is daunting. We’ll get through though. We always do. Some years we do better than others, but that’s life. We’ll get through. We just have to use our experience and common sense. Say a prayer or two and hang in there.