Stale Chips and Salsa….

Anyone will tell you that stale chips are not nearly as nice as fresh ones. Ask anyone you like, if they like stale chips for some strange reason well….they are not like me. It ruins the flavor of salsa to have them stale. They give an odd twang when you bite into them. They lose the crisp, salty texture; they turn into, rather, a chip of chewable wood. And with the weather we`ve been having stale chips are easy to come by. You can`t just stick the bag in the pantry; you have to take it up carefully; you have to roll up the top of the bag, put a few laundry clips on it, maybe some duck tape. It`s a tricky job! But you know what? It is worth it. Imagine the depressing feeling to open up your cupboard and realize the last time you put them away you didn’t take the two and a half minutes to close it tightly–a whole trip to the store thrown away because of those two and a half minutes you ignored. Depressing, yes.

We don`t have many tomatoes this year, but thanks to some good neighbors and the few we scraped up we were able to make a small batch of salsa.

I love salsa. It`s beautiful, savory, and spicy. I know I could somehow discover a way to eat salsa without chips but I`d really prefer not to. With stale chips there would be no salsa snacks. Oh, the horror of it!

Why do I write this? I`m sure you could figure out the stale ship stuff, so why? Because we could take those few minutes to do many other things as well, things we like to neglect. Things that may even be more important than stale chips and salsa. We need to stop ignoring the little things that matter and go do them. It has been proven that flossing your teeth actually adds years to your life, but so many people don`t take time to do it. Adjusting your seat before you begin driving, fastening your seatbelt. Saying goodbye to your children before you leave, greeting your dad when he comes home from work. These things are so important. They can change your life, but only if you do them.