Sweetheart is trying hard to phase out his craft business—although, sometimes, I think he is hardly trying.
He does have a dilemma, though. You have probably encountered the same dilemma when you’re eating cereal.
You pour the cereal into the bowl and add the milk. You realize that you have added too much milk and the cereal is going to float away before you can eat it. So, you have to add more cereal. You have to be careful, or you will not have the cereal-to-milk ratio that will give you the eating experience you were hoping for.
Eventually, by adding a little of one and then the other, you make it to the bottom of the bowl.
Sweetheart makes toy poppers that we sell at craft shows. To make one he needs a piece of dowel rod, a piece of PVC pipe, a piece of scrap wood, a cork and some feathers.
Well, every Saturday, I faithfully take the poppers and other items to the local farmers’ market in hopes of selling all of our inventory, so we won’t need to go to farmers’ markets and craft shows into eternity.
Well, lo and behold! I see Sweetheart coming home from the lumber yard recently with dowel rods. So, I say, “Sweetheart, I thought we were going out of the craft business.”
To which he replies, “I had some gun stocks I needed barrels for.” So he makes barrels for the gun stocks.
Then he comes home with PVC pipe and I say, “Sweetheart, I thought we were going out of the craft business.”
To which he replies, “I didn’t have enough PVC pipe for the gun barrels.” So, he finishes the gun barrels.
A few days later, Sweetheart comes home with bags of feathers. So, I say, “Sweetheart, I thought we were going out of the craft business.”
To which he replies, “I have a lot of corks I have to use up.”
So, when does it all come out even? When do all of the poppers get made? When do all of the poppers get sold?
There is another dilemma. When Sweetheart sees a piece of wood, he sees a gun stock begging to be cut out of it. And, then the whole cycle begins again.
It seems that life is like that. How do we know if, or when, things will come out even? Will we get the job or raise we think we deserve? Will our offspring come to visit us when they get on their own? Will they ever get on their own? Did we save enough money to get us through life, or will our children get it all?
Sometimes, life just doesn’t seem fair. Maybe, that’s our challenge—to be as fair as we can be in an unfair world.
Dorothy is the author of two books—“Miles and Miracles” and “Getting It All Together “. You can purchase a book or make a comment by emailing her at dorothybutzknight@gmail.com