Smorgasbord #69

Family Fun Day | The Next Problem | Pre-Lent

Feb 21, 2025

Family Fun Day

Saturday was a full day. My daughter said she wanted me to take her out on a date, so I asked her what she wanted to do on our date. She asked me to call the theater people and see if they could put on a production of The Little Mermaid. I explained to her that this is not how musical theater works and that it was a special occasion when we went to see Beauty and the Beast. We settled on going to the pet shop to window shop for puppies and grab lunch.

An adorable white Labrador at the pet shop briefly made me consider getting a pet. However, I soon realized I would be responsible for caring for the animal, and keeping four little humans alive is enough for now.

After that, we went to Le Grande Orange Grocery & Pizzeria, located in a trendy neighborhood in Phoenix. The restaurant offers a variety of breakfast options, grab-and-go food, a bakery, a coffee shop, pizza, and a quirky marketplace filled with novelty items. We ordered a pizza and some drinks, sat down, and waited for our name to be called.

We were sitting inside at a table by the glass wall. On the other side, a couple, likely in their twenties, was enjoying the al fresco seating. The guy wore baggy khaki pants and a flowy light blue button-up shirt. He had a well-groomed mustache and a mullet. The girl had on red patent leather shoes, a flowy floral print skirt, a white tank top, and a bandana in her hair that matched the skirt. They looked really cute together.

Suddenly, a man in mechanic coveralls with reflective stripes on the sleeves appeared. The young man pulled out his phone, and the older man scanned the screen using his own device. After a brief absence, the older man returned with a long white tool with a flexible flat hook and approached the car in front of the couple. He jammed the end of the tool into the gap between the vehicle's body and the door, unlocked the car, and opened the door. He left after collecting a signature from the young man.

The couple packed the rest of their lunch, got into their car, and drove away. I had so many questions. Were they on a date? Who left the keys inside the car? Did they intend to have lunch there, or did they make the best of it while waiting for the AAA guy? We may never know the answers to these questions. And that’s okay. Either way, their demeanor was pretty calm while all of this was unfolding, which I think is worth noting.

Younger Walther would probably belly ache in a situation like this. Who am I kidding? I would whine if this happened to me today. Our disposition toward inconveniences is important. Sometimes, we make the best of the situation; other times, not so much. We can learn a valuable lesson from this young couple: when you lock yourself out of your car, and there’s pizza available for purchase, buy the pizza while you wait for the guy who can legally break into your car and give you the keys back.

This whole thing happened in just a few minutes. I don’t want you to think I was ignoring my daughter. We played “I Spy” and peeked over the bar, where the pizza guy pulled pies out of the oven multiple times until our name was called. Our pepperoni pizza was phenomenal. They prepare it with sourdough, Neapolitan style, thin and crispy. So good.

On Saturday night, all six of us went to a free concert in an outdoor mall nearby. Jazz/Swing duo “The Swingsets” was the band scheduled to play that night, and they did not disappoint. This band is formed by two eighteen-year-olds who play music from the 1940s and 50s. The tune that stuck with me from that night was “It’s a sin to tell a lie,” which had me tapping my foot to the beat.

The kids had a blast. They were dancing and having a good old time. Toward the end, Diana and I started dancing with all of them. I noticed we were the only adults dancing and became self-conscious that people were watching us. But then I thought, who cares? This is about having a good time with my children. Dance like nobody is watching. People can think whatever they want.

If I had given more importance to what others thought about me, I could have missed out on the joy of dancing with my babies. I also thought about how freer my children are when they hear music and react appropriately by dancing. Suddenly, a few other kids started doing the same and even dancing with them. All they needed was a couple of kids doing it to show others it was okay to dance around—the equivalent of being the first person on the dance floor at a wedding.

I guess what I’m trying to say is pet a dog every once in a while, make the best of the situation you’re in, listen to some live music, and dance if the spirit moves you. It’s good for the soul.

The Next Problem

My brain tries to break down problems into smaller ones I can tackle more easily. Making coffee involves roasting, grinding, ensuring I have enough filters, etc. Since I make coffee several times a day, I know when my stash of beans is getting low, and I need to go into the garage and fire up the roaster to ensure a smooth supply of fresh beans. I can see the stack of filters getting shorter and the number of boxes in the pantry. I check if there are enough grounds in the jar so I don’t have to grind coffee in the morning and disturb everyone’s slumber. There’s nothing worse than opening the cupboard and seeing that I don’t have everything I need to brew a cup of coffee.

I don’t stop to think about all the steps; it just happens. Brewing coffee is a morning ritual that I have improved over the years. It’s one of the beauties of routine. I’m a creature of habit, after all.

Lately, I’ve been paying attention to the next problem. I don’t know if I would call this a philosophy, but it has helped me to focus on the here and now. What do I need to do today? What’s on the schedule? Do I need to worry about what’s happening this weekend, next week, or month?

That’s why I like Toyota’s Kanban system. It uses instruction cards as part of the manufacturing process. One station puts on the car's tires, another assembles the body, and the next paints the body. They have everything they need, do their job, and pass it on to the next station. There’s usually a backlog of cards; a card is then moved to “in progress,” and when the job is completed, it moves to the “done” column.

My To-do list is my backlog. I work on one task at a time, and in the end, I have a pile of completed tasks–and a dopamine hit. As mentioned above, some prep work is required before I start my “make a cup of coffee” process. The same can be applied to other areas of my life. Diana says I can sometimes act like a robot and zero in on something until the job is done. But if it works, it works.

Is it healthy to run my life as a manufacturing plant? I don’t know. But I think there is value in being a man of action—action guided towards a goal, not just busy work. If I want to get better at something, I need to practice. If I want to work out first thing in the morning, I should go to bed early to rest and be ready. Maybe I should lay my workout clothes and shoes where I can see them and change into them rapidly. It removes friction. Make your future you’s life easier.

This week, I wanted to spend as little time as possible thinking about what to eat when I broke my fast. To avoid insulin spikes, I focused on protein and fat. I grilled steak and chicken on Sunday, which I have been eating throughout the week. Is it boring to eat the same thing every day? Maybe, but action toward a goal overrides that.

Finally, I recommend aligning your goals to your why. Take time to think about it, write it down, and revisit it often. Then, move forward and tackle the next problem.

Pre-Lent

I signed up for “The Great Fast,” St. Michael’s Abbey's Lenten program, and received an email with a link to a video about the pre-Lent season. I learned that the three Sundays before Ash Wednesday are Septuagesima, Sexagesima, and Quinquagesima, which means seventy, sixty, and fifty days before Easter Sunday. Does this make Exodus 90 Nonagesima?

If you’re anything like me, most years, Lent takes you by surprise; you scramble to come up with something to give up and end up not living Lent to its full potential. Or at least that’s how I feel. The years that I have tried to DIY it haven’t been great, so this year, when I saw that the Norbertine Fathers were offering this program, I signed up without hesitation. I need all the help I can get.

I don’t want to jump into Lent; I want to ease myself into it. Even though I fast regularly, I could do a better job linking this practice with prayer and not just using it as an aid for weight loss. I know I am guilty of living my own version of carnival. It may not look like Rio de Janeiro, Venice, or New Orleans, but there is a certain level of indulgence.

I like how the Norbetine Fathers framed Lent as a pilgrimage. We are strangers to this world, foreigners, and our citizenship is in heaven. We need heavenly food, the bread from heaven—we want to feast on what is everlasting, God Himself. Fasting helps us make room for God. The more we delight in God, the less the nuisances of fasting bother us.

As part of The Great Fast, participants are asked to eat one meal every day during the forty days of Lent. This is challenging but doable, and the communal aspect of this program makes it bearable. Knowing that a whole religious order, and however many lay people sign up for this program, will be going through the same thing gives me some comfort.

I can pray for them, and I know they will pray for me. I can offer up the hunger pangs and profit from temporary suffering. I can also dedicate the time it takes to eat a couple of meals to prayer. An increase in prayer will likely lead to an increase in virtue and love of God. Even though physical nourishment may decrease, supernatural nourishment is abundant if we ask for it.

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Sobremesa

What’s the best concert you’ve ever been to?
What’s the next problem you’re tackling?
What are your Lenten plans?