Bagels In Texas

If this were a Sunday morning in LA there is a good chance one of the kids would ask me if I could grab some bagels for breakfast.

That is assuming I hadn’t gone out the day before to pick some up from the joint that had replaced an old favorite that had gone out of business.

But Sunday in Texas isn’t like Sunday in LA because the kids aren’t here and I haven’t found a new place to buy my bagels from.

The initial question isn’t whether I am interested in eating familiar food or enjoying brunch by myself but where to find the aforementioned bagels.

Because based on my limited experience here there are very few bagel shops and they all seem to be part of a large chain.

Take A Chance On Me

Call it coincidence or something else if you want, but as I sit here mulling over whether to make a run to the chain Take A Chance On Me is playing on iTunes.

The chain shop’s bagels have to be better than the stuff I see on the supermarket shelves but I have real doubts about whether their bagels will be as good as those from home or my favorite places back east.

On a day like September 11th worrying about what bagels to eat almost sounds obnoxious and I would understand if people rolled their eyes about it.

But my ability to focus on something so small and mundane doesn’t mean I have forgotten about the day.

If anything it reinforces the gratitude I have for being given the opportunity to focus on such a silly thing.

Others paid the price for my ability to do so.

Other people sacrificed everything so I could sit here in a tank top and shorts wondering when the rest of my stuff will be delivered so I make coffee at home and not have to go out for it.

And the reality is that there are still people working hard to make sure that we are all safe and cared for.

I appreciate them and what they do and have made a point to remind my kids to be aware of their service too.

To Boldly Go….

Abba has been replaced by music from the 2009 Star Trek movie and there is a rapid fire sequence of images flying through my mind.

Probably because the boy that lives inside my head is always moved by such music, it really doesn’t take much to get me excited about going on another adventure.

Heck when there is crazy going on elsewhere in my world I always flip back to the music or movies.

Not because I need to hide but because sometimes I need a moment to catch my breath and think about the best course of action to take.

Reminds me of a conversation I had many years ago where someone told me I needed to do a better job of accepting reality and I asked why I had to do as they suggested.

I haven’t changed my attitude about that either.

Many people aren’t real fond of change or of fighting inertia so they just accept what they are given but I am not made that way.

I don’t wear sweaters because someone else is cold nor do I automatically stand in line because everyone else is doing so.

Social conventions aren’t always useful or necessary.

I suppose the trick is determining when it is ok to break the rules and when it isn’t.

A Willingness To Take Action

A few months back my teenager told me he thought if someone shot me I would get the guy before he got to my family.

“Dad, you’d probably die but I think you’d get him before he got us.”

I told him I appreciated the sentiment and said I’d do my best not to die because I have far too much to do and to see.

He looked at me and asked if I thought I was being realistic about things and I told him I don’t care if I have unreasonable expectations.

I told him about the conversation I alluded to above and used my line about not wearing a sweater because others are cold.

He nodded his head and I told him that sometimes the hardest thing to do is to figure out when to break those social conventions.

“You have to set aside your fear of failure and have a willingness to take action.”

I don’t know if he understood what I was getting at with the sort of clarity I’d like for him to have but I think he got the general gist of it all.

What About The Damn Bagels?

Got an email a while back from a reader who said I could cut my posts in half and that if I did more people would read them.

They said they weren’t fond of the way I sometimes meander off of the initial topic and circle back.

I thanked them for their note and suggested they consider whether this blog was the right place for them.

There are no fees for reading nor any threat of catastrophe for not following at this said here.

This is just a place to share some thoughts and ideas and to dump out the contents of my mind.

I am grateful some people enjoy it and I am grateful I am able to get so much pleasure out of writing it.

But I’d be even more grateful if I could find a decent bagel place.

Got to run now because I am hungry and if I wait too much longer hunger will turn to hanger and with apologies to David Banner trust me when I say you wouldn’t like me when I get hangry. 😉