I Don’t Need Another Hobby. Anyway, Here’s My New Hobby.

This past weekend, I went to an estate sale two doors down.

The first thing that occurred to me was, no matter what I do, my day is coming. Someday, others will either receive, buy, or throw away everything I have acquired.

In the meantime, however, I should enjoy it.

My favorite find was a vintage Le Creuset 6.6-quart cast iron baking dish. No, I didn’t bake in it. Instead, I built a fire with charcoal and an oak split, poured an ungodly amount of vegetable oil in it, cut up a couple packs of yellow corn tortillas and fried some corn chips in it. As soon as I scooped ‘em out of the pan, I sprinkled them with a generous helping of fine salt and a dash of Tajin. Then I put them on a racked pan in the oven to stay warm and crisp up.

This leads me to my next favorite find: a best-in-class 8.5-inch unused stone molcajete. Which after I seasoned and cleaned it by grinding a few rounds of dry rice, I welcomed it into the family by making a fresh guacamole.

This brings me to the point of this post. My new hobby is learning to use items in a way that brings me pleasure. However, I’ve discovered this pleasure has almost zero meaning if it isn’t shared with someone.

As I was preparing to cook this amazing Tour de Mexico, I called four very close friends to invite them over to share it with me. None called back. Now, to be fair, it was a beautiful Saturday afternoon with many amazing football games and the loveliest of weather. And they had no idea what I found at the estate sale or what I was doing with it. This is not a criticism of them. I’m the one who was free of obligation. They were the ones who were diligent and had meticulously planned their days.

BUT… I wanted to share the experience with someone. I did get a chance to share the chips and guac later that evening, but I didn’t get a chance to share the experience. And that left me sad.

And that is my lesson. Life is meant to be shared. So, my new hobby is learning to use things in a way that blesses others, and let that bring me pleasure.

Which finally brings me to the thought behind this post. If you had the loveliest versions of everything you wanted, but you didn’t have another soul to share it with, would you still choose it?

“A bowl of vegetables with someone you love is better than steak with someone you hate.” — Proverbs 15:17, NLT

“Enjoy happiness with a woman you love all the fleeting days of life that have been granted to you under the sun—all your fleeting days. For that alone is what you can get out of life and out of the means you acquire under the sun.” — Ecclesiastes 9:9, JPS Tanakh.