Inherited Food

Three of my neighbors have moved away or left town on extended trips. They have brought over the food left in their refrigerators. Among other things, I have "inherited":

• apples
• frozen fish
• 2 lbs. frozen baby shrimp
• a jar of green olives
• iceberg lettuce
• a bag of rolls

It's hard to keep up with everything in your refrigerator, and often we are left having "overbought". I have a very full pantry and my fridge is just getting under control again, having eaten MANY leftovers recently. Then again, there is a fine line, especially if you have kids. You need to have food ready to make a quick meal when the savages get hungry or when there's an unexpected guest (or six). Summer in Texas means that you NEED popsicles. I think that this is not optional -- I am trying to prevent heat stroke. It's 100 degrees outside (literally). This may explain why I have inherited 3 containers of ice cream and a box of popsicles. :)

I like inheriting food. It's nice to get some extra, unexpected things. I don't complain that they're not organic -- after all, you don't look a gift horse in the mouth. It's much better than throwing the food in the trash, and it has injected a little variety into our diet. The other day, we made milanesa for the first time (it's a breaded meat cutlet -- these were frozen, and you are supposed to fry them in a little oil).

So, don't be shy. If you can't drink up all your milk before you leave town, give it to your neighbor. He/she will probably be happy to take it, and might have been on the way to the store to get milk anyway.

Friends

Lately I've been thinking about how wonderful it is to have friends. Grad school has been a really special time for me, because I have more friends now than I have ever had. They're almost all girls, which is also pretty new.

Last year my friends snuck in my apartment while I was on vacation and totally redecorated it. It was the best gift I've ever received, and if I'm ever feeling down or lonely, it's something that I can think of -- they re-did my WHOLE apartment. They bought new sheets! They cleaned the bathroom (oh God...)! It was amazing.

Of course, that's a huge gift. But friends don't have to re-do your apartment to be great friends. My dad forwarded me an article from the New York Times about how to maintain strong friendships. Apparently the secret is to return your friend's calls. Reciprocity is the key to BFF. Some comments on the article mentioned that the study did not look at IM, e-mail, etc. I love e-mail (sort of), but for me, nothing replaces a phone call. Hearing my friend's voice, and the immediacy of the call, the natural flow of the conversation... you just don't get that on the computer.

You've probably also heard about the research that says that people with more friends live longer -- they don't even have to be close friends -- just people that you know and talk to on a regular basis. The more of these contacts a person has, the happier and healthier they are.

What does this have to do with being green?
What's more green than being a friend? I've noticed that my friends and I exude a gentle green peer pressure. No one is really preachy, but we do talk about the issues, and certain green actions are becoming the norm among our group.

I've also noticed that my desire to help the environment and my community has made me reach out in ways I might not otherwise -- I e-mailed the PTA President, I offered to let a neighbor use my recycling bin, I contacted the campus Environmental Group. I was pretty much a slug last semester, but it feels good to reach out.