Want V. Need

Let's get something straight here. I don't need anything.

I have a house, a car, a family, and seriously in the event of disaster enough food to get us all by. Sure we might be eating box mashed potatoes and canned spinach for a while, but we'd still be eating.

However, there are a number of things that I really, really, REALLY want.

For instance, I'd like to be able to just up and buy my friends and family stuff they want but can't really justify spending money on. Like a birdseed pail, or a $500 sword, or a Mustang Shelby.

And then there are the things I'd like for myself. Right now the list is pretty long. And it wasn't too bad, but then J got this catalog in today and I suddenly realized that I really would like an ankle length hostess skirt and sash in Leatherneck or Cornish National tartan. And a brown bustle skirt to match my black one. And a cloche baker, and if I could find one, an oblong cloche baker...a potato ricer, an immersion blender, a copy of "Large Family Logistics," a nice pair of cufflinks, a pile of fabric, a new Rosary, everything Storey Publishing's ever put out, heirloom seeds, soil conditioners, two beehives, a beekeeping outfit that doesn't make me look like a man or a SciFi villain...and as long as we're on a tangent how about a couple dozen acres of well-drained land, zoned agricultural, with a natural spring?

To be fair, I have a ridiculous amount of personal spending money. But with it comes responsibilities. For instance, usually if I want to cook something out of the ordinary I've got to pay for the ingredients myself. And I do buy my own gas. Other than that, occasional eating out, but that's it. However, in November and December I find myself needing to buy presents for people, and the number of people I have to buy for can sometimes be overwhelming. And then you have instances where you meet someone and you think "Oh, wow, I have the best Christmas gift idea for them," but it really would've been a lot easier if you had met them in, say, March and not August so that you could've had more time...Whoops, rambling again.

Anyway, the point is...we get really wrapped up in things we think we need. It's easy for me to think "I need more modest clothes." But do I really? Maybe I could do laundry more often, or get a few camisoles to wear under some things?

And I may think to myself that I need a cloche baker. But truly, out of all the things my oven tends to mess up, it does bread really, really well. Just a few weeks ago I tried out a brand new recipe for a part flour part cornmeal loaf that came out remarkable, crisp on the outside, delicate and moist in the inside, with no addition of steam on my part.

Food. Shelter. And someone to lean on, even if all we have to lean on is God. Our basic needs are so much less complicated then we're often led to believe.