The Midlife

Happy Sunday to All! Two things are on my mind today. Both are connected in their ability to help one survive: back-to-school supplies and the fascinating tools contestants use on The History Channel’s show Alone. I’ll explain.

Today, I went to two retailers to find a few missing school supplies for my lady’s first grade adventures. Mind you, my husband kindly scavenged one store yesterday and came up short. It was like Survivor. These school officials are not playing around when they say they want her to have three folders with fasteners (no plastic!) in the colors red, blue, and yellow. Despite my spouse returning with folders in pink, gray, and a Space Jam-themed plastic folder, we are still together. But I wasn’t going to have my daughter branded School Supply Renegade on my watch. No, sir.

We found ourselves in Walmart, red and green folder in tow (no blue), and as I slunk to the self-check-out kiosk slightly defeated, my mood instantly changed when I spied a pause-for-applause Trapper Freaking Keeper. I squealed with nostalgic glee. Trapper Keeper, y’all. Nothing sparked the endless back-to-school rush of excitement as hearing the glorious Velcro (scratchy scratch) closure. Bliss is how I describe it. I restrained myself from spending the $10 on something just for the heck of it for MYSELF. But it was not easy, friends. And although it was not exactly like the original (It didn’t have the writing pad inside.), it was incredibly close. Ahh!

I remember my mom taking us to the Ben Franklin general store where were picked up our annual school supply haul. I loved the pristine look of fresh notebooks, the synthetic smell of some folders, and the gloriously colorful look of bright markers in their plastic shell packaging. ‘Til this day, I can easily be swayed to buy colorful pens and markers, just in case.

Moving on to Alone. Do you watch this? My sister and her husband raved about the show to me and my husband, and it’s becoming our current show to watch. Much like Survivor, contestants are placed in remote locations in the wild with a few basic supplies and their own wherewithal and tasked to rough it alone. The last person “standing” is awarded $500,000. I find this concept truly fascinating; I’m impressed with how these relentless and tenacious men and women forage for food, build shelters by digging in the dirt and Jenga wood planks into livable huts. It really puts living simply into clear perspective. I’m fairly confident I would be eaten by a bear on day three, but we all have our strengths and weaknesses. And there is no way I will eat crickets or the other plump insects some of the contestants call nothing to write home about. Regardless, I recommend you give it a watch.

I would love to know what you are currently bingeing or simply enjoying. Leave a comment below or email me at themidlife2021@gmail.com.