“Use what you have,” my mother tells me. It’s November, a day or two after Thanksgiving, and she’s recounting advice given to her by a friend. The woman, an elderly widow who teaches painting to a group of neighborhood women, had been talking about a set of crystal champagne goblets that sit in a box in my china cabinet.
It could have easily been said about so many things though.
I save the serving pieces for special occasions that don’t seem to come often enough. The Christmas-themed mugs and dessert plates I keep carefully boxed for those weeks between Thanksgiving and New Years. The special goblets I reserve for mousse, on those rare occasions I make it.
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Why don’t we use these things?
The practice of saving some items “for best” is, in fact, a horribly wasteful one. It means I have whole shelves of items I do little more than look at. There seems much wisdom in the advice my mother relayed to me. So I am counting this among my resolutions for this year: I will, indeed, use what I have.
Maybe I will even sip orange juice from those champagne goblets, since I won’t be upping my champagne intake.
Welcome to 2019. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be sharing stories in our new space for Bangor Metro on the Bangor Daily News’ site. The January/February issue of Bangor Metro includes great writing like Emily Morrison’s examination of the history of resolutions — and why they don’t work (and see why the one I shared might just work). That will appear here on Jan. 3.
You’ll also be able to read our delightful cover story on winter weddings by the equally delightful Abigail Curtis on Jan. 28 as well as features on the winter sports of skijoring on Jan. 9 and mushing on Jan. 11, both by veteran musher Julia Bayly. Aislinn Sarnacki shares cross country ski trails for every skill level on Jan. 7. And so much more!
I do hope you adore Bangor Metro. Have a wonderful day!