Fried Eggs and Bird Poop: Let’s Have Some Fun!
“It’s hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk”- Most of us have heard that phrase at some point in our lives. BUT, how many of you have actually tried to fry an egg on the sidewalk? I have!!
It was almost twenty five years ago. The summer heat was intense. My friend and I were sitting in my cool, air conditioned living room chatting about the heat and the well known phrase about frying an egg on the sidewalk. Being the brilliant twenty-something year old “adults” that we were, we decided to give it a try.
EGGS DO NOT FRY WELL ON SIDEWALKS. We even attempted it with a second egg, using a cast iron skillet placed on the hot sidewalk. The eggs just sat there and did nothing. The sun did seem to be cooking US, though, and we took our hot selves back into the cool house while we waited for the eggs and sun to work their magic together. An hour later, the eggs were hard and nasty looking, but they sure did not look edible! There was a married couple roofing the house next door. They watched our entire egg escapade and thought something was wrong with us (and I know this because I became friends with the wife and she told me)!!
It was weird, but it was fun. Weird, but fun. I think that is a good way to describe me and my life. In my twenties, fun was a priority. I had responsibilities, but there was always time for fun. Weird, fun times…like this one…
This same friend, David, was a sun worshipper. He could lay out in the sun for hours, and I can’t recall him ever getting burned. Another hot summer day (could’ve even been the same year as the egg adventure), David was on a fold out chaise lawn chair in my driveway, asleep. As my then husband and I watched him out the window, we decided it would be hilarious if we could make him think a bird was pooping on him. My husband snuck out the back door and picked a handful of mulberries from our tree in the backyard.
I scanned the fridge and found the mayonnaise, mashed the mulberries up in it, and VOILA!! WE MADE “BIRD POOP”!! 🙂
Again, my husband snuck out the back door. He placed a ladder against the house and climbed to the roof with our man-made bird poop and a tablespoon. He then found the perfect angle looking down on our sun-kissed friend, quickly flicked several spoonfuls of our concoction on him, and hid. BAM!! Right on target!
I pretended to be busy cooking as the kitchen door opened. In walked David, grabbing paper towels and muttering “Damn bird sh#t all over me”!! It was the funniest thing ever!
There are many more stories similar to these, but this blog post would never end if I continue with those tales. The reason that I decided to write about this today is because as I’ve grown older, life has settled down. Sometimes as a 51 year old I get so wrapped up in responsibilities and serious matters, I forget to have fun. I forget to let myself be weird. I worry about doing or saying the right thing. My children don’t really know or remember the person that I used to be, and sometimes I have to remind myself that the twenty five year old is still here, buried under the surface.
My goal for myself (and the rest of you) is to dig that person out more often, let go, don’t worry for a bit, and let your “weird” shine through!
