Ch-Ch-Changes

Counting pennies can be fun, if you have the right attitude. Today, I’d resolved to bring baby to the supermarket and, while there, cash in a couple of jars worth of change in the change machine (and feel briefly rich). A character in the family drama who should by rights remain nameless (OK, my wife) had suggested transporting the change in brown paper lunch bags, and I immediately said that it wouldn’t be a good idea. Well, with one thing and another, when it came time to leave the house and go to the supermarket, I decided my wife might have had a good idea after all and I poured about three pounds of coins into each of two lunch bags. I got baby into the truck, drove to the store, went to get a shopping cart, attached baby’s car seat to the cart, put the bags of change in the top part of the cart, and went about two feet away from the truck when I hit a small bump and both bags of change exploded. The coins didn’t quite cover the empty parking space beside the truck. I put baby and her car seat back in the truck, pushed the shopping cart to the mouth of the parking space as a deterrent to would-be parkers, and then gathered the thousands (!) of coins I’d scattered on the asphalt. The wind was whipping, it was cold, and small pebbles were coming up with the change in pretty good numbers. A moment I won’t soon forget.

In the end, I collected $25 from the change machine, cooked a red sauce with the first meatballs I’d ever made from scratch, and kept baby happy during another hard day of teething. Perhaps I’ll let myself sleep tonight.