MindSpinner

I discovered today that my sun oven will heat pre-baked rolls for dinner even when its 5:30 p.m. and partly cloudy out. On sunny or partly sunny weekends, I can slow-cook a meal or bake brownies, muffins, or cookies - these things I have done. This weekend I will try baking my little loaf of bread out on the deck. If the bread is good, I will be pleased and relieved.

When the kitchen oven burns out less than a week after the clothes dryer does, it seems best to consider the situation an invitation to experiment and adventure. Perhaps I am ultimately to pursue Thoreau’s quest to live simply, and my appliances are giving me a nudge. It has to be said, however, that the simple life, however romanticized, is not actually simple.