I figure you can tell a lot about people by checking out their fridge. Not what’s in it but what’s stuck all over the outside. The outside of the fridge is an unintentional but nevertheless accurate reflection of the life of a home and the people that live there.
I suppose that there are a few people who are so organized that they don’t use their fridge to display snippets of their lives (“My Calendar sends me a text message reminder when it’s time for me to do something.”) but I can’t imagine functioning if I didn’t have access to the information stuck all over our fridge.
There is little vacant real estate left on it. You’ll find the front and sides covered with notes, reminders, phone lists, appointments, original art, clipped coupons, photos, cartoons and jokes. Each bit of paper tells a story about the people who live here and how they interact. Even the fridge magnets speak volumes. We have magnetic ads for places we shop at, business cards for people we know and people we’d just as soon forget, driving placards, even original creations of magnet art that bring back memories of Sunday school craft classes from long ago. No, this is no mere collection of random reminders. It is a glimpse into the lives, the hopes, the aspirations, and secret desires of the people who took the time to add their little bit to the collection.
What do you see front and center? More importantly, what is buried or tucked away behind something else?
Way back on the side of our fridge, hidden away and mostly forgotten, is a 
creased yellowed magazine clipping no more than an inch or two square. It’s a coupon of sorts, good for a free margarita. Or at least it was when I clipped it. Among the tiny drawings of a pair sunglasses, some palm trees, and a drink with a little umbrella in it, there is some text that reads, “La Penita Trailer Park – Full facility trailer park on Hwy 200, 40 miles north of Puerto Vallarta, ON THE BEACH… Come in, look around, and have a free margarita!“.
Boy, I could sure use that margarita right now. Especially if I was sipping it in the shade, up on a hill overlooking a sunny beach on the west coast of Mexico, not too far from a small village where I could find the things I needed from time to time. I’m sure I wouldn’t need too many things. It sounds like the kind of place where I could stay awhile. Maybe throw away the calendar.
That clipping has been on the side of our fridge for years. I don’t know if it’s still good for the margarita, but I’m sure the offer would be honored anyway. Even if I forget to bring the coupon along. That’s because time just doesn’t move all that fast in La Peñita de Jaltemba and offering the drink would display typical hospitality for people who would call a place like that home. It’s not really about a free drink, anyway.
Remind Me Again Where I Was Going.... 
This is our year 🙂