Counting the days

For as long as I can remember, I've displayed a Chick-fil-A Cowz wall calendar in my kitchen.

I wrote about it here.

My kids know that at Christmas, someone goes to CFA and gets Mom her new calendar.

I hang it from a strong magnetic hook on the front of my refrigerator. I refer to it often because appointments and birthdays and whatnot are all noted in the squares.

But this year, Chick-fil-A announced that they've produced their last cowz calendar. I was suspicious when the theme for 2018 was Steers of Yesteryear, a recycling of popular bovine month-markers gone by.

But now it's official. No more calendar, but the card you got with it which entitled you to a free menu item each month (I always gave the card to TG) will be continued in the form of a mundane rewards program.

Hearing the news, I considered my quandary: What am I going to use for a fridge calendar in 2019?

It couldn't be just anything; it needs to be right. No Thomas Kinkade, painter of light, for me. No offense.

The Cowz were ideal. Don't ask me why; I don't rightly know. I love hamburgers. The fact that the Eat Mor Chikin calendar was amusing and clever was a large part of the appeal.

So I embarked on a mission to the Amazon, to find a calendar to ceremoniously suspend on the refrigerator door in the first minutes of January 1, 2019 (I never turn the page to reveal a new month until it actually is that month. I may flip the page later in the first day of the month, but never early.)

The only non-negotiable was that it had to involve animals.

And I found it in the form of I Am Goat: Wisdom From Nature's Philosophers.

I couldn't believe my luck; I was barely getting warmed up when voilà! There it was. It's as if the philosophical goats were patiently waiting for me to click and purchase their calendar.

From Bovine to Bovidae, no muss, no fuss.

Goats have such gravitas. They fit my critter criteria to perfection. And the calendar is black and white, which suits the decor of my kitchen as well as being my personal preference.

The philosophical nuggets round out the clever and witty category quite nicely.

We have our winner. Unique and special; cerebral and functional. Goat genius.

I'll remove the plastic wrapping on New Year's Eve, retire the last cow calendar shortly after the ball drops and we've sung Auld Lang Syne, and proudly place my goats on the hook.

Meanwhile the kids, not having to worry about who's going to stop by Chick-fil-A and pick up Mom's calendar each year (it was usually Erica), may have to substitute buying me raven stationery like Raven Lunatic, my shopping list pad (also a gift from Erica, who bought it at Mast General Store).

I need more ravens in my life. This long rectangular pad of raven paper has been used constantly since I got it. I'm down to my last three pages. The magnetized back is long gone; the paper sits on my kitchen desk.

You may remember that my Cadillac CTS is nicknamed The Raven after its paint color: GM's Black Raven.

My vanity license plate (NVRMORE) reflects my lifelong love of poetry while paying homage to Edgar Allan Poe, and especially to his masterpiece The Raven.

I have a t-shirt with that whole poem on the front. True story.

TG reports that a few weeks ago, a driver behind him at a traffic light was visibly enthused about my license plate, having put the whole thing together (raven black car, Poe-inspired tag, fake raven peering out from the back window).

He could tell she'd caught on because she was pointing at the plate and the bird and animatedly talking to her passenger, who appeared significantly underwhelmed.

Not a Poe fan. More's the pity.

Even more recently, another driver engaged TG in a thumbs-up and a wave over the whole raven thing. 

It couldn't have been anything else; my car features no decals or stickers of any kind. You have to use analytical reasoning if you want to know what the whole thing adds up to.

Folks have approached me in parking lots, telling me that they "get it." It seems to make them happy. We always laugh and part as friends.

Counting the days occasionally and making the days count always. That's the secret.

And that is all for now.

=0=0=0=

Happy Wednesday

Comments

[Mari]

I wonder why Chik-Fil-A quit making the calendars. A cow calendar Is perfect!
I like your goat calendar though! And if I saw your car I would get it. :) I'm a Poe fan too.

[Jennifer]

@Mari ... you're a Poe fan? I didn't know! How awesome! I think CFA is dumb to stop making the cow calendars because they were so great. But we can now branch out. It's all good. xoxo

[irene]

Happy you found something worth hanging on the fridge. And love your license plate too.

[Judy]

The first time you posted about your car and the license plate, I caught on and I'm not even a Poe fan. I have a collection of cows, plastic, porcelain, wooden--but they HAVE to be black and white, Holstein cows--none of those wimpy Brown Jersey cows. I would have loved the calendar, but I don't think we have a Chick-Fil-A within 50 miles of here. More's the pity.

[Jennifer]

@Irene ... yes it was a vast relief to find I Am Goat. xoxo

@Judy ... good job. I wish I'd seen your cow collection when I visited you last year. I'm with you on the black-and-white theme. xoxo