Are these walnut chocolate chip cookies my reward or my punishment?
They might be a reward for washing the kitchen floor and starting a load of laundry. Or they might be a punishment for not accomplishing more today. Perhaps one cookie would have been a reward, but the eight that I’ve consumed amount to punishment. But why?
This is my response to this week’s Sunday Scribbling theme of "Punishment and Reward."
It’s the boiling season.
No, I don’t mean it’s hot out. Nor do I mean it’s time to boil maple syrup, as PTCakes does. Instead, it’s time to start boiling water to break the ice atop our two bird baths and ground-level water pans. I must do it so our squirrels and birds can drink.
In Massachusetts, we had a very warm fall and early winter this year, so it’s only recently that the water containers have frozen overnight and remained solid during the day.
Shortly after I woke up this morning, I peered out my bedroom window. There I saw a squirrel poking vainly at the top of a frozen water pan. That was enough motivation to propel me downstairs to boil a kettle. Once the water shrieked, I took the kettle outside and dripped a bit of water on each container, freeing up the liquid trapped by ice.
My reward? A congregation of squirrels and sparrows gathered at separate watering holes.