121. OLIVE OIL

Making veggies or meat a well-moistened treat

* I actually don't use olive oil that much. But maybe I should. When my housemate Dan sautees the peppers and onions for our Sunday scrambled eggs in olive oil before he adds the eggs, the taste is definitely better.
* What is it about olives that leads them to produce oil? In contrast, you never hear about "tomato oil" or "broccoli oil" or "strawberry oil."
* Posting this simple miracle makes me think about going to a fancy Italian restaurant, where they serve that fancy bread that you can dip into that fancy oil.
* Thanks to Claire for suggesting the idea for this simple miracle.

120. LARGE PARKING SPACES

Less of a squeeze puts drivers at ease

* Around Washington DC, it is very important to be able to parallel park. On a trip downtown, the only spaces that are available might be parallel. So you'd better be able to make the right manuevers under pressure!
* Even in front of my own house in suburban Maryland, sometimes I have to narrowly parallel park, if others have parked too close together.
* With pull-straight-in spaces, it is also nice to have a lot of room. At work, I especially appreciate parking spaces that don't require carefully opening my car door to avoid hitting an adjacent car.

119. BLANKETS

A body heat conserving feat

* In the summer, a single flannel sheet may be sufficient as bed covers for me. But in the winter, the heavy blanket sewn for me by my old neighbor, Mrs. Bertram, is absolutely essential.
* In July 2008, I made a pilgrimage to Australia to join a half-million other young adults for World Youth Day. In July, it is winter in Australia. Nevertheless, our group was housed initially in a large unheated pavilion. Boy, was it cold! How thankful we were to the local Australians who donated blankets for pilgrims. I think that I used four or five at a time.
* I'm especially thinking of the men and women who live on the streets. In the winter, I hope that they have many blankets too.

118. BOWLS

Allowing mixing without constricting

* Almost every morning at work, I eat a bowl of cereal mixed with yogurt. But this morning I forgot to bring a bowl. Instead, I had to eat my cereal and yogurt inside of a plastic cup, which made it difficult to mix the yogurt at the bottom with the cereal in the rest of it.
* Is a bowl more like a cup or a plate? Ordinarily, I eat ice cream in a bowl. I might also eat ice cream on a plate. Ordinarily, I eat soup in a bowl. I would never eat soup on a plate.
* This weekend, two football teams will mix it up in the Super Bowl. Go Steelers!