I was watching the Three Stooges a few days ago. (With the kids . . . it’s not exactly my show of choice for “me” time.)

This episode began with them living in a shack. In the shack, Curly was making some soup, I believe it was tire soup or something equally Stoogish. He was cooking it over a fire in a pot that was under an iron bed frame. You know the kind from before box springs, where there is just this sheet of springs that the mattress sits on.

Picture it. The fire underneath the bed frame . . . and the soup pot on top of the springs. Very sturdy. Very logical. Really, it was genius.

See, I’m impressed by creative problem solving. I’m constantly saying to my kids, “There’s ALWAYS a solution.”

And now for what seems like a tangent but will hopefully be pulled together and make sense in the end.

I’m not generally a dooms-dayer. I try not to live in a worst-case-scenario frame of mind. But I do like to look in my pantry and see a good stockpile. I often think about whether or not we would have enough to last a week or so if “something” were to happen. We wouldn’t eat incredibly balanced meals, but we wouldn’t starve. Basically I try to achieve a balance that’s closer to the smart-and-prepared side than the crazy-and-paranoid side.

BUT, as a lover-of-great-ideas/collector-of-junk/slob, I’ll share the thought that went through my head while watching The Three Stooges.

Here goes.

“What a great idea! Oh, I have an antique bed frame just like that that’s shoved in a corner of the garage. But I’ve been planning to put it in the garage sale, should I not . . . you know . . . just in case?”

I mean, boy wouldn’t I regret it if the entire U.S.A. lost access to electricity and I couldn’t save the neighborhood by cooking up a smorgasbord on my antique bed frame?!?!?!

Really?

Yes, I know I’m crazy.

Thankfully, I recognize crazy, and I’m trying to do something about it.