OK, this wasn't last night's moon. We were too busy eating chili to mess with the camera!
Last night I went to bed before 10 p.m. (as usual) and lay there tossing and turning for what seemed to be hours.
At midnight Barry sauntered in from the garage and poked his head into the bedroom.
“How are you doing?” he asked.
I bounded from the bed.
“Let’s have a bowl of chili!”
He stared at me in amazement.
“Chili?”
“Yes, let’s have a bowl of chili on the deck!”
“Chili?” he repeated, “on the deck? What’s gotten into you?”
(He may have said, “Are you nuts?” but, if so, I refuse to remember that part.)
We had eaten a late lunch/early supper at 3 p.m. yesterday up in Houghton. We hadn’t eaten a bite since then–and I was suddenly ravenous.
Even though you’re not supposed to eat in the middle of the night. Food doesn’t digest well on a sleeping stomach, you know.
“Let’s have a chili party!” I repeated, bounding into the kitchen.
I found a can of black bean vegetarian chili in the cupboard and opened it. Poured it into a pan. Turned on the gas stove. Click, click, click went the pilot light. The fire ignited. The chili warmed. The Saltine Crackers were discovered. The chili was ladled into bowls.
We opened the deck door and ventured out in the balmy eve. An almost-full moon winked at us through the trees. We spooned our chili on crackers and munched away.
I thoroughly recommend midnight parties when you can’t sleep.
We felt young, invigorated, wild & crazy, energized.
All because we did something out of the ordinary. Something unqiue. Something fun.
What was the last unexpected thing you did to make magic in your life?
(P.S. As soon as I can get organized–tomorrow or Sunday–if the photos turned out–I am going to introduce you to a blog reader and her family we met in person this week. That was magic, too!)
Lake Superior Spirit 
Love it! You inspire me.
Kathy – I don’t know when my last unexpected magic happened. However, i DO know that now I’m craving chili!
This sounds like such fun Kathy! Much like the midnight supper I had with Rick in Missouri when I was there…we also ate out on the deck under a full moon….then a bit later we went for a swim in his huge pool! Then next morning when the sun was just peeking over the horizon, Rick woke me and said let’s greet the day outside…so we took our coffee and watched the sunrise together 🙂 It was so romantic and so wonderful! ♥
woo hoo night dancing!
Hee-hee, I’m with my cohort Susan D. in now craving chili! Ahhh, love your magic night on the deck, eating chili under an almost-full moon. I can imagine the extra sparkles in yours and Barry’s eyes flashing diamonds of delight into the night. But, I wax silly. There is an element of silliness in unexpected magic, right? I love doing stuff at night, and befriended life-long bouts of insomnia long ago when I found out how much fun night activity can be. Walks, watering the garden (when I had one), going down by the water, etc. Last unexpected magic, however, was a spontaneous demonstration of trust from my grandson, when he decided he could rest on my supportive arms in the lake and practice learning to swim (instead of fighting the water, neck and head extended like a fine cobra). Bliss. Made me wonder if that’s a little bit of what God feels when we let go and completely trust…
He pssssttt…….you two……mooncrazed chililovelydovies…….you’re my kind of folks ….Yep ! 😉
Please tell me the weather is going to hold so we may enjoy similar celebrations next week … it sounds so wonderful
I think crazy, unplanned, out of the ordinary things are definitely missing from my life. Probably because they are much more fun if you have a partner in crime to do them with…. and I am on my own these days. But, I will keep your inspirational improvisation in mind.
Loved this story of your adventure on a chili evening! Cool moon picture, too!
I’m with the others…definitely craving chili (and a PB&J) right now! We just had a magical moment about an hour ago. Took a quick swim out to a wreck on the bay (that’s the east arm of the Grand Traverse Bay) and we should’ve just stayed in because the waves were crashing over our heads. We had a great time though! Many more midnight chilis to you! PS – did you see any meteors?
Sounds great! I’m afraid of eating at that time of night for fear of heartburn! Fullest full moon is tomorrow night – maybe you should eat something else tomorrow night. 😉
Oh nice, Kathy! yeah, we friends often do such stuff when late night we suddenly decide to eat something and drink tea, sit outside all giggling. Its fun I know, but chillies?? I’m afraid! 😉
Can’t sleep and find yourself hungry? make chili for a Midnight Feast, perfect solution! (sounds perfectly reasonable to me, Himself prefers to go to bed early and rise even before the Lark’s alarm clock has gone off) His midnight party opportunities are few, but some other sort of seripenditous adventure could surely be arranged.Brilliant idea!
You are soo funny, Kathy! Love the idea of a midnight snack party on the porch! Though I’ll give the chilis a miss, myself – it’d be asking for heartburn. Fabulous idea for a summery moonlit night though!
I love eating…and sitting on the deck….and sitting on the deck in the middle of the night…and full moons….so your homegrown adventure sounds marvelous! The closest crazy thing I’ve done is sleep under the stars with the dog. Which was fun too. Sometimes I think I am too old for fun off the cuff spontaneous adventure… Then I remember I’m only 26. Right.
Couldn’t think of a better way to enjoy a “midnight snack” 🙂
What a delicious adventure. And it was probably the best tasting bowl of chili you’ve ever had!
I love this Kathy! It seems so important to always be open to the unexpected and the magic…….
Hmmm….thinking about your question. A completely spur-of-the-moment drive out to the coast where we ended up walking in the dunes, admiring the elephant seals and brown pelicans and watching the most startlingly beautiful sunset. We ended up staying overnight, watching the moon and early evening stars before the fog began to move in. There was no way we “should” have been doing this, so much else to think about, but it was wonderful. Not really wild and crazy but it was magic 🙂
How fun! It’s been a while since we’ve had a midnight supper party here at Breezy Acres, but we did go in search of gnomes on Thursday… 😀
After chili, I’d be up to watch the sun rise, too! I try to do something unexpected every day. By now, my husband knows to expect the unexpected.
Last unexpected thing? Took off to Mackinac Island with my favorite 12 year old! Love being impulsive.
My goodness, a lot of you liked the idea of this midnight party! I wonder why we all don’t do things like this more regularly and with delightful spontaneity? We did not see any meteors, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t zinging around up above. We were simply too caught up in the chili excitement. As for the heartburn some of you mentioned~~yes, that’s why it was an ADVENTURE! Heartburn could have struck us at any moment and at least one of us went back to bed well-armed with a Tums. Loved hearing your own unexpected adventures. Now we’re all inspired, yes? An adventure before bed is required! smile…
Beautiful moon shot! I, too, have a little file of moon shots on my computer and my favorites are those shot through the branches. Bravo for going out on the deck for your chili party under the moonbeam.
Thank you! (I woke up last night and couldn’t sleep, too, but when Barry raised his eyes I said, “NO CHILI PARTY!!” and went downstairs to the basement.)
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