Cup of Joe - October
By Joe McKenzie | October 4, 2026
Sign Here
As I signed my name to another long form, at the Irish Road Bowling event, without reading it or consulting an attorney, I was reminded of the over-used phrase that: I didn’t sign up for this. But, I did. Donuts and beer!
Then, three days later, I saw a sweet, quiet 4-month-old child and wondered what he thought he had signed up for in the years ahead. He seemed game for anything, as long as it involved food, hugs and family. What did we think we signed up for? We can go through years unsure of the meaning of the small print that seems to commit some of us to help care for this world and the people in it. And, if we don’t sign up?
12th Man
Or person. Or the power of the 12th woman. Can you ever feel that you and a team of dedicated and passionate people are the added and necessary teammates to motivate a win for a cause that is much larger than you?
Like the infamous 12th man — everyone in the stadium — at Texas A&M, or at Arrowhead? You may stand ready to fight, play, win, whatever it takes. Stand up! Scream loud! Or cheer as your team, country or cause goes for victory. Make a difference. Being a part of something, that may or may not have a T-shirt, color or mascot, is healthy.
Popcorn
My granddaughter Alice loves popcorn. Like many of us, she can pop it into her mouth without taking her eyes off whatever screen she is watching. Like most of us, she does not consider the math involved.
Like snowflakes, the shape of each popped kernel is unique. So, add up all the popcorn you have popped or eaten, multiply it by all of the Orville Redenbacher or Boy Scout popcorn fans in the world, and imagine that incredible number of slightly different pieces. Sounds impossible. Put them under a popcorn microscope, you’ll find some near-twins. That will be fun, but it just won’t taste as good after that and you’ll miss a nuance in a game between Bluey and Bingo. Life is too short for that. Just eat it!
Diacetyl
Have you added diacetyl to your diet yet? Yes, no, not on purpose, not intentionally or mindfully, but maybe. Say, what? Salina students ate applesauce for lunch at Oakdale Elementary School this month. The special flavor was Birthday Cake! A fourth grader could scarf down a lot of apples with the aid of a few well-processed chemicals.
It’s lunch, of course, not an advanced science project. The diacetyl brings a creamy, fatty frosting taste to the applesauce. This is the fruit of a nutritious student lunch. I would eat it. It mimics basic white cake with vanilla frosting. Wash that down with cold milk and I would be ready for a fourth-grade afternoon. Diacetyl was created by food scientists. I wonder where they went to school.
Finding It
There was a painting at The Salina Art Center titled Can You Find it in Your Heart? I like titles. This one is open and suggestive. When linked with the painting’s image of a lone grocery cart in the parking lot cart stall at night, it becomes an interesting moral question.
For us? Does it involve food? Poverty? Loneliness? It is an empty cart. Surely, the wheels squiggle. Should we take our night carts inside the store? Grow a garden and be less of a consumer? Maybe, it’s enough to just start searching for our heart to see what we find of value in there. No coupons.
