Half-way through the summer
he ran out of steam to make
any more soup, but the temp-
erature plunged and the leaves

started to turn and well…this
morning he took out of the
refrigerator the big pot with
the remains of the homemade

chili, the plate with the remains
of the baked squash with pork
sausage from last evening’s
dinner; scraped the squash into

the large pot added one chopped
link of summer sausage and pro-
ceeded to clean out the vegetable
crisper of squash, green onions,

Romain lettuce, a sweet potato,
red beets, and several Brussel
Sprouts, saving all that he could.
He’d add some carrots and celery

later. Next came tomatoes, chopped
garlic, a super chili, sans seeds
hotter than a Habanero, filtered
lard, olive oil. He poured in the

chicken stock, dropped in two beef
bouillon cubes, Italian seasoning,
sea salt, pepper, added some grated
Parmesan cheese and stirred. The

heat on the stove went from four,
to three to two to simmer to low.
Before even dipping the ladle for
a taste test, he felt contentment

wash over him and that really was
his purpose for making the first
pot of Stone Soup of the fall. Oh,
his wife, who did sample the soup,

told him it simply was delicious
— especially the broth, which made
the whole morning’s effort worth-
while. Contentment, appreciation.

What a combination! Now for a nap,
and then a jog followed by a tête-
à-tête with John le Carré and finally
a bowl of Stone Soup du Jour.