Make Do

One of the things I appreciate about the television series "Survivor" is that a few--a paltry few--of the contestants figure out how to make do with the limited resources available to them. A coconut hull makes a decent soup bowl. A palm leaf can serve as a funnel for rain water. It is possible to start a fire with dryer lint. (If only one of the contestants had thought to tuck dryer lint into their backpack before heading to Borneo!)

My husband and I have built a life together using the "make do" philosophy. The guy even invented his own hot tub out of a horse trough and copper wire wrapped around the wood burner. It wasn't pretty. Wasn't effective. And he had to make his own bubbles, if you know what I mean.

We've used wood from an old barn to build a new family room addition. Recycled windows for a screen house by the pond. Built my writing desk from an old ladies' room door.

So it wasn't at all surprising that I had to pull out my "make do" skills a couple of weeks ago following my biopsy. (Flunked my mammogram. Flunked the followup ultrasound. Didn't realize that I was supposed to "take it easy" for 48 hours following the biopsy...which by the way turned out fine).

Three hours' worth of errands later, I knew I should have followed doctors' orders to ice the affected area twenty minutes on, twenty minutes off.

Halfway through my grocery shopping, I selected a lovely piece of fresh cod from the fish counter. The fishmonger asked how I wanted it wrapped--for the freezer or on ice for same-day use?

"On ice, yes, please." We will make do.

I drove the twenty minutes home with a nice piece of cod on ice under my armpit.

It worked remarkably well. My sweatshirt smelled a little like the Atlantic Ocean, but one can't be too picky when making do.

I need new carpeting for my office. I wonder where I can find a couple bushels of coconut hulls.