We know the adage: Necessity is the mother of invention. Perhaps, I’m the most uncreative person around because the tools, appliances, and equipment I have each serve a certain purpose. I could no more think of turning my washing machine into a blender or converting my circular saw into a meat slicer. My brain is reserved for writing novels that combine reality with fiction to spin stories and jokes.

Last weekend the extended Mexican family I’ve known for twenty years dropped in for a pool party at my casa. Multitudes of children from 6 months to eighteen years floated around my pool with their parents and numerous inflatable rafts, tubes, and balls.. Pizza boxes, soda cans, and ice cream sticks were everywhere. And of course, there were cervezas, not in flip-top cans, but in glass bottles.

I sat down at the patio table across from the patriarch, Lorenzo. Lorenzo had been my landscaper, contractor, electrician, and my friend for over ten years. I was sipping a Miller Lite, and he got up to retrieve a Modelo from the cooler. I couldn’t believe what happened next!

Holding the beer bottle in one hand, Lorenzo picked up an errant hammer I’d neglected to stash before the party. Using the claw of the hammer, he popped off the bottle cap. I was in awe. “Lorenzo, how did you do that? I’ve never seen anyone do that! I have a kitchen drawer full of bottle openers and could have given you one.”

“Hey, Sue, you know us Mexicans, we make do with what’s available.”

Hmm. I must ponder that.