Item: 1 package of Trader Joe's chocolate chips

I had forgotten, it seems, about the constant availability of candy and treats this time of year, the opportunities to eat chocolate morning, noon, and night.  But it's all coming back to me now.  Incredibly, I'm not sure I've had any chocolate for quite awhile.  I almost forgot that there was such a thing, or how good it is.  How did that happen?

People do forget things.  Like I had kind of forgotten there was such a thing as country music, since KZLA went off the air earlier this year and left LA without a country station.  But then this weekend I was driving where I could pick up the station from Cal State Northridge, which had on this excellent program called "Twang," and I was suddenly aware of something that had been missing.  I seem to want country music to be available on the dial, even if I'm not choosing to listen to it at any particular moment.

There are some things you feel the lack of constantly, then there are other things that you aren't even aware you are missing until they show up and answer some vacancy in you.  How does this work?  Some of these rise to the level of needs, even, as when you conclude something (a drink, a break, a slap in the face) by saying "that was just what I needed," but you hadn't known it was what you needed until you got a taste of it.  The idea that we can go along blinded to some of our needs is a little scary, but I guess it's the same as any empty space - over time it becomes just part of the landscape.