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We no sooner have supper in our bellies and dinner dishes done than we're already wondering what other food we can feed our faces.
Evening eating lies ahead, an important time of the day in the Kiaski household.
And it prompts that post 7 p.m. question that's understood yet a vocalized reflexive inquiry just the same, just because.
What are we gonna' snack on?
It comes as we're in settle-down mode, parked on the couch or in the recliners, mastering the art of watching television with our eyes closed at times or engrossed in the newspaper's crossword puzzle or, for me, reading a good book (right now, I'm currently wrapped up in A.J. Finn's "The Woman in the Window" who could well be contemplating evening snacks herself), but we awaken long enough or set aside our puzzle-and-book interests to talk serious stuff, to engage in matters of "weighty" importance.
We look at each other with great expectation, interest in life renewed, suddenly hungry for a taste of something or other. Hmmm.
What will be snacked on is a food-related question I can stomach. It's not like being asked what's for dinner. That's a stressful question there, one demanding planning, preparation, performance, consumption, disappointment, cleanup. Ugh. Note to self: Stop on the way home from work tomorrow and stop at a drive-thru window somewhere or hire a cook or something.
The dinner question is kind of like being on the verge of having a really serious Charley horse in your calf or big toe. It can't be stopped, and it's painful.
Snacking, though, now that's fun. Good food fast.
It reminds me of that Ollie's slogan -- "good stuff cheap." Right to the point.
Deciding what to snack on, though, can initially create a hot-and-cold pursuit, a hide-and-go-seek search in the kitchen.
You open the refrigerator and scan the shelves and bins and door. Open cupboards and do likewise.
But ultimately there's always something with grab-and-go appeal.
Like a can of Pringles or a bag of potato chips. Salty and crunchy.
Pistachios.
Biscotti and coffee.
A big bowl of microwave popcorn. The Pop Secret homestyle kind is just right, Goldilocks.
A heaping bowl of cereal.
For Better Half, it's often a snack of substance, followed up with something cold and sweet.
Maybe first off it's a soft-boiled egg or a hard-boiled one, depending on whether or not we've forgotten about the pan on the stove.
Then comes the ice cream cone. Chocolate peanut butter ice cream or, as a man of resourcefulness if we're out of that, chocolate ice cream with a spoonful or two of peanut butter mashed into it.
One thing I've discovered or been reminded of is that you don't really have to be hungry to snack. Or have a pandemic to blame for extra pounds.
The munchie urge accelerates when fall snatches away summer, when the days grow shorter, when the weather shifts from sort of nice to sort of stinky.
A gal's got to pad herself to get through those cold days to come.
And that's food for thought, before or after 7 p.m.