And It's Not About the Yogurt

When I taught at BSU I judged some of the essay contests held annually by the English department. One year the winner was "The Secret of True Yogurt." It's an essay I have never forgotten.

Written by a young woman who grew up in East Berlin, it told of her mother's friend who lived on the other side of the wall in West Berlin, in free Germany. Somehow he was able to come over for visits, and when he came he would bring to them the things they could not get on their own side.

Often he brought yogurt.

They could sometimes get yogurt, she wrote, but it came in a plain off-white container, and it looked like everything else they saw in the stores--gray and lifeless.

The yogurt their friend brought came in beautiful colored plastic containers. The young girl loved the yogurt, but she loved the containers just as much, with their pictured fruit and colorful designs.

She would carry an empty container to school to show her friends, and all the children would gather around to see. They could not believe there existed such a beautiful thing. They would ask to hold the container or even just touch the lid, as if touching could bring the bright colors into their souls.

You can imagine how I felt, a reader who grew up in this country, one who throws away those colorful yogurt containers without a thought. Of course, it isn't only about the containers, and the young woman knew it. It's about many other things, like the difference between being free and not being free, like the blessing of plenty.

I thought of all this last night as I decided to keep Nancy's Honey Yogurt container--empty--with its yellow and purple and green on bright white plastic. Don't know why I'm keeping it. Maybe for this young woman.

Really Random

• Our moon today is a waxing gibbous moon. That means it is not yet full, but the illuminated part is greater than the dark part.

• My friend's husband has severe neuropathy in both feet. I asked if he has diabetes. No. The neuropathy was caused by chemotherapy (he had bladder cancer). I did not know chemotherapy did that. So I wonder about my husband and his complaints about his feet. He had lots of chemotherapy, of course. But he also had Type 2 diabetes.
  

• Today is 150 years since the South fired on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. And then came the Civil War.

• I like the new yogurt, new to this area. It's Greek, called Zoi.

• I have raked pine needles for two days straight. Had to quit today when my sneezing brought folks out of their houses. I simply could not stop sneezing. Still, the neighbor's pine trees keep dropping needles, and it looks like I have done nothing about them.

• I change the linens on my bed every ten or twelve days. What do you think of that?

• I wonder how long people will know who it is when someone says "Elvis." And that, my friends, is really random.
  

Love in the Time of Today

School was out. They walked across the street from Timberline High, the two of them.

While they walked they held hands.

While they walked holding hands, he talked on his cell phone to someone, not her; she one-thumbed a message to someone, not him.

It's love. You can tell.

It's Leather

So I have this burgundy (sort of) suede jacket. It somehow got a spot on the front of itself. I don't think I did it.

Anyway, I took the jacket to Comet Cleaners today. All I need is the spot removed. You know?

Yes, we do clean leather. It takes about 30 days, which means, I'm sure, that they're like the other cleaning establishment I visited. They send the leather to Washington state for cleaning.

Well, I thought, okay. I can live without it for that long. Then he said, "It will cost, oh, about . . ." and turned to the woman working there who was behind me, "what? about . . ." and nodded.

"It will cost about $39 or $40."

I picked up the jacket and said, "I didn't pay that much for it to begin with." Which is true. I may have said wow or something like it, as well. I pretty much thought wow. But honestly, I was smiling and the tone of my voice was not accusative or harsh. Truly. I was being pleasant.

He said, kind of huffy about it, truly he was huffy, "Well, that's what it costs."

I left, smiling, of course, being the nice person I am trying to be a lot.

So I'm about to go upstairs and see if I still have that little bottle of leather cleaner, which would be about 35 years old, and give it a try myself. If I can find it.

I could pay it, but I won't.

After all . . .

Axel

The picture on the right is Axel in his house. He's not quite 1. I think.

On the left he's in my house, and he's a year and a half. About.



I put him here now because Andrew has just come over to help
me put pictures in my blog using this new computer of mine that isn't very new any more but is still a bit of a puzzle to me.

Axel is a cute boy.

Well!

Here is a copy of a letter I sent. You can see to whom and when.

January 7, 2007

Ocean Spray Consumer Affairs

Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc.

One Ocean Spray Drive

Lakeville-Middleboro, MA 02349

To Whom It May Concern:

When I was a child in Southern California, we had cranberry sauce with our Thanksgiving dinner. We could also buy cranberry juice. We liked it. Unless I’m mistaken it was Ocean Spray brand. And unless I’m mistaken again—and I’m sure I’m not—it contained no high fructose corn syrup. I’m also pretty sure your products back then (a long time ago) tasted good without hfcs. Yet today I cannot find any Ocean Spray cranberry product without that substance.

Sometimes my mother bought whole cranberries and made her own sauce. Sometimes I do the same. My mother did not add high fructose corn syrup and, of course, neither do I.

I am sure you can anticipate my questions. Why do you add it? Do you not know that hfcs is far from beneficial to the human body? Do you not know it is harder on the body than sugar? Yes, I know, we all are trying to cut down on our sugar intake, but replacing sugar or augmenting it with hfcs is not a help. Simply put, high fructose corn syrup is not good for people. I suggest you update your research on hfcs and the processes involved in its manufacture.

I’d like to buy your products again but, as things stand now, I just can’t, and although I’m only one, I am confident I’m not the only one in this country who wants to eliminate hfcs from her diet. I have found one brand of cranberry juice—not your brand, unfortunately—containing no hfcs. Thank goodness for that.

I would appreciate a response.

Thank you,

Carol Schiess

And I included my address.

I got a response, saying I was wrong about high fructose corn syrup and asking if I'd like a coupon for their products.

I said no.

Now I see that Ocean Spray has taken hfcs out of their cranberry juice. Finally. Good for them.

But they have not sent me a letter or in any public way acknowledged my help in their decision.

Hmph.

Thank goodness for WikiHow

How to Make Fertilizer from Banana Peels

Yeah, right. Here's how:

Break apart the banana peels, lay them carefully--skin side down --on a cookie sheet. Skin side down so they won't stick to the cookie sheet.

Bake them in the oven--while you're baking something else, of course, so as not to waste energy and so that your enchiladas or brownies or whatever will have that nice banana-peel taste.

When they're done and crispy,

Break them up and store the pieces in an air-tight container. I do have one of those.

I mean, isn't this just compost? Wouldn't the sun and the great outdoors eliminate most of these steps for me?

Obviously, I am not "green" enough. I say it because I do not intend to use my banana peels in this way.

This way, maybe:
How to Treat Acne With Banana Peels