Going Bananas

In the checkout line at the supermarket there was a fellow ahead of me who was buying a big pile of bananas.  The strange thing is I noticed the bananas before I did the guy. (Is this just another sign of aging?)

Anyway, I was thinking, “He must love bananas.

• Maybe he has a big family.
• Maybe he is a camp counselor buying snacks for the kiddies.
• Maybe he wants to make banana bread?”

I was still lost in imagining what he would possibly do with all those bananas when he turned back toward me and smiled.

Cute Safari Park Guy

And there was an emblem on his shirt that said, “Safari Park.”

Aha!  Mystery solved.  This was a representative of the Virginia Safari Park, a magical place near me and just a few miles north of Virginia’s Natural Bridge.  Safari Park is where my  grandgirls (all grown up now) still demand to go every time they visit.

“Are the bananas for the monkeys?” I boldly asked the Safari Park man.

“Yes, and the giraffes love them too.”

“Do you mind if I take a picture of all those bananas?  Oh, and a picture of you too? I want to write a blog post about the park.”

“Of course, he said, “And thank you.”

If you are interested in going to the Virginia Safari Park, my young friend told me they will be open until Thanksgiving.

Virginia Safari Park is a 180-acre drive-thru adventure featuring 1,000 free roaming animals. Drive along 3 miles of road in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley.  With the Blue Ridge Mountains as your backdrop, animals of all sizes, shapes and colors approach your vehicle in search of a tasty bucket of feed. Their website is http://www.virginiasafaripark.com .

My youngest grandgirl, Mackenzie, all grown up now but still loves the Virginia Safari Park.

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Breakfast Buffet Breaks the Ice

This morning featured a unique Neighborhood Breakfast.

I am not a morning person. Maybe closer to a bear.

I used to get up early to fix bacon and eggs  for Bill, but he was always too sick to eat!  Then he found out  it was me who made him sick and he has made his own breakfast ever since.

Nevertheless, at 8:30 this morning I managed to stagger into the Hunt Lodge where our neighbors were meeting other neighbors, and all with widely divergent interests.  The breakfast was to spread good will and I guess they had no idea about grouchy morning people.

But this is the story of a Buffet Breakfast designed to bring even me around to discovering the joy of connecting in an equestrian community.

Bill and I live in  the middle of a 700 acre tract designed for traditional fox hunting.  The scenery is spectacular and we have always loved  seeing the riders in their pinques (scarlet jackets) and the thrill of seeing them “ride to the hounds.”

They say they never actually catch a fox and I fervently hope that is true, but I diverse.

One of our fellow property owners is a Fox Hunting Club.

As you might expect, the Club’s main interest  is “horsey” and although many of the Hunt people once owned parcels and lived on the land, the Club Members  no longer do live here but now come to ride from far and wide.

The “other Land Owners”  are like Bill and me.  We own a parcel of land we live on and that is partially accessible to the Fox Hunting Club.  

We, the “other” Land Owners, are the people who love horses but  don’t ride in the Hunt.

We oftentimes feel vulnerable to the Club’s hounds, horses and riders who traverse our land.

And we tend to worry about liability.

Over the decades since our equestrian haven was conceived, the Hunt Club and  the other Hunt Landowners  have drifted apart and do not always agree on the use and care of the land or even the roles of each entity.

Enter two dedicated fellows with peace and harmony in mind. One is from the Fox Hunting Club and one from The “Other” Landowners, and these two peacemakers decided to host a Neighborhood Breakfast!

They planned the event right down to name tags and provided all the food and drink.  There were home baked scones and biscuits, West Virginia sausage, ham and eggs, beautiful fruits, mimosas and all the coffee we could drink.

Maybe  people were motivated by the yearning for good will, and  maybe they were mellow from all the goodies, but soon there were folks chatting  away and getting to know each other better.

We talked about horses of course.  We used to have two of our own.  

We talked about the way things used to be,

the people we knew who were such assets to the Club and to all who live here,

the beauty of the grounds, the fun and camaraderie.

We talked about “the way we were.”

And the Neighborhood Breakfast Buffet was a big success!

Kudos to Pete and Hugh who hatched this ice-breaking outreach event, and to those of us who participated in spite of morning stupors.

I hope next time we will talk about ways to work together going forward and I hope next time the party will be in the late afternoon.

But, in spite of my bear-like morning persona, I must admit there is something to be said about sharing a lovely breakfast with good people.

Communication must surely be the way to overcome divergent interests so we can all live and let live and enjoy a beautiful world.

Amazing Egg Maker

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Ghost Foods of Christmas Past

“We lose things as we age.

That’s the hardest part,”

 Mom said.

Christmas has come and gone and I found myself craving things lost.  Mostly I missed the people I wished could gather round and share our holiday celebration.

But in the days leading up to Christmas, I also had mysterious cravings for foods!  The list began to grow of  favorites I gave up long ago for the sake of health or weight.  Or maybe some of them were simply replaced –  lost for years –  but not entirely forgotten.  And suddenly I WANTED a whole list of Ghost Foods of Christmas Past!

This year I craved Macaroni and Cheese!

Supermarket aisles are still full of the old box versions, plus every possible variety dreamed up by the merchandisers.  But, I haven’t had old fashioned, “original” Mac & Cheese in years!   This was one of my early wifely sacrifices since the husband hates cheese!

But I keep dreaming of Mac  & Cheese so now there’s MY personal box in the pantry reserved for cheese cravings, nostalgia, and a carbohydrate boost.  

Country Tip for City Dudes:  Comfort food can be comforting just sitting on a shelf!

Then there’s Orange Iced Sweet Rolls!

I wonder if our son remembers Sunday mornings long ago when his Dad made orange sweet rolls and sausage for breakfast.  The rolls came in a cylindrical box you banged on the corner of the sink to open, then set on cookie sheets to bake,  and lastly you coated them with a scrumptious orangey icing.

I used to drive our son crazy trying to wake him up with “Rise and shine! Rise and shine!” and singing off-key, “It’s time to get up.  It’s time to get up.  It’s time to get up in the morrrrrning!”   Mmmmm!  The scent of baking and sausage from the kitchen is what finally worked to get him out of bed.  He blocked out the singing with a pillow over his head.

Guess what we had this Christmas morning?!  And that got Dad and me to talking about other foods we recall from the “olden days” when we could handle sugar overloads with grace.

My Mom used to make Baked Beans and Hot Dogs for dinner!

The beans came out of a can and she simply chunked up the hot dogs and heated both together.  Not the healthiest scenario but who knows?  Lotsa protein anyway.  I’m not craving that meal so much but the memories are huge! Wonder how it would taste with a sprinkle of cheese!

Canned  Brown Bread.

Oh yes, we found it at one of those vintage stores and ordered two cans of date-nut bread!  I used to love canned bread because it worked so well with baked beans and hot dogs.   Guess what?   It tastes the same as it used to.  On the other hand, it doesn’t taste the same at all.  Does that make sense?  Do taste buds change along with facial character lines?

Licorice Allsorts.

Uh Oh!   My craving for these beauties  never leaves, and my husband loves them too.  I know if we find Licorice Allsorts, the entire box will be gone in a matter of days.  He found some for Christmas!

SpaghettiO’s.

Was this my little brother’s favorite or my son’s?  The images are beginning to blur.  O.K., I know it’s a brand name I’m giving a plug.  Maybe the brand has become generic for any pasta in a can (like bandaids or kleenex)?  I never really liked SpaghettioO’s but the little fellas in my life always did.  Still, the “O’s” were always a pantry staple at home, and deserve a test again for my elderly taste buds!

Rum Balls.

Oh, how I loved Mom’s rum balls and usually make them every Christmas.  “Not this year,”  I reasoned, since  I practically inhale every single one!  Nope, this year I will practice abstinence!  After all, a hysterical craving for rum balls is embarrassing, especially when added to all that licorice intake!  Have you noted my admirable will power as proof of total self control.  Ha!

Ahhhh!   How I love Christmas and the Ghost Foods of Christmas Past.

This virtual trip was really unexpected, and wandering down a memory lane of long ago favorites, I wondered if I was alone in craving such lost delicacies.

Have any of my blogger friends been experiencing this odd way of looking at the past?

Have you been thinking of Ghost Foods you would like to try again?

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