twist and pout

Our heads lie to us.

At least, mine does.

I walked into town this morning to see how the semana santa preparations are going.  I will write more about that later in the week.  But someone has already fired the fun starting pistol.

As a rule, I do not buy much on these jaunts if I am on foot.  Once I start buying groceries, I quickly realize my eyes are bigger than my calves.

All was going routinely.  I stopped at my favorite NOB-oriented grocery store -- Hawaii.  The owner, Alex, is a wily merchant.  Much of the white tourist merchandise has been shuffled to make way for the people who will be patronizing his store for the next two weeks -- Mexican tourists.

I poked around a bit to see if I wanted to come back later in the week to buy anything before I head off for a month to parts Middle Eastern.  The decision was easy. I can survive on what I have.

Then I saw a new addition tucked under a shelf.  Bags of red and back licorice.  From the American Licorice Company.  Big bags.  One pounders.

I am not that fond of licorice.  After all, it is nothing more than jellied corn syrup.  I could do just as well by eating spoonfuls of sugar directly from the bag.  But that is the logical guy speaking -- the one who thinks he controls his own choices.

There is a more romantic spirit up there somewhere that makes decisions based on associations and dreams.

When I started my law practice, Costco had just opened in our town.  I can still recall the first time I saw the huge plastic containers, nostalgically disguised as glass candy jars.  They looked as if they would be a great addition to a professional office.  I could offer a chewy red whip to my clients as they recounted the woes of their marriages or the details of a contract that needed my expert drafting.

In the ten years I was in private practice, I always had two of those containers at the ready.  One red.  One black.  Those were probably the happiest ten years of my career.  Often barely making ends meet, but always ready to help my clients.

I walked up and down the aisles at Hawaii several times while Mr. Logic and Ms. Blithe Spirit indulged in their little contretemps.  The fact that the photograph at the top of this post was obviously taken in my garden is a rather good hint of who made the candy decision.

That is far too much candy to eat before I leave next Tuesday.  But it will make a great airplane and cruise ship treat.  And the memories will be sweeter even than the licorice.