The Eagle Has Landed!
So, I was out sick on tuesday this week (yesterday). What was turning out to be a crappy day, stuck sick at home actually had one little suprise. While I was snooping around Comcast's "On Demand" programming, I discovered that Cinemax's High Definition Star Wars Saga was being offered free. So, I cued up Return of the Jedi (the one I'd not seen recently) and sat back to enjoy a better picture than what was just released (after much wailing and gnashing of teeth) on DVD last fall.
About 10 minutes into the movie (right about when C3PO and R2D2 were getting ready to go into Jabba's Palace - for those fans out there) my phone rang. It was one of the secretaries who was not aware that I was not at work called me to tell me that there was a FedEx box just delivered to me (they usually do this for anything they have to sign for). Well, as soon as I heard that, all the hair on the back of my neck stood up. I knew what it was...
Mustering my strength (remember, I'm out sick), I threw on a pair of sweats and scrounged up the car keys and drove the couple blocks to my office. Now... the dilemma was to figure out how to get into the building without being seen by anyone who matters (remember, I'm out sick). Not knowing if the box had been brought to my office (nobody in my building "matters"), I had to check there first. Nope. It must still be next door at the other building where I always have stuff delivered. The problem is that to walk across the parking lot to the other building, I am in full view of office windows belonging to the people who "matter". I peaked around the corner of the building to see if their cars were parked outside. Thankfully, probably due to Divine intervention (or just the fact that it is Thanksgiving week), the "cars that matter" were not in their parking spaces. So, across the parking lot I trudged.
Moments later I was making a dash for my car, which I had left running with the heat on. While I like the cold just fine, today was not a day to relish in it (remember... I'm out sick). The drive home was the longest 30 second commute I've ever had. Sure, I could have opened the package at the office, but that would have been unwise as there might have been onlookers. I don't share well with others.
I get home and quickly retrieve a knife and begin to open the box, carefully, so as to not damage the precious cargo. I lean forward and sniff the box as the tape seal is broken. A faint whiff of cinnammon makes it past the tape (and my nasal congestion) and immediately those hairs on the back of my neck stand up again.
There seemed to be something wrapped up in bubble wrap... I peeled back the bubble wrap and there they were. Granny Supreme's! A whole platoon of the them! All lovingly placed in ziploc bags (the high dollar ones too - with double layers and all!) and wrapped in bubble wrap. I count 7 in total! Oh MY GAWD!
I ran to the kitchen with speed I thought not possible for someone in my condition (remember, I'm out sick!) to grab a plate. I thought of getting out the fine China as these culinary delights seemed too special for my everyday plates. However, they were wrapped up and boxed away in the closet... NOT ENOUGH TIME! It was getting serious now. I had smelled them and shortly thereafter I had seen them! I had to taste them!
As I returned with my plate, I began to remove the contents of the first Zip-Loc and placed them on the plate. My hands got all sticky from rubbing on the inside of the bag. I almost didn't want to take the time to wipe off my hands so I could take a picture, but I knew I had to record the moment for posterity. So, back to the kitchen, running (remember... I'm home sick!)to get a paper towel. I cleaned off my hands and snapped a picture. These bothersome tasks were beginning to come between me and culinary bliss!
Just as I was getting up to go back to the kitchen to get a fork (the one I'd forgotten to get during my previous two trips!) I noticed that my TV was still paused from the movie I was watching earlier (remember way back then?). I realized that the image was too good to pass up. Two of my favorite things at the same moment in time! The stars had lined up just right for today it appeared!
After realizing that there just simply was not enough time to get a fork... I mean really, who was watching me? Who would care if I ate with my hands? What did I care if I made a mess? Who'd have to clean it up? Me! So what! It only took a second to come to this conclusion, though it seemed forever in my Granny Supreme Anticipation Clouded Mind.
I picked one of them up with my right hand and took a bite. 22 years had passed since I'd last tasted a Granny's Supreme. Had I built it up too tall in my mind? Was I doomed to be let down my own romantic memories of a doughnut from yester-year? HELL NO! This was it! This was just how I'd remembered! Sugar glaze covering a cinnammon/apple filled, crumbly topped, 6 inch pastry! MY LORD IS IT GOOD! The edges get a little brown when the cook them and so there is sometimes a little crunchy baked apple-y part... this was my second bite! Sheer heaven! It dawned on me that if I waited to take another picture, it'd be too late to capture the most important moment.
Right about the time the first one was gone, I noticed a note, handwritten with three wonderful words on it.
Chris,
Enjoy!
Vince
I won't get into the details of how many I ate or how fast. But today is wednesday and they are all gone. It was one of the greatest 24 hours in the history of my taste buds.
But, after I thought about it a while, in my sugar induced haze, something else dawned on me.
Being an Army brat, I moved around A LOT growing up. I have random memories of all those various places that I've lived. Most people have lots of memories too, but most of theirs occurred at the same place on the planet (at least until they got older and moved away). When they drive to work everyday, many people pass places that they've had contact with their entire lives. Like Vince, he lives not 10 miles away from where he lived when we were in High School. He "connects" with his past almost daily, though it's doubtful he even notices. Having lived in so many places, I don't get to "connect" with my past very often. Sure, I've been back to Germany a few times since I left, but I was already 18 when I moved there. I've been back to Watertown, New York only once since I graduated from high school, for my 10 year reunion. I'll probably never get a chance to visit Fort Lee, VA or Fort Bragg, NC or Okinawa Japan. It's possible that I might never get back to San Pedro, CA either given how I love to spend my travel money going in the opposite direction.
So when something like this happens, some brief moment where I get to reconnect... it really IS special. Vince has no idea how much something like this means for someone like me. I'm sure he thought that I'd get a kick out of it and that I'd enjoy tasting a great doughnut. But for me, it's a chance to be 14 again, sitting a table at a little doughnut shop in sunny Southern California, looking at the cars go by on Western Ave, almost smelling the sea air coming off the harbor. Opening that box and eating on those things was a memory I'll cherish for a long time. What was a considerate gesture on his end turned out to be an almost emotional experience on my end. Thank you Vince! Thank you so much!
I wouldn't trade being an Army brat for anything, but sometimes I wish I could just drive down the road for a Granny's Supreme!
So, I was out sick on tuesday this week (yesterday). What was turning out to be a crappy day, stuck sick at home actually had one little suprise. While I was snooping around Comcast's "On Demand" programming, I discovered that Cinemax's High Definition Star Wars Saga was being offered free. So, I cued up Return of the Jedi (the one I'd not seen recently) and sat back to enjoy a better picture than what was just released (after much wailing and gnashing of teeth) on DVD last fall.
About 10 minutes into the movie (right about when C3PO and R2D2 were getting ready to go into Jabba's Palace - for those fans out there) my phone rang. It was one of the secretaries who was not aware that I was not at work called me to tell me that there was a FedEx box just delivered to me (they usually do this for anything they have to sign for). Well, as soon as I heard that, all the hair on the back of my neck stood up. I knew what it was...
Mustering my strength (remember, I'm out sick), I threw on a pair of sweats and scrounged up the car keys and drove the couple blocks to my office. Now... the dilemma was to figure out how to get into the building without being seen by anyone who matters (remember, I'm out sick). Not knowing if the box had been brought to my office (nobody in my building "matters"), I had to check there first. Nope. It must still be next door at the other building where I always have stuff delivered. The problem is that to walk across the parking lot to the other building, I am in full view of office windows belonging to the people who "matter". I peaked around the corner of the building to see if their cars were parked outside. Thankfully, probably due to Divine intervention (or just the fact that it is Thanksgiving week), the "cars that matter" were not in their parking spaces. So, across the parking lot I trudged.
Moments later I was making a dash for my car, which I had left running with the heat on. While I like the cold just fine, today was not a day to relish in it (remember... I'm out sick). The drive home was the longest 30 second commute I've ever had. Sure, I could have opened the package at the office, but that would have been unwise as there might have been onlookers. I don't share well with others.
I get home and quickly retrieve a knife and begin to open the box, carefully, so as to not damage the precious cargo. I lean forward and sniff the box as the tape seal is broken. A faint whiff of cinnammon makes it past the tape (and my nasal congestion) and immediately those hairs on the back of my neck stand up again.
There seemed to be something wrapped up in bubble wrap... I peeled back the bubble wrap and there they were. Granny Supreme's! A whole platoon of the them! All lovingly placed in ziploc bags (the high dollar ones too - with double layers and all!) and wrapped in bubble wrap. I count 7 in total! Oh MY GAWD!
I ran to the kitchen with speed I thought not possible for someone in my condition (remember, I'm out sick!) to grab a plate. I thought of getting out the fine China as these culinary delights seemed too special for my everyday plates. However, they were wrapped up and boxed away in the closet... NOT ENOUGH TIME! It was getting serious now. I had smelled them and shortly thereafter I had seen them! I had to taste them!
As I returned with my plate, I began to remove the contents of the first Zip-Loc and placed them on the plate. My hands got all sticky from rubbing on the inside of the bag. I almost didn't want to take the time to wipe off my hands so I could take a picture, but I knew I had to record the moment for posterity. So, back to the kitchen, running (remember... I'm home sick!)to get a paper towel. I cleaned off my hands and snapped a picture. These bothersome tasks were beginning to come between me and culinary bliss!
Just as I was getting up to go back to the kitchen to get a fork (the one I'd forgotten to get during my previous two trips!) I noticed that my TV was still paused from the movie I was watching earlier (remember way back then?). I realized that the image was too good to pass up. Two of my favorite things at the same moment in time! The stars had lined up just right for today it appeared!
After realizing that there just simply was not enough time to get a fork... I mean really, who was watching me? Who would care if I ate with my hands? What did I care if I made a mess? Who'd have to clean it up? Me! So what! It only took a second to come to this conclusion, though it seemed forever in my Granny Supreme Anticipation Clouded Mind.
I picked one of them up with my right hand and took a bite. 22 years had passed since I'd last tasted a Granny's Supreme. Had I built it up too tall in my mind? Was I doomed to be let down my own romantic memories of a doughnut from yester-year? HELL NO! This was it! This was just how I'd remembered! Sugar glaze covering a cinnammon/apple filled, crumbly topped, 6 inch pastry! MY LORD IS IT GOOD! The edges get a little brown when the cook them and so there is sometimes a little crunchy baked apple-y part... this was my second bite! Sheer heaven! It dawned on me that if I waited to take another picture, it'd be too late to capture the most important moment.
Right about the time the first one was gone, I noticed a note, handwritten with three wonderful words on it.
Chris,
Enjoy!
Vince
I won't get into the details of how many I ate or how fast. But today is wednesday and they are all gone. It was one of the greatest 24 hours in the history of my taste buds.
But, after I thought about it a while, in my sugar induced haze, something else dawned on me.
Being an Army brat, I moved around A LOT growing up. I have random memories of all those various places that I've lived. Most people have lots of memories too, but most of theirs occurred at the same place on the planet (at least until they got older and moved away). When they drive to work everyday, many people pass places that they've had contact with their entire lives. Like Vince, he lives not 10 miles away from where he lived when we were in High School. He "connects" with his past almost daily, though it's doubtful he even notices. Having lived in so many places, I don't get to "connect" with my past very often. Sure, I've been back to Germany a few times since I left, but I was already 18 when I moved there. I've been back to Watertown, New York only once since I graduated from high school, for my 10 year reunion. I'll probably never get a chance to visit Fort Lee, VA or Fort Bragg, NC or Okinawa Japan. It's possible that I might never get back to San Pedro, CA either given how I love to spend my travel money going in the opposite direction.
So when something like this happens, some brief moment where I get to reconnect... it really IS special. Vince has no idea how much something like this means for someone like me. I'm sure he thought that I'd get a kick out of it and that I'd enjoy tasting a great doughnut. But for me, it's a chance to be 14 again, sitting a table at a little doughnut shop in sunny Southern California, looking at the cars go by on Western Ave, almost smelling the sea air coming off the harbor. Opening that box and eating on those things was a memory I'll cherish for a long time. What was a considerate gesture on his end turned out to be an almost emotional experience on my end. Thank you Vince! Thank you so much!
I wouldn't trade being an Army brat for anything, but sometimes I wish I could just drive down the road for a Granny's Supreme!
posted by Toast @ 7:50 PM
2 Comments:
At 7:03 AM,
starttothink said…
I really shouldn't have read that at 7am. Now I'm hungry and want one.
At 7:41 AM,
MoeCizlak said…
I had a very similiar experience this week. My new sales territory took me within 30 miles of a town I lived in from birth to age 5. I hadn't been back since we left in 1975 and a flood of memories since undisturbed poured out. It felt really good to reconnect that day and I think it does a soul good to do that every now and again.
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