Sunday, March 27, 2011


I DIDN’T DO IT NOBODY SAW ME YOU CAN’T PROVE ANYTHING, PLUS THIS IS FICTION

On my way home from the farm store a few weeks of mornings ago I stopped at another store, sort of a wine/liquor costco, where I now and then pick up bulk canned goods, which I did, and incidentally - more like cosmicly - found there on sale those-dark chocolate cherries in liqueur they used to sell back in the fifties, the ones with the little chocolatey swirl on top, exotic Italian brand name I think - began with a Z, I also think, or maybe a C - wrapped in red and silver foil, sold in the sort of elite section of the drug store if you can imagine that today, you younger folk, no penny candies or lowly nickel Snickers these: two for 15 cents, some odd price like that, you couldn't buy only one, and I would afford myself just two each week from my paper route money and they were all the more delicious for that rarity...

Well in that morning's store I spotted as I say some bags of dark-chocolate liqueur cherries wrapped in red and silver foil, and of a brand name starting with a Z of all things, so I bought two bags nobody saw me and when I got out to the car I opened one bag and as that 1950s dark-chocolate-cherry fragrance filled the car I was 15 again, a familiar heedlessness coming over me, so I opened one of the red-foil-wrapped gems, popped it into my mouth and chomped down and time became as nothing as it had in that 4-on-the-floor souped-up '57 Chevy I used to have because when I was young I was so rich in time I didn't even notice it flying by, except that now instead of only two cherries I had two bags full of them so I ate I won't tell you how many but I bet you can guess, and time was rich with what age is all about...


10 comments:

Tabor said...

Not to make you feel old, but those were my father's favorite candies. They were always a little too sweet for me...! It is is interesting how a smell or a taste can shock that neuron that carries us decades away.

joared said...

Ah, yes, I recall those cherries -for many years they were a must holiday gift for my mother that we enjoyed giving 'cause we knew she'd share them with us, too.

kenju said...

My mother-in-law could eat her weight in them, and seemingly did just that, all too often.

They were too sweet for me - but isn't it great how some aromas and tastes can transport us back to our ancient histories? I have only to think of the pineapple sundaes from Dairy Queen to do that - right back to the summer of 1950.

Kalei's Best Friend said...

here, i thought my BIL was the only one who liked those!. glad old memories came back after enjoying those little chocolate cherries.

Lynn Rosano said...

Loved your cherries story. Remember the Black Jack gum we used to cover our teeth up with. I can't wait to get a pack this summer and show my grand-twins Thomas and Kiley. What fun!

Cousin Lynn

jaykaym said...

What a delight!

bob said...

Worth any price, I'm thinking, to be rich in time again, even if only for a little while. Or timeless maybe it's two ends on a hula-hoop.

catmomaj said...

ABSOLUTELY DELIGHTFUL! You just 'zapped' me back a quadrillion years to my youth and the wonderous tastes and smells that still trigger memories of my own salad days. Thank's for sharing. :o)

Mary Lou said...

OH MAN! Now I want some. There is nothing better than chomping down on something you have not had in YEARS and letting it take you away into those memories. And after what you have been through, eat all you want with no guilt at all!

Beth said...

What a joy to read on a stormy morning in panhandle Florida. This is writing that sings.