I'm also a fan of that kind of architecture, Pariah. Is there an official name for it? I see it most often in Universities. There are some at Vanderbilt here in Nashville, but my favorite is the library of my own alma mater at University of Oklahoma.
It doesn't look like it from the front, but it has wings, floors and basements. The basements beneath this wing have *extremely* old books and nothing but, and are roped off. It felt something like walking around the library of Hogwarts sneaking around in there! Dusty! Crinkly! Eerily quiet! I even hid there during an F-5 (May 3 1999) tornado outbreak my first semester. My favorite all-time haunt, still awaiting its successor. Thanks for the memory, Pariah.
I wasn't sure what constituted a favorite thing. At first, I started listing off virtues: Compassion, Grace, Mercy... *facepalm* I thought about tools I use that I would have married; sentimental artifacts to be with-buried; and toys that make me, ugh, cherried. And then *knock knock* It's the postman!!! THEY'RE HERE!!! I have been out for 3 days!
MY FAVORITE THINGS!!!
It's the BEST part of the day! When just enough experience of their absence has refreshed my perspective, and my nostrils once again take in that DiViNe smell. Fresh dates. Dates dates dates dates. 10 pounds of them! Straight Coachella, CA, or do I mean, PaRaDiSe?!, courtesy of e-bay. I get 2 boxes a month.
A happy Eos with Eos food!
I spent a long time searching for these. You can't find them in a grocery store, those are too dry and overpriced. Dried out isn't the same, and de-pitted have been heat-treated. These come straight off the plant. When they arrive, if very ripe, will be super squishy like a warm caramel candy, and melt in the mouth like a perfect doughnut hole. When I say favorite things are dates, I very specifically mean THESE dates from THIS particular farm xD
I eat these two ways. One, if sufficiently squishy, is straight up. You just press it open with your fingers and the seed just drops out. The entire thing, skin and all, is good to go. The white is like cotton candy, strands of pure fruit sugar, and the brown is gooey. If they're a bit on the dry side, I soak them overnight in water, then blend them with my drink of choice - more water or 100% fruit juice. For a very ripe fruit, they are also, oddly, extremely shelf-stable. No refrigeration required, they'll just sit in the box ripe and waiting for weeks without any signs of age or mold.
If you have never had a date or even really knew what it was, then I hope I have successfully sold you on trying some the next chance you get! Just 2 more converts, and then I'll get my wings
and my wand! Err...
Hope you enjoyed this week's novel
I'll be back next morning rain-out!
