Well, here is a worthy item for ‘Ripley’s Believe It Or Not’! To put this into proper context, one must bear in mind that up here in Calgary, Alberta, locals even refer to our ‘Yankees’ as southerners. Yep, we were way, way beyond the zone where one could reasonably expect to find grits or sweet tea… but, we did!!! I hope you were sitting down when you read this bulletin, and I do apologize for not warning you in advance…
Yep, Dennis and I rolled into Calgary for a visit with the legendary savior of our girl, Terry Nickel, t-man403. He is a really special sort of person for sure, but his capacity to pleasantly surprise this product of redneck/hillbilly raising is apparently boundless!
He not only changed a personal tragedy of mine a few years back into an epic tale worthy of a Hemmingway novel, his friendship has added sparkle to the lives of many in our own family as well as many more up yonder. Now, he’s taken on a spousal unit, and Linda has turned out to be so sweet, that I'm convinced she is worthy indeed of such a fine man!
Following a comfortable and much needed night’s sleep, I arose and fumbled my way to Terry’s kitchen for that all-important fluid that makes early mornings bearable... and, as is often the case, I was the first one up. Now, before I get too carried away, let me say right here and now that Keurig makes a fine coffee maker… only, they are a bit ‘technical’, and for this guy that does pose a serious challenge.
I’ve used various models of those devices several times in the past… However, my retention ability for operation techniques in such matters is, regrettably, severely limited. To compound an already foreboding chore, I’d left my reading glasses downstairs! Yep, in time I did somehow manage to produce a cup of much needed ‘Joe’, but, frankly, I have no idea how… I’m sure it was simply fate showing compassion for the less fortunate.
Soon enough, others began to drift into the kitchen and we were laughing and joking the way good friends do… At some point we all drifted out again and began the serious work of getting ready for the day ahead. When next I returned to the kitchen, I glanced at the stove, as breakfast preparations were obviously already underway…
I did a double-take to confirm I was hallucinating… only, astonishingly, I wasn’t!!! No fooling, there right out in the open on a front burner was a pot with a tantalizing mess of grits nearing perfection! How can that be?!!! Thoughtful, ever watchful Terry had spotted them for sale somewhere there in Calgary, and he had procured a bag to surprise us… He succeeded wildly!!!
Grits in Canada… who’da thunk?
closest exxon My second favorite view of grits… (My favorite view is on a fork or spoon just before they disappear into my dietary intake portal!)
Not to the same degree, of course, but yet another pleasant surprise awaited us… Our hosts had somehow figured out how to make sweet tea (not really that complicated, even I can do it), and we got to experience yet another small taste of home… in western Canada!
So, if any other sons and daughters of dear ol’ Dixie are fearful of venturing above the Mason-Dixon Line and beyond, I can assure you the natives are friendly, and, under special circumstances, they can even delight your delicate but highly sophisticated taste apparatus!
DDT
