2001:December:6
2001
So, I did a mad shopping spree last night at the local Harris Teeter (forgot ziplock baggies and cabbage) and happened upon this great idea whilst in the "bins" section - the section where they have nuts, trail mix, dried fruit, etc in bins. I discovered that in one the bins was pure sugar cane sugar for a mere $1.27 a pound! So, I bought a plastic bag of "healthy" unprocessed sugar (in the ingredients there was one word "sugar cane") and transferred it to my semi-healthy plastic jug of "natural sugar". This morning was my first taste of it in my coffee. And damn if it didn't remind me IN AN INSTANT of the time when we lived in Riveria Courts in Macon, GA. This was JUST after the divorce from my father and my brother was a hoodlum and my sister was a popularity seeking bulemic and my mother was a damaged woman just looking for that protective male (I certainly wouldn't call my own mother a slut), and I was in heaven. The apartment complex had plenty of kids, and I was an integral part of the social structure for the first time in my life. In fact, this may have been the first time I ever hung out with kids. (During the last years before the divorce, we moved like crazy, and there was so much tension in the house that I did nothing but wonder around in a fantasy world by myself). I was five or six. This apartment complex was very cheap, but exclusive. There was a waiting list that my mother got to jump ahead on because she knew someone. I remember playing "kick the can" and singing "Yellow Submarine" in "jail". I remember noticing the virility of kudzo in the huge patch nearby. I remember the blueberry pie eating contest. I remember my mother and sister being like friends. I also remember one of the cool neighborhood dads gathering us all around one weekend afternoon. He had these big stalks of something and wanted one of us to taste it. Finally Jimmy was brave enough and he did. Surprise, it's sugar cane. Then we all got a piece of it and ran around like children. And that distinctive taste (hard to describe unless you've had sugar cane) was ever so delicately present in my coffee this morning and ah how funny the juxtaposition!
