BRAINPAN LEAKAGE

Sometimes, it is the little things in life that are the trigger…

For me, I think there are several of those little things, but among them is the wonderful, fattening, artery clogging, Egg Nog.

It doesn’t matter what sort of decorations appear on homes, in yards, at the mall, or anywhere else. Commercials on TV don’t hold a candle to it. Even Santa riding across the snowy hills on a Norelco ™ electric razor…(Yeah, unfortunately I am old enough to remember that when it originally aired…) Music, yeah whatever. Salvation Army buckets–here have some change, but it just ain’t doing it for me. Yule tree–pretty, but so what…

But, Egg Nog…Now there you have it. For me, the holidays have officially arrived when Egg Nog appears on the grocery store shelves (which it has been doing earlier and earlier every year…)

Now, I need to point out a couple of things. Yes, I do purchase commercial Egg Nog. Yes, I do doctor it with libations from the over 21 cabinet. However, commercial Egg Nog is by far an inferior product to the good old homemade “boiled custard” I fondly recall from my youth. I remember watching my grandmother (I called her Gram) and my mother standing at the stove, carefully and constantly stirring the nectar as it heated, thickened, and turned from mere milk, eggs, sugar, etc, into the drink that brings good cheer…

I, of course, have the family recipe deeply ingrained in my memory, and have, from time to time, emulated that scene, making a batch of the Holiday Indulgence for family and friends. Unfortunately, I don’t always have the time necessary to do it properly…And, when making good old fashioned Southern boiled custard, one cannot rush…

Two cartons of the commercial Nog have taken up residence in my refrigerator even as I type this. While they certainly aren’t “the real thing” in my way of mind, they are close enough to trigger the delightful memory…And, even though they just moved in, I suspect that a glass, some good Kentucky Bourbon, and I will be evicting them fairly soon…

Then, I guess some of their relatives will have to move in to fill the vacant spots…Temporarily, of course.

MR

Yeah, I want a Tour Bus. I’ve been inside a couple, not to mention the ones I’ve seen on TV, and they are way cool. While I’m not about to be all about living out of a bus per se, it seems like it would be a lot nicer way to travel. I do a lot of airplane, but I also do a hefty share of my touring in a car (rental), or my truck. (Don’t get me wrong, I’ve got a bitchin’ truck…2004 GMC Sierra 1500, extended cab, short bed, with all the bells and whistles…But, hey, if I had a bus and someone else was driving I could get up and walk around.)

Some of you may remember the “Humor in Uniform” section of Reader’s Digest…(it may still exist…I haven’t had my hands on a Readers’ Digest in a while)…Either way there was a particular joke that has always stuck with me. It was an anecdote where a fighter pilot was talking to the captain of a refueling plane via radio while in flight. He was bragging about how he could do all these maneuvers and such since his smaller, faster jet was more nimble than the lumbering refueling behemoth. The captain replied that he could do something the fighter couldn’t, so just watch. After several minutes of simply flying along the captain came back on the radio and said something like, “How was that.” The fighter pilot replied, “What do you mean? I didn’t see you do anything.” The captain of the refueling plane came back with, “Well, I just got up and stretched my legs. Walked around for a bit. Got a cup of coffee, and had a chat with my navigator.”

I’m sure that loses something in the translation, especially since I am drawing it from memory, but it has always struck me as not only funny, but kind of cool. I would love to be able to get up, stretch my legs, yadda yadda, while traveling, all without losing any time. I think that would be a pretty neat way to get from point A to point B.

But then, I suppose it doesn’t take much to amuse me.

Of course, these days, with gas prices the way they are, I guess having a tour bus is better left to the “Want/Dream” realm…

Anyhow…raining here. Cold. Supposed to snow tomorrow. Not much, but enough to stick to the grass. That’ll be great. I love snow, so it’s really my kind of weather. Right now I really should be writing. I have a ton of stuff to get done and probably shouldn’t be running off at the mouth here about nonsenical things…

Sooooo, that’s it for now!

MR