POST # 668
A very long time ago, when I was still a child, we had a great rhubarb patch in our garden at home. My sisters and I would take advantage of this fact, and occasionally pick a stalk to eat. Back then, it was normal to get a cup, put some sugar in it, and then dip the rhubarb into the sugar prior to eating it. The idea was that because the rhubarb was sour, the sugar would help make it more palatable. In fact, it seemed to exaggerate the sour taste, at least for me it did. I'm not sure what effect it had on my sisters.
My dad on the other hand, used to sprinkle a bit of salt upon his rhubarb prior to eating it. At the time it seemed like a strange idea to me, but somewhere along life's journey, I decided to try some rhubarb with salt. And I've never looked back.
Why so much talk about rhubarb today? Well, I just finished the last three stalks here at Mary's place. The plant is now done for the season, so I'll have to wait a long time until I can once again enjoy the taste of rhubarb with a sprinkle of salt. And every time I do, it makes me think of my dad. I'm glad that he showed me the best way to eat it, all those years ago.
Today's date also takes me back to the year 2002. I've written about this before, but I'll state it again. I was living in Dawson City at that time, and I phoned my friend David Jones in Melbourne to wish him a happy birthday (the 29th in Australia). After wishing him a happy birthday, I asked, "what's new?" That simple question was the beginning of a very big adventure. David had just purchased a sailboat in Durban, South Africa, and right then and there he invited me along to help sail it back to Australia, an adventure that took place from March 6th to April 17th, 2003. It most certainly was a memorable journey on many fronts, and was without doubt the biggest adventure I had been on up to that point. So today is once again his birthday (in Australia), so I'll make sure to send him a note to wish him a happy birthday.
And speaking of Davids. I sent an email yesterday to another David friend of mine in Australia, whom I hadn't heard from in ages, and lo and behold there was an email in my inbox today from him. As it turned out, I managed to send the email to him on his birthday as well, so that was good timing. It was great to be back in touch after all of these years. Having had my yahoo email account hacked many years ago has caused some problems, and my lost contact with him was no doubt a result of that misfortune.
Soon I will be heading back to Canada to begin my next house sit back on Vancouver Island once again. In the meantime, I will enjoy Mary and Dora-dog's company for a couple of more days. And of course, I can't help myself, so here is the latest photo of Dora-dog just after we had returned from our daily walk.
Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer
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