St. Patty and the Captain

Life of a single gal cannot always be exciting. This past Thursday was St. Patty’s day and maybe you would be expecting a tale of drunken bravada. However, nothing like this happened. A few fellow students and I made our way to an authentic Boston Irish pub only to find a line of college revelers. Completely deterred, I decided to celebrate the green holiday with a slice of apple strudel (very Irish) at the Other Side Café.

When I was young lass, St. Patty’s day used to be a big deal. At school, my sister used to wear her special green tights and a turtleneck with cloverleafs, and she would be rewarded with buttons displaying ”Kiss me I’m Irish” in green letters. Once, my mom took us to see the parade and Chicago River flowing bright green. Inebriated adults pinched our cheeks and told my mother how cute we were.

So I am thinking about these past St. Patty’s day as I was doing laps in the community pool. It is the new exercise fad I am following. Months ago it was Tae kwon do, but now it is swimming. So I am reflecting as I cut through the water, is anything as good as it used to be? Things change and now I am no longer swimming because I want to be the fastest Desert Dolphin ever, but because I just do not want to have largest butt ever.

Fast forward to an hour later, and I am at the local grocery store. I am hungry and adding yams, lentils, cucumbers, and organic mesclun to my basket. Strolling down the aisles, I stop at the cold cereals. I see Captain Crunch Berry (Now to make the story better I should have said Lucky Charms, but I am not a pro so...) and I feel compelled to drop it into my basket. I check out and go home to make a healthy hearty lentil soup. After my soup I am still hungry and feel a dessert is in order. In the eighties, Captain Crunch berries were just pink and now they are pink, purple and aqua. I pour my Lactaid on them and dig in. MMMMM. Still sugary and delicious. And now there is an improvement: the ratio of berries to crunches has risen. Four bowls later, a full tummy, and a completely shredded roof of my mouth, I fall asleep on the couch with the television blaring.