teaching moment

I was craving brownies--dense, chocolatey, and rich.  I like the nuts--walnuts or pecans.  I like chocolate chips.  I like a thin frosting layer, possibly.  A softness in the middle and a chewiness at the edge. 

These ridiculous brownies Ming bought at Walmart have this red, white, and blue little star candy things on top.  They're dry, bland, and add nothing.  They're an attempt at distraction, to try to distract us from noticing how boring the brownies taste.

"Why does it have those?" I asked.

"For the upcoming holiday?" he said.

"There is no upcoming holiday!" I said.  "You mean Fourth of July?  It's May!"

"Oh," he said.

"Is it patriotism for the pandemic?" I asked.  "Oh jeeze.  Yeah, something important is happening, so it's uniquely American.  We will rise above in a uniquely American way.  Sorry.  That was really negative.  There's a reason I don't watch the news."

Not sure why I went through a phase of making blondies, years ago.  They're like brownies but without the chocolate.  I must have been out of cocoa powder one time, and it became a bad habit.


"I saved you blueberries," Ming said.

"I only wanted one," I said.

"Well, I saved you 17."

"Oh, how sweet!  You love me 16 times more than I need you to.  Sounds good!"


"So are you going to make a sandwich?"

"No, I'm going to wait for the sandwich fairy.  Like Santa, but fairier.  What's a farrier?  Isn't that someone who has hawks?"

[jokes about fairies, farriers]

"Infarriors.  That was about foxes."

"Foxes?  I thought it was hawks.  Who does hawks?"

"Hawkers.  Falconers."


"So you said no to me making you a sandwich?" Ming asked.

"Initially!" I said, and laughed for a long time, and clapped.

"So I can't make a sandwich with my initials," he said.

"Mark it with a B!  Put it in the oven for Baby and me!"


Farriers care for the hooves of horses.  I had a special someone who had horses.  She would say, "The farrier is coming this afternoon."  It was an exciting thing, a teaching moment.