And Now for Something Completely Different.....

Cheers to the Monty Python fans who picked that one up....

Anyway, this gorgeous gem is a "Keith Mango," and was the final mango of 2007 for me...

Zelma Lee, our friend and matriarch of Whistling Duck farms on North Side, has set aside a few for Kristi as they ripen.


Zelma Lee explained the old technique that farmers use for surviving late-season storms: When a big storm threatens to prematurely end the growing season of any of their staple crops, the entire farm staff flies into action. They pick anything that looks like it would ripen within the next 2-3 weeks, and store it inside in baskets. Much will skip "ripe" and move directly to "rotten," but some will riped almost as nicely as if they were left in the field.

In this case, it was mangoes. Several late-season mangoes, like the Keith, were just approaching readiness as Hurricane Dean set it's eye on a path toward the Cayman Islands. Though Dean cut south at the last second, North Side and East End dealt with very high winds and rough sea, the salty spray from which settles on and kills foliage.

The very very few remaining mangoes are in extremely high demand, and the incredible Zelma Lee has set several aside for Kristi.



The Keith is sweet and firm, with very little fiber... it has a round, honey-sweet flavor, and will keep me dreaming of mangoes until next April.

Since I've been hiding out at my sister's house in Blue Springs, I've found very little on which to report. Cinnamon Bread? Sonic Drinks? Court TV? I doubt my accounts of these staples of my daily routine would be inspirational enough to bookmark....

BUT, Kristi, while listening to me scream about some awesome new Reggae track I found, suggested that I write about Reggae music. It's from the Caribbean, so it would keep with the theme we've developed here.... probably more than the Waffle House pictures, even.....

SO, stay tuned for several posts about Reggae Music and Culture.... that's the "Completely Different" "Something" to which the title of the posts refers.... Me droning on and on about mangoes is decidedly 'NOT' different....

I promise the Reggae Stuff will be more entertaining and informative than tales of my daily Route 44 drink concoction. (Any other Vanilla-Diet-Grape-Coke-with-four-limes-and-four-cherries fans out there???? HOLLA!!!)