Skip to main content

Perseid Donuts

Friends,

When my alarm went off at 4 this morning I had a choice: Morpheus or Perseus. On one hand, my soft, warm bed made driving out for a chance to witness a few grains of sand burn-up in our atmosphere seem silly. Besides, the wildfire smoke would surely obstruct my view, and I need my beauty rest. Morpheus has a point! On the other hand, my desire to watch these fleeting, magical lights streak through the sky pushes me forward. A half-hour later, Perseus had won. I’m on a dirt road, feeling silly as I stare at a patch of unclouded sky. As my eyes grow accustomed to the dark, stars grow brighter. Minutes pass. A satellite crosses the sky. No meteors. This is foolish! Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, a shooting star –darn, just missed it! Another satellite. Then, finally an unmistakable bright flash smack dab in the center of my field of vision. Wow! Minutes later, the sunrise begins, but that one Perseid makes the whole experience seem worthwhile. Granted, the deer sighting, purple sunrise and Dacono Daylight Donuts would have made for great consolation prizes. As for the backlit Dr. Pepper marquee signs at the donut shop. “We’ve been here since the eighties” shrugs the kind lady at the counter. Should I try mine with a Dr. Pepper? Yeah… no!




Happy Friday!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Donut Doodle Dandy

Dear Members and Constituents, In trying to figure-out Wednesday’s cool-looking Google Doodle ( Jorge Luis Borges’ 112 th birthday ), I stumbled across a list of Google Doodles you’ll never see. This, and a Rockies game later that day, were sufficient inspiration to get my head spinning around what other doodles Google might never noodle? I’m sure you’ll probably have a few ideas of your own, but I was able to come-up with a couple. How about a former Colorado Rockies player whose unfortunate encounter with a moth put him in the news this week? The Matt Holliday doodle might look something like this… Another item which, surprisingly enough, has not been made into a doodle are donuts. Although I was slightly taken aback to find this delicious pastry has not been featured, after the initial disappointment, I decided to take matters into my own hands and take a stab at one (perhaps Google can use it next year for national donut day )… or to celebrate Greek police having “ blown a ho...
Post a Comment
Read more

Gilding the Donut

Friends, Despite writing about donuts (sort of) for over 20 years, I don’t believe in sugar coating, after all, honesty is the best policy. Gilding, on the other hand I’m good with. Take the church of the Society of Jesus in Quito, (AKA La Compañía). Built in fits and starts between 1597 and 1765, the volcanic rock baroque facade conceals a spectacular interior. I had the chance to go inside this week and although I had heard about the gold leaf work inside, the descriptions had not done it justice. The details from floor to ceiling transport you to another world, perhaps that’s the point. If you’re ever there, be sure to visit. And while you’re there stop by one of the many panaderías … if you’re lucky they might even have a donut. Happy Friday!
Post a Comment
Read more

Out with the old

Friends, I’m not much for using arbitrary dates to make life changes – you can do that at any time. I am, however, very much into building and burning effigies to close out the year – an Ecuadorian tradition we call Año Viejo. The theme we chose to represent 2024 was Steamboat Willie, the Disney movie whose copyright protection had been extended through the end of 2023 by the 1998 “Mickey Mouse Protection Act”. Now that he’s in the public domain, Mickey has been rebelling and doing things his parent company would not approve (a nose ring, two earrings, smoking, a public domain tattoo and an Iron Maiden logo on his hat – a nod to Paul Di’Anno’s passing in October). Despite losing his head a few times (literally, it kept falling off) we proceeded to read his last will and testament (a playful roast of the party’s attendees), pouring accelerant and lighting a match at the stroke of midnight (after the obligatory countdown, of course). If you’re curious, you can find this year’s Año Vi...
Post a Comment
Read more