In Transit.

I am busy sorting through my digital mountain of photos from Alaska. As soon as I have cropped, lightened, darkened and generally edited to my liking I will post a report on my completely phantasmagorical trip. In the meantime I want to share some of the observations I made while in transit between the East and West coasts of this country.

1. Why is there Braille lettering on the overhead reading light button? Did they think this through completely?
2. Why is there a disposal specifically designed and marked for hypodermic needles in the lavatory of the airplane. I don’t even want to know who is using so many needles that they deemed it necessary to have a specific disposal.
3. The little Asian woman in the seat across the aisle from me is tapping her foot in time to my music. The interesting thing about this is that the music is in my head!! Freaky!
4. In the 60 minutes I have been sitting in the waiting area of the Minneapolis airport, there have been at least 8 public announcements for people to retrieve lost items from security. I can understand misplacing your keys. I can understand leaving a book somewhere. I can even see how you might forget your coat. But I am having trouble understanding how you can misplace your fishing rod.
5. Some completely useless facts from the pilot. The airplane weighs about 115 000 kg. 15 000 kg is accounted for by passengers. The flight from Minneapolis to Anchorage used 24 000 liters of fuel.
6. The 10 year old kid in the seat next to me convinced me that the chewing gum he offered me just before landing had edible paper around it. It didn’t. His response; “If the worst thing that happens to us today is that we eat a bit of paper, I think we’re in good shape!”

In honour of peanut butter.

I like peanut butter. Many people my age, and many younger and older than I, graduated from school with the help of the energy and the nutritious ingredients on a good old fashioned peanut butter sandwich. Not only were they a good breaktime snack, but peanut butter sandwiches were also a good form of hard currency. I occasionally traded them for cheese sandwiches with the boy at the desk next to me and I swapped out with the boy at the desk behind me for his strawberry jam sandwiches. Peanut butter sandwiches are also the food fight weapon of choice. Nothing sticks quite like peanut butter when hurled at the right velocity! Peanut butter sandwiches are also the ultimate fast food. What is quicker to prepare than a layer of creamy (or crunchy) peanut butter on a slice of bread. Peanut butter can also be accessorised. It is easy to add a smattering of jam (or jelly if you're American), syrup or even honey. Peanut butter is ageless, which doesn't mean it keeps forever, but rather that I still enjoy a peanut butter sandwich 16 years after completing high school.

However, yesterday, my world was thrown into temporary turmoil. While choosing my next jar of peanut butter, I came across two new somewhat disturbing options. Cashew butter and almond butter! When did peanuts' snooty cousins, cashew and almond become a spread? Why would you even want to mess with the legacy that is peanut butter? Now while I will try anything at least once, and I am aware of the health benefits of both cashews and almonds, I am proud to say that I placed a jar of organic peanut butter into my shopping trolley and brought it home with me.

Long live peanut butter!