Monday, March 14, 2011

It tasted pink

He ate one every Sunday morning, the comics lain spread out in front of him in their full color glory. I’d sit on his lap and we’d read together as he peeled away the pinky flesh like an orange and I’d inhale the smell of pink and newspaper print.

He’d always make a slit in the peel with a knitting needle, infuriating my mother, and make a pile of the thick husk on the classifieds. I was always mystified that the outside of the peel was so soft and pink but the inside so white and messy.

Then he’d pull it apart with his big hands and take each juicy wedge and pop it in his big mouth, citrusy liquid dotting his mustache.

It always seemed so foreign to me. So grownup.

Cereal and bananas were what I had for breakfast, not this exotic fruit that my Daddy seemed to like so much. But now? I wanted to taste some.

“Can I have one?”

“Sure, Panda.”

He separated out a small pregnant pink wedge, a little juice spurting onto my lap, and handed it to me.

I held it for a bit, touching it. The clear skin was rubbery and that just didn’t seem right. Eating rubber. Gross.

So I pulled away the skin carefully and methodically, exposing the dense city of perfectly pink little juicy tadpoles, all nestled together just waiting to rupture juice everywhere. I liked the site of it. So intricate and perfect. So much there to see and taste.

I bit into the wedge and the juice of it exploded on my tongue and dribbled down my chin. The intense tart flavor became surprisingly sweet as it worked its way back my tongue and down my throat.

With each bite, little fruity tadpoles danced around my mouth and I mercilessly captured each one and burst it with my tongue, little pops of zing.

This is what pink tastes like. It bit more than a grape. In fact, it wasn’t like a grape at all. But it wasn’t like an orange or a lemon. It was too sweet. It was something new. Something new and I liked it. 

I finished it with intense relish and let my juicy lips overtake my face with a silly grin as I licked my fingers.

“Can I have another one?”

“You like it?”

“YEAH!”

Laughter.

“Okay. Well, here’s the last one. I’ll have to buy more now.”

After that, my dad and I shared pink grapefruit every Sunday. He’d peel them for us and we’d eat as we read the paper, first the comics then we’d scour the print for typos and spelling or grammar errors as juice drippled onto the crisp pages.

Years later, I was surprised to learn most people eat grapefruit with a spoon and even sugar.

I still prefer peeling it. It tastes differently on a spoon. Not quite as pink.



This was a post for the RemembeRED prompt: This week, we'd like for you to write about your favorite fresh fruit or vegetable. Share a memory of when you first tasted it, where it came from, when you last had it, a favorite way to prepare it, and such. As you write your piece this week, think of it as writing a scene. Be sure to engage our senses, make us feel, see, taste, hear, and smell. Pull us in with your description.

35 comments mean you love me:

Nush said...Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

Loved the mix of senses - taste like pink.

You painted a very vivid picture. Loved it!

Keri@GlamorousArmy said...Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

I totally tasted the pink too! Great post!

christy said...Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

Awesome. You have a fabulous way with words. =)

Andygirl said...Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

Nush- thank you! that was the best compliment :)

Keri- thanks!!

christy- oh thank you so much!

Sunshine said...Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

It's like I was right there. Wow!

Lynnette said...Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

I like grapefruit but I never thought of grapefruit as tasting pink, pink to me tastes like cotton candy. ;-)

meleah rebeccah said...Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

Oh wow. What a fantastic story! I felt like I was watching you and your father share that pink grapefruit! Well done, indeed.

J said...Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

That? Was a beautifully written post! Good job, m'dear!

Also? I now want a pink grapefruit.

Liz said...Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

What I love? Special shared memories like these.

What I don't love? grapefruit. :)

Dr. Cynicism said...Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

Great writing andygirl!

Andygirl said...Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

Sunshine- wow thank you! :)

Nett- good point. I think cotton candy tastes like light pink and grapefruit more like a deep pink. hee!

meleah- thanks so much! so nice of you!

J- thanks! I'll join you. yum!

Liz- haha! not everyone does. <3 you!

Doc- thanks much!

Karen said...Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

Fantastic! I felt like I was right there with you, ready to suck on some pink tadpoles and rustle a newspaper in my free hand. :> Stopping in from The RDC!

Galit Breen said...Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

I love this! I love the memory, I adore grapefruit and we're soul sisters describing flavor with a color. Love it, lady!

amygrew said...Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

I love how you describe the taste of pink! I have a hard time with the tadpoles though....but thats just me :)

Such a great memory!

Carrie said...Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

I remember eating grapefruit as a kid but I was definitely the spoon and sugar kind of kid :)

Visiting from RDC

Kir said...Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

loved this story, how I was waiting to see what fruit it was. It was so real, I could have been sitting at that table.

Yum. I love anything that "tastes pink" :)

stopping by from TRDC.

lydia said...Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

I love the descriptions you used here. I especially loved the idea of eating pink tadpoles. I thought this was a lovely moment and you did a great job of bringing us into it.

Sonora said...Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

Wow, this was really well done. I share similar memories of my father and grapefruit, so that part really resonated with me. The description and creativity in how you explained the experience and how it felt and tasted was just very very well done!

Queen Momma-Sweet Merciful Crap said...Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

How appropriate, daddy's little girl sharing something pink.. you made it very easy to taste the grapefruit along with you, but even more so I felt the tenderness between you and your dad.. beautiful ;)

Anonymous said...Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

My mouth is watering! I loved the memory and the idea that you can taste a color. But the weird thing is? As soon as you said it, I KNEW what you meant.

Awesome.

Tracie Nall said...Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

I have always eaten mine with a spoon and usually sugar (occasionally salt) but now I want to try one peeled.

Jennifer said...Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

I loved this, the tadpoles, your surprise and delight. The piece didn't feel contrived at all which isn't easy when writing from a young point of view.

Finally someone else that eats grapefruit like an orange without sugar!

Andygirl said...Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

Karen- welcome and thank you! here, have a grapefruit. :)

Galit- ooh can't wait to read your post! thanks!

amy- don't worry. it's just my childish brain with the tadpoles thing. hee!

Carrie- welcome! I've always wondered about the normal kids who ate grapefruit the correct way. :D

lydia- thanks so much! I just tried to describe as I would have as a kid. :)

Sonora- thank you! love that we share a special memory. food and dad memories can be really wonderful. :)

Queen- thank you! so glad that came across. my dad and I are still so close and I wanted that to shine.

Mandy- it's weird yet appropriate right? love that you got that! thank you!

Tracie- you should. be prepared for it to be more messy, but you definitely get more of the grapefruit that way. :)

Jennifer- oh thank you! such a wonderful compliment. I really tried to describe it as I would have as a child. and I know right? it's so yummy when you peel it!

Nichole said...Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

Oh, Andy, there is so much that I love here...

The closeness between you and your father, the visual of the pulpy mess on the black and white of the newspaper.

But this line made me swoon, "With each bite, little fruity tadpoles danced around my mouth and I mercilessly captured each one and burst it with my tongue, little pops of zing."

Truly gorgeous writing, Andy. Having your posts linked up with us is such an honor.

Honest Convo Gal said...Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

This is word art. I don't even like grapefruit and I was thinking of ignoring that fact and putting it on the grocery list on my desk.

My favorite line? Hard to pick one. I do linke this, though: "It tastes differently on a spoon. Not quite as pink." I love it because I know what you mean. I feel that way about some other foods that are intended for finger consumption.

I consumed this post. I didn't just read it. Well done.

Trish Iles said...Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

I loved this! So fun and so very descriptive.

One way my Dad used to get us to try new foods was to say, "I don't think you'd like this; it's grown-up food." He might as well as DARED us. LOL. And it worked.

Oh, and I hate grapefruit, but I loved the way you made it sound.

Anonymous said...Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

How fun!
I remember seeing my mom eating them...with cottage cheese. It was was too tart for me, but they still hold an allure.

angela said...Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

I am a spoon & sugar grapefruit person myself, but that's because my grandpa ate it like that, and he's the one who taught me to eat it :)

I really like how you used the color to describe the flavor, and I also think your image of tadpoles was perfect yet very unexpected. Nice job!

Andygirl said...Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

Nichole, it is such an honor to hear you say that! that just tickles me down to my bones. thank you! thank you!

Honest- thank you! if I made you forget your distaste of the fruit? I'll take that as victory. :)

Patricia- that wouldn't have worked on me. I was hopelessly stubborn. but I'll try it on my future kids. hee! thanks!

letme- I've never tried it with cottage cheese, but it sounds yummy. thanks!

angela- thank you!! I love how we do things just how we learned the first time. it's sweet. :)

Everyone Knows Me Here said...Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

I agree, grapefruit tastes pink! I used to crave the stuff when I was pregnant. Like you, I loved to peel it and eat it. Fun post. Brought back memories. Thanks ;)

Daydreaming Fool said...Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

So interesting, the things we associate with tastes! Love that you have something that tastes like the colour pink! Stopping by from TRDC :)

Lizz said...Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

I love the desciption of calling those little sement-y bits "tadpoles" for some reason... they totally are!
This is wonderful, even though I've never had grapefruit!

Katie said...Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

This post was beautiful from start to finish.

I love the simple line of your dad saying, "sure, Panda". No doubts or skepticism about whether you'll like it.

And then this:
"I pulled away the skin carefully and methodically, exposing the dense city of perfectly pink little juicy tadpoles, all nestled together just waiting to rupture juice everywhere."

I found myself nodding "yes, yes"...I knew this was going to be a grapefruit because I remember having the SAME reaction.

We only got grapefruit if they were on sale and at Christmas in our stocking.

Such sweet, pink memories.

Andygirl said...Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

Daydreaming- thank you! I know right? our senses are so connected. :)

Lizz- thanks! if you every try grapefruit, you'll have to let me know how the experience is.

Sluiter- I always got oranges in my stocking. grapefruit would have been way better. sweet, pink memories indeed! thank you! :)

Jenna said...Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

so sweet, this picture of you and your dad!!

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