The Real Thing

 

One of the pleasanter tasks of summer is choosing which treats will go in the choose-your-own six-pack at the grocery store to be enjoyed on the deck in the dappled shade later on.  We actually found some Coors Banquet Beer bottles in the cooler last week!  Have not seen that in a while.  If something is well made and has been for a long time, it has an attractive air of authenticity.

Coca-Cola boasts that it's "The Real Thing," but since it went to all HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) as sweetener by 1984, I don't think it's been real since.  Or maybe after 1929, when the last traces of cocaine -- or a very similar substance -- were removed.  It was, after all, sold as a stimulant, and coca leaf with caffeine is inarguably that.  And I remember being very disappointed when real German Lowenbrau was no longer imported, but made by Miller-Coors just using the name under license.  Brands sometimes persist like ghosts, seen as having a built-up value, long after the original is gone.    

 If you have met a cat or baby, you can see that they are drawn to authentic things.  Our one-year-old granddaughter just flies to buttons, zippers, paper, container lids and boxes.  And the bought cat toys pretty much lie ignored by Blackberry the cat (a natural thing like a bug has a lot more appeal).   

 We know places become loved to death by mass tourism, and what was originally the draw gradually, then mostly, disappears.  It seems that the tropical island of Bonaire is still an authentic place on the globe, with only about 140,000 visitors a year (HersheyPark, in contrast, hosts three million).  It is primarily a divers' paradise, not a mega resort spot or a cruise ship destination, without international chain restaurants and the locals operating their own small businesses.  Now forget you ever heard of it.

Growing your food, or buying locally produced, and preserving it at home takes planning and deliberate effort, but the feeling of satisfaction (and the taste) is, well, the real Real Thing.   We don't have access to a big garden anymore, but do make a lot of jam, applesauce and sometimes pickles to keep that tradition going.