In my foreign travels I am often surprised at the sights I come upon. For example, on a visit to the San Blas Islands in South America, our group visited one village where the people wore colorful clothing and lived in thatched-roof huts just off the beach. I still have a photo I took of a young lady seated on a stool, wearing a light yellow blouse and multipatterned skirt. Her hair is tied back with a bright red head covering. I often wonder how she is getting along. Just fine, I hope. Living in a straw hut might be quite delightful.
And on a visit to Costa Rica, our group was traveling in an open land Rover through some fairly thick tropical forest, thick brush all about, plus tall trees and I expected to hear an occasional monkey screaming. This, I told myself, is a jungle Tarzan would appreciate.
Suddenly, we came to a big clearing where there was a field of pineapples growing. A friendly worker came over to our vehicle and with a sharp machete, proceeded to cut a pineapple up into thick slices. He handed out slices to everyone on the Land Rover.
My goodness, I had juice running down my chin and was most delighted at the sharp, sweet taste. And then I saw a big sign: “Property of Collin Street Bakery — Pineapples for our famous Corsicana Fruit Cake.”
Heavens to Betsy, this 3,000-acre pineapple plantation was owned by the Texas company that makes the famous fruit cake!
Small world. Tasty cake.
A pineapple cut into three large pieces. Image sourced from MetroCreative
