Today is July 7th. We will begin our tour of several events with World Chocolate Day. The library houses some interesting books for me to display.
I will start with “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” by Roald Dahl, published 1973. Early in the book, Willy Wonka states “No other factory mixes its chocolate by waterfall, but it’s the only way, if you want it just right.”
Then we move to the quite adult book “Lewd Food: the Complete Guide to Aphrodisiac Edibles” by Robert Hendrickson, 1974. There is a whole chapter just on chocolate. The author tells us about how the Mayans and the Aztecs used cacao beans as currency-even in bawdy houses. According to Cortez’s bishop, he said “He who wants a Mayan public woman for his lustful use can have one for eight to ten cacao beans.”
For a little more history on cocao and chocolate, I turn to “The Amazon and its Wonders” by W.H. Davenport Adams, published 1894.
As well as a good description of cacao plantations near the Amazon, there are a couple of interesting illustrations.
July 7th is also National Koi Day. I have an interesting book “Water Gardens and Goldfish” by Robert V. Sawyer and Edwin H. Perkins, published 1928. It helps with designing ponds for homes.
I have some friends who built a wonderful koi pond, with every fish having its own name. It is a nice place to just sit and enjoy nature. I also still have my ticket to the “Last Mansion Blues Bash”. Behind the pictured mansion, was a koi pond that I helped with when I worked at F. W. Woolworth. I sold Hartz fish and birds in my store, and I ordered some of the largest goldfish that they sold, to stock the pond.
On a side note, when visiting the Mansion with my children long ago, my daughter perhaps two or three, fell into that koi pond, which was so slippery she could not stand back up-even thought the water was less than a foot deep. She could have drowned even with the shallow level of water. While John Prine complained that “all my friends turned out to be insurance salesmen”, I am glad that I have one insurance salesman friend. Louis noticed my daughter flailing away in the pond, and he rescued her. Almost every time I see him, I am reminded of that day. His lips smack thirstily, and I buy him a beer. My daughter turns forty this year. Soon, I may have to decide how many beers she is worth.
Speaking of beers, July 7th is also National Dive Bar Day. While I don’t have a book on the subject, I do have my ID for the Aquarium Bar and Grill in Fox Lake. It is a certified dive bar, and I am a certified Minnow Muncher. We were bar hopping by boat, entertaining some friends from Japan, a few years back (6/13/02). We thought that with the amount of sushi eaten in Japan, they would not be intimidated by a little live minnow. Our friend was a rather leery, but in the end, he also received his card.
“We all are a great deal luckier than we realize, we usually get what we want-or near enough.” -Roald Dahl-Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
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