When Life Gives You Lemons

The conversation:

"Look! It's the goon squad!"

"Should we run? Will they try to eat us?"

"Where did they come from? What do they want?"

"I think they're friendly! Look! They're . . . smiling!"

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade! And so that's exactly what we did next!

Recipe for lemonade: 2 lemons (smiling or unsmiling), 2 quarts of cold water, 1 cup sugar (or 1/2 cup sugar and 12 pink packets of Sweet 'n Low). Rinse the lemons. Slice them. Put the slices in a 2-quart container and cover them with the sugar (or sugar and sweetener). Smoosh them up good to create a sweet, sticky syrup. (I use a metal ice cream scooper for this.). Add cold water. Stir. Serve or refrigerate. (Tip: If you don't drink it all in the first day, remove the lemon slices before bedtime so they don't make the remaining lemonade bitter.)

About this photo: This picture, like so many of my other "whimsies," was taken on the bathroom sink. The cat, of course, was very helpful throughout. But my husband walked in, saw me brandishing a sharp knife over the cat and two lemons, and hollered, "What's going on here!???" I guess he thought it might be some bizarre sacrificial rite. But rest assured that no tabbies were harmed in the making of this photo. The lemons? Well, I am sorry to report they didn't fare so well. *sips a glass of fresh lemonade; smiles an evil smile*

The song: The song that suggested itself to me was The Big Rock Candy Mountain, sung by American folk singer Pete Seeger. The lyrics are about a hobo's vision of paradise, and in part, they go something like this:

"Oh, the buzzing of the bees in the cigarette trees
By the soda water fountain
By the lemonade springs where the bluebird sings
In the big rock candy mountain."

Bonus bit of cultural historical trivia: Did you know that when the hobos traveled around the country, they sometimes left signs or symbols for others? The symbol for a house with a kind-hearted woman (where a hobo - especially one with a good, sad story - might receive food and/or shelter) was a happy cat. For a list of other hobo symbols, visit this Hobo Signs Web site.