IT WAS---THAT AWFUL "CHERRY KOOLADE"
That cold January evening,
in the Rio Grande Valley
my pickup was parked in the
ditch..….and there I was.
running 'round and 'round
it-- how many laps?
Was I drunk? How would
I know--I didn't drink.
It was during my "second
career” and I was "in sales" and
down in the Rio Grande Valley
closing out a sale at Dellie's
house, amidst her fruit trees
and gardens and a
half block of rent dwellings...
Let it be said---I had been there
a lot of times and it was
a neat place....and she was a
"good old Methodist girl "
who had an old upright piano
in her parlor and she liked
to kinda sound-off on it a mite
so after our biness (sic)
was done...well she showed
me this here closet of hern
in th' other room and guess what?
I bet there were a DOZEN bottles
and jars of the neatest
RED LIQUID you ever seen,
And ever one was nearly
half full of red cherries right
out of her orchard...
an' she says (to the weary
salesman-- me...)
"How 'bout a nice big glass of
newly-home-made CHERRY
KOOLADE, iced...just off my
trees
Well sir, being a fine Methodist
lady (and I knew them well…
I let my guard down
I was patched and thirsty...
and I just up and said:
"Thanks Dellie, b’lieve I will."
Now let it be said that where
I come from in E. N. M.
in WWII. times, growing up
and all...well our mammas
made koolade with WATER.
See where I'm headed?
I had two big glasses of that
marvelous drink of Dellie's,
and how do they say it?
"I was feeling no pain."
I set there talking to D. and
her husband was out on
the property as usual,
fixing something in a rental
or plowing his gardens...
and I began to feel a little
"light-headed..."
an' some alarm went off
in my confused head...
"Er, Dellie, you make your koolade
WITH WATER
DON'T YOU?"
An' she got that nice smile
as older sweet ladies get---
an' she says:
"Why no Hon, I use VODKA!
It mixes nice and has no
bad smell...and raises my
spirit. I watch for vodka sales!"
Suddenly I sort of panicked, and
also remembered it was my
oldest son's birthday and I was
"The Designated Pizza Buyer!"
("I gotta get out of here or I'll
be staying the night at Dellie's!")
So there I was running around
and around in the ditch
eight miles from home…half-drunk,
I thought "with miles to go before
I slept" and light-headed,
and still pizzas to buy...
I drove home slowly and
got there with several pizzas….
But to this day, BE insists on saying
"That night you came home
for A's BD Party with two
pizzas---what's with the
"DOUBLE ANCHOVIES?"
You know, we hate....
"anchovies."
Since that long ago day, here on
the Rio I have never had
another glass of cherry koolade.
It's true.
---------
MIL
29 OCTOBER 2020
IT WAS---THAT AWFUL "CHERRY KOOLADE"
