The Churro

I wanted to share a fun Blaine memory. About 18 years ago we had a family California vacation. It was so much fun. Picture a Buick century with six people in it. (For those people who do not have any memories of the Pleistocene, that was a midsize sedan. And today’s midsize is bigger than a midsize sedan from a generation ago.) It was a little crowded with Krehl Blaine and I in the back seat, and this was the 10ish year old Blaine. Not the bigger than me, Blaine. When we picked up Ra in Arizona, Sandra sat between Krehl and I in the back. Blaine sat between Mom and Dad in the front. That Buick did not have a bench seat. They folded up the arm rest and put a pillow over the cup holders. Another reference to an older age, before seat belt laws were equivalent to the stone tablets Moses brought down from Mount Sinai. Several years after this trip, I remember Sandra saying other trying experiences pale in comparison to her Sardine status being squished between two boys in the back of that Buick.

Now imagine a gruff complaint coming from the front seat, “Why are we going to California, I never left anything down there.”

The third fun aspect of the drive was if you wanted something out of the car, you would go and ask Mother for the keys. She would turn her back to you and take out the car keys from her bra. It was a little disconcerting to receive these warm, slightly damp keys in your hands. The next challenge was the challenge of Mothers packing. Nobody can pack a freezer or car trunk as efficiently. You would go to the trunk and take out your bag. If you bag was on top you were golden. If you had to move anything to take you bag out the trunk was not going to close. There was less volume. You just took out a bag. Even with careful attention to detail while repacking, the trunk would not close.

After much trial and tribulation we arrived in California. We went to Disneyland, Knoxberry Farms Park, Universal Studios, and Sea World. We did not buy lunch or treats at any of these parks. We had a bag with sandwiches etc. People used to have more respect for thrift. Today it seems there is more derision and mockery of this value. We did not expect overpriced treats at these parks, but the smell of the Churro’s was overpowering. Blaine asked Mother several times for one these overpriced heart attacks. They are about ¾ inch wide and 8ish inches long. They were probably $5. Imagine paying $5 for a doughnut. That is one expensive cinnamon and sugar coated, deep fried, ticket to heaven. Did I mention the smell, heavenly. After a full day of walking past this scintillating smell, Sandra took mercy on Blaine and gave him the money. As he came back towards us holding his churro in a small square of wax paper, he had the ultimate expression of ecstasy. I have never seen a smile that wide. Suddenly, a seagull swooped down and grabbed the side sticking out of the paper. Now during our week we had already seen seagulls rob many of people eating at the amusement parks. Someone would turn their head to answer a question and these rats with wings would sneak up grab a sandwich inches from that person’s hand. We had not lost any our food prior to Blaine’s loss. We were lucky, but we also watched our food with great diligence.

Part of the tragedy of Blaine’s loss was the quantity. The seagull did not just get a bite. The whole churro slide out of the wax paper. This was not a mostly eaten sandwich like we had seen other people lose. This was an uneaten, unbitten, whole tube of sugar coated heaven. We saw Blaine’s countenance fall. He did a couple short hops and pounded the pavement with both feet every hop. He kept repeating, “Stupid Seagull!”

This created a small irony when Blaine got his mission call to San Diego. The home of Sea World and his seagull.

This week while I was retelling the seagull story to Jess for at least the third or fourth time, she read me this from Sea World’s map, “Seagulls in the park can be aggressive. Please do not feed the seagulls or leave small children alone with food. Sea World replaces purchased food stolen or damaged by seagulls.” I wish we had known that 18ish years ago, Blaine could have enjoyed his churro.