Stolen Kisses

The H.O. Wilbur Chocolate company of Lititz, Pennsylvania invented and popularized the “chocolate buds” shown above in 1894, and it is widely insinuated that the Hershey company a few miles over “borrowed” this idea in 1907, mass-manufactured it, and made history. (Here’s a cool blog by an 11-year-old who collects every flavor of Hershey’s Kisses.) In 1909 Mr. Wilbur sued Hershey and lost. Similar in size to Hershey’s Kisses, the Wilbur Buds have a rounded bottom stamped “WILBUR” as you see. Both dark and light Wilbur Buds are deeply flavored and melt much more slowly than Hershey’s, and are less chalky and sugary but more cocoa-y and waxy. A former student and Kiss connoisseur ordered Wilbur Buds, available online, just to see what they were like and thought to share them with her former teacher. How sweet is that? The dusty-looking “bloom” on them, or on any piece of chocolate, is what happens when humidity gets to the candy, as in the refrigerator.

Old LaBarque Schoolhouse: Found!

Yes, the LaBarque Schoolhouse is still standing and it's being used as a garden-tool shed for the series of 1990s "I deserve an estate" type houses, on big rolling lawns, built around it. The painted words "LaBarque School" are very faintly visible above the door; so very faintly that the camera eye could not capture them for you, but trust me, in the sunlight, in person, they are there. This building stands near the intersection of Hwy FF and John McKeever Road, behind a fence and some trees which partially obscure it. I have lived here 10 years and never noticed it until someone told me where to look for the old schoolhouse.

A commentator on this blog said he has a 1906 photo of his mother at this school, so the structure must have been built before then, but my guess is that the building was rather new at that time. Also the stucco coating is recent; on a piece of wall where it is chipped away, you can see that the original building, or at least its foundation, is native stone.

People in Their 50s Trying to Have A Conversation

-"Now what was the name of that movie you told me about the other night?"
-"I don't remember telling you about any movie."
(Long bursts of laughter.)

The Magic of Aging

Getting older is both strange and fun. As in adolescence, you get these funny FEELINGS. Your legal age increases, but you feel no different than you did at 28. You see people, stop in your tracks and want to shout: "Dad!" or "Marie!" But Dad is long dead, and it's only somebody who's shaped like him, has his hairline and gait -- and the girl so much like Marie resembles Marie as she was 30 years ago.

Aging is a club you can join if you can answer "What were you doing the day Kennedy died?" You get light shocks that make you laugh, such as realizing that the TV show ("Green Acres") you have just mentioned to a co-worker went off the air 11 years before he was born -- or that you remember the lyrics to the novelty record "My Ding-a-Ling."

Weird to be invited to a 30-year college reunion. Weird to be tough and healthy all your life and then suddenly you get plantar fasciitis, or rip a muscle like I did. Weird to see family photos and realize that every adult in those pictures died years ago and you are the only person still living who can identify each one. Weirdest of all is to understand that young people see you as old, washed up. Nothing of the sort! 50-somethings are the royalty of the world! We know who we are and have mastered what we do! And "Fifty is the new 30!"

Fun and strange to find out that there is magic in aging, that it's wild country, stranger than fiction. To age is to become a time-traveler.