Sunshine and Pride

I absolutely love Pralus chocolate! I took a chocolate tasting course and learned a lot about it when I was taking classes in cooking school.

Pralus bought land in several countries around the world with a climate that supports the growing of Cocoa and they selected one plant that was productive and disease resistant, they cloned it and planted it in all their properties. The chocolate they produce is sold under the name of the country from which it is harvested.

The Pralus rep at our course gave us unnamed samples of all their chocolates and we recorded out choices by number, not name. Then we drank water, took a lesson, drank more water and then took the taste test again—again recording the numbers of our favourites. Both times, my first choice was Tanzanie (my second choice was Venezuela).

Yesterday I wrote to Steve in L.A. asking him to buy me a boatload of Pralus chocolate and ship it to me. I, of course, refund him. We did this two years ago so that I am never out of stock. Nothing, for me, beats Pralus. Sadly, I cannot buy it in Canada.

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Because it’s been so clear this past Winter, it was cold—cold for BC is zero or slightly above or below. We had no storms, no power outages, no wind, just cold. And it’s still cold in the mornings; it’s usually around 5° and I’m tired of it. 

So, yesterday morning I waited until ten o’clock when the temperature had reached ten degrees, and went for a lovely long walk with Sheba. I put on my sweat shirt (but no coat), rolled up my sleeves and headed for the 707 Park where I felt euphoric in the warm sunshine, looking at the white skin of the Alders against the deep blue sky and with the scent of Spring oozing from the forest.

It was sublime. It was better than summer when one burns, sweats and tires so easily. And the trails were covered in grass—a light glowing green carpet covered the landscape. In the summer all is brown.

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Yes, I live on Gabriola now, but I remain a city boy at heart. I still love the city in which I lived for sixty-nine years, Vancouver, and Saturday night at seven pm, the city made me very, very proud. To see (in a video) all the police cars and fire trucks joining the residents of the West End to honour the frontline health care workers made me cry with pride. And even the Park Board is onboard; they’re firing the nine o’clock gun at seven as well.

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There was a downpour of rain last night; I heard it when I was awake at one point. So, I can enjoy the brilliant sunshine of today because my gardens have all had a good drink. Rain was predicted for today and tomorrow before another week of sunshine sets in, so I hope there’s more before another dry week.