I picked up a copy of “The Economist” in February, probably the first time ever. And what should I see but my very own logo (a chocolate dipped strawberry) as the back drop of a fascinating graph. Not only did I just have to post it here, so y’all could know this trivia, but also, Sweetie Pie Drew used it in his Valentine’s Day lecture to his botany class.
Valentine’s Day Food of love
Feb 14th 2008
From Economist.com
ON VALENTINE’S DAY the relationship between chocolate and sex becomes, at least for gentlemen considering the ideal gift, less a matter of theoretical musing and one of stark practicality. Will a box of chocolates do the trick? In some parts of Europe sex and chocolate go hand in hand, though a causal link is unclear. Mediterranean lovers tend to have as much sex but less chocolate—perhaps hotter weather has a bearing on both. The Japanese have precious little of either.
Just about anything you want can be found on the net, even love, right? Here’s a resource for singles with a yen to find both love and adventure:
Travel Briefs
Travel dating pairs couples on the road
Single and like meeting people on vacation and business trips? Or simply want to put the downtime spent in the airplane, on layovers and between business meetings to better use? Matchmaking travel agencies can help you connect with like-minded singles who share your flight or itinerary.
TripLife, at http://www.triplife.com, lets you create a personal profile including photo, occupation, favorite sport, alma mater or any appropriate information, enter your travel plans, then instantly see profiles of other people on your flight or already at your destination. You can e-mail invites to prospective golfing partners or dinner companions and remain in the network for later notification whenever you and other TripLife members are in the same city.
Then there’s speed dating aboard a 737. SkyDate, http://www.skydate.eu/v1.0/eu/home/home.php, offers travelers to Europe this opportunity to enjoy brief encounters with several people on an airline flight. Women remain seated, and men make the rounds. Participants are discouraged from asking each other out and instead rate their speed dates by vote. Those who voted to meet each other again are then given contact information.
Other travel dating services include O Solo Mio, http://www.osolomio.com; and MatchTravel, http://www.matchtravel.com.
Strawberries are not just my logo: we grow them….
Drew says one of the things he loves about me is that I am game to do just about anything. Really, he knows me well enough not to ask me to do things I WOULDN’T do, like sleep on the ground in a tent, but, yes, I am pretty adventurous. And we tend to like the same things.
A real advantage to be of being married to Drew is that he loves to garden. I’ve always gardened, but what I really like to do is pick the proceeds and then take care of them. So Drew now does most of the gardening, we pick together, and in this case, I hull and clean quarts and quarts of strawberries.
Here’s the funny part: Our new home in Tallahassee is on a tiny lot that came landscaped and with irrigation. We planned it that way, because our home in Maine is on several acres and has more than enough outside work to satisfy the farmer and lumberjack in us. But our Tallahassee home does border on too tidy and perfect, so the first thing that we did was build a privacy fence around the back yard. That way, we can let that patch grow a little wild and frowsy. Then Drew pulled up most of the landscaping and put in fruiting things like citrus berries. We planted strawberries under the shrubbery, they spread like crazy, and we are getting tons of berries this year. Blueberries and blackberries are blossoming, as well as the lime, oranges, and grapefruit. We have an edible yard.
This morning for breakfast, we had our own strawberries, and then our jam on home made scones. What a treat.
We’ve had so many strawberries lately that I’ve been making jam (I call it Southwood Yard Jam) and giving away the prettiest fresh berries. I’m thinking of starting a modest fruit and vegetable stand on our front porch.
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