Candy

Every once in awhile I'll get that old childhood twitch when I see a rowful of scrumptious munches.  It's usually when I'm in one of those candy stores where you can find buckets full of taffy.  Gummy colas, cinammon fireballs, chocolate-covered gummy bears, jellybeans- I especially like those giant hunks of random chocolate.  Like someone just broke them off of a chocolate wall in some dilapidated chocolate hovel, 

"The walls are coming down anyway," says a worker with a pickaxe.  "Might as well bag it for the little ones"

"What about the white walls?"

"Those are NO GOOD MAN!  Don't be daft!  Can't you see they crumble?"

Roald Dahl might have been soley responsible for making sweets sound a hundred times more delectable, having conjured some amazing ideas for candy in "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory"  Chewing gum that never loses flavor, amazing gobstoppers (now a reality and pretty addictive), a river full of chocolate churned by a waterfall- man oh man.  Lickable wallpaper...maybe that's not very sanitary.

One time I was eating a bag of gummy colas and my dad walked in the room.  He looked at me and then down at the colas, then back at me again.

"What is that?"

"Gummy colas!"

Pause.

"Where'd you get that shit?"

My dad walked out of the room.  I called after him,

"From the shit store!"

He stopped in his tracks and I could hear him laughing.

"I guess I deserved that."

My favorite candy memory involves my dad too- I think it was my 13th birthday, and my dad spoiled me big time.  It was just father and son for three days- we went to Disneyland, Knottberry Farm, and I think Universal Studios.  We stayed at a cheap Holiday Inn, but I have fond memories of staying up late watching all the old classic Nick At Nite reruns.  I love Lucy, Superman, and Welcome Back Kotter.  Great times.

Knottsberry Farm had a giant candy store and we stocked up before we hit our second round of park rides.  My dad is a Jujube fantatic, and I always think of him when I see that green box.  Anyway, I got a little paperbag full of those hot cinnamon balls- they were never THAT hot, but they definitely made an impression later.

We were on some outdoor ride that has about 6-7 rows of chairs- probably could seat a hundred people in all- and it takes you 40-50 up in the air, and slowly rotates you until you're hanging upside-over the audience and a little pond. Not a whole lot to the ride, but hanging upside down while being at the mercy of a little belt to keep you in is pretty terrifying.  Blood rushing to your face, people below looking up at you.

All of a sudden a rush of sound, something dropping and a series of rolling objects.  I realized it was my cinnamon balls, raining on the crowd below!

They never found the culprit- heh heh, but my dad and I got a good laugh out of it.  We even got a picture of ourselves on the ride with our hair shooting up above our heads, out mouths open like, "OH- SHEEEEYIT WE UNDERESTIMATED THIS ONE!"  No balls appear in the picture            ......hehheh.  :)