Simply Sparkly

My simple pleasure this week
 is found in a little pink can.

It’s called a Spritzer,

but I call it a Sparkler

because in its former life,

that’s what this little piece of liquid heaven was called.

We first discovered Sparklers in the 1980s when I was expecting The Practical One. They were not only delicious, they were healthy. We’ve always been a little crunchy granola, you see, and when I was sitting on the nest, we were Mr. and Mrs.Euell Gibbons.

No junk.

This little beverage of sparkling water flavored with natural fruit juices fit the bill. It was and is manufactured by Knudsen Farms and comes in a variety of flavors.

My favorite is red raspberry.

I like to drink it out of a pretty glass.

Back in the 80’s, Sparklers were a budget buster. They cost about $5.00 for a pack of four, high even for today. We purchased one pack per week, and four days a week, I would carry one to school to treat myself over lunch.

They were also packaged differently back then. They came in tall bottles which bore a resemblance to those wine coolers popular at that time.

Which caused a bit of a problem...

One day, a  a student in another class saw the bottle and reported home that a teacher at the school was drinking wine coolers at lunch.  Angry Dad stormed the schoolhouse at lunchtime and dragged the principal to the cafeteria to catch the perpetrator in the act.

My principal was not taken by surprise and knew the identity of both the accused tippler and her drink of choice. He was also confident that one look at me, 8 months pregnant, would put the matter to rest.

So he waited.

  In I waddled

in my designer dress from Omar the Tent Maker,

 carrying my crunchy whole grain lunch

 and sinless Sparkler.

Angry Dad reacted.

“Well that’s even worse!”

He was not to be mollified and held his ground until a further inspection of the offending bottle and a promise  that the cooler incognito would henceforth be opened away from curious eyes to avoid the appearance of evil.

Whenever I drink a Sparkler, I feel the need to yakkity yak that story to some available listener. Today, it was you. 

Unfortunately,
 I don’t get to enjoy the pleasure all that often.

 For nearly two decades, I didn’t enjoy it at all.

Growing families have a way of turning simple pleasures into silly indulgences, and we focused our budget on more practical things. Sparklers became less frequent and eventually stopped altogether when they were no longer available. 

We assumed that they went off the market, a victim of appearance of evil prohibition.

But a few years ago, the husband stumbled upon these things.

Now packaged in cans and called Spritzers,

they are my beloved Sparklers nonetheless.

See? Knudsen Farms.

I was elated and searched every local grocery store to find more. Unfortunately, this is Coca-Cola Country, and there wasn’t a Sparking Spritzer to be found. Instead, I have to rely on the husband to find them in his business travel and bring them home.

When he does, it’s almost like
getting a bunch of flowers.

Really.

I treasure my Sparklers

and dole them out just the way I did

all those years ago...

One a day until they’re gone.

But…

Last weekend, I opened the outside refrigerator, and I discovered...

That good man had ventured from market to market and purchased seven packs of Red Raspberry Sparkling Spritzers.

I was delighted.
I was also cautioned.

“Now, Deb-or-ah,” he said, “You have 28 Sparklers in here, and I don’t intend to buy more for a while. You have no one to blame but yourself if you glug them all down in one week  day.”

So I haven’t.
But this week’s simple pleasure was knowing that I could if I wanted to.

*****

Sharing this today with Dayle at

A Collection of This and That

for her simple pleasures party.

Please follow the link. You will not be sorry that you did.