Squash, the Veg, the Sport, the Drink

Now, the city people may say I'm country, and the country people may say I'm city, but I say I just love to be outdoors. Now where I come from, squash means just one thing: my dad's back garden and the yellow vegetable that is larger than my arm. Maybe that is because he waits a really long time to pick it off the vine while it grows, or maybe it's because when the entire family of 7 is there for dinner, it'll take at least one of those to feed us all.  Squash also makes me think of summer and pools and being tan and grilling and some really nice sangria. Squash, it just makes me happy, and if it's cooked just right, makes my tummy happy too. I learned this from my friend Jess, but if you ever need to make squash a little bit more tasty, cook it in a bottle of salad dressing of your choice and make sure you keep it covered because it will spitter and spatter at you. (But it really is delicious) I digress:

Then I come here, and my world was shaken around, mixed up, and poured into a tall cool glass of lemonade for nice summer consumption. I learned about the sport Squash when I was staying at my friend Alex's back in 2006 in Winchester, England (Not it's sister city back in the States) and supposedly he was really good at it or something. I was really confused about it all and tried to understand why you would put yourself in a room with a crazy small weirdly shaped tennis racquet and call it a sport. I just didn't get it. Thank God I came back and went to college a few weeks later. Luckily at JMU we had our UREC (University Recreation Center) which had every type of gym equipment you could think of. It went from ping-pong areas, rock climbing, and most importantly the sauna and hot tub for after work outs. But what was most interesting, and probably the only reason I found it was because of a friend on my hall, there was an area that had Racquetball. Once I got my friend to get me to terms with Racquetball, then I could begin to grasp what was happening with Squash. They have almost the same rules, as least close enough for government work, and the racquets look similar. The only real differences are out of bounds, ball that is used and points that are earned. If two dudes want to be locked up in a glass room getting sweaty while hitting a small rubber ball around the room, who am I to stop them?

So that is 2 out of the 3 squashes in my life. Now, Squash the drink. Once again, I didn't know what this was until Summer 2006. And I had orange squash with some sparkling water. And it was so close to orange soda I wanted to say: "Who loves orange soda? Kel, loves orange soda! I do! I do! I do-oo!" But I stopped myself before I could be made a fool. Which I usually can't stop that from happening, even on a good day, with good behaviour. I just always happen to let something slip out of my mouth that is horrible and there is nothing I can do to fix it other than dig myself a deeper hole in hopes of getting out in China somewhere. Oh well! Squash, the drink, is absolutely amazing! It's like having juice that is just the right amount of juice to water ratio. You can mix it yourself in the way you like. You can have it be as clear as looking at water through rose tinted glasses or opaque as you like. AMAZING! Even better, there are so many flavours that it's just damn near impossible to find not a single one that fit your fancy. And you can mix it with any of the following options: tap water, sparkling water, lemonade (sprite), and even Strongbow. My personal favorite: Blackcurrent with Apple. It is just so yummy! And it's purple! I can almost call it PURPLE DRANK! But it's not Kool-aid, and I'm not awesome like Zo to be able to call it that.

So what have we learned this time? Squash isn't just a vegetable, but it also a sport and a drink. It comes in a variety of colours, flavours, and smells. Is there any clear way to distinguish between the 3? The only way I can figure it out is by the verb that is placed in front of it. (Examples: eat, play, drink, have, borrow, etc.) But for those Americans who didn't know about the other two Squashes, now you do. And for my family that says I party and never go to class, at least I'm getting cultured.  Have you noticed how I spelled certain things in this post? I'm learning the spelling of the Queen's English, maybe soon I'll pick up the accent! Here's hoping!

The Power of a Cuppa

I can't tell you how many times I've heard over the past few months, "I can't wait to get to ______ so I can have a cuppa." Now for those of you who have never spent significant time on this island, know anyone from this island, or maybe even never been served by a flight attendant who may have a bit of the accent, a "cuppa" is a cup of tea. This is something that is I would say the epitome of British culture, right up there with football and the pub. Think about it, who else conquers the world for tea?  Every place there has been a Union Jack, they have been able to  grow tea, even great tea. Let's look at two prime examples: India and China. Just think about it for a bit, are you done thinking (because we don't want anyone to get hurt)? Because you can see I'm onto something here. (Note: I would say the States, but we grew tabacco, not tea. So our cash crop killed a bunch of people rather than making them calm) Granted, this statement was taken from my Aunt Mary who pointed it out to me when I told her about how some of my friends say things like "hide the oil, the American's a-commin'" whenever I walk into a room. So all due credit goes to her.

Now a cuppa can be a cure for many many ills. I always thought of it as a way for me to help me get over being sick. Maybe to give that 5 minutes of complete and utter pleasant-ness in my chest when I get my bi-yearly bouts of bronchitis. My college roommate, Amy, always drank about 5 or 6 cups of tea a day right before she got sick. That was her cue that "the sick" was coming. I've had cups of tea for sore throats, hangovers, coughs, before singing in a musical, something relaxing to have during a movie or late at night, in my travel mug in the morning because I didn't drink coffee at the time or don't have a coffee machine available to me or a cafe on my way to class from my house... The list goes on.

But recently I've discovered something new: the cuppa to make you feel better emotionally. How many times has a flatmate knocked on my door asking me if I wanted a cup of tea? Or maybe one after a really hard class test? Or maybe it's time to leave the library and stop studying because you need a cup of tea... There is something about a nice warm cuppa that just completely calms you. It relaxes me from my Costello head to my short stubby toes. A friend of mine recently said that he remembers when he travelled to America and wasn't having the best time. He was there for 10 days, and it hit a point where he went and bought some Yorkshire tea and he just remembers every muscles in his body relaxing and felt like jell-o going onto the floor.

I come home, tell someone about my recent boy issues, bad day of classes, how I want to kill physics, or any over all drama, and 8 times out of 10 someone will say, "do you want a cup of tea?" When I did this at 448 Copper Beech Circle, before I could get through my story, Amy or Marie would have a corkscrew and a bottle of wine in their hands and asking me to get us some wine glasses from the second shelf in the cabinet to the left of the sink. "It's not a wine problem, it's a wine solution," as Amy would say. We'd talk it out, maybe out back on the porch in our stolen chairs... It always felt so good under that clear sky with all the stars. Now I feel I have that again, in a cup of tea with one sugar and a splash of milk.

The only thing that can outdo a perfect cup of tea, is a long walk out of doors. Whenever anything is wrong, go for a walk. There is plenty of countryside, air, and space to think! And considering it's never too horribly cold here, or horribly hot either, it's always pleasant. Take into account that I live spits distance away from Bute Park, might as well. Crappy day, give me a bit of blue sky or a sunset to chase, some green areas, pretty trees, maybe a body of water and no shin splints, and I'll come home feeling a bit better. And maybe I'll top it off with a nice cup of tea to make it one of the better afternoons I've had in a while. So whenever you're having a bad moment, day, week, etc... Just consider getting off your sorry butt, and take you pity party moving to either the kitchen for a cup of tea, outside for a walk, or heck... do both.