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By wistful Date: 2004 Aug 03 Comment on this Work [[2004.08.03.11.31.25846]] |
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I have a friend who loves honey but she's allergic to it. I remember the first time she tried it It's so sweet!, she cried. And then went on to describe the complexity of flavors that lay behind that sweetness from the flowers that sourced it. All this, while her lips swelled. The next time I saw her, she ruefully admitted that she she couldn't resist: She tried to eat some honey again. She thought maybe it was a bad batch she tried the first time. But how could this amber liquid be bad? It certainly tasted good. So, while at a tea party, she spread a thin layer on a scone. And thoroughly enjoyed the treat until her face started itching and the welts formed. So she stayed away from it for some months Until she walked through a store and came across a woman selling a new honey Made from a small alpine flower Very rare, and very rich. She saw the color was lighter, and it flowed more thickly than the honey she'd tried before. Maybe this time, it will be okay, she told herself. It's different, this time. And it did seem different. She ate a little, and though she had a reaction, it was small. And the honey was SOOO good. So she started eating it more often, though always cautiously. And once she was convinced that she could handle the minor itching it caused, She put a big dollop in her morning tea, And drank it down, reveling in the hot smooth sweet flow. She managed to call the ambulance before her tongue blocked her breathing passages. And when friends came to visit her at the hospital afterwards, she begged us all to remind her, on a regular basis, about how honey affected her. And why she should never try it again, no matter how tempting. |