nonpareils

(image taken from www.candywarehouse.com)

When I was little, going to the candy store was the best. Oh, every so often my friend Leah and I would walk down to the local Super America and buy ourselves some Lemonheads, Jawbreakers, or Laughy Taffy... But I'm talking about the REAL candy store. The kind of candy store where you have to have someone get the candy for you. Where it's piled high in glass cases, just asking to be eaten. Going to the REAL candy store (Buddy Squirrel to be exact) was one of the best trips (next to going to the pool) that I had as a little kid.

Nonpareils. That's all I have to say. Best candy known to man. Michigan cherries are a close second.

To be honest with you, I didn't even know the name of the candy I adored when I was a kid - not until today at least. I was walking over to the printer today at work, when lo and behold, there on one of the tables, was a bowl of these Smooth & Milky Nonpareil Mint Kisses. I had no idea that was even their name. I just knew that they were one of my favorite indulgences as a kid, and I hadn't had one in ages. I picked up a pink one, popped it into my mouth, and about a minute after swallowing it, remembered why it had been so long since I had one.

I have this memory. It's not exact, and I can't even tell you how old I was, but I got a bag of these candies. And I think I devoured the whole thing within like, a half an hour. Bad news to say the least. I remember feeling so sick afterwards, and that's how it felt today when I popped that candy in my mouth. I only had to have one piece of it, and a flood of memories came back about when I was little - but then, the memory of getting really sick came back, and I couldn't even look at them afterwards.

I asked a whole mess of people in my department what the name of my candy was because I knew I wanted to write a blog about it. I know, kind of lame. But there's a reason why I wanted to write about it. I thought about that sickening feeling all day, and began to think about how often we do that in life - whether it be with relationships, entertainment, experiences, whatever... How often we come to love something SOOOOO much, that we have to devour it - soak in every little bit of it that we can, until we can no longer stand up straight, and feel as though we'll hurl it up any second. I know that there are so many things - and I'm not talking about just candy - that I do this with. I will become so fascinated, so fixated on something that I end up taking in too much of it, and it ends up being the worst thing for me.

Does anyone else do this? Or am I just that nutso that I get super passionate about something, almost to a fault? I think the idea of moderation is interesting. So often, I think of it only in regards to bodily consumption - alcohol, comfort food (nonpareils), etc. I don't often think about the emotional aspect of moderation. However, I'm starting think everything in life is meant in moderation. However, I don't know what this would look like... For someone who gets so passionate about something, so excited, so enthralled, it's hard to imagine toning it down, and taking it in with great ease and moderation.

Hmm... I don't really have a closing thought. I wish I had a nice bow to put on it. They're just my thoughts. Incomplete, and still in the works.

Aren't they always?