Monday, February 23, 2009

Got any gum chum?


The first half minute or so is pleasurable; crunching on the hard white oblong whilst the spearmint juices flow and stop any heartburn dead in its tracks. Then it’s just a question of chewing until all flavour is gone and one is bored with playing Rosalind Russell as a hard boiled journo.


I’m VERY careful with the disposal, even – when out walking - removing the rubber ferule from my walking pole and placing the gum in the tiny hole. One wouldn’t want little Bambis gumming up their insides, although gumming a few ticks might prevent a few Lyme diseases.



When I got home I couldn’t reach it to remove it but my son said it would help with the suction. I’m reminded of those great lumps of pink bubble gum which we chewed as kids. The flavour was weird but pleasant and lasted for ages. Then our little mouths would work overtime until the pink glob was malleable enough to push our tongues through and blow a whacking great bubble which would then pop with a resounding crack. Best not think how we disposed of the gloopy residue.


Yesterday was sunny so we had lunch at the White Horse at Washford where last summer I had lunch with Zinnia Cyclamen and Shane (side-bar). I didn’t take photos as I have covered that area before and it would become déjà vu. Today is sunny again – I don’t have anything I MUST do, so may take my camera for a circular – up to the church, round and down to the harbour and back through the town. I haven’t had breakfast yet and – goody goody – I have a pain au chocolat as a treat.

17 comments:

Ms Scarlet said...

Sob... I could never blow bubbles, and then I dislocated my jaw. It's been a handicap ever since..
Sx

Deb said...

My mum didn't enforce many rules on me as kid - but one she did insist on was that I couldn't have any gum. I'm not sure if it was the sugar content or the fact that she was paranoid I'd choke, but I stuck to the rule pretty darn well...however, once I was grown up enough to rebel, I discovered the Bubble o' Bill (ice-cream of a cowboy with a gum nose)...suffice to say - it's still my favfourite treat!

Pat said...

Scarlet: that sounds painful. Do you have to yawn carefully?

Deb: your Mum had the right idea. Bubble o' Bill sound great - I'm feeling deprived. It brought back a photographic imagee of watching a gignormous amount of cotton wadding being hoisted at Lolly Mill(a Lancashire cotton mill) and I asked how much chewing gum would you have to swallow before you died. As much as that?

Barlinnie said...

Chewing gum is a dirty word in the Ba'Stard household. Ever since I took an emergency call from the wean, telling me that the pooch had a burst abscess in her ear and was in pain.

It turned out to be cherry bubblegum that had been placed in her ear by the young fella.

It was a dear £24 for a doggy haircut to have it removed.

Z said...

I didn't learn how to blow bubble gum until my children were old enough to teach me, as my mother considered it far too vulgar to be allowed. Chewing gum was only discouraged, not forbidden. I had a hard life.

Pat, I've just got a walking pole but I'm not sure what height to have it at. Can you advise?

kenju said...

I confess to being an inveterate gum chewer, but I am always careful to dispose of it in a tissue or piece of paper.

Ms Scarlet said...

Yes! Actually that's how it really became dislocated... because I yawned to wide.
Sx

Anonymous said...

When I was wee I wasn't allowed gum but my friends were. Sometimes I'd find a used piece stuck to a fence and I'd pick off any little stones or whatever and eat it. I was a repellent child. If I saw my daughters doing that today I would have a canary and three owlets and a court order hanging over me for washing their mouths out with industrial bleach.

The Preacherman said...

Bazooka Joe!!!! I chewed and bubble blew like a madman. Massive pink things were Bazooka Joe's with a little cartoon in each one.

Probably American?

I chew occasionally to reduce my ciggie intake. Down to maybe 20 max now from 40 a day.

I guarantee I'll stop one day ;-)

Pat said...

Jimmy: the little darlin'! I do hope you didn't have a vet bill as well:)

Z: good for you - a walking pole is a great asset. My son bought it for me and spent ages adjusting the length and fiddling with the hand strap until I pronounced it just right - like Goldilocks. So it's just trial and error.

Sam: you little tyke. If only one's kids knew what we used to get up to. Better not!

Manic: sounds like Deb's Bubble o Bill and I think that's Australian. I see you've changed your photo again. Good job I recognise your hand writing.

Mrs Pouncer said...

My dear old father used to recommend chewing gum as part of the recuperation after colorectal surgery. He believed that it in some way helped the bowel function return. This would've been in the 50s. I am sure we have all moved on. As have bowels, hopefully.

Anonymous said...

Ah, I've had a lifelong aversion to gum. Not really sure why.

When I taught I was constantly telling kids to spit it out. Realised that this was ingrained in me when asked stranger to spit out his gum on train to work first day in post-teaching career.

OldLady Of The Hills said...

I remember chewing a lot of gum as a young person....Juicy Fruit? Remember that one? I am going back to when the packaging was little fine stripes in green and purple and something else.....And Bubble Gum....INDEED....Double Bubble had a very distinctive flavor.
I shudder to think where and how we disposed of all those goop!
Because of Dental Horrors I haven't actually chewed any gum for maybe the last 40+ years...my dentist frightened me so badly.....OY! But I know he was right about all that sugar, I'm sorry to say.....!

OldLady Of The Hills said...

Oh, and I forgot to say...My OSCAR Post, is up! Not a lot of pictures because I had some horrid computer problems....Not with pictures...The Computer Itself!

Pat said...

Mrs P: y'see now I have a dilemma. Your dad would certainly know what he was talking about and it does stop my indigestion pangs but I don't want to ruin what's left of my teeth although it says sugar free. BTW you are a card:)

Miss D : I'd give a lot to have been on the train;)

Naomi; does it help that it is sugar free?
Computers - who'd have 'em. Firefox has just told me it's crashed but appears to be working normally. I'll be over later in the day to read the latest:)

neena maiya (guyana gyal) said...

I stopped chewing gum the night it HAULED OUT the filling from my tooth. I did not sleep all night.

Pat said...

GG: that frightens me.