It was all about CANDY

When I was a kid it was all about CANDY. When was I going to get my next candy fix? How many pieces? What kind? Would my brother get more than me? Would he make it last longer and taunt me with it? Or, heaven forbid, would someone find my stash and steal some????

If I found a penny on the ground it never crossed my mind to save it in a little bank, though I had one for just that purpose. (I remember once when my little brother had a dime and I had a nickel and I unabashedly traded my nickel for his dime, telling him that the nickel was better because it was bigger. All's fair when CANDY's involved.) I just couldn't wait to walk (run) down to Westside Market in Springville and spend that little token on CANDY. I would pace back and forth before the candy shrine pondering how I would spend that penny...should I get a banana Kits, with FOUR little wrapped morsels inside the wrapper?

 ...or should I get a little penny sugar daddy that had an animal card inside and I could suck on that baby for at least an hour of caramel goodness?

 How about a roll of Smarties? or a Pixie Stick?

That decision could take almost half an hour, or until the old guy at the register got impatient and told me to make up my mind and get out. After all it was only a penny sale. I would make my choice and he'd put my little piece of candy into a teenie-tiny bag and I'd carefully fold the top down a couple of times like a little lunch bag and walk out, my mouth already watering for the first taste of refined, artificially flavored sugar.

If I were to tell you about a 25 cent purchase, which was akin to Christmas in July, it would take more than an hour. For me it wasn't about quality...no, it was about quantity. No 10 cent candy bars could be found in my little bag, although sometimes I'd get a large, and I mean GIANT, 5 cent Sugar Daddy because I could make that thing last F O R E V E R. (My mom, I think, hated to see it hanging out of my mouth for fear it would "pull the fillings right out of your teeth, Kristine!" I did lose at least one loose tooth to a Sugar Daddy.) I wanted as many pieces of candy in my bag as possible. Funny, I rarely bought any kind of chocolate.

I look back on those days with fond remembrance: The cold hard cash in my little hand. The feeling of anticipation as I skipped, yes skipped, to the store. The knowing looks, and wistful smiles, from the 'old people' sitting on their front porches. The mental weighing of each choice, ticking off each penny as it was spent. (There was no Candy Tax, thank heaven). The anticipation of eating it. Which one to eat first? Which to save for last? Which one would I think of trading? For it was inevitable that someone else would have made a choice I wished I'd made. Oh the decisions, the agonizing, wonderful, delicious decisions.

Then...it would be gone and I'd be waiting, waiting, waiting for the penny, nickel, dime to come my way again so I could do it all over. I think all the playing dress up, running in the irrigation water, climbing the cherry tree, playing with the dog, going to the library, and making boats from scraps of wood were things I did to fill the times BETWEEN the trips to the candy store. It's probably a good thing that there was lots of time BETWEEN.

Now...it's not so much about candy. I would rather buy a bag of mandarin oranges, or plastic container of blackberries at Costco for $4.99. I think it might average out to about 10 cents a berry.

TEN CENTS A BERRY!! and NO added sugar!!

Candy's cheaper and I could grow the berries in my yard with some work and patience.

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