yogurt parfait

we hopped in the car right after work on friday night.  most people my age were heading for south padre the easy way.  the way college kids go.  with their friends.  on a plane.  a smallish suitcase holding very important spring break items like a bikini, sunglasses and a change of clothes.  we began to drive south.  no real destination in mind.  we just knew that when we got to las cruces we would have to make a choice.  right or left?  california or texas?  most people in my shoes would have taken the right.  spring break on the beach.  but we were not most people.  and we'd never seen texas.  we spent spring break together.  it was one of our weeks after the divorce.  we drove all night and reached san antonio sometime in the am.   he drove all night long to get us there.  he napped and then rallied just like he was in his twenties again.  we did all the tourist type things.  we enjoyed the river walk.  we had margaritas and mexican food.  we shopped at the alamo.  and all the while he listened to me on repeat, "there's no basement at the alamo" (circa: pee wee's big adventure).  why we couldn't leave well enough alone i will never know.  san antonio is pretty amazing.  but the ocean was calling.  so we continued to drive until we reached the gulf coast and found ourselves smack dab in corpus christi.  oh yeah!  oil refineries, jellyfish, and some crazy sea gulls waiting to take your head off.  fun times.  we talked a couple of times about heading over to south padre.  just like all the other spring breakers.  but he was a little funny with bridges, toll roads and paying to get in anywhere.  and although we travelled for a million hours to a place we'd never seen.  a place we will never see again.  we chose not to be like the other spring breakers.  we bunked at an interesting little hole in the wall with a fancy restaurant.  i guess he felt like we could splurge on the food since the accommodations were so sketch.  we sat down to breakfast and i was be-dazzled like only one could be in texas.  i ordered the yogurt parfait.  as it called out to me from the menu, i imagined that it was the perfect blend of all those things that mostly alluded me.  yogurt, granola, and fruit.

this morning i sat down to breakfast with my family.  i spent the better part of an hour making granola.  we were scheduled to eat yogurt parfait.  that's what i had written out on the menu schedule.  do not mess with my menu schedule.  i let the boys make their own.  they mostly stayed away from the granola.  and rightly so.  it was burnt.  i dipped my spoon in my special glass and was whisked right back to that fancy restaurant on the coast.  our memories do show up at the most unexpected times.  i hadn't thought of yogurt parfait ever.  not since that morning in corpus christi.  it still alludes me.  both corpus christi and mixtures of fruit and yogurt.  but the memory of my dad wasn't half bad.