Red Pummelo

As I walked through the Wegman’s produce department the last time I went grocery shopping something caught my eye. A bin of what appeared to be oversized grapefruit sat among the other citrus fruits. A sticker informed me that they were red pummelos. Since I work with plants I am a sucker for unique fruits and plant products. I knew I had to buy one. Sure they cost $2.99 each, but if I didn’t get one now I would always wonder what red pummelo tastes like.

I picked one up. And it was seriously heavy. It was the size of a cantaloupe, though it seemed to weigh more (I later learned that the heavier the pummelo the better it tastes).

Tonight I posed for a portrait with my red pummelo.

A citrus fruit of unusual size.

Here is a lineup of household items that give some perspective to this defensive tackle-sized hesperidium.

A baseball, film canister, red pummelo, and gallon of milk.

Since the pummelo looked like a grapefruit I decided to eat it in that manner. I sliced it in half and used a spoon to remove the endocarp. The taste was exceptionally good. While strong hints of grapefruit flavor were present, the bitterness usually associated with grapefruit was not. Instead a light, sweet sugary flavor predominated. Based upon the taste of this fruit, if pummelos were not so expensive I would purchase them frequently.

A sliced and cansumed pummelo (it makes the full-sized dinner plate look small).

After eating the fruit I decided to look it up to find out more information about it. It turns out pummelo is Citrus maxima, and that red pummelo is a cultivar of that species. The fruit is high in potassium and vitamin C. Most people peel the fruit like an orange to eat it. Pummelos also go by many other common names. Citrus maxima is one of the parents of grapefruit (Jamaican sweet orange + Pummelo= Grapefruit) , and it is also one of the parents of tangelos (Tangerine + Pummelo = Tangelo). I wonder why grapefruit is more common than pummelo? It must be easier to produce and/or ship. I think the taste of pummelo is superior.

Red pummelo was just added to the list of things I like.

*Note: The image preview for this video is a terrible selection. It totally ruins the comedic effect of the surprise ending. You should see a picture of the little girl just looking at the camera.

Appetite for Destruction

At State College E-Free Church the current sermon series is a chapter-by-chapter look at the book of John. In the past few weeks hunger and thirst have been discussed. I’ve been thinking about hunger and thirst lately (hopefully this post isn’t too disjointed, there are many ideas bouncing around in my head right now).

A major part of life is seeking satiation. First of needs, then of wants. People have all sorts of appetites. Some struggle to get enough literal food (something many of us in the US have a heard time identifying with). When food is plentiful the appetite is diverted to other things. Things like money, luxuries, toys, fame, respect, sex, excitement, meaning, family, entertainment, and so on.

Humans have a collection of appetites, some noble and some not. In an unchecked setting I suspect the less noble appetites are usually stronger than the noble ones. We all have an appetite for destruction.

This is where I think it is interesting to think about satiation. To an onlooker Christianity may appear to be full of rules and regulations. Yet I see many of the perceived rules and regulations as common sense. When a Believer spends time reflecting on the Gospel and reading scripture the result is the development and filling of a noble appetite. And this makes other appetites pale. In many cases the less noble appetites are revealed to be worthless or harmful, so they become less enticing.

So rules and regulations do not exist to make life more difficult or less fun. They point to the most fulfilled life, to the healthiest life. The goal is to cultivate a healthy appetite.

When it comes to food we learn this skill. As children most of us have an affinity for foods high in sugar (and probably foods high in fat too). Initially parents oversee the diets of children, some more strictly than others. Hopefully at some point we mature in our diet. Even though we could, we do not eat exclusively desserts  (maybe because we know it’s a bad idea in theory, maybe because we tried it and felt lousy). Once we start to eat a healthy diet much of the junk food loses its appeal.

My prayer lately has been something along these lines: Lord, teach me to desire the things that I should desire. Remind me of the Gospel. Help me to see things for what they are and to appreciate true value.

Starving myself is not a good way to begin making healthy food choices. As my appetite develops, suddenly everything begins to look good (and by good I mean good to eat). If I’ve skipped two meals turning down junk food that suddenly presents itself will be much more difficult than if I’ve consumed a reasonable meal or two. In the same way, if I fail to reflect on the Gospel and do a poor job cultivating the right appetites I will be more likely to make stupid decisions when faced with lesser appetites.

Food for thought.

Is the Humble Bee Population Declining?

Someone recently directed me to the Cyanide and Happiness web comic. I think this post is rather funny:

Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

Reflections on the 2009 World Series

It turns out my head knows more about baseball than my heart. The cold, calculating part of me picked the Yankees to win the series in 6 games. The optimistic, dare I say emotional, me picked the Phillies in 5 games.

The Yankees did not blow the Phillies out in this series. For this six game stretch they happened to be the better team. They came up with big hits, got some timely pitching, and took advantage of some mistakes the Phillies made.

Chase Utley entered the baseball record book by slugging five home runs during the series, which tied the MLB mark set by Reggie Jackson. Here is something interesting as well. Chase played in 156 games during the regular season, amassing 571 at bats. During that time he grounded into only 5 double plays. In the 6 World Series games he had 21 at bats and grounded into 2 double plays. Sometimes  when you’re hitting the ball well a hard groundball finds an infielder and turns into two outs.

Ryan Howard also entered the books with a shiny new record of his own. He struck out 13 times during the World Series, which bested the previous MLB record of 12. Ryan looked lost at the plate, which was a sudden and unfortunate turn of events for the NLCS MVP.

After a team loses members of the media, fans, and management attempt to place blame on someone (it might be one person or many people). I do not place the blame for this series loss on any one player. I prefer to look at it as the Yankees seizing the win, rather than the Phillies giving it away. Here is my defense of some of the players/people/things I have heard blamed:

Ryan Howard: Had a better series than his Yankee counterpart, Mark Tiexeira. Sure he struggled, but credit must be given to the pitchers who shut him down. Also, his defensive mistake that cost the Phillies a run occurred in a game they won anyway, so harping on that is pointless.

Brad Lidge: Brad pitched one fateful inning and gave up three runs, sealing the Phillies doom in Game 4. What is lost is that he started the inning strong, getting the first two hitters. Johnny Damon fouled off numerous pitches (including a two strike pitch that came within the smallest fraction of a second/inch of being a foul tip K for the third out) before lining a single. The steal of second and third on the same pitch was due to a defensive lapse (I’d like to know what the Phillies were doing playing a shift in that situation). Once Damon was on third Lidge could not use his slider in the dirt, leaving him in an exposed situation against A-Rod. Lidge did not lose the game. It was good hitting by Damon, bad defense + smart baserunning, and a good at bat by A-Rod that did in the Phillies.

Cole Hamels: This is the toughest defense for me to make, because Cole is the Phillie I am most frustrated with after this season. He struggled all year long. His poor start in Game 3 after being staked to a lead really turned the momentum of the series to New York. The thing that is aggravating is that he loses his composure on the mound so easily. A few non-strike calls on borderline pitches, a defensive error, of a weak hit and suddenly he turns into a lefthanded Adam Eaton (read: self destructs and begins surrendering walks and hits at an alarming rate). But one bad start did not cost the Phillies the series.

Charlie Manuel: Charlie made some moves I disagreed with during the series, but they had a basis. He did not make any serious mistakes in strategy or cost the Phillies a game through moves.

So where should the blame fall? The Yankees played well and deserve credit for wining the series. The Phillies fell short because other the starters not named Cliff Lee did not pitch consistently, the bullpen had some ill-timed meltdowns, the top of the line-up struggled, the clean-up hitter struggled, defensive lapses were costly, the stupid DH rule was a major factor in NY, and Ryan Howard’s beard.

Congratulations to the Yankees, the best team 200 million dollars can buy. Hopefully we meet again next year.

In closing, I heard some faux Phillies fans on campus this morning bashing the team. They were blaming certain players for the loss (in vulgar and violent terms), demeaning the Yankees (in vulgar terms), and sounding terribly ignorant about baseball (in every word that was spoken). Their asinine commentary took place near me, and as I listened to it I realized that to some people they are what “Phillies fans” look like. And that made me sadder than the World Series loss.

Election Day: The Dog Ate My Homework

Today is Election Day. Here in State College there is a heated race for district attorney that has been in the news. The school board positions up for grabs are also something of interest. As I rode my bike home from campus I briefly entertained the idea of stopping by the polls, but I decided against it.

I have no opinions on the candidates in this election. I should have done some research, but I did not. Bad job on my part. Right now I am armed only with the talking points from the local newspaper and local blogs, which makes me far from well-informed. With that in mind I decided not to vote.

The advertising campaigns targeted toward increasing voter turnout bother me. Not because I feel voting is worthless, but because the campaigns deliver this message: You Vote = Good Job.

And that is not true. The people who should be commended for voting are the people who know what the candidates they vote for and against stand for. Every vote should have a basis (a basis more developed than a political party, number of lawn signs, or a recognizable name). Of course this means voting takes some work, and that is why it is commendable.

Last year during the Presidential election I was reminded of tee-ball when I saw voter recruiting. You see, at the tee-ball level everyone plays the game to have fun. Every participant is a winner. As you get older you graduate from tee-ball to baseball and the competitiveness increases over time. Suddenly showing up to play without practicing will not cut it anymore. Breaking the rules isn’t cute or adorable, you should know better. Frequent mistakes are not tolerated. And not everyone is a winner. It takes skill, work, and determination to play baseball.

Voting should be like baseball, not like tee-ball.By the time people can vote in political elections they should have graduated from tee-ball.

Good voting requires collecting and processing valid information before the election, then taking the time to go to the polls. It’s not walking in the door and mindlessly casting a ballot to feel good about yourself. If you vote out of ignorance you have not fulfilled your civic duty, abstaining would have been more responsible.