So today when I woke up it was cold. It was so cold that it had rained and the rain was actually frozen on the side of my truck as it hit the side panels late in the night time hours. So when I went outside I was not very happy because A. it was cold and B. I had to scrape my windows. What a way to start your day, right? So I am scraping my windows and I head to work mad about life at this point and how I will never understand my parents decision to raise their son here. Hey folks, ever heard of the desert?
So I get to work and I am having a great morning just pounding out updates and putting the finishing touches on my most recent site design. I was happy with my morning and that was when I received an email from our jolly HR lady, Catherine. She was excited to announce that the Secrest family (no, not Ryan’s) had brought buckeyes. They were in the kitchen and ready for us to chow down.
Now, I got an ounce of immediate excitement because I had never had a buckeye. I actually got so excited I began to do some research on Google and learn a few things about a buckeye as a nut itself. One, I was curious if I needed a cracker. Would I need a knife to split it two? Was it a dry nut? Who eats these? I wanted to know as much as I could about these delicious nuts before I made my way all the way over to the kitchen.
So I learn that Ohio State is famous for their mascot being the buckeye. (Hence the name the Ohio State Buckeyes.) These nuts are round in nature and generally smooth on the top. They have a powerful taste and squirrels do not enjoy these nuts as much as they do other types.
So I begin to get excited. I am not a huge fan of nuts. The main reason is that if I eat a nut at 3PM that nut is still lingering in my teeth until about 10:30PM. And it does not matter if you brush, floss, or use mouthwash because those nuts like to hang out. Continued flavor for later maybe?
So I get up and head to the kitchen. I turn the corner and there, on the counter all by itself, are two Christmas tins that have what I assume these fabulous and delicious nuts inside. My mouth began to water as I make my way over to the containers. I open, and before I begin to reach for a supposed nut, I glace to make sure I am enjoying this moment on my own. I was.
I open and turn my head to notice all of my research was worthless. I had spent precious minutes learning what a buckeye was only to be immediately disappointed in the fact it was no nut at all, it was a poser chocolate coated piece of nougat.
For all the time I had wasted getting excited I decided to give it a chance. I grabbed one, not as happy as I would have been had it been an actual nut, and took a sniff. It smelled fresh. That was a plus. I then take a small nibble. I mean, who wants to take a big bite of something they are unsure of what is inside? So I take a bite and am pleasantly surprised.
Now I enjoyed this so much I had to share it with some people. I told a few people about the quality of these fine candies on the way back to my desk. And a few moments later that is when I saw the man behind the master plan. Dan, the creator of these delicious treats, was standing there in front of me. I tell him how much I had enjoyed these snacks and he looks at me with an almost upset look about him.
The reasons why are still unknown but I have a feeling there could have been some contamination in these candies from a greater force than he. However, no matter how my evening turns out, I enjoyed the first one so much I went back a few hours later and grabbed a second candy. The ironic part of this, and through my image searches and Wikipedia articles, is that these candies look exactly like the nut itself. I guess this is where they get their name.
I waned a nut. I was granted a candy. And I could not be happier.
