Let me just pause the usual programming and use this space to profess my pure and undying love for...
....mango.

I purchased four of these scumptious fruits this past Monday and must exclaim that they are simply one of the most delicious things I've ever had the pleasure to consume. For me, mangos reside at the highest rung of the yummy tastes scale: a perfect 10, the "I can't even bother to sit down to eat this because it just tastes so GooooooooD!" level, joined by the very best fatty tuna sashimi (ok it tastes better than it sounds for you sushi virgins still out there... the good stuff is melt in your mouth fish butter, I swear), and Macinaw Island Fudge. This level is followed very closely by the level that contains really great burritos (real cheese and avocados required), real German brats (w/mustard and sauerkraut) and Grandma's oatmeal & raisin cookies (for which I so lack self-control that I had to get help with the last batch before I made myself ill! Cookies probably shouldn't be breakfast, lunch AND dinner... just two of the three, right Dad!?). The next level is any dinner cooked by mom. ;) I can't wait to go home this summer!!

Back to the mangos-it took me one poor mango to figure out how to cut them without demolishing them into a sweet, yellow puddle but now I'm eating them the way I imagine the natives of some sunny, palm-tree studded island might: hacking peices off with a knife then alternatively slurping them off the knife or out of the skins, over the sink to catch the juice dripping off my elbows... with no pride (or apartmentmates) to keep me from licking my fingers (although I do stop at licking the cutting board).

I recommend you track a real mango down as soon as possible so you too can share this beautiful experience. Seriously, it is worth it.

yeah, it is rainy season here- so I'm finding my sun elsewhere. so there.