Popcorn?

Popcorn is the perfect food. It is clean, simple, salty, and yummy. For whatever reason it cheers me. Maybe it's the little girl memories of sitting on my aunt's front porch in the tiny east Texas town of Linden in roomy rockers passing enormous bowls of white, freshly- popped corn. The rocking and chatting went on for hour upon relaxed hour when my family would go for a weekend or holiday visit from Houston. In fact, that was the sum total of activity for the entire visit! Sitting there just visiting. Not one more expectation beyond that. No one was patting an impatient foot just biding time until we could do something else. It wasn't something to endure politely as a bridge to the real reason we were there. The fellowship was reason enough. Grandmother, mom and dad, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles and cousins all together on a porch with no more entertainment than each other and my favorite hors d'oeuvre. Now why wouldn't the crunchy stuff throw me into a spontaneous happy place? The only time I eat popcorn is when I'm having fun. Movies-popcorn. Baseball games-popcorn. Parties-popcorn. Zoo-popcorn. Cheap carnival-popcorn. Car wash (yes! mine has it!)- popcorn. Popcorn is nothing but happy. That's what I want to be.