The best things come in small packages

Spring has arrived, at least by the calendar.  Yesterday’s new snow was just playful flurries, dusting the road and recording the passing of some deer.  The ice is still thick on the lakes, though, thick enough for the snowmobiles to go roaring by.  Last year, ice-out was April 12, so open water will soon be here.  Until I can paddle again, I am walking a lot and am ready to start some upper body strength-building now that I have dug out my hand weights from the barn.

On my Jet Blue flight home the other day, I ordered tomato juice, something healthy to balance out some poor but delicious weekend food choices.  (Like the supper of tater tots smothered in cheese and bacon, with cake for dessert…and nothing else, unless you count the beer).  Anyway, with my tomato juice came a tiny packet of True Lime, the equivalent of a lime wedge in crystallized form.  Now there’s a condiment I had never met!

Almost any backpacker or paddler will tell you that’s exciting!  I’m sure none of us have ever deliberately taken any extra jelly or mayo or those lovely little packs of honey, but sometimes they just load you up with extra condiments and it’s like heaven.

Although this collecting of condiments can still continue, there is another option, one I just discovered.  It’s http://www.minimus.biz and it is wonderful.  Here you can find an amazing assortment of tiny packages, priced individually, which even ship for free if your order totals $20. My shopping cart is getting full…so far with orange marmalade, apricot preserves, honey, sunflower butter, sweet relish and mayonnaise (for my tuna), hot sauce, and even first aid items like anti-fungal and anti-bacterial ointments.