Toasting Golden Mice

Toasting Golden Mice

Noel Laflin

1-6-20

I just opened a new box of sugar cubes in order to make another round of Irish Coffee - a winter staple around my house- and it reminded me of the time, back in grade school, when I constructed a miniature Mayan temple made of sugar cubes. We were studying South American history that year. I bet some of you recall similar projects.

I carefully glued the foundation row of sugar cubes to a two foot by two foot piece of plywood, and then glued one small cube to another in order to create the pyramid. When done, I spray painted it gold, and got a decent grade on the project - or so I like to think.

Not wanting to toss my masterpiece of several hundred golden sugar cubes, my dad dutifully stored it in the garage rafters.

Several years later, in need of something up there, I retrieved a two by two foot piece of plywood, which contained a few grains of sugar.

I'm picturing the mice that did in my project were in sore need of a dentist - and probably a rodent MD as well, in order to deal with the ingestion of all that paint.

Nowadays I put sugar cubes to better use - namely with strong black coffee, fine Irish whiskey, and heavy whipping cream.

And in that spirit I think I'll have another and proudly proclaim, ‘Cheers to the lost race of golden mice!’