Caught in a Jam

 

Recently, as I was scrolling through photos, there was one that brought back a very vivid memory, the story of which, goes back five years ago, to a time when I dared not tell it. I looked at it and wondered if, with time gone by, could I tell it now?

 

We were visiting Julene and family in Indonesia in a remote place where Chris was flying a float plane. She had frozen mango from their mango tree and asked if I'd mind cooking some jam with it. It seemed like the big part of the work was done. Since the fruit was peeled and sliced, all I had to do was give it a quick whirl in the blender to cook it. 

 

Suddenly, about half way through, as I'm pouring pureed fruit into a bowl I see something that does not belong. Truth be told, I can't even explain the horror that I felt as I saw a two to three inch reptile-like tail float amongst the beautiful yellow puree. What happened and how it happened . . . I don't know.

 

Geckos come into the house, they scoot up walls, across the ceilings, quickly hide behind furniture and may be found squished in door jambs. In the kitchen, they  hide in cupboards, sometimes scurrying into an open pot. The only thing that I can think is that there was one in the bottom of the blender hiding under the blades when I turned it on or that it jumped into the blender while I was not looking. Okay?

 

So what to do. What would you do? There was too much to throw out and too little to start again. This was Indonesia, after all . . . a place where neighbors sift through your trash for food. We all had a good laugh and I continued. Good thing any lizard parts were dark and easy to see as I tried to account for the whole body, sifting through the fruit, then cooking it - hard. I poured the sweet goodness into jars and sealed them. Organic jam with a twist.

 

And now that I have confessed, I almost  feel like Minnie Jackson with her chocolate pie.

 

 

PS . . . the photo of the gecko on the other side of the screen was taken in the evening using a flash.