O Lemon Meringue Pie, I yearn for your flavor;
‘Tis always a delight, ’tis wondrous to savor;
I wait a whole year for your taste.

Your tart lemon filling, such a rich golden hue;
The meringue peaks and valleys, delightful to view;
Until April each year I must wait.

The tart taste of lemons, an aroma so fine;
A crisp golden shell, so complete and divine;
I get a year older with haste.

Once such a prize, with a friend I did stake;
Play chess; to the winner, a present we’d make.
We’d both win in the end, it was fate.

Our wives caught on; compared notes so they did;
“Lost again? Tisk tisk, who’re you trying to kid?”
Now rationed you are by my Mate.

Here is the story of Judy’s wonderful lemon meringue pie. You see I once was a bachelor. Oh yes, I know it seems like a century ago, but time passes fast when you are having fun, and to me it seems like only a few weeks ago. My sisters and sisters-in-law are laughing now, it has been a wonderful forty four years.

I digress! Once when I was a young man this wonderful lady would bake me a pie to take back with me to my lonely railroad depots. I would think lovely thoughts of her all week long. Her father never complained to me, but he must have noticed the wonderful aroma of a lemon meringue pie or a cherry cream pie and then never even get a taste. Well of course I married that lovely young lady and over the years she has always made ‘the’ best lemon meringue pie, bar none.

Once a friend and I cooked up a cute little scheme to get more pie. We played correspondence chess. That is where you write the moves on a piece of paper and pass the game back and fourth each day at work. It would take a couple weeks to play a full game. To make it interesting we would bet a slice of our wives’ lemon meringue pie. Of course we were careful to take turns loosing so one wife didn’t get overburdened. You realize that even the looser got some pie also. In fact the looser stood to get at least a couple slices of pie and the winner would only get one. But of course the looser needed to have his ego assuaged more than the winner.

As fate would have it the gal’s started comparing notes and we got busted. I think that is about when the rationing started happening. Sure it was more than once a year, but as likely as not the pie was for the Church bazaar. (So that is how Judy’s Dad, Pat, must have felt.) I would have to stand in line to buy a slice of my own pie. To top that off Judy’s pies always attracted a lot of attention and if I didn’t get there early enough the plate would be empty.

Now I must wait until my birthday each year for my Lemon Meringue Pie and for our anniversary each February for my Cherry Cream Pie. At least that way I look forward to getting older each year. It also helps me focus on that important date in February so I never forget our anniversary.

We are within ten miles of completing our winter tour loop today. We are parked at the Elks Lodge in Hollister, CA. This park is within a hundred yards of the active runway of a small town airport and an active glider and skydiving base. It is like having our own air show all weekend long. In addition there is a small air museum here and several war-birds are based here. Glen and the grand sons were with me today and we watched a North American AT-6 land then walked out and talked to the pilot and walked around the plane. Later we saw a P-51, Mustang land and taxi within a hundred feet of where we were walking. Later another Mustang and a Hawker Sea-Fury landed in close order. The museum has a pair of vintage Stearman Biplanes, a standard trainer in WWII Army Air Corps. One was home today the other landed in the late afternoon, and it was a beautiful sight to see it swoop down on the runway and land gently in the brisk breeze. I think I could have run alongside during its rollout. It must have used all of 50 feet of runway.

We close with love for all and hope your spring season is progressing as nicely as ours.

Gary and Judy

A pie so noteworthy is deserving of a moment of fame. There is a photo at www.dinsmore-enterprises.com/20090426.html