pineapple

while at the birthday party, i headed to the back yard to eat dinner. i wanted to quiet my quickly moving mind. inspired by my friend shrewed up, i mindfully ate some of my dinner. my mind raced too fast to make it through the whole meal. here, i describe in-depth the eating of a piece of pineapple.

the plastic fork pierces the piece of pineapple with hardly any resistance. a dull low sound softly echoes as the fork bottoms out on the chinette paper plate.

i lift the pineapple to my eyes to get a closer look. the fruit piece has the typical pineapple traits with curved inner and outer parts with two straight sides radiating from the imagined center. the piece has an off yellow color dulled by the red of the teriyaki sauce. looking at the outside curve edge, the end of the pineapple fibers are clearly visible. looking at the flat portion of the piece of fruit, the cross view of the pineapple shows the fiber running from the inside curve to the outside. looking at the corner of the outside edge, a small cleft can be seen. it has a depth and width of about a quarter of an inch at its widest point and thins from there about 3/8 of an inch from the fruit’s edge.

i lower the piece of pineapple under my nose. i take a deep breath to smell the piece of fruit. it had a nondescript smell. the sweet smell seemed completely absent leaving a faint smell of the teriyaki sauce.

i lower the piece of pineapple to my mouth, slide it between my lips and bite down on it. holding it with a light pressure, i pull out the fork and close my lips. the fruit does not have its normal taste, again masked, this time by both the teriyaki sauce and the meatballs that marinated with them. the meatball flavor tastes stronger than the pineapple flavor. running my tongue along the piece of fruit, i feel the soft, sinewy fibers. i slide the fruit to my back teeth and bite down, starting to split the medium length fibers. a sweet burst of pineapple taste migrates through my mouth, still not strong enough to take over the flavor of teriyaki and meatballs. I bring the piece of fruit back to my tongue and press it against the roof of my mouth. my tongue can feel some of the fibers running from the outside ring to the inside ring. who ever thinks of the tongue as a touch organ? i know i seldom do.

i hear the pitter patter of kids feed on the patio. each step creates a low soft clapping sound. i notice the smaller the kid, shortens the amount of time between each successive step. as quickly as the surprisingly quiet  kids came, they leave. i move the piece of pineapple back to my teeth. each additional bite releases a bit more of the sweet flavor.  each successive bite reduces the amount of mixed tasting flavor. i feel the fibers along the side of my tongue. with each additional bite, the fiber bundles become more and more separated. also, with each additional bite, the fibers themselves get shorter and shorter as the pineapple gets ground between the teeth. one final time, I move the now muhsed mass of pineapple to my tongue. by contracting the muscles in my tongue, i force the pile of food to the back of my tongue and then down the throat.

who ever knew that a single piece of pineapple held so many rewards!