I had pasta with spinach for lunch today. Not usually a cooked spinach fan, I was a first a bit hesitant; but I changed my mind when I saw that there was Italian sausage too. You probably don't care what I had for lunch - and I don't blame you. The spinach reminded me of someone though.
Like any kid born from the 30's through the late 70's Popeye the Sailor Man was an iconic part of my childhood. He never quite convinced me to eat cooked spinach though. I remember seeing it sitting there next to the mashed potatoes in the Luby's cafeteria line and wondering why they would put something so terrible next to something so wonderful. There was no chance that my parents were going to let me get a piece of pie further down by the money lady - so my mashed potatoes would be all I had to look forward to ... and they better not taste like spinach.
My favorite Popeye cartoons were when he and Brutus would try to out-fish, out-sail, out-fight each other. It was just as violent as Tom and Jerry (the original Itchy and Scratchy) but always seemed more fun. He was always defeated - but I never could help rooting for Tom a bit. With Popeye, it was always clear who the good guy was. The guy with the cool anchor tattoos that would morph into rockets when he ate his spinach.
My granddad looked just like Popeye. Short with huge forearms a pointed chin and a high pitched little chuckle. He worked for the railroads for most of his life starting out when he joined the army at 16 or 17 back in WWII. He was flat footed so he had to work stateside moving the supply trains all over. He never said much, but he never stopped working. Like Popeye, I'm convinced that he could have bench pressed me when I graduated from college. T and I used to play cards with he and grandma when we lived in Springfield. He never really tried to outwit the other team and would discard exactly what we needed without a second thought ... but he played his hand to win. Grandma would get mad at him for not letting her play the points in her hand, but they still won anyway.
Lunch was good today, maybe I'm finally learning to eat my spinach.
5 comments:
Don't get any ideas. I will not be fixing spinach anytime in the future! But I liked the trip down memory lane, from Popeye, and Tom and Jerry, to playing cards with Cecil and Helen!
I have always liked spinach and got a kick out of how derided it was in all entertainment besides Popeye.
Popeye is an icon, but more than that, he is reflective of his time.
- Popeye had a pipe (was it corncob?)
- Olive Oil was the damsel in distress and not the hero
- Popeye's spinach always came in can form
The spinach served at the school cafeteria always looked gross. I always left it on my plate.
Popeye is an awesome cartoon! Popeye and Olive Oil had a child didn't they? What was its name?
sweet pea :-)
Spinach looks gross, but it is not to bad.
Spinach artichoke dip anyone???
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