How sweet it is

Not gonna bore you for too long tonight, but thanks to the temptation that is BV, I had to drop a quick note about everyone's favorite vegetable.

When I was accepted to college, and in return accepted my acceptance, and we all finally agreed that I might actually attend, I was sent a box full of goodies to welcome me to the Whitman Experience. Inside, there were booklets about campus life. There was a t-shirt. There was a static-cling window sticker. And, I'm not joking here, there were two Walla Walla Sweet onions.

You see, Whitman is in Washington. But not just anywhere in Washington, but in Walla Walla, the town so nice they named it twice.

Walla Walla has many appealing features. The Washington State Pen, Jacobi's, Lakum Duckum. But most appealing is what's around the town; the giant asparagus and wheat fields. However, the most famous of Walla Walla's features is the onion. The Sweet Onion.

Did you know that not all Walla Walla Sweets are actually Walla Walla Sweets? It's true. The real Walla Walla Sweet onions are born and raised within a relatively small 1200 acre area in the Walla Walla Valley in Washington. I remember while in college hearing a brewing controversy surrounding true Walla Walla Sweet onion growers preparing to sue the faux-sweet growers. The difference, it turns out, is in the soil. The mixture of the specialized seeds developed by the growers, and the soil of the Walla Walla Valley, creates these tasty onions, which cause my wife to wretch whenever I eat them.

Although it may not be kosher to call all onions Walla Walla Sweets, it is kosher to call Whitman's Ultimate frisbee team by that name (Note, if you look in the photo gallery at the old Sweets photos, the 1996 picture at the top is shot in front of the Phi House. Yours in the Bond, 1658). The Sweets weren't quite a formal arrangement when I got to Whitman, and nothing I did helped them to become a formal arrangement. However, by the time I'd left, the Sweets had established themselves as a regional ultimate powerhouse. Must've been the steady supply of onions.

This whole useless diatribe was inspired by tonight's foray to Burgerville. I'd planned on going to Taco Del Mar, but they closed earlier than I'd expected. So, to Burgerville for foods completely off my diet. And what did I see on the menu? The Walla Walla Sweet Onion Rings, available for only a short time each year.

Now, I know Walla Walla Sweets. Strangely, the best I've ever had came in that box from Whitman; all the rest have been a bit disappointing. Not sure whether it's the bitterness of nostalgia, or whether I'm just not getting true sweets. But, anyway, every year I have to get the Sweet Onion Rings at least (and usually only) once. And each year, they are a bit more disappointing.

Well played, BV. See you again in 2005.

Here's your links for the day:

My kind of people...

Does Paul Mitchell make something for this?

And speaking of strange toppers...

As a warning, I may make it in to bore you some more tomorrow, but I'm outta town this weekend, so you'll just have to lose interest in me on your own time. But, either way,

Catch ya later.