Dare: Face Your Fears (Part Three)

I'm a pretty adventurous eater these days, so I couldn't really think of anything that would be a challenge (that I could afford). Once upon a time, though, I was a ridiculously picky eater. I didn't like much of anything, and I would spend hours sitting at the dinner table across from my father as he urged me to just swallow the bite I'd been holding in my mouth. One of the foods I really didn't like was peas, and I've never gotten over it. One of my usernames is even "ihatepeas." I stopped eating them as soon as I was old enough to pick and choose what I put on my plate.

So I ate peas for my dare. And not a small amount, either. Frankly, I did not enjoy myself. I had to drink a lot of iced tea to get the mushy taste out of my mouth.

I think you can tell by the look on my face that I wasn't converted to a love of peas. Here's my haiku to commemorate the event:

little balls of ick

bursting into mushy green

and I still hate them.

For the second part of my dare, I waited until the weekend of my cousin's wedding because I knew there would be a number of people I didn't know. At the rehearsal dinner, I happened to meet Sharalynn, a very nice young lady who is dating my other cousin. She lives in Philadelphia, and she sings opera. How cool is that? (The opera part. I have no idea what Philly is like.)

Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of us together. But I do have this haiku:

ambushed by grandmas,

she smiles and says she sings, but

we don't get to hear