Inuits

Have you ever seen a TV show in which a person can do remarkable things. Like remembering when Apollo 13 landed on the moon. It didn't, as we know from Tom Hanks's flight into outer space. Or enumerate all the digits of Pi. Interesting? Most certainly. But it all pales into insignificance by the cleverness of the Inuit. Don't address these people by the name Eskimo as it is an insult to them. Now, an Inuit once could distinguish 100 kinds of snow. In 1965 that was. Could be the beginning of Alzheimer but in 1996 the number sank to ten and nowadays they only can distinguish three kinds of snow. I agree, due to global warming there is less snow so a few kinds must have gone extinct. Still more kinds of snow than we know of but not as impressive as their knowledge of some 50 years ago. And it gets even less impressive when I tell you that I can distinguish more than 20 kinds of ice. Well, ice-cream to be precise but that's just nitpicking.

On my travels I passed through a little town, found out later that it was Yarrow. No me neither. As my supper was about 115 km away and I had developed quite an appetite, I scanned the area for a way to quiet my rumbling tummy. Of course there is the healthy alternative to turn to and yes I found one close by. But then, an overdose of vitamin cannot be good for any human being let alone me, I decided. And what a coincidence. On the other side of the road I found the perfect alternative in the shape of a moose. Not that I was about to sink my teeth into one, but a moose nonetheless. A mighty moose even, I would like to add. It also provided the perfect means to demonstrate the assertion I made

earlier. Let me take you through the process to prove my point. The first question asked is how many scoops one would like? I don't care much for scoops but what I do care about is dripping ice cream that finds its way via my wrist and arm into my shirtsleeve. I thus ordered a cup of the size that I thought would suite me right. 'Three scoops it was then' the girl replied. Well, fill it up I said and we'll see how many scoops it takes. I picked the flavors 'black raspberry  cheese cake', 'coffee crunch', and 'caramel pecan fudge'.  'One or two spoons', the lady asked. A silly question I thought as one should never share ones ice-cream. It's bad enough that the ice-caps are melting so you should enjoy your ice-cream while you can. Having said that, miss P. would be the exception to the rule of course. After I had carefully spooned the contents of the cup into my mouth and it had found its way to my taste-buds, I was happy to declare that the ice-cream tasted exactly as it read on the label. This came as a great relief to the lady behind the counter I noticed. The labels could stay in place.

There you have it, distinguishing three different kinds of ice-cream put me level with the Inuit of present times I quickly figured out. I was not half bad at all. And that's not all. I can assure you that I can also distinguish orange, banana and pine apple. Howztat? 

While the Inuit are giving in on their discernment, I am working hard to improve mine. It is a rotten job I know but someone has to do it...