P. O. G.

For those who don’t know, when I worked at Rancho Alegre, we had a juice machine that we the staff used to fill up pitchers for campers during the meals.

In the Juice Machine, there was usually:

Apple

Grape

One other thing

And……

POG!

What is this P.O.G. many of you might be wondering?!?!?!

Oh… nothing special… ONLY THE GREATEST JUICE EVER!

So, anyway, at some point in time while taking apart the shed, I had this sudden craving for P.O.G.

At first I don’t know where it came from, but after further reflection, I think I figured it out.

Remember Ranger Larry I mentioned back in December? Ya, well, every year at camp, (don’t worry, I’m coming back to POG) during staff development week, he made it a point during his oh so lovely OSHA talk, to scare the bejeezus out of EVERY member of camp!

HANTAVIRUS!!!

Hantavirus is a respiratory infection that occurs when you inhale the dust created by the movement of rodent fecal matter.

Or… “the crud that you kick up when your sweeping up all the mouse poopies in your cabin”. When this “Death Dust” reaches your lungs, they begin to bleed! AND YOU DROWN IN YOUR OWN BLOOD!!!

So, ya, as much of a laugh as us older staff have after hearing “the Hanta talk” year after year… the moment I saw a pile of what I thought might have been rodent crap… I immediately put on my mask, and proceeded with caution. The whole time I was taking the shed apart and more rat crap came from the other side of the wall, the more and more Ranger Larry’s voice played in my head!

It was like… I was haunted by the thought of hanta, I could just hear it over and over again like a broken record in the back of my mind with every panel I took off…

“Eagle… HANTA!”

“Hanta Eagle… Hanta!”

“The dust is creeping in!”

“The mask won’t protect you…”

“you’ll get Hantavirus Eagle”

“…Then… your lungs will fill with blood”

“Can’t you feel them burning inside already”

It was at this point, that I had the most intense craving for POG juice… and looking back on that moment, (because it was very strange for me at the time why I would have such a pregnant woman intense craving) I realized, that was usually about the same time in the speech when I would excuse myself and go hang out in the kitchen talking to Liz and/or Dana and drink POG so I could avoid as much of the OSHA talk as I could.

So… anyway, I had this intense craving with me throughout the rest of the day. I asked Jan if she had ever heard of POG, and her response…

“POG?! What the hell is that?”

“It’s a type of juice”

“Oh… huh… POG?”

“Ya… it’s a blend”

“Check Woolys, if they don’t have it, you’re out of luck”

Well, I went to the store with Paul after work, and!

They did NOT have it. I really didn’t think they would… but it was worth a shot.

I went on a juice buying frenzy though!

I never realized how much I really like juice! It’s like crazy! I feel so healthy.

So, anyway, I found an Orange & Passion fruit blend and then I found some Guava Nectar (which happen to be the 3 fruits involved in the creation of POG).

I bought the 2, and spent most of the rest of the afternoon finding just the right mixture, as it turns out, which is just way WAY to easy… pretty much, 1/3 of the Guava Nectar, and then the other 2/3rds you fill with the Orange & Passion fruit juice.

So there you have it, the way to make my favorite type of juice, and also, a valuable lesson in how not to fill your lungs with blood.