Object Of Breathtaking Beauty

(Click for much bigger, your new desktop picture)

Pony Pal™/coworker Barbara recently went on a trip to my home state. Before she went, I requested a box of my favorite confection, prickly pear fruit candy. Just look at this gorgeous box design, the upper 4/5 of which hasn't changed since 1969! You don't have to go all the way to an Arizona airport to get it. It's expensive, but so good: a subtly flavored square jelly candy dusted in sugar, with a flavor almost like plum with a dash of lemon. Mmmm.

Prickly pear fruit really is good. I grew up in an area dominated by prickly pears. My mom made prickly pear jelly several times, and it was delicious. They can also be served simply skinned and chilled as a refreshing novelty side. My father even tried to make prickly pear wine once, and the result was... interesting, more like a cognac or sherry. Speaking of which, sometimes if it gets super hot when the prickly pears are ripe, whole flocks of birds will get totally drunk on the fermented fruit and crash comically into all the suburban windows and sliding glass doors. Funny!

The wonderful cartoon on the cactus candy box with its excellent hand-drawn lettering is signed by "McGinnis", an artist about whom I can find no information whatsoever. Pity, because that cute cactus with its Nancy-hair-like spines has a lot of potential: