A Fresh Taste of History

Who remembers this?

This was my first introduction to pineapple. It was sweet and juicy, and oh-so-good. But as an adult, when I had my first bite of the non-syrup soaked freshly sliced yellow goodness, I decided the canned stuff just didn’t compare.

Pineapple is part of the bromeliaceae family, a species of plants with foliage that grows like a rosette shaped crown. In the case of a pineapple, the long spiked leaves are tightly woven and capable of storing water. Native to South America, it’s said to have first been found in Peru, Paraguay and parts of Brazil. Over time, the pineapple spread throughout South and Central America and eventually ended up in the West Indies.

There is a lot of conflicting, but interesting and fun, information about pineapple history.

Anana - Excellent Fruit!

Some credit Christopher Columbus with its introduction to Europe. It was a staple on sailing ships, because like the orange, it could prevent scurvy. Over time, it ended up in the West Indies, where it was celebrated and became known as anana.

I always thought pineapple came to the US by way of Hawaii, but apparently it was brought to New England on those same sailing ships that carried it to the West Indies – where George Washington grew them in his hothouse.

It was two-hundred years ago, January, 1813 – some say the 21^st, and some say the 11^th – that the pineapple made its way to Hawaii. It was brought and cultivated by Don Francisco de Paula y Marin, a Spanish interpreter and advisor to King Kamehameha. Don Francisco de Paula y Marin was an interesting man who is well worth researching.

Portrait by Louis-Jules Masselot (1815-1879)

Nearly a century after Don Francisco introduced the pineapple to Hawaii, another man came into the picture. James Drummond Dole established the first pineapple plantation in Wahiawa. Today, the name Dole is synonymous with the pineapple.

Pineapple’s Hawaiian name is halakahiki – foreign fruit.

Whichever day the pineapple arrived in Hawaii, Dole cultivated it into a dietary staple. And I’d like to think that it’s due to both Dole and Don Francisco that we can now enjoy one of Disneyland’s tastiest treats, the Dole Whip™!

Happy 200th Birthday to Hawaii's Halakahiki!

I love to collect odd bits of news, and in an amusing bit of coincidence, the polar bear at the Chicago Zoo is named Anana. I know this because he’s the bear that made news last week when the polar vortex rendered it too cold for even a polar bear. (I’m not sure why that was news since he’s obviously been acclimated to Chicago.) Do you think the powers-that-be at the zoo knew when they named him Anana, that they were naming a polar bear after a tropical fruit?

Have you ever had that scrumptious dessert known as a Dole Whip™?

Am I the only one who likes to read odd news?

Women Making an Impact in the Lives of Others

This post original appeared June 25, 2012, on Inkwell Inspirations where I am a regular contributor.

Strong women:

Leaders, dreamers, achievers, caregivers, helpers, encouragers, teachers, doers, prayers….

I love reading about strong women; women who have an impact throughout history, in current events, and in fiction. Listed above are just a few of the words we can use to describe strong women. One thing they each have above all else is heart, and one thing they all need to achieve their goals is faith.

One such woman made headlines just about a month ago for being a woman of strength, a dreamer and an achiever. Now she wants to be a teacher and encourager.

Mount Everest
courtesy of wikipedia

On May 19^th, 2012, Tamae Watanabe broke her own record as the oldest woman to ever climb Mount Everest. She originally set the record ten years prior – ten years where some other woman could have broken her record, and yet none did. Tamae Watanabe is seventy-three years old!

Tamae, who lives near the base of Mount Fuji in Japan, is a retired office worker who has spent years climbing mountains. Perhaps living so close to the largest mountain in Japan is part of what inspired her to climb. From Alaska, to Switzerland to Nepal, Tamae has climbed mountains all over the world.

Mount Fuji
courtesy of wikipedia

Seven years ago, at the age of sixty-six, three years after she initially set the record on Mount Everest, Tamae fell and broke her back. She was afraid she’d never climb again. Driven, she pushed forward and realized her dream.

For now, Tamae has no further plans to climb Everest. She does, however, intend to spread her enthusiasm and knowledge by teaching and encouraging young women of Japan who wish to also achieve their dream of climbing mountains.

While Tamae may be the oldest woman to climb Mount Everest, she is not the first. The first woman to successfully climb Mount Everest was Junko Tabei, in 1975, also of Japan. Junko was also only the thirty-ninth person to complete the climb.

Another woman making recent headlines is thirty-three-year-old Liu Yang of China. When Liu Yang was a young girl, she loved riding the bus so much that she wanted to be a bus conductor so she could ride every day. Later she decided to become a lawyer. But when members of her country’s army visited her school, Liu decided she wanted to become a pilot.

On June 16, 2012, Liu Yang became the first Chinese woman to be launched into space headed toward the Tiangong space lab where she and two male colleagues were to spend a week doing space experiments. She is only one of two women, and one of six people to have been considered for this space mission and China is only the third country to send a woman into space.

Learning about these two women, and other women like them – women who dare to follow their dreams, women who want to experience all life has to offer and to perhaps be an influence on other women, women who put their lives in danger for their beliefs – is inspirational to say the least.

But there are other women out there doing things right now, today, who aren’t in the headlines; women who are changing lives because of their faith and their calling – women who are giving of themselves to help others.

My friend, Amy Hauser, whom I wrote about here in early 2011, is leaving today for Haiti. She’s made several trips there since I first told you about her. Not because she wants attention or headlines, but because she wants to help those in need. Amy is a physical therapist and the first time she went to Haiti she lost her heart to the people who were hurt, devastated, hungry and grieving. Because her life’s mission is to help bring comfort and aid to those in need, and because she’s been blessed with the gift of healing hands, Amy has become involved with missions such as Hands of Light in Action and To Love A Child, Inc.

Then we have Christi Sleiman, daughter of our own Inky Dina Sleiman, who also has a heart for helping others. Christi says it best on her blog sitewhen she says, “I love helping people and making them smile.” Christi is getting ready for a mission-trip to the Philippines. Is Christi doing this for glory and accolades? No. She was called to this through faith, and she’s going with the heart and attitude to help minister to the poverty-stricken children of the Philippines.

God bless Amy, Christi, Dina who instilled her love for all of humanity into her daughter, and other women out there who have the courage to put themselves out there and make a difference in peoples’ lives.

You have to be physically strong to climb mountains and go into space. But you don't have to be physically strong to be a woman of strength and courage. Those who make the greatest impact are those who do so with spiritual strength, relying on their faith to help them make a lasting difference in people’s lives.

To read my 2011 post about Amy and her first Haiti trip, read here.

To read about Christi and her mission trip to the Philippines, read here.

Suzie Johnson’s debut novel, No Substitute, a contemporary inspirational novel, will be released by White Rose Press later this year. She is a member of ACFW, RWA, and is the cancer registrar at her local hospital. The mother of a wonderful young man, who makes her proud every day, Suzie lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and naughty little cat.  You can visit her at the following places: http://www.susandianejohnson.com

http://suzieswritingplace.blogspot.com 

www.facebook.com/suziejohnsonauthor

www.pinterest.com/suziejohnson1