Johnny's Tale

Today is National Tug-Of-War Tournament Day! Uuuuuuuh.... STORY TIME!

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The air was hot and only amplified by the river water dripping from the hair of the participants. This was the moment everyone had been waiting for. Everything other match was merely a warm up. Little Johnny smelled like potatoes from the sack race, and his older sister, Susan, was behind him and she still had red marks on her ankle from the three legged race. Behind Susan was his mother who had no noticeable stains, since she had only participated in the egg-spoon obstacle course. At the back was his dad with feet placed firmly into the ground and a face with a beard almost drenched in cherry syrup from the pie eating contest. He was the anchor. There to make sure the rope never pulled past where he stood. Johnny, Susan, and Mom would be doing most of the pulling.

Across a large puddle of mud that had been created not moments ago stood the opponents. The Trapper family. They had 5 people: Mr. and Mrs. Trapper, Mandie, Jason, and Riley. Mr. Trapper wasn't as big as Johnny's dad, so he wouldn't be as good of an anchor, but they still had extra manpower. Riley could usually be seen alongside Johnny all the time, as they loved each other's company, but today she was his arch nemesis. Looks were exchanged between all of the warriors as Johnny's puppy Max ran back and forth in the mud barking at either side, not knowing what was happening.

Finally, the starting firecracker's fuse ended. As soon as the pop was heard, the rope tightened to an extreme. The cords of the rope were audibly rearranging themselves according to the weight being put on either end. The ribbon in the middle of the rope moved to and fro over the muddy ground as it fluttered in the breeze. Johnny was pulling with all the might his small muscles could. He felt like his training with his mom's two-pound weights that he had been doing the day before really payed off. He heard his dad's feet scratching against the ground and his mom and sister pulling behind him.

His feet started slipping towards the puddle. Impossible! He had put all his effort into winning this year! But wait! He saw that people were readjusting their grip. Even he was guilty of taking such brief moments of respite from the constant burning of the rope. It turned into a game of endurance. He held his grip as tight as he could and yelled for his dad to move back so he could have more space away from the puddle. Slowly, his dad took steps backwards. He put all of his weight (plus a few cherry pies) into pulling what slack there as in the rope to their side. Soon, Johnny saw it. The perfect opening. Mr. Trapper's foot was angled uncomfortably, and he lifted it off the ground to readjust.

Johnny let out the loudest war cry he could possibly muster and pulled as hard as he could. His father joined in and gave the rope a large yank. Riley was pulled in, and soon Jason tripped over her and landed head first in the puddle. From there, it was cake Johnny turned with the rope still in hand and ran away from the puddle. The rest of his family joined him. They soon heard the satisfying splash of their enemies falling into the murky pool. The victory was celebrated with watermelon, hot dogs, and lemonade. Johnny would remember this day forever.

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Thanks for reading!
~Kyle

Peanut Butter Jelly Time

Today is Peanut Butter and Jelly Day!

I have been waiting for today for at least a week. Peanut Butter and Jelly is one of those combinations that completely changes your life forever. If you have not eaten a PB&J sandwich, I strongly urge you to make one today and savor it's flavor. There is just one rule for your first PB&J that you have to follow at all costs: Keep it simple!

White bread, Smooth Peanut Butter, and Grape Jelly are the ingredients you will use.

White bread: It is a simple yet time-tested bread and will not interfere with the flavours of the PB&J while still providing a very soft encasement for them

Smooth Peanut Butter: Doesn't really matter what brand, although I usually use Jiffy. You DO want smooth, though because it's a risk. For your first PB&J we want safety. Go smooth for a no-crunch, all-flavour sandwich.

Grape Jelly: This is where things get specific. You will need Welch's Grape Jelly. They are the masters of grape, so it would simply be foolish to choose another. Why Grape? It's the starter flavour. It is your base camp on the PB&J mountain. The foundation to your PB&J pyramid. Also the cement. After your first PB&J, you can take risks and venture out into strawberry or apple or what-have-you, but you will want to eat grape first so that you know you can always go back to it. And you WILL come back to it. Why Welch's? I've already told you: They know grapes better than any other jelly. I've tried other brands and it just never is as good as Welch's is. In fact I'm going to look up Welch's and email them a "Thank you for being so awesome" note.

Thanks for reading!
~Kyle

[EDIT]
Holy Cow! Welch's has a twitter and they are also celebrating PB&J Day! That makes them 10 times more deserving to be the J to your PB!