Pineapples

I kinda have a thing for pineapples. Mostly ever since we came home from family vacation with a pineapple and I forgot it in the beer fridge for two weeks and then opened the fridge and smelled the heavenly aroma. Best pineapple of my life.

I always thought they were a real pain. I don't know where I got this notion. They are no more difficult to prepare than a cabbage. I even got lucky at the thrift store and got an Oxo pineapple corer, not really thinking about the fact that I wasn't in the habit of buying pineapples in the first place. Or that they were expensive, and we were broke and that I routinely chanted "Put the mango dollar in Fred (our Fred Flintstone bank)!!" when mrguy would buy a mango. Who was *I* to chant when I was spending dollars myself on pineapples and pineapple tools?

We're in our pineapple years, now. I will buy and eat the occasional pineapple. 

Adding to my pineapple interest, five or so years ago I was watching an episode of "Who Do You Think You Are (UK)?" when a subject, on air announcer of the Chelsea Flower Show, was told about an ancestor of hers who grew pineapples in a greenhouse in England. This was during the Georgian era, and the ancestor would *rent* pineapples to people for use on fancy occasions. Fascinating! I didn't spend a lot of time thinking about them as an ornament in architecture,  furniture and decorative items, but once you see it you can't unsee it. A really great article about the glory days of pineapple can be found here.

My further interest in the pineapple comes from, of course, a genealogical connection. I have been trying to trace my ancestry back one generation further than my 5th great grandmother, whose last name was Touchy/Touchi/Touche. The only person I can find who is even a possible candidate is a guy named Ferdinand Christian Touchy. He was a farmer and author, and even descendants who lived in the early 1900s weren't able to figure out who he was or where he came from. He wrote under dozens of pseudonyms, which really doesn't help very much, but made him a little more fascinating. One of his books, written in 1801, purports to instruct ordinary people how they can raise fancy fruits and veg in a portable greenhouse (I think), even in winter (I also think). His pseudonyms boil down to variations on these names:

Anton, Karl Friedrich

Baer, C. F. 1736-1808

Blotz, J.F. 1736-1808

Claß, D. F. 1736-1808

Dietrich, Christian Heinrich 1736-1808

Düchänie 1736-1808

G., C. B. M., 1736-1808

Gaschütz, G. 1736-1808

Gaudich, C.F. 1736-1808

Goetz, Johann Friedrich 1736-1808

Meißner, C. H. 1736-1808

Tiessen, Christian 1736-1808

Touchy, F. C. (Ferdinand Christian)

W., C. F. 1736-1808

So when I see a pineapple, I often think of this family mystery. Nobody in my family cares about this, and that's ok. I can't really move the needle on what my family cares about. I think it's fascinating, but the thing about genealogy is that if you are into it, it lets everybody else think that they don't need to know about it because we're all going to live forever and you can just ask. Right?

Anyhoo, two days ago I saw a pickup truck full of pineapples on the way to work. A gigantic pile of loose pineapples in an old truck. Nothing to protect them. All of them bearing a hang tag saying "SWEET" in bold red type. I snapped this photo at a stoplight. Instead of turning right, in the direction of a famous tiki restaurant and bar, it turned away from the bay and into the hills.

I have so many questions.