Things my Nana taught me to love

My Nana taught me to love many things, but these came to my mind today when I was eating a gorgeous juicy orange picked in Hemet.

1. Elephants
My Nana had about 25 elephant figurines throughout her house. I know this because when I stayed with her I had to dust - everything. I counted those elephants every time I was at her house just for something to do. I also had bubble baths, my hair braided, homemade refried beans with chunks of cheese melted in, homemade tortillas and many other wonderful experiences. I often asked her why she had so many elephants and sometimes she would say "Well, so-and-so got me one and I liked it so much that everyone else started giving them to me for birthdays and Christmas and now I have all these elephants, shrug." And if I asked why she liked elephants she would say "because their eyes look so sad."

2. Having the "nice" side of the sheet closest to me
She was helping me change my sheets, I must have been around 10, and I was putting the nice side up so it would look pretty for the 30 seconds it would take me to lay down the bedspread. Probably everybody else was born knowing which way to lay the sheet besides me. And she said "Don't you want the nice side close to you?" And I said "No, it looks pretty this way" and she just shrugged and that was the end. Later I thought about it and I realized she was right.

3. The tiny orange sections stuck in the middle of the orange. I thought those little orange sections were just little parasitic twins, half-formed mutant orange rejects. We were having oranges but I didn't want to eat the little losers and she said she would eat mine and that she liked them the best. I asked why and she said "They are the sweetest." Later I thought about it and I realized she was right.

4. Granny Smith apples with Tillamook Cheddar. She said apples were good with cheese and served them to me and right away I knew she was right.

Things my Nana loved that I do not love:

Cow brains
Cow eyeballs
Cow tongue
Cow intestines