Sweet pleasures

It starts every year before Halloween. Bags of chocolates all decked out in seasonal dress woo me at store entrances. I resist for a while - I have trained myself to wait until October 30 - but then I succumb. Deliciously. Oh...to be one of those people who calmly says, "I don't care for sweets," or "I like chocolate but it doesn't like me." That must be both wonderful and horrible. But the Christmas shopping season has officially begun and the relentless, gaudy advertising flyers are out. Responding to a beguiling ad for Hershey Kisses in Sunday's paper that claimed "assorted varieties, buy one get one free," I whipped into CVS on my way home from work yesterday. How nice it would be to have some in my candy jar or to creatively add them to an edible gift, I reasoned. So I bought bags of kisses that were called candy cane, peanut butter, cherry cordials, and mint truffle. I could hardly wait until I got home to see which would be my favorite. I cut a bag open and the aroma of mint excited my senses. I shook one into my hand, peeled off the shiny green foil and stripped the kiss of its last shred of decency. Exposed at last, I popped the luscious little candy in my mouth. Life is short. Eat chocolate.