Bluewater Lake State Park, New Mexico: Vienna Sausages

 

Walmart Vienna sausages. July 2023. Credit: Mzuriana.:

Yes, processed foods are of Satan. 

Nevertheless, all because of a visit to the village store just outside the Bluewater Lake State Park entrance, where I camped last week, I embarked on a taste comparison of Vienna sausages: 

• Great Value
• Libby's
• Armour

The store played a role because its shelves included Vienna sausages and other canned meats, including canned roast beef, which I will talk about another day. 

Because the temps, day by day, had been in the 90s, taxing both my ice chest and my limited creativity in finding protein that interested me and didn't require refrigeration, I paused before these baby-food hot dogs. 

I call it baby food because I associate Vienna sausages with highchair fare, vicariously picked up by the chubby fingers of a floor-crawling lil tyke, pushed by a not-so-steady fist into her drooly mouth, which she often shapes into a heart-melting, mostly-toothless grin.

Libby's Vienna sausages. July 2023. Credit: Mzuriana.:

 

My reviews: 

• Great Value (Walmart): Silky, reminiscent of my family's culinary heritage of braunschweiger-and-Miracle Whip-on-Roman Meal-bread lunches, a veritable paté. I liked it. 
• Libby's: Inferior to Great Value - one of those taste experiences so bland, it would be better to have something that tasted bad. 
• Armour: I ate it, but the memory of the act slid right off my brain pan, it was so forgettable. 

 

Armour Vienna sausages. July 2023. Credit: Mzuriana.:

 

Bluewater Lake State Park, New Mexico: Legged Creatures

Cortizone-10 Maximum Strength Anti-Itch Liquid With Aloe, 1.25 oz. Image source: Walmart

 

 

Tuesday morning. 

I arrived at Bluewater Lake State Park yesterday, which is near Grants, New Mexico. I spent Sunday night at the Motel 6 in Grants after my week of camping near Chama. 

Cortisone-10 Maximum Strength Easy Relief Applicator. 

That's what I bought yesterday to counter-attack the itching from those tiny scourges of Satan that assaulted me at El Vado Lake State Park. I have hopes it will work.  

Last night, in my tent, I stayed up late to finish Ken Follett's book, JackDaws. Around 11 or so is when I heard the coyotes. Then some camp dogs barking. OK. I didn't know about the coyotes. Put me in mind of the coyotes near Corpus Christi, where the coyotes ran through the campground every evening and every morning. What if I heard some snuffling around my tent? Where were my car keys? 

 

Coyotes. Bernalillo, New Mexico mural. August 2013. Credit: Mzuriana.

 

This morning, as I write this, and as I relish the cool air, I look at the cloud cover - what? Am I going to have to put the rainfly on my tent? I don't want to because it restricts the airflow in my tent. The weather forecast for the next 10 days is sunny or, at worst, partly cloudy. Hmmm.

A rooster crows.