Mysterious Box

A mysterious package arrived for Ali via Federal Express yesterday afternoon. A big white cube with no indication what was inside. Ali wasn't around, so I heaved it onto the front hall table and left it there for him to find.

Amir speculated that it must contain something alive, because the dog kept running into the hall to sniff it, balancing on her hind legs to get up close to it, barking and whimpering.

Mystery solved when Ali finally got home. The opened carton revealed a styrofoam cooler with dry ice packed around six pints of Ben and Jerry's Oatmeal Cookie Chunk ice cream. Ali hauled the box into his room and shut the door, whereupon the dog sat sentry in the upstairs hall, occasionally pawing at the floor in front of his door and snuffling under the edge of it.

Turns out that Oatmeal Cookie Chunk was a flavor Ali used to buy when he lived in Colorado Springs. Apparently he had turned more than one friend onto it, and now it was impossible to find out there. An enterprising (not to mention well-meaning and well-to-do) friend had given up looking for it in shops and ordered a six-pack for himself and another for Ali directly from Ben and Jerry's. A lot of laughing and reminiscing ensued when Ali called Tim to thank him for the surprise.

Ice cream packed in dry ice is too hard to scoop. We sat a pint on the counter for over half an hour before we could sample it. Ali was happy to encounter his favorite flavor again, but he's no glutton. He generously passed around the pints, eager to see if we liked "sweet cream cinnamon ice cream with chunks of oatmeal cookies & fudge." I had some, Ali and Amir had some, even Taz had some. I hope that satisfied her curiosity.